In an unexpected turn of events, Rosemead, Aidan’s personal maid, barged into the McCody’s bedroom, stomped on Monty’s foot, and ran to swat Paddy, the family dog, in the arse with a broom. Unfortunately, Rosemead missed her target and swatted Aidan’s arse instead. Anger escalated, and Rosemead ended up as the bare-arsed recipient of a cropping at Monty’s expert hand.
Paddy duped the McCodys into thinking he genuinely cared about Rosemead. He licked her bare arse after her spanking, much to his disdain but, also, much to Aidan’s delight. From thence forward, Paddy knew Aidan would champion him, no matter what mischief he might cause.
Rosemead, on the other hand, developed a diabolical plan to rid Ventrue Manor or Gigi, the upstart maid (and Gavin’s ghoul) who had replaced her as housekeeper, and who had also had an afternoon tryst with Aidan. Previously, Gavin had rescued Francesca, a vampire from an unknown clan, by pulling her out of the moors and dislodging a stake from her heart. Rosemead dragged Francesca into Gigi’s quarters and left her there. Thinking that Francesca was dead, Rosemead decided to go to London to get proper burial clothes for her and notify the London Met (police) of her body ... intimating that Gigi might be responsible for the croaker.
In the meantime, Fenwick, the London Met inspector-turned-vicar, disposed of a smelly cat turd that Gavin’s cat, Dean, had left in Paddy’s bowl in the kitchen. By tossing it into the garden, he inadvertently fertilized the roses, much to the delight of Morgaine, the new gardener (and another of Gavin’s ghouls). Afterward, Fenwick attacked Gavin in the stables after thinking he had injured Aerynne.
Rosemead ran out of the house and disappeared into the midnight mist. Fenwick heard her scream, so he ran to the parsonage and retrieved his revolver. When he ran back outdoors, he accidently discharged the gun, sending bats and birds flying. He went back to the stables and secretly watched while Aerynne came out of the tack room with a large canister in hand. Gavin filled it with his blood, and Aerynne (another of Gavin’s ghouls) drank it in order to survive. Fenwick was convinced that Gavin and Aerynne had done Rosemead in so, when they left the stables, he snuck in to get the canister for evidence. When he was about to taste the leftover contents (which would turn him into Gavin’s ghoul), his horse, Sophie, reared up, and Fenwick ended up chasing her into the night instead.
Flossie, a brothel madam, had paid an unexpected visit to Ventrue Manor. While waiting for someone to officially welcome her, she walked into the billiards room where she recognized Monty’s portrait as someone she had met during an Army “dining in.” A dining in, for all practical purposes, was a meeting of Army officers that resulted in drunken brawls, orgies, and horseplay by the junior officers. As of now, the circumstances under which Monty and Flossie met, is still unknown.
Aidan, Monty’s wife and slave, stood outdoors, breathing in some fresh air. She noted a package in the letter box and rushed to open it. While reading the ink-stained pages, she surmised that she would soon have a visitor. Most of the letter contents had disintegrated in rain water, so she had few clues of who that visitor might be. However, after deciphering parts of the letter, Aidan crushed the envelope in her hand and found that it contained a silver metal ball. It turned out to be a ben-wah ball that Mariette, the maid of Lord and Lady Hartman, had used in a tryst between her and Aidan, when Aidan was a guest in their home. Then, a half-sentence that stated, “... up to you to retrieve the matching ball upon my arrival,” made sense to Aidan.
Noting that no one was around, Aidan rinsed off the ball in some rain water and lifted her skirt and petticoats. With her Mons Venus exposed, Aidan deposited the lone silver ball inside her love channel. Being terribly preoccupied with the ball’s movement, she hadn’t realized that a coach had arrived, and the coachman had been watching her.
The coachman opened the door and helped Mariette to the ground. The young maid ran to Aidan, and the two embraced and kissed. They headed indoors, with the promise that they would retrieve the balls from inside each other, just as soon as Aidan could get Mariette settled.
