Page 9 of The Trials of Alaric
“You will not,” said Bea. “I do not wish to see you, Mr. Howard, until you have amended your discourtesy. When I say ‘no,’ I mean ‘no.’”
She took Mr. Redhaven’s offered arm and walked away, Mr. Howard’s voice following her. “I do not despair, Lady Beatrice. It is a lady’s privilege to change her mind.”
*
Alaric had comeout to the gardens because Gilno said he would be able to see the wreck from the clifftop. He had stopped partway to rest, leaning against a handy wall. While he felt a lot better today, he was still a bit shaky on his legs.
Lady Beatrice’s irritated voice saying “Mr. Howard” had attracted his attention. It came from just around a bend in the path he had been following. When a gentleman spoke over herto declaim his undying passion, Alaric had a hunch that the lady might need rescuing. In ten paces, he was around the corner and though within sight, figuring he could retreat as quietly as he’d come, if the lady was receptive to the posturing idiot’s advances. He’d found another bit of concrete wall to lean against and discovered he was glad he’d decided to overlook the situation. She was trembling as they walked away, and he wanted to go back and plant the man a facer. Perhaps she expected him to do so?
Before he could ask, she spoke. “That man,” she said, her voice sounding much calmer now, “is an idiot. Two, at least, of my suitors have straw for brains. How could my mother and aunt possibly think they would make an acceptable consort to the Lady of Claddach?”
The trembling, Alaric realized, was as much anger as residual fear. “If they are all as bacon-brained as that one, none of them will do,” he said. Should he warn her the servants thought her mother and aunt were conspiring to make her marry her cousin? He did not want Colyn to be reprimanded. Nor, for that matter, did he want to lose his own source of intelligence. No, he wouldn’t say anything just yet. Best to see how things developed.
In the breakfast room, Alaric was introduced to a Mr. Maddrell, a Mr. Whittington, and a Mr. Meadowsweet. Maddrell, it transpired, was the earl’s secretary, and Whittington his chaplain. Meadowsweet, then, must be one of the five suitors from the infamous list.
Lady Beatrice was the only lady in the room, and it soon became clear that Meadowsweet had risen early in order to monopolize her attention. Alaric’s presence put an unexpected spoke in the man’s wheel, as did Lady Beatrice’s determination to include all four gentlemen in the conversation.
Alaric wondered if Meadowsweet was the other man that Lady Beatrice had referred to as having straw for brains. Itwas a little disturbing that he felt compelled to prove his own intelligence. He found himself asking questions about Claddach, starting with its most notable products—a specific breed of sheep and another of cattle, cider, and woven woolens.
Maddrell, Whittington, and Lady Beatrice were all happy to contribute to the answers. Meadowsweet objected that the conversation was unsuitable for ladies, to which Lady Beatrice said, “What I find unsuitable, Mr. Meadowsweet, is ignorance. I suspect most ladies are glad to know about the sources of their family income. As for me, I have been raised to be Lady of Claddach, and such matters are very important to me.”
To give Meadowsweet credit, he rallied, and offered a few questions of his own. He showed poorly even in that, since what he knew about animal husbandry, brewing, and weaving could all be inscribed on his signet ring with room remaining for the seal.
When the conversation turned to Claddach’s history, however, Meadowsweet came into his own, having some pertinent and thoughtful facts to offer about the impact of the Vikings, the Scots, the Saxons, and the Normans in the county of his birth. All four, plus the Irish and the Manx, had contributed to the history and culture of the island.
The islands, rather. Though the name was the Isle of Claddach, there were two major islands, one slightly larger than the other, separated by a narrow sea channel with a walkable causeway at low tide, plus dozens of smaller islands ranging in size from a large farm to a rock fit only for seals and seagulls.
Howard arrived just as Lady Beatrice was finishing her breakfast, listened for a moment, and then broke into the conversation as if none of the other men were here. “Lady Beatrice, you cannot possibly be interested in a conversation about fishermen and their catches. Gentlemen, do none of you know the proper topics of conversation with a lady?”
