“Why did you not give my cousin the letter I gave into your keeping for her?” she demanded.
Eden watched Oswald Vawdrey’s expression grow instantly guarded. “My dear young ladies…” he started lightly.
“You specifically promised you would deliver it to her!” Lenora persisted, slapping one dainty hand down on his polished desk-top.
Only by the faintest quirk of his very black eyebrows did Oswald Vawdrey betray any surprise at Lenora’s uncharacteristically animated behavior. There really was a very strong family likeness between the three brothers, thought Eden distractedly. Though Oswald was a lot less brawny than his two younger brothers, he had the same dark good looks and height. Of course, to her mind Roland was the better looking. Mason’s features were too harsh, and Oswald’s too smooth, whereas Roland’s were just right. “Your letter?” he mused, after an infinitesimal pause. “Ah yes, I seem to recall now. You did hand me a letter.” He looked regretful. “Alas, that morning at Hallam Hall was so chaotic, I fear…”
“You forgot!” choked Lenora. “How could you?”
Eden reached across to touch her cousin’s sleeve. “Lenora,” she said soothingly. “Calm yourself. This is not like you…”
“Calm myself?” Lenora wheeled around on her. “How can I be calm, Eden? Knowing what you must have thought? Knowing how you must have felt… my gods!”
Eden passed an arm around Lenora’s shoulders, and shot a look of bafflement at Oswald Vawdrey.
Lenora turned impulsively to her. “You thought I would blame you, did you not? You thought I would be upset?”
“Naturally, I was worried-”
“But that was so unnecessary!” burst out Lenora. “And it truly makes me angry to think of us being out of accord!” She turned back angrily to Oswald. “And all because of you!” she said accusingly.
He held up his hands appealingly. “If there has been any discord between the two of you, allow me to bear the blame-” he began.
“Discord?” echoed Lenora in disgust. “She is like a sister to me! Do you not understand? There is no-one whose opinion matters to me more!”
Oswald seemed to consider this a moment. He reached for a silver chain around his neck, extracted a key and then unlocked a small drawer in his desk. From this he withdrew a folded paper which he offered across the desk to Eden. She took it from him and unfolded it.
My dearest, Lenora had written.
Do not be out of reason cross with me. In truth, if I have offended, it is the fault of listening to your strictures rather too well. I am acting for once, without self-interest. Indeed, it is your interests which I have put first. I love you Eden, and want what is best for you. Too long you have played the poor relation at Hallam Hall. I want you to have nice things, steadfast social standing and to be mistress of your own home. Father would not have matched me to Sir Roland Vawdrey if he could not provide all this and more for a wife.
If it has not occurred to you already, then I must confess that I alone am the author of your disgrace. Please believe, it was not a decision that I took lightly. I know how much you value your reputation and virtue. Pray do not smart overmuch regarding your fall from grace. You will scarcely credit it, but in my experience, people do not warm overmuch to paragons of virtue.
In mitigation of my behavior, please believe my motives were not just in your interest. Sir Roland is sick for love of you. I am not the only one to have noticed it, so it is not merely a figment of my imagination as you thought. If you could only see the way his eyes follow you, the way you are his sole focus when you are in the room, then you would believe it too.
He is yours, and now I have delivered him. The rest is up to you.
Your ever-loving Lenora
Eden read the letter through twice, her mind reeling. She lowered the letter with trembling hands into her lap and stared unseeingly at the large window at the other end of the study.
“Please try to understand Eden,” begged Lenora with tears in her eyes. “I meant to act for the best. You were both being so sadly stubborn. I knew I had to do something rather drastic.”
“Drastic!” echoed Eden in a croaky voice. “My gods!”
“Yes,” Lenora concurred. “Nobody would ever believe I had it in me.”
“But how did Lord Vawdrey factor into this?” Eden asked, glancing over at Oswald who was watching them both with interest.
“Pardon?” Lenora looked momentarily disconcerted. “Oh, I simply asked him to pass along the letter…”
“No,” cut in Eden. “No, that won’t do Lenora, I’m afraid.”
“You think me lacking the ingenuity of course, but as I said in the letter, the scheme was of my own making...”
Eden held up a finger. “The drug,” she said.
“From a hawker I met outside the cathedral,” said Lenora quickly.
“But you said ‘he assured me there would be no after-effects’,” Eden reminded her.
Lenora licked her lips. “I meant the hawker of course.”
“No. No I do not believe you would dose me with a drug you had bought from a hawker. Besides, you said ‘Lord Vawdrey assured me’.”
Lenora’s expression was chagrined. “Oh bother!” she exclaimed. “Maybe I am as dim as everyone thinks me!”
Eden glanced again at Lord Vawdrey, who had a smile playing about his lips. “The truth, if you please,” she said crisply.
“The truth is,” interjected Oswald smoothly, “That your cousin and I found ourselves of the same mind on this matter. I too felt that drastic action was required to spur my brother into taking the right course of action. He had been, quite frankly, mooning over you for months. Since that kiss you shared at Midwinter…” Eden made an involuntary movement. “But alas, Roland has never been... shall we say, very self-aware?” Eden felt herself bristle at the criticism. “It’s true, you know,” he said regretfully. “It’s actually something of a family failing, when it comes to matters of the heart. All three of us brothers had something of a blind-spot in this regard. We stumble around in the dark with our feelings, when we should be dragging them out into the open sunlight. At least, until we find the right woman.” He gave his first genuine smile. “Then it all falls into place.”
