Chapter 15
Downstairs, the dinner bell chimed, and Victoria hastened down the steps. Gone was her usual languid approach to anything that did not occur on the sea. Tonight, she was eager. She wanted to see Elias. She longed to be in the same room as him, to catch his eye, to tease him—in what way, she didn’t know. But an opportunity would surely present itself. They’d kissed. He had kissed her. Despite all his proclamations that she did not belong at Edenbridge Hall, Elias had wrapped his arms around Victoria and kissed her. She smiled over the memory. Surely, Elias was mortified and he would be doubly so if she hinted at their kiss in front of his uncle. Which…was exactly her plan. Oh! How he would squirm and glower at her. It might even inspire him to kiss her again once they were alone.
She took a deep breath just outside the door and steadied her shaking hands; then, she stepped inside the dining room. Such a large and ornately decorated room seemed lifeless and hollow without the hulking and scowling Elias. But it was not lifeless. There was a crackling fire in the hearth, and Lord Harrington was posed just before it, seeming deep in thought. When she entered the room, he looked up at her and smiled warmly.
“Miss Victoria, my dear.”
“Lord Harrington.”
“Please, please. You must call me Reginald. If not exactly family, we are business partners, at the very least. And a certain amount of intimacy is unavoidable with those one does business with.”
“It hardly feels like a partnership,” Victoria told him, speaking openly. “A partnership implies equality when the reality is you are rescuing my mother and myself. We will forever be in your debt.”
He waved away Victoria’s concern. “Think nothing of it, my dear. As I told your mother, you are doing me a favor as well.” Taking Victoria’s hand, he led her to a seat by the fire. “This house has been so lonely ever since Arabella passed on.”
“I’m so sorry, Lord Reginald. I wish I could have met your sister. Everyone speaks so warmly of her.”
“Arabella was a kind and deeply generous woman. She had the uncanny ability to see the good in anyone and everyone. She saw people. She really saw them. And it feels so very good to be seen.
“I am not so very good at that,” he mused, his brows furrowed and his eyes looking at something in the distant past. “I am a particular man. I become so invested in my work and interests. I forget to notice what is going on around me. I failed Arabella there.”
“I don’t believe it,” Victoria offered.
“No, indeed I did. She left me to raise her son, and I fear I made a mess of it.”
“I doubt that very sincerely. Elias is…” Victoria hesitated, and her cheeks grew pink, but she went on. “I enjoy your nephew very much. As a matter of fact, he’s the only person I’ve found any sort of pleasure in since I returned from the sea.”
Lord Reginald’s furry brows lifted in surprise. He was pleased to hear this. “Oh? That’s good. That’s very good. Elias can be a little abrasive.”
“There’s no pretense about him. I like that—people aren’t like that in the capital.”
“No. They aren’t. I do hate the capital.” Lord Reginald’s lips turned downward. “They care more about clothes than they do about politics.”
“It is a superficial place filled with superficial people,” Victoria agreed. “I suppose I look very much like one of them now.” She waved her hand unhappily, indicating her gown.
“Is this not your preferred style of dress?”
“I prefer trousers, but you must promise not to tell my mother about it.”
Lord Reginald laughed. “No, Charlotte wouldn’t like that very much. She always was such a fashionable woman. That being said, she’s far from superficial.”
Victoria nodded in agreement. She liked her mother very much. While they had very different interests, she was grounded, guided by reason, and always faced challenges head-on. Victoria admired her, and if they had to be in this financial mess, she was glad that they were in it together.
“I think the two of you will help right the things I did wrong in this house.”
“I can’t begin to believe you were involved in wrongdoing. You have done your best. Elias is a good man, and your sister would be proud of you—I am sure of it.”
“She would be proud of me because that was her way. Arabella was generous to a fault. But she would have done things differently. She would have raised Elias like only a mother could. She would have made this house light and happy. It would be alive. Listen,” Lord Reginald paused. Victoria did so, cocking her head to the side to hear…what? There was only the sound of the crackling fire.
“I don’t hear anything,” she said finally.
“Exactly. When Arabella was with us, there was laughter; there was conversation. And not just business conversation—politics and science. There was friendship and joy. People visited this house for pleasure and company. But that all died with Arabella. And now look at poor Elias.”
“There is nothing wrong with Elias.”
