The wolf
lowered its head, whining and backing away as if in shame. Isolde felt something in her chest twinge.
“Poor beast,” she whispered. Evans applied pressure to her arm.
“We best be
going now, Miss Marlowe. There’s nothing
more to see.”
Isolde faced
the man, removing his hand.
“If it’s all the same to you, I would like to stay here for a bit.”
Evans shot a
questioning look at the wolf.
Haddock-Wolf looked from Evans to Isolde with his golden eyes, then laid
down on the floor and thumped his tail.
Evans sniffed.
“Very well.”
Isolde would
have considered the whole exchange comical if it was happening in a book. It was different in reality. The butler left the room and shut the doors
behind him with a little too much force than was necessary. Isolde slowly moved closer to
Haddock-Wolf. He watched her as she
seated herself in front of the blazing fireplace and held out a hand to
him. Haddock-Wolf was still softly
whining. Isolde ducked her chin.
“Don’t be shy,” she said with a
smile. Haddock-Wolf shuffled up to her
in only the kind of way that a canine can and gingerly touched his nose to her
hand. Isolde’s smile widened as she felt
the wet surface on her palm. She ran her
hand over his head and behind an ear, scratching it. Haddock-Wolf closed his eyes and pressed his
head into her hand, tail slowly thumping.
“I’ll let you in on my secret,”
Isolde said as she scratched the scruff on the side of his head. “I found out
you were a werewolf a fortnight after your mother hired me. She wasn’t feeling well one day so she took a
nap and left me to wander the estate. I
wanted to know more about the derelict wings of Haddock Hall, so I led
Evans—whom your mother had appointed as my “keeper”—on a wild goose chase and
slipped through the boards put in place to discourage people like me after I
lost him in that wonderful labyrinth in the garden. I saw the claw marks and thought that something
was inhabiting those abandoned wings until I found an old study and all those
parchments and journals. I know it was
horribly rude of me, but I was curious, and mysteries have always intrigued me,
so I read them. I thought it was all
nonsense until I began to put the pieces together. Your mother declining to have me come every
full moon only confirmed my suspicions.
Naturally, I assumed you had inherited the “family affliction” too, and
by the way you acted towards me at that ball, you only made it more plainly
evident.”
Isolde paused.
“I know
you’re wondering why I pursued you so much, hm?
It was mainly because of something your mother had said. She talked about you so much when you were
gone…she still does, but that’s besides the point. She described a kind young man who loved
his mother and did his best to live up to his father’s memory, but it was what
she didn’t say that intrigued me the most.
What she didn’t have to say was that you never get close to anyone
because you feel like an outcast, so you keep them at arm’s length or just
shove them away. She blamed it on your
“affliction,” but I think that’s just one ingredient in the problem. The other was that woman you refuse to talk
about. I haven’t pried into her out of
respect for you; I’m waiting for you to tell me about her, and if you never do,
that’s fine with me. I’ll admit that at first,
I thought I could be something more than a friend to you, but I’ve since
realized that that was foolish and you need time to heal, so I’ll settle for
just being someone there you can share your pains and secrets with without
having to worry about trying to hide part of yourself from me…It’s unhealthy to
be alone, Mr. Haddock.”
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