Page 11 of The Trials of Alaric
He took a sip of his port before continuing. “I decided, and Lady Claddach and Lady Beatrice agreed, that anyone who wishes to wed Lady Beatrice must first compete in a number of trials. There will be twelve in all, and they begin tomorrow.”
He once again focused on the younger gentlemen. “You have until noon tomorrow to decide whether you are a competitor for the lady’s hand. After that, you may refuse any trial you wish, and your reasons for doing so will be considered in the final accounting. You may remove yourself from the list of contestants at any time. Are there any questions?”
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Alaric had morequestions than answers. What were the trials? Was Lord Claddach the sole judge? What attributes would he be looking for? How would the winner be decided? Was Lady Beatrice bound to marry the winner? Could any of the unmarried men at the house party enter?
More to the point, did he want to enter?
He listened as others spoke the questions he was thinking.
“You will sometimes be informed a particular activity is one of the trials,” Lord Claddach was telling someone who wanted details about what he would be expected to do. “On other occasions, it will simply be something on offer as one of the activities for house party guests. I encourage you to involve yourself in as many of the activities as possible.”
Lord Beverley was clearly taken aback. “Then how will we know whether or not we are competing, Uncle?”
“You will not, Beverley,” replied Lord Claddach. “This is not a tournament, where the person with the best seat on his horse and largest sword walks off with the prize. This is a test of the attributes I believe will make the best husband for my daughter, and the best consort for her when she is Countess of Claddach. If you only put forward your best when you know you are being tested, the whole exercise is futile.”
“Then I take it, Claddach,” the Countess of Lewiston said, “you are prepared to include Beverley in this… exercise.” She wrinkled her nose as if she scented something foul.
Lord Claddach’s smile was predatory. “All the young unmarried gentlemen guests are welcome to compete. I hope they will. Redhaven, that includes you.”
Lady Lewiston opened her mouth with an expression that presaged an objection, but her husband touched her hand and shook his head, and she subsided. Their son had a thunderous frown but said nothing.
“Will you decide the winner, my lord?” asked Meadowsweet, then gulped, as if his own temerity terrified him.
“Lady Claddach, Lady Beatrice, and I shall consult on points to be awarded,” Lord Claddagh replied. “We shall also agree between us the list of those who will be permitted to pay their addresses to Lady Beatrice. The final decision shall be hers. It may be that no one proves to be suitable. It may be that Lady Beatrice cannot see living the remainder of her life with any of the successful candidates. I am not promising the winner or winners my daughter as a bride. You are merely being given the chance to show your mettle before my daughter and, in fact, the other eligible ladies.”
A few other minor questions on process were quickly dealt with by way of referral to the earlier statement. They would not always know an activity was a trial, but they would sometimes be told. The earl would say no more.
Most of the young men were looking thoughtful. Fair enough. Alaric was feeling the same way. He should be arranging his passage to Liverpool and on to Hampshire, to his father’s seat, but the more he thought about the trials, the more he understood this to be the chance of a lifetime.
His own place. Lands and their people to care for, to cherish. He had been hoping for a position on the land, working for the benefit of someone else’s family, since his father would not permit him a place on an estate belonging to the Elsmouth demesnes.
How much better to be giving his energies to the lands and people of his wife, the lands that would one day, God willing, belong to their eldest son, and his descendants down through the ages?
Wasn’t marriage a cheap price to pay for everything he had ever wanted?
None of that was confusing. What was giving him pause were his feelings about Lady Beatrice. Feelings made the whole matter more complicated. He would welcome a civil and affectionate marriage. One in which he and his wife both gave value. A marriage of friends and partners who supported one another.
As far as that went, he thought he and Lady Beatrice could rub along rather well.
Nor did he see it as a problem that he desired the lady. Far from it. He would relish the process of producing the sons Claddach required, and he’d make sure she enjoyed it, too. Even the thought had him shifting in his seat.
But Alaric knew himself to be in danger of falling in love with the lady if he hadn’t done so already. He recognized the symptoms. He had been in love before, and it had ended in disaster every time. Furthermore, he had seen marriages that began as love matches and devolved into misery.Love is a gamefor fools.Hadn’t he seen—hadn’t he found that it only led to heartache. When he married—if he married—love was the last thing he would look for.
Countess Lewiston’s daughters were asking their uncle what they were to do while the men were busy with the trials.
“You shall not be neglected,” Claddach assured them. “Many of the activities will be open to everyone, and if you choose not to join in, or if the activity is not suitable, Lady Claddach or my daughter will ensure you are suitably entertained.”
“We can be part of the trials, Dorrie,” Miss Lucy told Miss Hetherington, smiling broadly.
“But I am certain, dear ladies,” said Mr. Howard senior, with an avuncular smile, “that Lord Claddach will not require you to marry Lady Beatrice, even if you win.”
Everyone laughed at that, though Lady Beatrice looked pained. Poor lady. The “husband hunt,” as Alaric’s brother used to call the Season, must be bad enough for unmarried ladies, with all the pressure on them to find a suitable husband, but at least other young ladies were facing the same challenges in the same places at the same time.
At this house party, all the focus was on Lady Beatrice and who would win her. The five other young ladies might also be interested in some of the men, but at least any courtship that might develop could do so in relative private. By choosing this path to marrying off his daughter, Lord Claddach had ensured his daughter’s wooing would be the main topic of interest here in castle and undoubtedly across the entire Isle of Claddach.
Which didn’t make Alaric feel any better about being part of it.