Alaric listened to Meadowsweet’s response with some enjoyment. “Lady Beatrice is not an empty-headed ninny, Howard. She enjoys talking about the topics that are important to Claddach, such as its farming, its fishing, and its history. Do you not, Lady Beatrice?”
“I do,” the lady confirmed. “Mr. Meadowsweet, Mr. Howard, I have much to do to prepare for the day’s activities. May I leave you to look after Mr. Redhaven? He is a late arrival and does not know how to find the drawing room, the billiards room, and other places of interest.”
The secretary and the chaplain also excused themselves, and Alaric found himself subject to an interrogation on his lineage, his arrival, and his intentions.
The arrival of an older lady and her daughter promised a respite, but it was a false promise. The ladies proved to be Howard’s mother and his sister, and the interrogation resumed, with added questions designed to probe into his marriageability. It seemed that Lady Beatrice was not the only bride on offer to the bachelors at this house party.
Alaric was reasonably certain Lady Beatrice would scorn to entrap a husband using any of the tricks that had been employed against his older twin, their father’s heir. He was not so certain about the other ladies. He took the precaution of making certain Mrs. Howard knew he was unemployed, had only modest means, had been replaced in the line of succession by his brother’s son, and was out of favor with his father.
Even so, he would be certain not to accept any invitations to a private meeting with any of the ladies present.
Chapter Five
From Mr. Redhaven’sappearance in the garden the second morning after the storm, he became as much part of the house party as if he had been there from the beginning. They made the postponed excursion into the town of Bailecashtel that day, and he walked down the hill from the castle with the others, showing no sign of weakness or pain.
Bea’s friend Reina Ransome had accepted her hasty invitation to balance the numbers. She joined the visitors on their exploration of the market and the other sights offered by Bailecashtel and returned to the castle with them in the late afternoon.
Mr. Redhaven took a seat in one of the carriages for the uphill trip, Bea noticed. Sensible man. He did not feel the need to show off how fit he was, as some of the suitors were doing, turning the simple walk up the hill into a feat of courage and daring by walking the top of stone walls and ascending vertical banks rather than going around by the zig-zagging road.
For the last few days of the introductory week, the two new guests joined in all the activities as if they had been there all along. Mr. Redhaven’s presence bothered the suitors. Bea had expected it. Though his borrowed clothes were out of date, they fit his form well. He was taller and more handsome than any of them. Also, he was more clever, and more charming,and absolutely more capable of outcompeting them at billiards, charades, and the evening card games.
Mr. Howard and Sir Henry were hostile—not openly, but in their body language and in finding reasons to disagree with anything Mr. Redhaven said. Mr. Meadowsweet, by contrast, looked up to him, and was inclined to copy what he said and did. Mr. Fairweather was cautious. Only Lord Lucas treated him with neither reserve, nor excessive adulation.
Bea was also not surprised by his impact on the unmarried ladies. Bea’s cousins were making complete cakes of themselves over the man, searching him out with impudent questions and giggling when he spoke to them. Lady Sarah Howard was more subtle, but just as persistent. Mr. Redhaven managed to deflect all three without giving offense, treating them much as he did the matrons, with charming courtesy.
Even Reina Radcliffe, who was betrothed to Papa’s secretary, blushed when Mr. Redhaven paid her a compliment, as did Lady Eleanor, Mr. Fairweather’s sister. Bea was almost certain that Lady Eleanor and Lord Lucas, who had been smelling of April and May since the archery contest, would make a match of it.
Those parents who were there with their offspring fell into two camps. Aunt Lewiston continued to regard Mr. Redhaven with the utmost suspicion, and Lady Dashwood, Sir Henry’s mother, concurred entirely. The Earl of Lewiston and Mr. and Mrs. Howard declared him to be a fine young gentleman, and Bea’s mother agreed. What Bea’s father thought he kept to himself.
