Magic In The Storm

by Meredith Bond

  She stopped and closed her parasol as she approached Adriana, who sat in the shade of a large elm tree. “Good morning, Miss Hayden. What are you working on?”

  “A present for a friend,” Adriana said, smiling up at her. She then put the final touch on the rose and signed her name to the bottom of the page.

  Miss Havelock bent her head to see. She gasped with pleasure. “Oh, how beautiful! Oh, Miss Hayden, that is...” She stopped speaking, her mouth open just a little, as if at a loss for words.

  She then looked to Adriana curiously. “How...? Is that for me?”

  “Yes! How did you know?” Adriana laughed.

  “I... I don’t know...” Her new friend was finally at a loss. She looked just like Adriana imagined herself to look when Miss Havelock sensed how she was feeling or knew what she was thinking.

  “You are sounding very much like me, Miss Havelock,” Adriana giggled.

  “Oh, please call me Kat, and I shall call you by your given name as well.”

  Adriana smiled. “Of course, I am very happy to. Now will you tell me how you knew this was for you, or is that another one of those questions I should not ask?”

  Kat looked perplexed for a minute, clearly trying to figure out the puzzle. “Well, I... I could feel it. Is that right? I could feel you had painted it for me. And you have painted in such beauty and—and hope and happiness!”

  Had she painted in happiness? Adriana supposed that she had, since she had felt that way while she had painted the picture. Or perhaps Kat could just feel it now that they were together.

  “It is to thank you for being so kind to me last night, and yesterday morning as well. Late last night, when I couldn’t sleep for thinking about what had happened to me in the evening, I realized that if you had not been there, if I had been trying to speak with anyone else, I would have been in terrible trouble. You were so good and kind. You calmed my fears and helped me. This painting is just a small way for me to thank you.”

  Kat impulsively reached out and grasped Adriana’s hand. “I am so glad I was able to help. And I would be happy to do so again, in any way you need me.”

  Adriana gave Kat’s hand a squeeze. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. The only friend I’ve ever had is my companion, Henrietta. Now, I would be honored if I could call you friend as well.”

  “Of course! Morgan is my only friend, and as you know, he cannot be spoken of. It can be difficult for me to see him at times, since my aunt usually keeps me very busy here. I do try to visit him as often as I can, though.”

  “You, you are very close?” A slice of pain bit into her heart. The thought of Morgan looking at anyone else the way he looked at her the previous day made her sick to her stomach. He had said she was special, but perhaps he said that to every woman...

  “We are good friends only,” Kat said quickly. “I assure you. We grew up together. He’s like a brother to me.”

  The pain eased, and Adriana’s stomach muscles relaxed. Adriana even managed to smile and nod her head. “Thank you for explaining.” She couldn’t believe the sudden anger that had assailed her. She had never felt such a thing about anyone before. She paused to calm herself down and then asked, “Are not you and Lord Vallentyn close friends?”

  Kat thought about that for a moment, and then said, “Vallentyn is much older than I am, and he’s always been so busy with his estates. Caroline and Susan are closest in age to me, but both are rather empty headed, I’m afraid.”

  Adriana looked questioning at Kat. “Caroline and Susan?”

  Kat laughed for a moment. “Vallentyn’s sisters. Did you not know? He has five sisters.”

  “Oh, no, I didn’t know!” Adriana said, rather grateful for the change in topic.

  Kat nodded absently, “They’re all married now.” She was looked intently at the painting sitting on Adriana’s lap, and then up at the house as if expecting someone to be there.

  The beauty of the ancient abbey was certainly not lost on Adriana, but somehow she didn’t feel compelled to sketch it. It was too... heavy, she decided, too closed and too cold. While still formal, at least the gardens held some feeling of warmth and openness to them.

  “May I take the painting? I am very selfish and do not wish to share it with anyone!”

  Adriana laughed. “Of course. Just be careful, the paint is not fully dry yet. And I really must put away my paints before Lord Devaux comes back and finds out that you have seen my work.”

