Alex in Wonderland (The Wonderland Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

necessary
protection in a neighborhood that could turn ugly in the wee hours.
    "We've both done good deeds
tonight," Tatiana said, taking his arm as they climbed three steps to the
front porch. "I rescued you from Margarita, and you've been kind to your
elders."
    Alex was about to insist she was
hardly elderly when Tatiana handed him the keys to the gate and door. Her
old-world manners and behavior reminded him of something from a black-and-white
film, and thoughts of old Hollywood lingered when she flipped a switch. A
towering chandelier bathed the foyer with golden light, stunning Alex with the
sort of dramatic opulence usually confined to movie sets. The vestibule was a
sumptuous dream with gleaming marble floors reflecting the chandelier, gold
walls and twin, life-sized blackamoors guarding a staircase that swept up to
darkness.
    "Welcome to La Garçonnière ," Tatiana said.
    Alex gave her a strange look.
"Isn't that an old Creole term for a 'house for unmarried men'?"
    "Aha! So you Garden District
denizens do know something about the French." Tatiana sounded pleased.
"You're absolutely right. It's what you Americans used to call a 'bachelor
pad.' The Creoles built them on their plantations, for stashing lusty male
adolescents and unmarried gentlemen and thus protecting any unmarried ladies in
the Big House." Tatiana winked. "Theoretically anyway. They were
never built in the Quarter of course. I just liked the name." She flipped
another switch and a smaller chandelier blazed in the front half of a double
parlor. She indicated a marble-topped mahogany table groaning beneath a forest
of decanters. "The pepper vodka is on the far left. Its label is red, like
your sweet little car. Please help yourself while I freshen up." She
paused on the staircase. "If my brother Jacques is home, I'll send him
downstairs to entertain you. He can be très
amusant ."
    "Uh, thanks."
    Alex had never tasted pepper vodka,
and he wasn't sure he liked the burn until after the third sip. He wandered
around the room for a few minutes, examining a costly art and antiques
collection, until a deep voice floated from the vestibule.
    "Alex?"
    "Yes?"
    Alex faced a tall, slim man in
slacks, crisp white shirt and loafers without socks. Watch, belt, shoes and
glasses were unmistakably Prada, and a magnificent emerald gleamed on his left
hand. He looked bald until he moved underneath the chandelier and revealed a
mostly shaved head. His exact age was elusive, but Alex spotted a clue in the
silver chest hair.
    "I'm Jacques Menard, Tatiana's
brother. She'll be back down in a moment." He shook Alex's hand and nodded
at the vodka. "I see you've made yourself at home. Good. I think I'll join
you."
    Oddly enough, Jacques was shorter
than his sister, but they shared the same high cheekbones and fine features. He
also displayed Tatiana's elegantly continental grace as he poured a shot of
vodka, lofted the glass in Alex's direction and said, "A votre santé!" He downed it, poured another and sat, a
signal for Alex to do the same.
    "Tatiana said you met at the
Palamara's Twelfth Night party." Alex nodded. "Dreadful bores, and
where in God's name do they find those antiquated orchestras? I swear those
musicians are too old for Preservation Hall!"
    "So were most of the
guests," Alex offered.
    "Which makes me wonder why a
young man such as yourself was there."
    "My family." Alex shook
his head. "Sometimes I could choke on all the requisite noblesse oblige ."
    Jacques's eyebrows rose. "Do I
detect a note of resentment?"
    "I just get really tired of
the same routine, and don't worry because I'm not going to bore you or myself
with it." He glanced toward the staircase. "I certainly see a
resemblance between you and your sister, but why are your accents so different?
You sound American."
    "I'm half. Our father was an
American soldier in World War Two and Mother was a Russian war bride. They met
after the Siege of Leningrad and he brought her to the States. They divorced
when