Susan Spencer Paul (24 page)

“Yes,” she said. “Shall we become as dull and tiresome as other married people, my lord?”

“Duller. And much more tiresome. Perhaps you were not aware of the fact, my lady, but you’ve had the misfortune to be wed to the dullest, most tiresome man in England.”

“Nonsense,” she scoffed. “I’ve never met a man less dull or tiresome, or one more handsome either, and if you do have an inclination toward work and management rather than wasteful living, my lord, there is always your family to make up the difference. The twins, you must admit, are most lively, and Barbara’s behavior could seldom be called dull, though it could often be thought most wearying.”

“You’ve no need to worry over Barbara,” he said, “for she’ll not be at Gyer long. I’ve agreed to let Jason de Burgh court her.”

“Have you?” she said, much surprised. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yes, and she seems happy enough, though John has expressed displeasure over the possibility of their union. I’ll not say I’m happy about the match, either, but I want you home again, Lillis, and if de Burgh makes an acceptable offer, and I believe that he will, I will accept and they shall be wed as soon as possible.”

Lillis touched his face with the tips of her fingers, caressing so softly that he shivered. “That is good, husband, for I’ll not share your affections with any other woman, whether you have ever loved her in truth, or no. And Barbara will be happy with the Lord of Dunsted. Indeed, I have cause to think she will be quite, quite happy.”

“Not as happy as I’ll be when my wife has come home again,” Alexander declared. “I miss her so greatly that I would be content to sit by her dwelling door both night and day, if she would only let me.”

Lillis laughed. “That might be rather cold for you in the snow, sir.”

“Snow, rain, hail, wind, lightning and thunder or scorching heat, I wouldn’t mind at all. I would be the happiest man alive to be so near her.”

She sighed. “You do pay the prettiest compliments I have ever heard in my life, Lord Gyer, false as they may be. I must admit I do like to hear them.”

Alexander closed his eyes and smiled. “They’re not false,” he insisted, yawning. “God’s mercy, I’m tired. I wish I didn’t have to ride home this night.”

“You may stay if you like.”

“I wish I could, but it would be unkind to make my men wait for me all night. Already they must be wanting to get home to their own warm beds.”

Lillis set her hand against his chest, as if she would keep him from going. “I shall miss you, my lord.”

“Shall you?”

“Yes. Very much.”

Alexander rolled until Lillis was beneath him.

“And I shall miss you,” he whispered, kissing her. “Let us join ourselves once more, then, to make the parting less painful. I will take the memory to Gyer and recall it often to keep myself sane, otherwise, when you return to me you shall find yourself wed to a raving madman.”

“O
h, my dear, how different it looks,” Edyth exclaimed three days later, standing in the hall at Castle Wellewyn. “I never could have imagined that it might be so comfortable.”

“Indeed,” Aunt Leta agreed more sternly, striding forward to receive a proper kiss in greeting from Lillis. “It seems you have made quite an improvement from the way it was when Jaward lived here. At least, compared to the way Alexander told me Castle Wellewyn used to be. Why, this looks quite livable. Of course,” she added, eyeing Lillis with severity, “Alexander is the one to thank for the repairs and the supplying of the castle.”

Lillis finished hugging Justin and Candis and replied graciously, “Yes, Aunt Leta, Lord Gyer has been most generous. We never could have gotten through such cold weather without everything he has done for us.”

Aunt Leta lifted her nose into the air. “Quite right,” she pronounced, and sat in the one good chair by the fire.

Lillis put her arms around Edyth and hugged her. “Oh, Edyth! It’s so good to see you again. I’ve missed you so very much, though I’m glad that Justin and Candis had you with them.” She looked at the children. “Have you been very good for Edyth?”

“Yes,” they both replied, nodding.

“They’re perfect angels!” Edyth added lovingly. “Is that not true, my darlings?”

The children smiled at Edyth with glowing faces, causing Lillis to chuckle. She knew for a fact that the children were not
quite
angels, but neither she nor anyone else would ever be able to convince Edyth they were anything else.

“Lillis!” Aunt Leta demanded impatiently. “Stop this nonsense and order one of your servants to bring me some hot wine. I nearly froze to death on the ride here and am in need of warming.”

Lillis nodded obediently. “My pleasure, my lady, though I will fetch the wine myself. We have few servants at Wellewyn. Edyth, you sit in the chair next to Aunt Leta, and children, you settle yourselves on the pillows I’ve set in front of the fire. I’m afraid we also have few chairs.” She left to fetch the wine.

She returned in a few minutes bearing a tray filled with the requested wine, as well as all manner of confections and sweet cakes. She set the tray on a low table and then settled herself on the floor next to the children.