Lord Reginald raised a brow. “He’s cantankerous.”
“He’s a man of strong opinion.”
“He’s an absolute beast to anyone who calls.”
“Perhaps he is just a very discerning judge of character.”
“Too discerning. If it were up to Elias, he would never go to town and wouldn’t accept a single visitor. We might as well board the place up.”
“Elias was adamant that Miss Pritchard and Miss Pembroke call on me today.”
“Was he now?” Lord Reginald considered this, rubbing the stubble on his chin. His grey eyes twinkled with amusement. “He was probably trying to scare you away.”
Victoria couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, I do think he was.”
“But you persevered!”
“I made it through tea, at least…and I may or may not have considered boarding up the doors on their way out.”
He was amused by this conversation and happy to get to know Victoria better. In his heart, he knew Charlotte Fairfax would not have an idiot for a daughter. No, if genetics could account for anything, Victoria would be a lively and bright young woman. He was beginning to see that his assumption was correct. Already, he could envision dinners together—the four of them at the table, happy conversation, laughter, smiles. Even Elias would smile, and from the Heavens above, his sister would be at peace. He would have finally done right by Arabella. Lord Reginald had, after all, promised to take care of Elias. And to him, that meant more than food and shelter; to him, that meant he was responsible for the joy in the young man’s heart. He had to set Elias on the path to a joyful life. It was more than a responsibility; it was his duty.
He hadn’t been successful at that task. But he believed quite deeply in delegation. If you couldn’t get a job done right, you’d best find someone better suited for it. Women were good at finding joy, or bringing joy with them wherever they went. Surely, Charlotte and Victoria would turn everything around. The more he sat with Victoria, the more he believed this to be true.
“Don’t let my nephew scare you away from Edenbridge Hall,” Lord Reginald said.
“He couldn’t if he tried. Scared or not, we’ve nowhere else to go.” Victoria’s lips quirked into a smile—her real smile. “But you’ve nothing to worry about. I’m not frightened in the least.”
“You want to know the truth of it?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’m not scared in the least.”
“What reason would you have to be scared? Does relinquishing your bachelorhood frighten you so?”
He slapped his knee mirthfully. “I will be losing all my credibility as a lifelong bachelor, won’t I? No, no. It is…well if you must know—it is the wood that frightens me.”
“Don’t tell me you believe in all this fairy nonsense about a cursed forest.”
“There is no nonsense about it,” Lord Reginald said, his expression grim. “The woods here are dangerous.”
“The sea is dangerous, but I survived. The wild does not frighten me, Lord Reginald. In fact, I live for it.”
The old man considered Victoria, studying her face long and hard. “That’s good. Many people, men and women, tremble at the thought of the wood.”
“I think I would prefer to explore it.”
A memory brought a smile to Lord Reginald’s face. “Arabella loved to explore. She was enamored with all the old fairystories. But they aren’t fairy stories, Victoria. There are monsters in those woods, monsters you wouldn’t find anywhere else in the world.
“Did you never meet a fabled beast out on the sea?”
The smile left Victoria’s face. She nodded and tried to explain it in a way he might understand. “I met no mermaids nor sirens. But there were other things.”
Lord Reginald sat forward in his seat, hoping that Victoria would be the one to finally understand.
“Giant squid. Kraken bigger than any boat you’ve ever seen. They could snap a ship in half and not leave a single survivor.”
He was nodding vigorously. “Yes, yes. Is that all?”
Victoria shook her head. “There were dragons. Massive underwater dragons.”
“Sea monsters.”
“Sea monsters are not the same thing as witches, trolls, and orcs.”
“How are they different?”
“For one, I’ve seen sea monsters.”
“And many people of Winstonshire have seen beasts from the cursed woods.”
“They’ve seen lonely old women and dark strangers, and out of fear, they cried, ‘Witch, troll!’ Just today, Miss Pritchard and Miss Pembroke were telling me about women burned at the stake and a stranger attacked and ran out of town. It’s horrific. Such senseless and irrational ways of thinking and the harm it can lead to.”
“What would it take for you to believe in the dangers of the wood?”
“Experience. Show me a troll, and I will declare I believe in trolls.”
“And if I showed you a troll would you believe him to be dangerous?”
Victoria shrugged. “He’d have to prove himself dangerous for me to believe it.”
Lord Reginald leaned back in his seat. “Why do you say that?”
