Victorian Nocturne

The courier had stood outside the servant's entrance of Mrs. Daugney's house for about two and a half hours, refusing to speak to anyone aside from a Mr. Israel Alderdice. Unfortunately, Mr. Alderdice happened to be working at the moment, and would not be for another couple of hours, would you like to come in and have some tea, mister? The courier had answered no and had seemed somewhat arrogant about the whole process so that the kitchen staff hadn't felt too bad about leaving him out in the rain. He had an umbrella, anyway.

It would have been foolish to say that Izzy hadn't been expecting anything for the past week, but he still had no idea what the courier was about, no matter how many times he was asked, even by Mrs. Daugney herself. Mostly, he wondered what all the fuss was about. It was only when he took the letter that he got really, really excited but refused to show anyone.

His head had been buzzing all week. A contract. He might not have been getting paid much for it, but he was getting paid and more than that it meant that they knew his name. He was officially getting jobs as a hunter now, and from The Crown no less. He'd hardly been able to focus all week, much less all day, and had been quite surprised he'd slept at all last night. Even though he didn't know how it was going to go, he'd written home even though he had no idea how it was going to go.

( Trimming the Verge )

( In the Rectory )

( The Hunt Begins )

( Death and a New Acquaintance )