“I made the cakes myself,” she told the children, inviting them to take some, “and the wine is amazingly good. I don’t know how we came to have such a supply of it.” She handed first to Aunt Leta, then to Edyth, goblets filled with the warm, spiced liquid, then proceeded to fill one for herself. She had brought warm milk laced with honey and cinnamon for the children to drink, and gave them each a cup.

“I’m so glad you’ve come to visit,” she said when everyone was served. “I’ve been lonely for all of you.”

“We’ve missed you, too,” Justin said, munching a piece of tansy cake. “Will you come home soon? We have some rabbits now.”

“Alex gave them to us,” Candis added, taking another piece of almond shortbread.

“I shall come home soon,” Lillis replied. “Don’t tell your brother, but I’ve been thinking to surprise him by coming home at Christmastide. Will he be pleased, do you think?”

“Oh, yes!” Candis cried. “Will you come on Christmas Eve, like the yule log?”

Lillis laughed. “Perhaps I shall. But you must promise not to tell Lord Gyer. I want it to be a surprise.”

Both Candis and Justin solemnly gave their promise not to tell, and Lillis was satisfied. She smiled at Aunt Leta, who nodded at her with approval.

“This separation between you and Alexander is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of in all of my days,” she declared. “If you ask me, Lillis Baldwin, you’re a very foolish young lady. Why, my nephew is one of the finest, most forthright—”

“Yes, Aunt Leta,” Lillis agreed quickly, putting a halt to the oncoming tirade. “You are quite right. Will you have more wine, my lady?”

“Hrmph!” replied Aunt Leta, irate at having had a perfectly good speech so thoroughly defused. “Where are Hugh and Hugo?” she demanded.

“The twins? Well, they
are
around somewhere,” Lillis replied, looking about as if she expected to see them suddenly jump out from behind one of the many screens in the room. “I told them you were coming today, but they had something to do and I’ve not seen them since the morning meal. They’ll be hungry soon and will come looking for something to eat.”

“We passed Willem on the way here,” Justin announced matter-of-factly.

“He was going to see Alex,” Candis added.

“Yes, I know,” Lillis told them, looking at Aunt Leta again. “I thought it rather strange, but he said he’d received a missive from Alexander this morn asking him to come to Gyer right away. Nothing is amiss, I hope.”

“Nothing that I know of. Why, I didn’t know Willem was going to Gyer until we met him on the road. It was quite a shock, I can tell you, to run into one’s nephew when one was fully planning on visiting with that same nephew later in the day. He asked me outright what it was Alexander needed him for and I told him I didn’t know. Alexander said not a word to me about sending for him, not even when he escorted us through the village gates. Barbara suggested that perhaps Willem was mistaken about the missive being from Alexander, but he insisted that it was.”

“Barbara?” Lillis repeated, surprised.

“Barbara was coming with us today,” Justin explained before Aunt Leta could. “But she began to feel sick and turned back.”

“She had a headache,” Aunt Leta corrected, then looked at Lillis directly. “I realize Barbara wasn’t invited to come, but she did express the greatest desire to accompany us. She said she wished to know if you’d found something she had asked you to look for. I thought it odd at the time, but that was all she would admit, and she did beg so prettily. What else could I say, save that you would surely welcome her?”

“And so I would,” Lillis said. “I regret that she was unable to finish the journey.”

“Yes, the poor dear,” Aunt Leta agreed. “All was well until just after we had left Willem and gone on our way, and then she began to suffer quite terribly. We were only halfway here and she thought it might be best if she returned to Gyer. I sent three of our escort back with her, of course, and I do hope she arrived in good time. Poor child. She’s surely overwrought because of that horrible Lord of Dunsted. The man is thoroughly uncouth! I don’t know how Alexander can countenance him courting a sweet creature such as Barbara. I saw him kissing her in the garden only a few days ago and he was terribly ruthless about it. Yes, it is quite true, I assure you! I was shocked beyond belief, certainly, but poor Barbara was evidently so shocked that she wasn’t even able to fight the brute off! She was helpless in his grasp, and even had to hold on to him to keep from fainting onto the ground.” Aunt Leta shuddered visibly. “You must thank God every day of your life that you didn’t have to marry that horrible man, Lillis.”

“I thank God that I married Alexander,” Lillis said instead, then added with care, “Aunt Leta, there is a serious matter I wish to discuss with you, though perhaps you may not wish to do so in front of the children.”

Candis and Justin were instantly affronted; Edyth soothed them with a few words.

Aunt Leta looked a little surprised. “What is it?”

Lillis set her goblet aside and dug around in one of her pockets until she found what she was looking for. “It has to do with this,” she said, carefully placing the small porcelain oval on the table. Candis and Justin leaned forward to look at the picture painted on it. “I believe this is what Barbara spoke of when she wanted to know if I had found something here at Wellewyn. This—” she indicated the portrait “—was among my mother’s possessions.”

