Leaving

"V-Victor. What are you doing here, James?"

Mrs. Elizabeth stammered, trembling. She didn't know whether it was because the weather had turned colder and the open balcony let in the chill of the rainy night, or because she was simply frightened.

Victor said nothing. He stood there in the pitch-black night, his figure illuminated only by the occasional flash of lightning. Mrs. Elizabeth grew even more frightened. She clutched the bedsheets in a panic and opened her mouth, seeming to want to scream, but afraid of provoking Victor.

"What is James to me?" At last, Victor's low voice sounded. Even the rain outside seemed to have quieted.

"Y-you, what are you talking about? Victor, what are you going to do?"

Victor took two steps closer, nearing the edge of the bed.

Rumble! Another peal of thunder rolled overhead, rumbling through the clouds. Victor's voice grew even more terrifying. "What is James to me?"

Crack!

Lightning flashed, illuminating Victor's face. His rugged, deeply set features looked so much like—

"Thomas!"

Mrs. Elizabeth screamed. Grabbing at her hair in hysterics, she shouted Thomas Logan's name.

Victor roared the question again. "What is James to me?!"

"James, James—you can't hurt him! Thomas, you can't! He's your son!"

Elizabeth had gone completely mad. She tore desperately at her hair and the sheets, her eyes vacant as she howled. Her words grew increasingly garbled, until they became nothing but meaningless shrieks.

Victor stood there dazed for a moment, as if the torrential rain and the madwoman had nothing to do with him, as if they belonged to another world.

He had already suspected the truth, but he needed a definite answer.

Victor leaped out into the rainy night and vanished.

"Have you searched everywhere?" James asked Jack. Victor had disappeared, and no one had seen where he went. Jack Pitt, the family's head of riders, had spent days searching the nearby towns and woods with every person he could muster.

"We've searched everywhere within thirty miles, and haven't found any signs of unusual deaths or injuries among the local residents," Jack said tiredly.

James nodded and thanked him for his efforts, then urged Jack to get some rest. The heavy rain the previous night had left him with little to go on, despite his extraordinary sense of smell. If Victor wasn't anywhere near Edmonton, then he had surely gone to America.

At first, James had been most worried that Victor had been affected by Adam. That was why he had ordered people to keep an eye out for anything happening to the local residents. But there had been no massacres of people being slaughtered like beasts, which reassured James considerably.

He thought Victor might have been eager to return to the battlefield and had left without saying goodbye. Somewhat troubled, he remembered that his mother Elizabeth's old illness had flared up again over the past few days. Although she had mostly recovered after several days of rest, she looked increasingly frail.

"O'Hara, just how many boxes do you have?" James asked helplessly as he watched O'Hara chatter away, directing the servants to pile luggage into the carriage.

"That's all of them!" O'Hara grinned, her eyes narrowing. Her long eyelashes and rosy brows couldn't hide her delight. Holding her ivory-colored pearl clutch, she lifted her skirt and bent to climb into the carriage.

James had always objected to the tight corsets and billowing skirts women wore in this era. They were cumbersome, uncomfortable, and bad for their health. So O'Hara had worn comfortable, practical dresses or trousers for years.

"Hehehe, this is my first time traveling so far, and I'll even get to meet the president and his wife. I have to be prepared!"

"The war isn't over yet. In the future, we'll be going to America often. We might even move there."

James straightened his cuff links and habitually took out his cigar case, but changed his mind and put it away. O'Hara disliked the smell of cigars and cigarettes.

O'Hara asked excitedly about moving to America. Canada was too vast and sparsely populated. The scenery around the estate was beautiful, but she had grown up there and it no longer felt new to her. She longed for the crowds and bustle of a city.

They were going to Washington for several reasons. They needed to meet the president and discuss the many matters related to the war, along with the troublesome division of spoils after it ended. They also couldn't ease up on the search for Adam, the progenitor of the vampires. He was lying low in an extremely weakened state, but leaving such a terrifying immortal creature alone would eventually lead to disaster.

Most important of all, they had to find Victor.

In September 1863, the Union Army captured Chattanooga. Combined with their capture of Port Hudson in July, this split the Confederate Army into eastern and western halves. From both a strategic and tactical standpoint, the Union's victory was all but certain.

"Mr. Howlett, Mrs. Howlett, this way, please."

A White House attendant respectfully led James and O'Hara into the banquet hall. This was a small victory celebration, strongly advocated by the North's leading industrialists and government officials.

President Lincoln had repeatedly said that the war was not yet over and that it was too soon to hold a celebration. But after facing enthusiasm and pressure from all sides, he had finally relented.

O'Hara was pleased with the young attendant's form of address. She gave him a radiant smile, then entered the hall with one arm linked through James's, her face betraying a hint of tension.

"James! James!"

President Lincoln waved and called out to James with particular warmth. He excused himself from those beside him, hurriedly took his wife Mary's hand, and went to greet them.

"You're finally here!"

The president looked at James with a hint of concern, as if checking that he was all right.

James gave a slight nod and introduced O'Hara with a smile and an easy manner.

Mrs. Mary took O'Hara's hand warmly and said, "No wonder all those years ago, when Abe and I introduced Mr. Howlett to so many wonderful young ladies, he wasn't interested in any of them. He must have already known such a beautiful young woman."

President Lincoln playfully patted James on the chest, then happily led them to the center of the banquet hall, where he introduced the two of them to the North's industrial and manufacturing magnates, government officials, and members of Congress.

The Howlett Family had been well known among America's upper-class circles for years. Some people with exceptional connections and extensive sources of information in the military even regarded this unusually young industrial magnate with extraordinary respect.