It was Victoria’s turn to study the old man. “I will tell you the truth of it, but it is a truth not many can understand.”
“I am honored to be given the benefit of the doubt.”
Victoria dipped her head in acknowledgment. “Some of the beasts of the sea are glorious. They are beautiful and magnificent—an awe to behold. The sailors on my father’s ship honored the sea dragons, and I was taught to believe that the water belonged to these beasts. We are trespassers on their territory. A flick of their tail, a swipe of a claw, we would be done for.”
“But there was no flick of a tail?”
Victoria shook her head. “Sometimes they would swim alongside us.”
Lord Reginald relaxed into his seat; his eyes twinkled, and his smile glowed. “What was it like?”
Victoria searched for words that might capture the sensation. “It was…magical.”
The old man’s laughter bubbled up softly. “And yet you refuse to believe there might be magic in the forest?”
“I can’t explain it. It’s just different. The sea is so vast, so deep. There are mysteries in it that could never compare to anything on land.”
“Have you spent much time on land?”
“Not if I could help it.”
They sat silently for a while, each of them in their thoughts. It was Lord Reginald who finally spoke. “You remind me of Arabella in a way. Though my sister would have never proclaimed a love of trousers, she had an adventurer’s heart. She loved those woods and the magic in them.”
“I hope I will be allowed to explore them.”
Lord Reginald leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper, “You have my permission, just as long as you don’t admit as much to Elias.”
Victoria’s heart leapt in delight. My goodness, how she was enjoying Lord Reginald. She was awash in gratitude. Of all the terrible situations she could have found herself in, to have landed in a place that promised exploration, happiness, and adventure. And…there was Elias to be grateful for as well. A companion…
And it was at that moment, when Lord Reginald and Victoria were leaned close to one another and laughing conspiratorially like old friends, that Elias entered the room. He was startled by their nearness. Yes, he’d seen them in the same room before, but he’d never seen them appear so intimate. As a matter of fact, he’d hardly known them to say more than a few polite words to one another—as Charlotte was always leading the conversation and…he realized, chaperoning the betrothed pair.
Elias straightened his vest and stalked quickly across the room. “Excuse me. I realize I am late to dinner. Perhaps you’ve already finished?”
“Oh,” Lord Reginald noticed the clock. “I hadn’t even called for it yet. Young Miss Victoria and I were so engrossed in our conversation!”
“Which I have thoroughly been enjoying,” Victoria said happily. “There are few things more satisfying than good conversation. Don’t you think?”
“I agree! I do agree!” Lord Reginald said, eagerness in his very stance. “Conversation is life! And you Fairfax women are mistresses of the art.”
Elias’s gaze was on his uncle. He refused to look at Victoria. “Sounds like a most interesting conversation indeed. May I ask what the subject is?”
Lord Reginald shot an amused look to Victoria. “I have been sworn to secrecy,” he answered.
“And I will not speak a word of it.” Victoria was giggling and lighthearted, she was speaking in that easy way she had—that way that she shared with no one but Elias. Thus far, she’d proven to be a different woman in the company of others, she was cold and aloof. But now, here, and in front of his uncle—Victoria was being that irresistible version of herself that she had so far only shared with Elias. He didn’t like it and something like jealousy prickled inside him.
Lord Reginald went to the bell to call for their dinner, leaving Victoria and Elias a small measure of privacy. He could feel her eyes on him and it made the space beneath his collar grow hot. Without looking at the young woman, he cleared his throat. “Seems that you and your fiancé are getting on quite well.”
“Lord Reginald is an easy man to get on with.”
“I imagine you feel that way with all wealthy and elderly gentlemen.”
Victoria rose, forcing Elias to look at her. The damned woman wore a smile that spoke of secrets. It was a teasing smile. “You’re jealous.”
“You’re confused,” Elias shot back. “Why would I be jealous over a woman who’s affection can be bought?”
Victoria gasped in mock offense. “Elias, you judge me so harshly.”
“Does the situation not warrant it? I saw the way you were manipulating my uncle.”
Now the young woman was laughing. “Really, Elias, I know your opinion of me isn’t very high. But you must know your uncle better. Has that man ever been swayed by feminine wiles? Is he a man to be manipulated?”
