Page 34 of Unforeseen Affairs
“Don’t speak like that,” Colin said abruptly.
Beaky’s eyes widened, then narrowed, as if he were trying to figure just what Colin was about.
But even Colin did not know—he only knew that he could not bear to hear his friend slander the odd young lady, nor to think of Beaky considering her with such vulgarity. It started the pressure building in his head again, as if it were a waterskin filled to the brim.
“It’s not becoming of a lieutenant,” Colin warned in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.
Beaky’s nose twitched ever so slightly. He hadn’t liked that.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t seemed to like much of what Colin had to say in recent times, going back to around when he’d been knighted.
Wishing to avoid any further locking of horns, Colin gave Beaky a half-hearted salute and made his departure. He descended the stairs with Alice’s letter tucked safely in his breast pocket. When he reached the bottom, he turned and glanced up.
Beaky had slouched against the wall again, hands in his pockets.
In that instant, a flicker of doubt crossed Colin’s mind. But he refused to entertain it. He refused to believe it of a naval officer, especially one he’d known since they were lads.
Instead he entered the library annex, Alice’s letter foremost in his mind. The library wasn’t crowded at this hour, when most members were at dinner—or sulking in the halls.
Usually he would find a nice spot at one of the tables below the windows overlooking the gardens, but in the gentle lamplight he instead took a seat near an interior wall, at a desk stocked with stationery and writing implements. It was a fair distance from the library’s only other occupant, an elderly man with wiry white whiskers and spectacles who was poring over a stack ofArmy and Navy Gazettes. He paid Colin no mind.
Trying not to think of Beaky staring at Miss Sedley’s skirts, Colin broke the seal and began to read.
Dearest Colin,
Can you believe it’s now been weeks since we last saw each other? I scarcely could myself, but my brother assures me it is true. Mama has been in a state, and Papa too. Neither wishes to go out, or even have entertainment here, and I confess things have been dull beyond what I ever thought possible. It has assured me that I could never go to sea like you and Abdon. Truthfully, I wonder why anyone would, given the choice. I think, were I a young man, I should much rather do something regular, and upon land. Something with excitement! Perhaps the Army. Oh, if I could see your face at THAT!
Alice was the daughter of a captain, the sister of a lieutenant. She ought to know how these things went, rather than tease. Colin raised a brow. He had been hoping for a different sort of missive than this. They’d never made any promises to each other, but he’d believed she harboredsomefeeling for him.
Oh, but it is too cruel—I’ve a new frock and no leave to go out and enjoy myself. Abdon says he’s asked for your help in proving that devious medium’s accusation false. I pray you succeed, as I might go mad, locked up in here! Then no one of any merit would want to meet me, even if it were allowed.
She’d underlinedof any meritin a heavy, confident stroke. Colin dropped his hand, with the letter, to his lap.
Aside from his parents and his doctor, he’d not told anyone of his difficulties, so he knew he ought not put much stock in Alice’s words. But even still, his head throbbed with discomfort, recalling his father’s grave words:Some will think you unfit for service. Some may think you’ve lost your senses.Colin knew the unspoken meaning—that his father would fail to acknowledge him, were Colin to fall to madness.
He took a steadying breath, then set back to reading.
She’d filled the rest of the page in her compact hand, mostly with the humdrum minutiae of her daily routine. Details he had little interest in, such as what they’d dined on, the card games she’d endured, what she’d read, and the news that their tabby had produced a healthy litter and what she’d named each of the kittens. He did actually enjoy that last bit, and felt some disappointment that he’d not have the chance to call on the Pearces and see the six little balls of fluff.
Ah well, he thought, setting the letter aside.
Alice’s tone hadn’t been that of one separated from her lover by circumstance; rather, it was more like that of a neighbor recounting the village goings-on. But they were young still. There would be time for romance, once Colin had fixed this mess with Beaky, and then the one with his own head.
Remembering his promise to Miss Sedley, he reached for a blank sheet of paper and pen. After thinking for a minute, he began to write.
To the esteemed Mr. Bass…
“Does your father not worry? What about your stepmother?”
Charlotte started at the sound of Mrs. Stone’s tiny, warbling voice, but managed not to show it. Slowly she rose from the floor, where she’d been working her way through a box of papers and correspondence she’d found tucked away in the shop’s storeroom.
“And in your stepmother’s condition. One would think they should prefer you at home, to assist her.”
“Assist her?” Charlotte raised a brow.
For all her inclinations toward enlightened thinking, sometimes Mrs. Stone could be positively primitive about roles and responsibilities. She even refused to allow Charlotte to refer to her as Elsie, deeming it far too familiar for their respective positions.
“Hm.” Mrs. Stone nodded, her expression severe.
