Free The Strangely Beautiful Tale Of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber Page A

unrepentant. He looked innocently at his fellows. “Me? And what of me would you tease, when Alexi so much more deserves it? I do not stalk about like one of those gothic vampir onstage at the Royal. Nor do I brood with dramatic zeal, nor can I start fires of my own accord, nor daily dress as if in mourning. Nor do the first bars of Beethoven’s Fifth seem to burst forth each time I enter a room!”
    “Shameful! All of you!” Josephine scolded, though shefought back a smile. Removing her apron, she dusted the bottle in her hand briefly before sliding the white linen garment down the bar, where it passed through the head of the general whose transparent body was folded over, asleep.
    “Poor Alexi,” Rebecca huffed, collapsing into a chair. “If he only knew how he was abused. To think that the serious boy of so many years ago—”
    “If we didn’t know and love him, this would be cruel,” Elijah interrupted. “But as all of us adore his brilliance—in-sufferable though he is—and though he appears a dark thespian rather than a chemist, we gladly admit we’d fall apart without him.”
    “Alexi Rychman, melancholy prince of Denmark!” Michael proclaimed, pounding his fist on the table in delight and raising his teacup to drink a toast. The others followed suit.
    Through their laughter, they failed to hear the door open and click shut, and a tall, cloaked, formidable figure dressed all in black approached. His stoic features were offset only by his blazing eyes. Alexi Rychman stared down at his friends with a frown.
    “Something amusing?” he asked.
    At the sound of his low, rich voice, the group looked up and shrieked, delighted. Elijah cried out the first notes of Beethoven’s Fifth, unable to help himself. This did nothing for the others’ composure. In fact, Michael, head thrown back in a wail of laughter, lost balance and fell from his chair. No one bothered to stand and greet their leader properly.
    “You really should have your own personal orchestra, Alexi!” Elijah gasped for breath.
    “‘To be or not to be…!’” Michael wailed from the floor, waving an arm above him grandly.
    “An appropriate theme for you, you must admit!” Elijah continued, offering Alexi a sharp-toothed grin.
    Rebecca, flushed, stood with an uneven breath and handed Alexi the sherry bottle with its dusty ribbon tiedlopsided around the neck. “Professor, your prize. I acquiesce to your eminence and superiority—sir,” she stated with a curtsey. There was a hint of a smile as she did so, however, and Josephine masked a sputtering giggle with a cough.
    Alexi snatched the sherry from Rebecca’s hand. “Whenever you heathens can regain a modicum of sense, it’s time for a meeting,” he stated coldly. This quieted the group enough for him to continue. “There now. Sanity has returned to La Belle et La Bête, but I’d best speak quickly as I fear its presence is fleeting. But before we begin…could someone go and remind our grey friend down the street not to push the actors into their places quite so hard? Since the discovery of his dead body during the renovations, his ghost has become increasingly meddlesome, causing many complaints.”
    He waited a moment for one of his companions to volunteer for the routine policing of Drury Lane’s most infamous spectre. Then: “Fine, you lazy fools, I’ll go. Considering your present behaviour, I’d not trust one of you to admonish this spiritual hooligan. Clearly, I ought to do it myself. But I warn you: sharpen yourselves.” He turned and promptly exited, his long black cloak billowing behind him. Throughout his exodus, a few more bars of the Fifth Symphony were hummed.
    Outside, Alexi took a deep breath. Irrepressible chortles and a smattering of “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind” could be heard erupting inside.
    “Infidels,” he muttered, taking the alley toward the Theatre Royal at a purposeful clip. “Will they forever be children?”

C HAPTER S EVEN
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