Part 43 (1/2)
”Yes,” she said, ”I'm sure I've impressed upon him the notion that I'm as brainless as a stick of wood. I do not know what test I was being given, but I am very certain I failed it.”
”No, I know what failing one of his tests is like, so you must trust me when I say you pa.s.sed the exam in a most excellent fas.h.i.+on. You would be at the head of the cla.s.s.” His smile became a grimace. ”While I would be the one lurking in the corner with an odd-shaped hat on his head.”
”You are making a poor joke. You know perfectly well you are an exceedingly clever man.”
”A poor joke, you say? So now my sense of humor is to be disparaged along with my intellect?”
”If so, then it is only by yourself. For I think very highly of your faculties. As does your father.”
He laughed at this. ”Now it is you who makes the ill joke.”
”No, I do not. You are very like him, you know.”
”Like him? Yes, I am quite like him, the same way a cloud is like a rock or a bird like a bulldog.”
Now it was Ivy's turn to laugh. ”You are like him,” she said, ”in that you are both rocks and bulldogs, neither of which is very willing to be budged.”
Before he could answer, they had reached the front door.
I F SHE HAD feared her reunion with the members of Lady Marsdel's household would be awkward, then those fears were unfounded. She was welcomed immediately and with warmth. Mrs. Baydon embraced her, and Mr. Baydon set down his paper to shake her hand. Lord Baydon p.r.o.nounced he was not at all surprised to see her, for it had stormed all morning, and some delightful thing must always follow rain.
For her part, any awkwardness Ivy might have felt vanished at once. Everyone in the parlor was seated in their familiar place, and it seemed as if she had seen them just yesterday. And why should she not feel comfortable? The only problem that might have once caused discord between them had been resolved, to utter contentment on all sides. She accepted tea and submitted to all their questions happily, though she kept her answers away from any topics that might reveal the nature of Mr. Quent's work for the lord inquirer.
It did feel strange, even unfitting, to be surrounded by such good cheer when her sisters were forced to endure Mr. Wyble's company, and their father far worse. But if her own spirits were strengthened, it would only serve to help her lend strength to those she loved. Besides, an idea had already begun to form in her mind. She had written to Mr. Quent, urging him to ask the lord for whom he worked to pet.i.tion for her father's release from Madstone's. And had she not just ridden in a carriage with that very lord?
”You look well, Mrs. Quent,” Lady Marsdel p.r.o.nounced. ”A bit freckled, perhaps, though I suppose that is to be expected from dwelling so long in the country. I am pleased to learn you have done well for yourself. A country gentleman with a sizable fortune is the best sort of match you might have made. A good arrangement should lift one up but not cause one to strain in an effort to reach too high. Is that not your thinking, cousin?” She looked over her fan at Lord Rafferdy, who had only lately entered the parlor.
”It has been,” he said. He glanced at his son, but Mr. Rafferdy gazed out the window, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.
”We shall have to meet Mr. Quent when he returns to the city,” Lady Marsdel went on. ”I gather he has some business with you, cousin. Is that not so?”
”I long had an a.s.sociation with Earl Rylend, whom Mr. Quent served previously,” Lord Rafferdy said, and eased himself into a chair. He offered no more explanation of his relations.h.i.+p with Mr. Quent, and Lady Marsdel did not inquire further. Instead, she proceeded to expound on the wretched weather, how every day seemed to bring something worse, and how fortunate her cousin was that he came to town so seldom.
Mrs. Baydon left temporarily in search of another puzzle to fit together, and Mr. Baydon retreated behind his broadsheet. While the others spoke, Ivy moved to the window where Mr. Rafferdy stood.
”Her ladys.h.i.+p is right,” he said quietly as she drew near. ”You do look well, Miss-forgive me, Mrs. Quent.”
She smiled at him. ”You need not beg forgiveness. It is all so new, even I forget what to call myself sometimes.”
”I would simply call you remarkable. I trust this Mr. Quent of yours does the same. He is very lucky to have you.”
”No more than Mrs. Rafferdy is to have you,” she replied. ”I hope very much to meet her one day.”
Even as she spoke these words, she saw his expression darken, and she knew something terrible had happened.
”That will be impossible,” he said, ”for there is no Mrs. Rafferdy.”
He spoke in a lowered voice, and in a minute she knew the whole terrible story, or at least as much as she needed to know. Her heart ached for him. To think she had been considering only her own worries.
”Mr. Rafferdy, I am truly sorry.”
”You have no need to be sorry. I was saved from an unlucky match, one that would surely have led to disaster for my family. No, I am grateful.”
”What you say is true. It is better that her father's actions were not revealed after she and you...but all the same, to endure such a dreadful happening-”
He shook his head. ”It is long past, as far as I am concerned. I have had little time to think about it. Besides, it is nothing compared to what you have endured. I never had a chance to tell you how saddened I was to learn about Mrs. Lockwell. All of us were.”
Such was the concern in his expression that her feelings on that matter were suddenly renewed, coming back to her all in a rush, and, compounded by thoughts of her father, they rendered her incapable of speech for a moment.
”Forgive me,” he said. ”Let me take you to a chair.”
”No, I am quite well.”
He studied her with that new, serious look of his. Then he gave her a wry smile. ”So you are married, and I am not. I confess, when I saw you last, I was presumptuous enough to think our positions would be reversed when next we met.”
She smiled in turn. ”As had I. But either way, the result is the same. We are now free in every way to be acquaintances, Mr. Rafferdy. Or rather, I would hope, to be friends.”
His smile wavered, but then it returned stronger than before. ”It is my hope as well. And since both of us are in agreement, it is already done.”
Mrs. Baydon returned then and set a wooden box on the table. ”Mr. Baydon, could you put down your paper? I'm trying to choose a puzzle to fit together, and I need your help.”
”I have you, Mrs. Baydon, and that is all I require to puzzle me.” He turned a page.
She frowned at him. ”No, I need your help opening the box. The lid is quite stuck.”
”Why don't you have Mr. Rafferdy open it? As we all know, he's very good at opening things.”
Mrs. Baydon's eyes shone. ”Yes, you're very right. Come, Mr. Rafferdy, work that spell of yours and open up this box.”
Ivy might have thought these words a jest, except for the way Mr. Rafferdy's face reddened. ”Spell?” she said to him. ”What spell is that?”
Mrs. Baydon answered for him. ”The spell Mr. Bennick taught him. It turns out our Mr. Rafferdy is a magician after all, despite all his protests.”
Ivy looked at him in wonder. ”Is this true?”
He gave Mrs. Baydon a look of displeasure, but she only laughed, and at last he sighed. ”It is true that I worked a spell,” he said to Ivy. He twisted the ring on his right hand as he spoke, its blue gem winking. ”But only with Mr. Bennick's aid. I am sure I could not recreate it.”
”Nonsense,” Mr. Baydon said, setting down his broadsheet. ”If you would apply yourself to the study of magick, I am sure you would do very well.”
”What reason would I have to do such a thing?”
”Reason? What reason do you need? Who should not want to discover for themselves a new power if they could?”
”I find I have quite enough power as it is,” Mr. Rafferdy said. ”I in no way crave more.” The words were uttered so sharply that the room fell silent.
It was Lord Rafferdy who finally spoke. ”Well, the day is short, and I am sure you are wanting to return to your sisters, Mrs. Quent. We have kept you long enough. I will have my driver take you home. I am glad to have met you and look forward to seeing you again.”