  “Is no one allowed to even see your paintings?” Kat asked a little incredulously.

  “No. Lord Devaux doesn’t like my work. I’m afraid he is embarrassed by it because it is too emotional.”

  “Oh. Well, I will take this upstairs before anyone sees it, then,” she said, indicating the picture resting delicately on her hand.

  They walked together back to the abbey, but stopped short as soon as they entered the rear of the great hall. Standing directly in front of the grand staircase were Lord Devaux and Lady Vallentyn.

  Adriana began to back away. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by her guardian with her paint box in her hands, but his words stopped her.

  “My dear Lady Vallentyn, I would be honored if you would join me for a walk in the garden this evening—after dinner perhaps?” Lord Devaux was asking, looking up into Lady Vallentyn’s face with a smile that made Adriana’s skin crawl. What could he possibly be up to?

  The lady looked at the diminutive man with a look of contempt. “I thought I had made it clear that I am not interested in your puny aspirations.”

  Lord Devaux lost his smile. “Puny... I will have you know, my lady, that I am a major player in Parliamentary politics. A major player! Why, I might very well end up as Prime Minister one day...”

  “Which is why I am allowing my son to marry your ward,” Lady Vallentyn interrupted Lord Devaux’s rant, her voice quiet, but filled with contempt. “But that does not mean I will subject myself to suffering your attentions.”

  Kat’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly covered it, hiding her smile.

  “Well, you will have to suffer my attentions if you wish for your son to marry Adriana! I can put a stop to this marriage without a moment’s hesitation,” Lord Devaux threatened.

  His face began to turn a rather alarming shade of red, but he snapped his fingers to show just how quickly he could put an end to the engagement. Silently, Adriana applauded him. Oh, if only he would carry out his threat!

  Lady Vallentyn exuded menace and anger, then took a step closer to Lord Devaux. Locking her eyes onto his, she said in a deep penetrating voice, “Adriana will marry Vallentyn. You will ensure that she does. No matter what you have to do, you will see to it that this marriage takes place.”

  Lord Devaux’s eyes widened as he looked directly into Lady Vallentyn’s eyes. Slowly he began to nod his head. “Adriana will marry Vallentyn. I will see that she does,” he repeated.

  “And you will forget this nonsense about being fascinated with me. I am a very attractive woman, but not one with whom you would want to become more intimate, I assure you.”

  Lord Devaux took a step backward away from Lady Vallentyn, shaking his head. “No, no, of course not. Whatever put that idea into my head? How ridiculous! Well, I suppose not so ridiculous, as you are an extremely attractive woman, but... no!”

  Lord Devaux blinked his eyes a few times and then laughed awkwardly. “Of course, it is the children who will marry, not us! And it is certain that they will marry. I will see to that. You should have no fear on that head. Adriana and Vallentyn will marry, and the sooner the better.” Nervous sweat rolled down Lord Devaux’s face.

  Adriana nearly gasped. What had just happened? One moment things were looking up, and the next her fate was sealed. She did not understand this. Kat’s eyes met hers, but there was something—could it be fear?— Adriana saw in her friend’s eyes.

  Lady Vallentyn looked with obvious disgust at Lord Devaux, but then suddenly spun toward A
driana and Kat. “What is this?” she hissed.

  “Good afternoon, Aunt Vallentyn,” Kat said quickly, clearing her face of all expression. “Lord Devaux.” She nodded in his direction.

  Lady Vallentyn narrowed her eyes at them. “Good afternoon.”

  “Adriana and I have just come in from the garden to see about luncheon. I thought Thomas would know. Have you seen him?”

  The large dog Adriana had seen once before was by the front door. He stood and gave a hearty bark.

  “The footman? No,” Lady Vallentyn said, not even looking over at the dog. “You just came in?”

  “Yes,” Adriana said, matching her tone to Kat’s carefree one and curving her lips up into a smile. “Just this minute. I suppose you and Lord Devaux were talking, so you did not see us come in.”

  “We were just discussing the fact that I need to send an announcement to the Times regarding your betrothal,” Lord Devaux said smoothly.