No. Elias couldn’t say that he was, or that his uncle had ever been particularly interested in female companionship. Not that he minded women about the house. But he didn’t crave it. He had never known Lord Reginald to need a partner to feel a sense of completion. It was his work that completed him. So, why now? And why did it have to be Victoria?
“You know what I think?”
“I don’t have any interest in what you think,” Elias growled.
Victoria ignored him and stepped closer, lowering her voice to a whisper, “I think you don’t like the idea of me giving my attention to another man.”
“I’d prefer if you did and if you didn’t mind, make it a man about 60 miles from here.”
She looked up at him from under long lashes. “Wouldn’t you miss me?”
Elias closed his eyes as the question unwillingly sank in. Victoria made him feel something—something that he didn’t want to feel. He’d never felt it before, he didn’t like the feeling, but could he live without it? If Victoria left Edenbridge Hall now, it would leave a hollow place in his chest.
“Mary will be in shortly!” Lord Reginald sang happily, making his way over to the pair. “Elias, such a sour look on your face! We are in the best company this evening, let your mood reflect it!”
Lord Reginald took Victoria’s arm and led her to the table. “Allow me to escort my bride to her seat!” The old man was laughing and full of mirth. “I never thought I’d say such a thing, I hope you don’t mind me having a little fun with it?”
“Not at all! We should have fun with it,” Victoria insisted. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Mary stepped into the dining room and Lord Reginald declared. “Mary! Tonight we are having fun. Bring a bottle of sparkling wine to the table! On second thought, bring two! It takes more than a glass to get our Elias into a happy mood.”
“Yessir,” Mary answered.
“I’m not in the mood for a drink. And since when do you imbibe alcohol?” Elias asked his uncle, but he was ignored. Lord Reginald and Victoria were chattering away like old friends.
“What did you drink out on the sea?” Lord Reginald asked.
Victoria’s eyes sparkled. “Ale and whiskey.”
This sent Lord Reginald into a fit of laughter. “What a wild life you must have led!”
“There were moments. But in other ways my upbringing was common. I had my tutor that traveled with me and my father was very strict about my lessons.”
“What did you study?”
“Oh, everything. Languages, geography, mathematics, the sciences, and history.”
“Really? Now it has been a while since my schooling days, but young women of society didn’t typically engage with such rigorous subjects.”
“That is still true today, and had I been raised in the capital my subjects might have been music and needlework. Though I will say, I am versed in music as well.”
Lord Reginald laughed, slapping the table. “I like that! I like that! No modesty about it.” He turned to Elias. “The woman knows her strengths!”
“I’ve never heard a lack of modesty complimented so vigorously,” Elias grumbled as Mary set the first course in front of them and a manservant arrived to pour the sparkling wine.
Victoria turned her attention on Elias. Her shining eyes and brilliant smile felt like a spotlight on him. “Do you favor modesty, Elias? Is it a trait you possess?”
“I think every gentleman should favor modesty as well as embody it.”
Victoria cocked her head to consider this. “Yes. I do agree with you. I will say, many a young man in the capital lacked proper modesty. I’ve even heard stories of some taking liberties with young women—holding their hands, stealing a kiss. Can you imagine?”
Lord Reginald laughter bubbled up and overflowed. “Well, well, young men and women have been stealing kisses for generations. There’s nothing new or unnatural in that. I wouldn’t even call it improper, as long as the young woman was pleased to be kissed.”
Victoria hummed meditatively, her eyes on Elias. “That would make all the difference, wouldn’t it? Tell me, Lord Reginald, did you ever steal a kiss when you were a young gentleman?”
The old man let out a sigh. “Rebecca Langley-Sinclair.”
Elias nearly choked. He’d never heard uncle speak of a love interest before. “Who is Rebecca Langley-Sinclair?”
“When I was a young man and went off to my studies, there was a women’s school right next to the one for boys. It was Willowcroft and Oakhurst, side by side. Rebecca Langley was a student at the Oakhurst school and whenever there was a nice day or a break from lessons, all the young people would meet in the park or at a nearby café.”
Lord Reginald was wistful as he shared the memory.
“And Rebecca was your lady-friend?” Victoria offered.
“Rebecca was my nemesis.” Lord Reginald grinned in a way that was unfamiliar to Elias. For a moment, his uncle looked 20 years younger. “She had an interest in the natural sciences and, of course, I always had my head in my books. I would have never noticed Rebecca, except that she would peer over my shoulder and correct the notations I used to make in my texts.