Eden sat reeling. “But how did you even hatch up such a scheme? How could you drug your own brother?”
“The Lady Lenora and myself simply found ourselves stood next to one another at some function and started talking.” Oswald said reasonably. “As like-minded people do, we found our common ground and our discussion bore fruit.”
Eden didn’t believe that for a minute. She imagined him sidling up to Lenora and planting the seeds of the dastardly plot into her cousin’s mind. But perhaps Lenora had been ripe for such mischief, she thought looking back at her cousin, who was regarding her with anxious eyes. Who would have dreamt that Lenora would act thus?
“I can scarcely believe all this,” she said, closing her eyes. “All this time, I thought I sleep-walked myself into Roland’s bedchamber.” A stunned silence greeted her words.
“That did not occur to me,” said Lenora looking upset. “You have not done that for years!”
“Is Roland aware you thought as much?” asked Oswald looking intrigued.
“No,” said Eden, slumping in her chair. “He simply thinks I set about entrapping him.”
“He would of course,” sighed Oswald.
“Pompous thing!” cried Lenora indignantly. “Well, one good thing can come of our confession, and that is that you can set him right at once!”
Oswald winced. “Perhaps you could postpone such a confrontation, until after the hearing has concluded?” he suggested.
Lenora turned her blue eyes on him. “You don’t think we should take the opportunity tomorrow to confess all to the Queen?”
Oswald looked pained. “I do not think that would be at all constructive,” he said cautiously. “Unless…” he left a pause. “Annulment is the outcome you are hoping for, Eden?”<
br />
Eden gave a start. Annulment? Her hand flew to her mouth and she stared down at her feet.
“Are you very unhappy, dearest?” asked Lenora, looking even more distressed. She twisted her handkerchief in her lap. “I vow, I will never try to help anyone ever again! I wrought far less damage when I thought only of myself!”
Eden opened her mouth, but before she could answer, Oswald Vawdrey spoke.
“It is a shame,” he said thoughtfully. “That you were not permitted to hear the testimonies given this morning to the King. They would have set your mind at rest a little I think. People have such very strange views about women’s delicate sensibilities.” He hesitated. “Is there any point that I could qualify regarding the evidence I gave yesterday to the Queen?” he offered. “I think you should know that when I said Roland never once spoke your fair cousin’s name in connection with the betrothal, I spoke the truth. Your name however, has been on his lips many a-time in my hearing. And since that Solstice Eve, I would say, almost constantly.” He gave her a shrewd look as Eden’s cheeks grew pink. “I do not wish to be indelicate, my dear,” he said ruefully. “But I think you should know that at Hallam Hall, Roland told me quite categorically that he would not marry Lenora, solely for the fact she was not you.” Eden stared at him. “I would swear my life on that,” he said quietly. “And if you do not believe me, you may ask Mason. He himself gave this information to the King in sworn statement this morning. And he is not so adept at lying as I.” He smiled at her again. “I for one am very happy to have you in the family. And I am not the only one. My wife is thrilled and Linnet also. One of my father’s last wishes was to see Roland married to a woman of character and sense.”
Eden looked to Lenora but she not did not look remotely offended. “Lenora has a good deal more to her than just a pretty face,” she retorted, and meant it.
“I am sure that is true,” Oswald conceded, with a nod to Lenora. “But I think even she would agree, she would not have brought Roland to heel.”
“He does not need bringing to heel,” Eden responded tetchily. “He’s my husband, not my hound!”
Oswald turned his head aside and covered his mouth as if to suppress a sneeze or cough. Eden felt an uncomfortable suspicion that he was smothering a laugh. “Of course,” he agreed hastily. His face when he turned back was quite composed, but his eyes were still alight with laughter. It crossed her mind, that her dear friend Fenella must have her work cut out for her with this man for a husband.
“I think I will just go and take a look out of the window,” said Lenora decisively, as she stood up and wandered in that direction.
Eden could only suppose her cousin was trying to be tactful. She looked uncertainly to Lord Vawdrey to find him still watching her. “I saw your plans for the Keep,” she said awkwardly.
“My plans?” he sounded startled.
“Yes, for the expansion and a second tower.”
“Good gods,” said Oswald Vawdrey, and for the first time she could see she had taken him aback. “He never kept them!”
Eden looked at him enquiringly. “The old baron?” she guessed.
His unseeing gaze refocused on her. “Yes, my father,” he said slowly. “I presented them to him, rather pompously, as a gift when I was twenty or thereabouts. I was vastly proud of myself.” His lips twisted wryly. “Alas, he was not ostensibly impressed or grateful. He believed me an impudent puppy to want to improve on perfection. I thought he would have consigned them to a fireplace years ago. He certainly never mentioned them again. Well, well, wonders will never cease.”