  Adriana looked at him, trying to hide her shock and dismay. “I thought you were going to wait until I have had a chance to consider Lord Vallentyn’s proposal.”

  “There is nothing for you to consider, Adriana. You will marry Vallentyn.” Lord Devaux took a few menacing steps toward Adriana.

  “But...”

  “Adriana, what is that in your hand?” His voice came out high with annoyance.

  Belatedly, Adriana remembered the box of paints she was still carrying.

  “They are mine! Those are my paints.” Kat said quickly, dropping her hand which was carrying the painting to her side and a little behind her. “She was just carrying them inside for me.”

  “You do not paint, Katrina,” Lady Vallentyn said, her voice gliding through the words.

  “I... I wished to try it,” she said, trying to cover her lies.

  “And I had promised to give her a lesson. That is what we’ve been doing in the garden,” Adriana added.

  “Yes. Adriana is an excellent artist. And she has been very kind and patient in teaching me how to paint.”

  “Excellence is subjective. If you like emotional hogwash, then yes, her painting is excellent. If you prefer good solid representations of nature, then they are disgustingly bold and often quite bizarre. I would suggest, Miss Havelock, that you find a lady who knows how to paint properly if you wish to learn the art.”

  Lord Devaux paused for effect and narrowed his gaze on Adriana. “I believe I made myself clear when I told you that you were not to show your art to anyone. Now, if I learn you have been doing anything other than just teaching Miss Havelock how to paint, Adriana, I will be forced to search your room and have all of your materials disposed of immediately. Is that clear?”

  Adriana took a deep, shaky breath and nodded her head.

  Lord Devaux lowered his voice, “Any more transgressions on my good will, and I will not hesitate to carry out this threat.”

  “Katrina, you will please attend me in the solarium. We have matters to discuss,” Lady Vallentyn added, in as threatening a tone as Lord Devaux’s.

  Kat blanched noticeably. “Oh?”

  Lady Vallentyn gave her a falsely sweet smile. “I want to hear what you learned regarding our conversation at dinner last night.”

  “Oh, yes.” Kat’s eyes slid toward Adriana nervously. “I, er, just need to put away my paints and I will be there directly.” She took the paint box from Adriana’s hands, gave her a very brief little smile, and then ran past Lady Vallentyn and Lord Devaux and up the stairs.

  There was definitely something odd going on here, but Adriana just couldn’t figure out what it was. She just prayed that her friend hadn’t just gotten herself into trouble on her account.

  Eleven

  Come on now, just a bit more.” Morgan tried to coax the foal into swallowing more of his potion. The poor animal was so weak it could barely lift its head to swallow.

  “Have you given him milk?”

  Morgan twisted around from his seat on the floor of the stall. His cousin, Kat, stood just at the door, watching him.

  Relaxing a bit, he turned back to the foal. “He’s too weak to stand on his own to nurse.”

  Kat came over and squatted down next to Morgan and the animal. Looking deeply into the foal’s moist brown eyes, she stroked his head and then said, “He’s hungry and he yearns for his mother’s comfort.”

  Morgan nodded sadly. “I’ll do what I can,” he said, getting up and retrieving a small pail. He then stroked the doe’s nuzzle and told her, “I need your milk for your foal.”

  The doe moved herself to allow Morgan to milk her. He squatted down next to her and set to work on his task as Kat continued caressing the foal and murmuring words of comfort.

  Finally she said, “Morgan, how did you put a suggestion into Adriana’s mind?”

  Morgan stopped what he was doing and looked at Kat. “I did what?”

  “You put a suggestion into her mind. Didn’t you know?”

  “No... are you certain?” A small fire sparked into life inside of Morgan’s belly.

  It only grew as Kat related to him the events of the previous evening—how Adriana hadn’t been able to speak his name or mention that she’d met him.

  He couldn’t speak for the excitement, the thrill, that was welling inside of him. The doe shifted, reminding Morgan of what he had been doing. He set to work once again, but he hardly paid any attention.

