Page 16 of Claws and Contrivances
“Ugh!” This was absurd. “Well, all that truly matters now is keeping these poor creatures safe. But we can’t hope for Sir Gareth to give up on finding them, not now that we know there are two of them. I can’t imagine how much they must have cost him or why he’d want more than one in the first place! He only mentioned one niece, and earlier today, he claimed not to have any dragons. He must suspect we have them now, though. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to follow us here.”
In a better world, there would have been so many better strategies to hand ... but Rose was a determined pragmatist, so she let out a deep sigh and accepted the facts of their situation. “There’s no way around it,” she said glumly. “We’ll simply have to be properly betrothed to each other after all.”
Even with the luxury of prior experience, Rose still found it a bit disheartening to see panic appear on Mr Aubrey’s face at that news. Fortunately, she wasn’t weak enough to allow pricked vanity to stand in her way when the fate of two innocent dragons was at stake. “It won’t last forever,” she promised, sweeping over all of her reluctant fiancé’s stammering objections, “only for the length of your stay in Wales, no more. I’ll call it off the moment you leave, so no one will ever blame you for any of it. Aunt Parry’s heroines call off their betrothals all the time! It should be perfectly easy.”
“But—”
“Mr Aubrey,” said Rose, “do you wish Sir Gareth to know for a fact that we deceived him during our earlier visit to his house?”
“Well—”
“Do you want him to be certain, after all, that we were there on behalf of his missing dragons?”
“No, but—”
“And would you truly feel happy to become known across Britain as a flagrant seducer of young ladies, if Sir Gareth did carry out his threat to spread that gossip?”
At that final query, an adorable red tint rose on Mr Aubrey’s sharply defined cheekbones ... and Rose had to quash a sudden pang of guilt.
It would all come out well for him, too, in the end. She would have to make certain of it, as well as ensuring the two dragons’ safety. After all, Mr Aubrey might be somewhat distractible – and she hadn’t cared at all for his ominous question about poor relations – but he’d shown nothing but kindness to the two frightened dragons. Moreover, he showed very promising signs of an ability to take direction when necessary.
Also ... well, as much as she had attempted not to take note of this fact, it did have to be confessed that he was quite distractingly attractive, with that lean, angular face, those pale, glinting eyes, and the long, long legs that any truly modest young lady would never have allowed herself to notice. All in all, he would make an excellent husband for an equally scholarly wife ... and if Rose found a way to bring him and Harry together sometime in the future, she would have done him more than enough service to make up for any temporary inconveniences along the way.
“So, you see?” She gave him a wide, reassuring smile. “This is the only sensible solution. I’m sure you’ll agree as soon as you take the time to think it through.”
“Hmm.” His pale eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. “And are you entirely certain your uncle will feel the same way?”
“If you’re worried about Uncle Parry, you needn’t be. He’ll only be disappointed in me for calling off the betrothal at the end. You must know how much he admires you.”
Mr Aubrey tilted his head. “So you don’t plan to share the truth behind our betrothal with him?”
Rose grimaced. “If we told him that, we’d have to explain all about these dragons. Not only would that mean breaking my promise to my cousins, Uncle Parry has such firm principles that he might well insist we return these poor creatures as Sir Gareth’s private property.” She sighed, remembering the various workarounds her mother had needed to concoct in order to manoeuvre around her own father’s unbending principles when it came to practical matters within village politics. “That is the difficulty with having such a very admirable sense of honour. You must promise me not to breathe a word about any of this to him.”
“But—”
“We had better not tell Aunt Parry, either,” Rose mused, “in case she tells Uncle Parry herself or starts worrying about possible disasters. She is a wonderful novelist, you know, so she has a vivid imagination.”
“It appears to run in the family,” muttered Mr Aubrey.
Rose graciously chose to overlook that comment. After all, the poor man had been travelling for days, which must have been terribly trying. “I’ll let my cousins know the truth, and I’ll tell everyone else not to spread the news of our betrothal yet. We can offer them the same explanation we gave Sir Gareth: that you wished to let your family know about our betrothal yourself, in person, rather than allow any rumours to spread to them beforehand.”
“Good God.” Mr Aubrey’s eyes widened with alarm. “If my grandfather heard that rumour ...!”
Something about his grandfather had intimidated even Sir Gareth in their earlier conversation, hadn’t it? No doubt the old gentleman would indeed disapprove of his brilliant grandson marrying a mere poor relation ... but Rose would wait to solve that problem until it came time to introduce Mr Aubrey to Harry.
For now, she gave his hand a briskly reassuring pat. “We won’t allow that to happen.” Dusting off her fingers, which were suddenly and inexplicably tingling, she rose to her feet. “Now, I may not know much about dragons, but food was very helpful in making friends with the first one. Is there anything particular that we should avoid feeding them?”
“Oh, well, when it comes to a Dracus domesticus’s diet ...!” Mr Aubrey visibly relaxed as he launched into his answer, and Rose listened with perfect satisfaction.
Really, their betrothal shouldn’t be complicated or inconvenient at all.
Chapter 9
The first difficulty that arose from the new dragon’s arrival came with Rose’s cousins.
By the time Rose had thoroughly fed both dragons – as the first one had made it understood that she, too, required far more sustenance, no matter how much she had eaten earlier – her cousins’ quarrel had climaxed with Serena storming out of the abbey to let loose her frustrations amidst the ruins. Her magnificently furious rendition of Mozart’s “Tortures of Every Kind” – always the aria reserved for her moments of deepest outrage – streamed inescapably through even the thickest leaded windows, making it clear that there was no purpose in even attempting any sensible conversation. Rose had to content herself with gathering up a still-snarling Georgie and a still-sniffling Beth for a cousinly meeting in the crowded buttery.
It was a simple enough matter to make space there by banishing her new fiancé to Uncle Parry’s library so the serious family business could be decided. Unfortunately, this time, her co-conspirators weren’t nearly as enthusiastic about their roles.