“It’s Barbara!” Candis declared, turning a toothy grin up at Lillis.

“She looks very much like Barbara, love,” Lillis replied gently, “but I believe that this is a portrait of her mother. Is that not true, Aunt Leta?”

The older woman had never looked so pale to Lillis before, nor so stricken. With a shaking hand, Aunt Leta gingerly took the portrait up to inspect it more carefully.

“Yes,” she said at last, her eyes moist. “This is Madelyne. Madelyne Denys. Barbara’s mother. And John’s.” She recovered herself a little and smiled at the children. “She was your cousin’s—John Baldwin’s—wife. Not the Cousin John who lives at Gyer, but his father, who was also named John. You never knew him, of course. John Baldwin was my cousin in the fourth degree, and this lady was his wife. Oh, it’s rather complicated, I fear, as the relationship is so distant. We have always called John and Barbara cousins, though they are really very far removed. But you understand, do you not, children?”

The children nodded solemnly and looked again at the portrait Aunt Leta held out toward them.

“Well,” Aunt Leta continued, “John Baldwin married Madelyne Denys of the Huntington Denys. The Huntingtons are a very noble line, descending from the Romans, you see. And they’re a beautiful people, as well, all of them. Now, John Baldwin, your distant cousin, married this very beautiful lady that you see here, Madelyne Denys, and she soon after presented him with John and later with Barbara.”

“Oh,” the children replied, plainly confused.

Lillis chuckled and looked at Edyth. “Perhaps you could take Candis and Justin into the garden, Edyth. It’s very lovely, and I’m sure they’ll find it more interesting than this. And,” she added as Edyth and the children rose to leave, “you must say hello to my cats. They’re in a special shed next to the kitchen and would enjoy a visit. There are some new kittens, too, though you must be very gentle with them.”

“Oh, kittens!” Candis cried with great enthusiasm.

“We’ll be careful,” promised Justin, taking Candis’s hand and pulling her around the table into Edyth’s waiting care. In only moments they were shuffled out of doors.

Lillis watched until they were gone, then she turned to face Aunt Leta.

“I want to know everything,” she said.

Aunt Leta set her goblet down unsteadily. “I fear I don’t understand you, Lady Gyer.”

“You understand me very well. My mother was Madelyne Denys’s sister. My mother was Eleanor.” Aunt Leta’s sharp intake of breath made Lillis tremble deep within herself. “You must tell me everything.”

Aunt Leta closed her eyes and shook her head resolutely.

“You must!” Lillis insisted, leaning forward and taking hold of the older woman’s hand.

“No, I cannot! I made a solemn vow. I promised my brother that I would never, never—”

“That doesn’t matter now! You must say what you know or risk the chance of someday facing your God with the knowledge that you kept the truth from those who should have known it. Don’t you think I have a right to know what happened between my family and yours? And what of Alexander? And the twins? You claim to love your family and yet you keep the greatest truths from them. Your brother was to you, I suspect, as John Baldwin is to Barbara. You were always beneath his rule, were you not?” Lillis went on her knees before her. “I’m begging you, Leta Baldwin. Do you see? I’m pleading with you to tell me the truth.”

She felt the fine trembling that coursed through Aunt Leta’s body as it worked its way through the older woman’s hands. She could feel Aunt Leta’s tears as they began somewhere in her depths and made their way to her eyes. Lillis was patient. She stayed on her knees, clasping Aunt Leta’s hands firmly in her own until the tears and the trembling subsided.

“You are so much like your mother,” Aunt Leta whispered at last. “When I first saw you on that dark night so long ago, when the twins brought you to Gyer, I thought for a moment that I was seeing Eleanor again. Or that perhaps her ghost had come to haunt me. It was terrible.” She fell into tears again and Lillis kept still, holding her hands as tightly as she could.

“There are things,” Aunt Leta murmured, “that would hurt many people if they were known. The children—my niece and nephews— would be devastated.”

“No, that is not true,” Lillis said firmly. “They might be hurt for a little while, but in the end they would be better off knowing than not knowing. And you know, as well, that it would be wrong to continue in your silence.”

“But Candis and Justin are so young!” Aunt Leta protested. “They worship the memory of their mother and father, just as the twins do. It would be cruel to shatter what they hold so dear.”

“Very well,” Lillis conceded. “Perhaps the children should be a little older before they are told the truth, but Hugh and Hugo are nearly men now and have as much a right to know about themselves as I have a right to know about my parents. As to Alexander and Willem, it goes without saying that they are certainly old enough to know. Now, Aunt Leta, tell me everything.”

Defeated, Aunt Leta closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes. If you will know the truth, I shall tell it to you. Indeed, I’ll be relieved to speak of it after all these years. Give me more wine, girl, and I will tell you the tale.”