  He had put a suggestion into Adriana’s mind! He had performed magic! But how? And how could he have done it unintentionally? It didn’t make sense. He almost wished that he could just accept this as fated, but it was too important to not examine. He needed to know more. Did this mean that he now had his powers—the powers he should have had his whole life? It took all of his willpower not jump up and try something—anything!

  “What were you doing when you put the suggestion into her mind? Where were you?” As always, Kat was thinking along the same lines. Yes, he thought with a sigh, this had to be explored before he could try anything new.

  Morgan remembered the day before and the incredible time he had spent with Adriana—it didn’t take much to think back to it since it had hardly left his mind. “We were sitting outside. I was making the potion to cure the animals.”

  He replayed the wonderful scene again in his mind, but this time tried to look for any magic that might have taken place, or for anything... different. There had certainly been sparks between them—that had been magic of a sort. But it was surely not the kind that could put a suggestion into Adriana’s mind.

  His hands paused their work, and he shifted uncomfortably on the ground before saying nonchalantly, “And I kissed her.”

  Kat jumped as if he had just touched a flame to her skirts. “You kissed her?” she nearly shouted.

  The doe startled, nearly knocking over the pail of milk. Morgan calmed her, and then looked to see if there was enough milk. He could hardly see it. All he could see was Adriana’s green eyes sparkling with unshed tears when he had told her he knew what it was like to have no one care for you. All he could feel was the burning of her hand in his and the knowledge that she, too, felt the deep loneliness that perpetually resided within him.

  He shook his head to clear his mind, and then truly did look at the amount of milk he had collected. It would be enough. He set a cloth into the pail so that he could feed it to the foal.

  Morgan could sense Kat watching him closely. Finally, he couldn’t delay answering her any longer. “Yes, I kissed her,” he said, straightening his back but not meeting his cousin’s eyes. “She’s very beautiful and I... I’m attracted to her. I told her she was very pretty and then I kissed her.”

  He tried to hide his smile as he remembered Adriana’s soft lips and her sweet scent when he had leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She reminded him of a field of wild flowers on a warm summer’s day. She had that same fresh smell and made him feel warm and happy.

  “I hadn’t intended to kiss her—it just happened,” he admitted. “It
was incredible,” he added very softly. He didn’t tell her how shaken up he’d been by the kiss. How she’d touched him something deep inside both his body and his mind. How heat had flooded his nether regions, but that it was the sparks in his mind that had really... There was no way to explain something like that to Kat, and even if there was, Morgan wasn’t entirely sure he could, because he didn’t even understand it himself. He just knew that being with Adriana made him happier than anything else ever had.

  Kat sighed and sat back. “I hope someday a man might kiss me,” she said, wistfully.

  Morgan smiled and stole a peek at her. She was sitting staring blindly at the foal. “I would offer, but you don’t make me feel the way Adriana does. You don’t stir my blood.”

  That broke her out of her spell. She laughed and said, “Well, I should hope not! We are almost brother and sister.”

  Chuckling quietly to himself, Morgan took the cloth from the foal’s mouth and set it back into the pail to soak up more milk.

  “And I assure you, I was not asking you to kiss me, Morgan,” Kat said seriously.

  “No. I know that,” Morgan said, letting the words fall through his laughter. But then, he too became more serious. “I must admit, I was a little surprised when I kissed Adriana. She is the first girl I have ever wanted to kiss.”

  “She is the first girl you have ever met aside from me and your sisters,” Kat pointed out needlessly.

  Morgan gave a little shrug of dismissal, and then added, “Well, if I could leave this forest...”

  “Don’t even try, Morgan! You remember what happened the last time you did.”

  Morgan stifled his sigh and turned back to the foal, placing the cloth back into his eager mouth. “Yes. If you hadn’t been there to put out the fire, my leg—and perhaps more of me—would have been horribly burnt. My mother’s spells can be very cruel.”

  He was quiet for a moment, but not even the thought of how he was held here in this forest against his will could dampen the inner joy that had begun singing inside of him.