Free Red Wolfe by B.L. Herndon Page A

of soup down as Ellena arrived at the dining table. Only one seat, her seat, had been prepared. She sat down and picked up her napkin as Gregor amusingly watched her devour the meal. It was a thick potato soup with cloves and chives, accompanied with warm breads and a delicious cider.
    “Did you approve of the room?” Gregor asked and Ellena nodded. “What of the clothes?”
    “Those are for me?”
    “Of course.”
    Not that she wasn’t grateful, but one t hought kept her from enjoying the kind gesture. “Were those? I mean did Madame —?”
    “Those did not belong to her,” he whispered.
    She set to work finishing off her soup, idling chatting with Gregor. Lord Wolfe was still pleasantly absent. “May I ask where is my ever so gracious host?” she asked ripping off a piece of bread and dunking it into her dish.
    “He’s in his study, fiddling with something.”
    “Fiddling?” Ellena dropped her spoon. “What do you mean?”
    “He’s taking it apart and—”
    Gregor couldn’t even finish his explanation before Ellena leapt from her chair and dashed away. Her feet pounded against the wooden floor as she threw open Lord Wolfe’s study door. There was her cellphone or, at least, the remains of the pitiable thing. Monsieur Wolfe was sitting at the oak desk in the corner with some kind of antique tool in his hand.
    “What are you doing?” she screamed, marching over and trying to collect the gears and grinds scattered everywhere.
    “It’s such a fascinating contrivance. I wanted to see how it works,” was his calm reply. He seemed very unmoved by her enraged outburst.
    “Well!” Ellena cried. “Can you put it back together?”
    “Of course I can,” he answered, picking up the detached screen and looking at it with a strange expression. He would have almost looked cute if he hadn’t just brutally massacred her phone.
    “You have no idea how to fix it! How could you do this without my permission?”
    “Your permission?” he snarled. “I do not need your permission for anything.”
    “Of course not! What was I thinking?” she sarcastically replied trying to pick up the pieces that were dropping to the ground. “You of all people would never need consent to horribly destroy someone else’s things. No wonder you live alone with only a butler. No one else could stand you!”
    She marched out with the pieces in her hand. Gregor had just appeared by the door as she passed.
    “Is anything wrong?” he asked.
    “He makes me regret ever coming back here,” she hotly answered.
    “No one asked you to return.” Ellena heard Monsieur Wolfe arrogantly say from around the corner. “So, why did you?”
    “I have my reasons,” she shot back. “And it’s not because of you!”
    The cold corpse of her phone lay on the table beside her. After returning to her room Ellena had set to work trying to repair it, but failed miserably. Now all that was left to show were sad broken remains of a once very expensive piece of technology.
    “Is he insane? What does he mean he’s never seen one before?”
    She ripped her boots off and flung them, one landing in the far left corner and the other hitting the window before falling to the ground.
    “That’s it!” Ellena stomped. “I’m breaking into his room tonight and shredding all of his precious clothing.”
    She was still ranting and raving when Gregor knocked.
    “ Enterer !” Ellena said and the old man quietly entered.
    “I brough t you something to drink.”
    Ellena sat down in the plush velvet seat in front of the fireplace. “ Why is he like that?”
    Gregor could only chuckle. “I apologize on his behalf. He’s always been one that liked to tinker with things. When he was a boy he used to take all the clocks and levers apart.”
    “You should not be the one apologizing, Monsieur .” Ellena remarked, taking the cup of tea that Gregor offered. “You have done nothing but treat me well since the day I came here. Actually, do you have a moment for