Chapter 36
In which familial bonds are renewed
To be utterly without guile is a lovely place indeed.
— from Lady Avely’s Guide to Guile and Peril
Over the next three days, Judith recovered her memory.
In truth, she would always think fondly of that day and a half where she did not know the duke, and she was meeting him for the first time again.
After that first declaration, he withdrew a little, allowing her to sleep and eat in a strange room that looked like a ship’s cabin.
When she rejoined him in the breakfast room, he was all urbane charm and flirtatious coaxing, a mysterious dark stranger who nonetheless seemed to be completely devoted to her.
Rather than tell her tales of her past, however, he insisted they stroll around the castle, walking arm in arm.
Exercise and blood flow, he said with a rueful grin, would help speed the eradication of the drug.
So they set about exploring the myriad rooms and passageways, walked down to the quaint little dairy and cosy harbour, and inspected the cellars, which seemed to have been partially destroyed by some explosion.
They even promenaded across the causeway when the tide was out, the stones slippery beneath their feet, the sea air blowing into their faces.
Her heart beat rather fast as he put an arm around her to shield her from the breeze, and she couldn’t help but admire his masculine beauty, aged into authority and warmth.
Despite his attempts to keep the conversation general, sometimes she would catch him looking at her hungrily, or tracing a finger longingly over her arm.
She would blush and look away, uncertain what to do with this passion, even as lust stirred within her.
But she knew he was right. They must not rush into intimacy until they both knew themselves properly.
Peregrine (her son, apparently) followed them around at first in a very grouchy, suspicious fashion, muttering remarks about rakes and matrons, but he soon conceded that the duke was not going to press any advantage.
And when the duke wasn’t with Judith, he had his head together with Captain Drumpellier and Perry, as they plotted how to best foil Ltn Greene’s dastardly plans.
Apparently, a young woman called Miss Onslow was helping them with her French connections, though she was being kept under close guard, so Judith had yet to meet her.
And there was one other eccentric guest, the Baron Quarles, who had kept to himself and his telescope since he arrived that morning.
Matters had apparently been further complicated by the arrival by a whole roost of vampiri bats, who had allegedly swept down upon Castle Lanyon in a dark, fluttering cloud in the middle of the night.
They, too, claimed a right to the hospitality of the castle, and the butler and housekeeper had seemed to know where to put them, though from all reports, Captain Drumpellier was seething about it.
Judith shook her head at such a muddle, but Perry said that the bats might come in useful in foiling the French.
Judith let them sort it out. She contented herself with ambling dreamily around the lovely old castle, eating food leavened with oodles of cream, and drinking chocolate three times a day.
The duke had insisted the housekeeper source some cocoa tablets as a matter of urgent priority, and he prepared the drink himself.
Judith enjoyed watching him grind the tablets down and froth the cream, and the expectant look in his eye as she drank it.
Of course, the first memory that returned was of Perry: as a small boy, running along a river after his sister, Elinor, and somehow managing to somersault into the water.
It slammed into her with the force of a whirlwind, taking her breath away with the sudden love and affection that swept through her.
That sweet little boy was this young man!
Bit by bit, her knowledge of Perry trickled back, and she made him walk with her too, holding his arm tightly, reaching around blindly in her mind for further jewels, and laughing at the strangeness of it all.
She and Perry were walking along the ramparts that second morning when they bumped into Robert. He started back, chestnut hair falling over blue eyes, greeting them uncertainly.
Ah, yes, this was the young Illusor who cast the yew hedge…
who was also Perry’s half-brother. Judith blinked, trying to remember what had been said.
When the argument had unfolded in the Tea Tower Room, she had assumed it was nothing to do with her, or all play-acting, but now she realised with interest that this boy must be related to her somehow, just as Perry was.
They were half-brothers. By a different father?
Good Lord. She must have led quite a chequered youth, even before she got to the duke.
Robert’s eye had fallen upon Judith’s arm, which was wrapped possessively around Perry’s elbow.
Hastily, she put out her other hand in supplication.