“I expect he was impressed,” said Eden, feeling strangely sorry for a younger version of Oswald. “I can hardly see how he could fail to be. I thought they were inspired.” She looked at him searchingly. “Roland is terribly proud of Vawdrey Keep as well, he must have got that from his father, I think. Did you want to be an architect then?”
“What? Oh no, it was just a little project to while away the hours. Having spent time at Vawdrey Keep, you must realize how one must find ways to keep oneself occupied.”
“If I’d had my books and my music I daresay I would have been vastly contented there,” said Eden defensively. “It is a very beautiful part of the country with many spectacular views.” Noticing he was watching her keenly, she shifted in her seat.
“I think, with your encouragement,” he began tentatively. “Roland would not be averse to making improvements to the old place. You might not think it, but he has managed to amass a surprising amount of wealth beating his opponents to a pulp in the field.” He pulled a face. “And he is not noticeably hampered either by sentiment or pride, when it comes to melting down his trophies to add to his already groaning coffers.”
“While it’s true that my husband routinely melts down his trophies,” said Eden spurred into making a defense. “I think you’re quite wrong to attribute this to a lack of sentimentality.” She paused. She didn’t want to betray any of Roland’s secrets, but she could surely point out something which any onlooker was free to observe. She eyed Oswald doubtfully. “Have you never noticed that Roland is one of the only knights who declines to take hostages during the melee exercise?”
Oswald’s eyelids flickered, and he tipped his head to one side, a faint frown on his face. “You clearly attach some significance to the fact, sister?” he said mildly, but she could see his eyes were watchful, despite his relaxed pose.
“I do, quite frankly,” she answered him. “How could I fail to, given what happened at the Battle of Adarva.”
Oswald’s expression tightened, and she could see her directness did not please him. Good gracious, did he really expect her to tiptoe around the issue like some kind of diplomat? “He was only fifteen at the time,” she persisted. “And thought he’d watched you die. Then he found out afterward you were a hostage-”
Oswald waved a hand, “Yes, I am aware of what happened, Eden,” he said dryly. “None so well as I.”
She took a deep breath. “Is it any wonder then, that he has no taste for the practice? Even though his greatest rivals in the field - Lord Kentigern, de Crecy… They all do it, as a matter of course. If all Roland cared about was coin,” she persisted doggedly. “Then he too, would hold his vanquished foe to ransom. But he does not.”
“Out of deference to me, you think?” asked Oswald lightly, but she could see the idea had affected him. He rose from his chair and crossed to the fireplace, looking down at it a moment. “I did not realize that hostage-taking was so widely practiced at tournaments these days,” he said finally, without turning his head.
“Well, no, how could you?” muttered Eden. “When none of you actually go to watch him compete?”
He turned his head at that, and looked at her a moment, his expression curious. Then his lips quirked and he looked, Eden thought, rather pleased. “We have been most remiss,” he said gravely. “You are quite right to pull me up. Tell me, which tournament would you recommend we attend as a family en masse?”
Eden was quite sure she did not manage to conceal her surprise at this, though she tried. “But surely, you are aware of the King’s royal tourney in two month’s time…?” she began.
“Ah yes, of course. And who knows, we may even see him reclaim his title!” he said with relish. “What an excellent notion, my dear Eden.”
She hesitated. “Are you not worried I may tell Roland that we were drugged?” she asked frankly.
Oswald leant back in his chair. “He would be furious on your behalf of course,” he said thoughtfully. “But on reflection, I believe he would forgive me for his treatment. Eventually.” He gave a small smile. “After all, I made sure he married the right girl.”
**
Lenora accompanied Eden back to the Queen’s apartments and they sat a while in the window seat while they threw out random questions at each other, as they naturally occurred.
“Well, but who carried me into Roland’s bedchamber?” Eden fretted, sitting suddenly bolt upright.
“Lord Vawdrey of course, but I was with him the whole time so you need not worry about the propriety.”
“And who removed my dress?”
“Me of course,” answered Lenora complacently. “My turn. What did you think when you received my trunk?”
“That you were furious with me,” admitted Eden. “Did you truly pick out these dresses intending them for me?”
“Of course,” said Lenora. “And very well you look in them too, instead of dressed like an old crow.”
Eden nudged her and Lenora laughed. “You could have my own things sent along to me now,” Eden suggested.
“I’m afraid those old dresses have been donated to the poor,” said Lenora virtuously. “To atone for your elopement.”
“They have not!”
“Will you tell Roland that he was drugged?” asked Lenora curiously.
“I’m not sure,” sighed Eden. “It would only cause disruption between him and his brother. Poor Fenella would not like that. Besides, he really doesn’t hold it against me that he thinks I tricked him. If anything, he sort of admires it.”
“I don’t understand how you can’t tell him,” frowned Lenora. “Are you in love with him? I already know he is with you.”
Eden pressed her lips together a moment. “We quarreled before the summons arrived from the Queen,” she admitted. “It could not have come at a worse time.”
“What did you quarrel about?”
Eden sighed. “It won’t make much sense if I even try to explain. You see, there’s this knight called Sir Renlowe…”
An Ill-Made Match (Vawdrey Brothers Book 3) Page 30