“We used to fight furiously over…well, everything. The principles of motion and mechanics, the nature of gravity, and the laws governing physical phenomena, the origins of geological formations, and their ages.” He chuckled. “She had a theory about the ruins at Thornwood Keep that proved to be correct, only science didn’t catch on until about 20 years after Rebecca had made her declaration and it wasn’t until a man said it that anyone began to listen. Rebecca was right about a lot of things. She was a brilliant woman.”
He sighed.
Elias was flummoxed. “And why have I never heard of this Rebecca Sinclair-Langley before?”
“Rebecca Langley-Sinclair. And you have never heard of her, or the kisses she used to steal because she married William Frederick Sinclair, the Duke of Oakhurst—who had the good sense to lavish Rebecca with the affection that she deserved while my nose was buried in a dusty old book. Let that be a lesson to you,” Lord Reginald said, shaking his finger at Elias. “Always give a woman the attention she is due—or you may live to regret it.”
Elias couldn’t help but look in Victoria’s direction, but he was filled with regret when his eyes met hers. Those teasing eyes, they spoke of a challenge. Victoria was silently daring him to give her all of his attention. To consider such a thing would be…insane. This woman was engaged to Elias’s uncle, and even if she wasn’t, she shouldn’t be at Edenbridge Hall. To even be in Elias’s presence was a threat to the balance he strove to keep. He turned his eyes to the fire and let the conversation continue without him.
“What happened to Rebecca,” Victoria asked.
“I read her work now and again. A scientific study will come out and Rebecca will always be the first to make a formal comment—either praising the methodology or tearing it apart. Usually the latter. What a mind she has, what a mind…”
“And the Duke?”
“The Duke…he passed on…perhaps five years ago? No, it must be closer to seven.”
“And have you ever written to Rebecca? Called on her? Invited her for a visit?”
“Oh, I’m sure…I’m sure she doesn’t remember me.”
Elias allowed his attention to move back to his uncle. Were his ears reddening? Was the old man blushing?
“I’m sure that she does remember you!” Victoria sat eagerly in her seat, pushing aside her hardly touched meal. “Lord Reginald, you must write to her! I’m so very sure she would welcome the communication!”
Elias’s brows furrowed. “Do you seek to reunite your husband-to-be with a past love?”
Victoria beamed a smile at Elias. “Unlike some, I am not a jealous person. If my husband-to-be can rekindle a friendship that brought him joy, I am in full support. Besides, the duchess sounds like she possesses a reasonable mind—I am sure she would be sympathetic to our circumstances.”
Elias huffed. Circumstances. That is how she refers to marriage. Now more than ever, Elias was sure that Victoria only cared about financial gain. Of course she wants her husband’s affection to be directed elsewhere. She’d rather explore the woods than…explore Lord Reginald. Elias grimaced. There, he struggled to blame her. He had to admit, he hated the idea of any physical intimacy between Victoria and his elderly uncle.
“Perhaps…perhaps I will write a letter,” Lord Reginald said. “There’s no harm in a letter.”
“No, certainly not!” Victoria agreed happily.
“I did have some questions about a recent rebuttal she wrote regarding a paper on alchemy and the transmutation of certain elements.”
“That’s a good enough reason as any to write,” Victoria assured. “I bet she will be pleased to know you have kept yourself aware of her contributions to the sciences.”
“She might even be able to help me correct some problems concerning a little mixture I’ve been struggling with… Yes, this is a wonderful idea, on many levels.”
Lord Reginald took Victoria’s hand and pressed a kiss to it. At the sight of this, Elias fought the urge to rise to his feet as the blood began to pump angrily in his veins.
“I knew you would bring something wonderful to this house,” Lord Reginald said, speaking sincerely. “You are a ray of light, Victoria. A blessing to an old man, like me.”
Elias had never heard such emotion in his uncle’s voice, and he didn’t like the way he leaned so close to her when he spoke. Must he really hold Victoria’s hand? Elias couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t stand this nonsensical marriage on the horizon, nor the way Victoria was shining her bright eyes at another man. He realized he could no longer hear the conversation over the pounding of his own heart. Typically, that was when the change came upon him.
Elias pushed to his feet, muttering excuses as he hurried for the door.