“My dear boy, you must walk with me too. I am so very sorry that I cannot remember my other son. I have only just recalled Perry, and that is because he executed a particularly impressive fall into the river at age six. However, I’m sure you managed to get up to mischief too and will shortly make yourself known. ”
Perry coughed violently. “Er, that’s all right, Mother, he doesn’t remember you either yet.”
“Oh?” She smiled. “Then we are in the same dreadful boat.”
Robert tentatively accepted Judith’s arm. “It is an odd circumstance that we find ourselves in, is it not?” He smiled shyly. “I’m sure we will laugh about it later, Mother.”
Perry coughed awkwardly again, but he said nothing, merely darting an anxious look between them.
Judith proceeded to stroll along, quite dwarfed by the two of them, but feeling oddly happy. The sparkling ocean and the distant horizon lifted the spirits, and she must count herself proud to have raised two such admirable young men. She said so.
Perry cleared his throat. “Indeed. Of course you must take credit for it, Mother.”
Robert cocked his head to look at Perry. “Can you tell us of years gone by? It might help us to remember you and Elinor.”
Perry shook his head vehemently. “Oh no. The duke has told me it is better if you recall such things naturally, yourselves.” He paused.
“But surely you remember the more recent, chaotic events? Bob, do you recall how you made us both into soldiers, with those sharp red uniforms? And the duke’s shocked face when we embraced him in the fort? ”
The conversation ambled on, full of laughter and disbelief. Really, the two boys looked remarkably similar for being of different fathers, though Robert seemed to be the more thoughtful and reserved of the two, compared to Perry’s cheerful disposition. Judith hoped they were ordinarily close.
“What about Elinor, my daughter?” she asked eventually. “Did you say she is in Devonshire? Can she Travel over to see me too? It would be lovely to be all together.”
“I haven’t told her about your condition yet,” Perry confessed. “She is busy preparing for her wedding, and I didn’t want her to panic.”
“I can’t remember Elinor either,” said Robert, with a trace of melancholy. “When is the wedding?”
“In two days,” said Perry grimly. “You’re cutting it fine, Mother. And you are lucky you have me, otherwise you’d be terribly late. We’ll pop in at the last minute.”
Judith drew a shocked breath. “Two days? But I don’t know myself! And I can only remember Elinor as a ten-year-old child!”
That seemed a trifling concern, however, when that evening at supper, Robert became entirely cold and distant. He sat down at the far end of the table and ate his meal of roast lamb in silence, refusing to look at Judith or Perry.
Judith, between Peregrine and the duke, frowned down the table, puzzled. “What’s the matter with Robert?”
Perry sighed, clattering his fork. “Leave him be, Mother. He’s still growing accustomed to being part of the family.”
She nodded sagely. It was passingly strange, to be part of a family one did not recognise, and then to go from darkness to the light of recognition.
However, when the covers were removed on the orange pudding and jellies, she deemed that Robert had quite enough time to stew on his discomfort and raised her voice to address him.
“It is quite the odd feeling, isn’t it? A sudden felicity! ”
Robert’s head snapped up. “It is not a felicity. You are not my family, as much as you like to playact it.”
Judith blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You misled me! I am not your son! My mother is Anna Steer, and my father is a blacksmith.” Two spots of colour burned angrily in his cheek. “It was a low trick pretend we are a real family, even for a day.”
Judith turned in consternation to Dacian, who explained the matter to her in a low tone.
Mortified, she stared down at the table, feeling as if black holes had appeared in the ground around her.
Her dear Nicholas had sired Robert with someone else?
Robert was not her son? Various emotions crashed through her: anger, humiliation, grief.
And yet, when she looked over to Robert again, her heart wrenched at the suffering in his face.
“It wasn’t a trick!” she protested. “I didn’t know! I thought you were my son! You are Perry’s brother, after all.”
“Ha!” said Robert. “You might not remember it, but you pestered me to come here. In plain disregard to my feelings on the matter! Well, I’m leaving tomorrow.
And I certainly won’t be going to any Avely family wedding, you can be sure of that.
” He stood, throwing his napkin upon the table, glaring at them.
She took a hasty sip of wine to hide her feelings. The liquid was bitter at the back of her throat, and she bowed her head in acquiescence. Robert turned to leave, his jaw locked in a grim line.