“Mr. Haddooo—”
Mr. Haddock didn’t break stride as he shot out a hand and grabbed Isolde’s upper arm, steering her into an alley. Once they were well within the shadows provided by the alleyway, Mr. Haddock drew Isolde up to him. Isolde caught her breath, fully expecting a declaration of love and a swift kiss…that is, if it hadn’t been for Mr. Haddock’s unmistakable livid countenance.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“I could say the same thing to you!” Isolde shot back. “Grabbing a woman and shoving her into an alleyway! You’re acting like an utter fiend, Mr. Haddock!”—dropping her voice for dramatics, she went in for the kill—“Just wait until I tell your mother.”
Mr. Haddock glared at her for a beat before forcefully relinquishing his hold on her arm with a snort. Isolde took the time to rub her arm while keeping her eyes locked with Mr. Haddock’s, hoping to gain the upper hand in the situation. The latter wasn’t fazed.
“You know very well what I’m talking about, Miss Marlowe, or do I have to spell it out for you?” he growled.
“If you’re going to give me a lecture on Sir Drexel, believe me, you won’t be the fi—”
“He’s a dangerous, evil, blight you should avoid at all costs.”
Isolde raised her eyebrows. This was the first time that she had heard straight from the man himself how much he disliked—no, loathed—Sir Drexel. There was evidence enough in his tone and posture so that his hatred for Sir Drexel couldn’t be denied. The expression she was giving Mr. Haddock must have seemed as if she wasn’t taking him seriously. The loathing in his face began to melt into honest distress.
“He’s…he’s like me.”
Isolde laughed.
“Oh, well then! That means all I have to worry about is a rude boor of a man who runs out on a woman during a dance and forces her into an alleyway to do heaven knows what—"
Mr. Haddock grabbed Isolde by the shoulders, lowering his voice to a harsh whisper as he brought his face so close to hers that she could clearly see the double scars at the corner of his mouth.
“Listen, you silly girl! Sir Drexel and I share the same affliction, except that he lets his other side run wild. You’ve heard of those people who were mauled here two years ago by some sort of creature? That was Sir Drexel’s doing. All those he killed were the young women who he seduced and…had his way with before letting his other half take over and tearing them to shreds. Now you seem like a nice, clever young lady whom my mother has come to appreciate and see as her own daughter even, so I won’t allow you to let yourself be taken in by that Monster’s charms only for him to do what he will with you and mangle you for his twisted pleasure in the end.”
Isolde simply stared back as Mr. Haddock’s words sank in. She knew Sir Drexel was, for lack of better words, a dissolute man, but she hadn’t suspected him at being so…so evil as Mr. Haddock had described him to be. She opened her mouth to speak, and her voice came out sounding small and shaky despite her best efforts:
“You’re hurting me.”
Mr. Haddock blinked.
“What? Oh—I’m terribly sorry—I didn’t mean—”
He apologized as he awkwardly removed his hands and took a few steps backwards. Isolde found that she couldn’t look him in the eye. She folded her arms as she stared down at the man’s boots. They were of very good make. Slightly muddied from the wet streets. She took a steadying breath.
“You’re not lying to me, are you, Mr. Haddock?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you about this, Miss Marlowe,” Mr. Haddock said softly.
Isolde felt numb and out of place as if she as reading about this happening to an unfortunate heroine in a novel instead of living it. She looked up.
“What do you suggest I do? The man thinks I’m madly in love with him!”
It was Mr. Haddock’s turn to address Isolde’s shoes.
“The best way we can deter his interests would be if I started courting you. He wouldn’t want to do anything that will lead to a fight with me again, so it would be reasonable to assume he’ll leave you alone once he sees us together. He’ll understand that if anything happens to you, I’ll come after him.”
“Are you sure that will work? Won’t he just try harder to woo me?”
Mr. Haddock met Isolde’s eyes, flicked to the roofs walling them in, then returned back to Isolde’s face.
“You know those scars on Sir Drexel’s face that he attributes to an African hunt gone wrong…?”
Isolde arched her eyebrows, wondering how she hadn’t put the two pieces together before.
“You? You did that?”
Mr. Haddock nodded.
“He won’t try anything, Miss Marlowe.”
Isolde shivered despite herself. This was nothing like she’d planned. She was just hoping to toy with Mr. Haddock’s emotions, to hopefully break past his indifferent exterior to find the caring man his mother talked about so much. Mr. Haddock attributed her quivering to the onset of dusk.
“It’s getting late,” he noted. “I’ll walk you home.”
He held out his arm. Isolde hesitantly took hold, feeling a blush creeping up her face as her heart gave a little staccato flutter. They started out of the alley when Mr. Haddock chuckled.
“What’s so funny about all of this?” Isolde demanded. Mr. Haddock gave her a wry look as he cocked a brow.
“I was just thinking…wasn’t this your plan all along?”
Isolde could feel her face flushing again.
“Yes, well…it didn’t involve a bloodthirsty lycanthrope as my beau!”
“I’m deeply hurt.”
Isolde tried not to smile, but lost her battle.
“You know what I mean.”
———-
Isolde gets told off and Drexel loses his girlfriend. Bummer–NOT. Haddock’s People Skills are poop seeing that Mummy kept him locked up in the family mansion because of his “condition” until he was old enough to say, “I’m a big boy now and I’m going to explore the world. FIGHT ME.” It actually went more like him sneaking off in the dead of night to go abroad and Mother Dearest assuming he was sulking in his room after another spat until he didn’t come down for food that evening. She hired Isolde as her companion soon after because she needed a captive audience and the staff have been around long enough to know how to escape Mrs. Haddock once she gets going. When Haddock came back, Mrs. Haddock gave him The Silent Treatment and used Isolde as a go-between until her prodigal son finally caved and apologized. She “lets” him go to town whenever he wants now. She also thinks that she’s cleverly playing matchmaker between Isolde and Haddock, but her boy is having none of it. I really need to post a picture of this woman.
We’ll see how the duo’s scheme plays out, and how Drexel will react to his latest victim getting stolen by his rival. Spoilers: He doesn’t take it that well. Drexel is a sore loser.
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