The bastard angel

Chapter One

1892

I left my aunt's house at the ripe old age of fifteen. Anton and Lucian had settled things with my aunt, given her a story for her to buy, with all the proper details. No matter really, she didn't give a fig about me or where I ended up. All she had wanted was the allowance from her brother - the man who had got my poor mother pregnant and little else and that had been cancelled a year earlier.

Andrew comes by in his family's carriage and takes me to the train station, Lucian had treated me to first class and I manage to sneak him on to have a look at the carriage. It's very sumptuous, with velvet and ribbon pulls and the cushions are the most comfortable I've seen outside of Andrew's house. My aunt eschews comfort for practicality.

'You will look after yourself. It's a big city.'

'I've been there before.' Little excursions, with Anton and Lucian, exploring and a few minor plays with his firm. I don't deny that I am a little bit nervous. I do have an aptitude for the work but it is dependent on me doing it well and under pressure from London folk. Five years of little plays but of course, there will be big ones. This is London after all.

'I know that. Just promise me that.' He looks at me and I see his worry. We've always been close and me being in London effectively supporting myself is a big moment for both of us.

'I promise.'

We hug and he disembarks the carriage early. I open the window so I can wave to him.

'Au revoir!' I shout to him, enjoying the moment that I scandalise the proper townsfolk of Norfolk on the platform. It's a shouted promise, we will see each other again.

'Et toi!' He shouts back. He's just as brave as I am, and as the youngest, enjoys the attention.

Once the train has left the station proper I quickly close the window before the cabin fills up with smoke. And order some champagne. It may be early but I'm celebrating.

Lucian meets me at the station and has a carriage waiting to take me to his father's home, several flats have been converted into his London base, a veritable warren of corridors and rooms that I am glad to have visited and therefore know my way around.

'You've got a room upstairs, next to mine.' A servant is summoned to take my bag there.

'Is there something on?'

'Of course. You know my father, always working.'

I follow Lucian to one of the dining rooms, converted to one of the meeting rooms, five men and two women are there, sitting around the table with Anton - Anthony to the sheep, at the head.

He smiles when he sees me enter with Lucian and the two of us sit at the other end.

'You two, meet your parents for the evening. This is Sophia and Gareth Carter,' he gestured to the man and woman sitting closest to him at the table.

Lucian and I smile and nod, I'm memorising their features and I'm sure he's doing the same. One key aspect of knowing your parents is knowing at the very least, what they look like.

'Mr and Mrs Carter, your son and daughter, Preston and Penelope.'

Lucian makes a face at the name Preston and I hide my giggle behind my glove.

'We're borrowing the estate of a wealthy couple overseas. Their property is about to be ransacked and we need a family to be there when it happens.'

'Are we going to be held as hostages?' Lucian asks.

'The children will hide in the attic.'

So it seems my first role is a minor one but as Lucian reminds me, the devil is in the details and having a thorough story sells it most convincingly to the public.