Page 7 of Dropping the Ball

“All will be well,” Alden said. “The point of the ball is to absolve me of the curse. As soon as I find the right lady to wed, Uncle Gerald will strike my name from the inheritance list, and I’ll be able to continue on with my studies without any fear of The Curse of Godwin Castle causing the alligators to eat myguests. Besides which, you believe in the curse far more than I do. I am a man of science.”

“Unbelievable,” Cedric growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Alden let out a breath and rested his weight on one hip, swirling the last of his sherry in its glass. “I could always make the terrarium off-limits to the ladies, except with supervision,” he said. “It’s just one room.”

“One very large room,” Cedric said with a frown.

“At least there’s nothing wrong with the dining room or the conservatory,” Alden added, hoping that would be helpful. “And I’m certain the ladies will return with a report that the guest rooms are suitable for company.”

“We’ll see about that,” Cedric said.

They did see about it. An hour later, after Alden and Cedric caught up on several other matters of family business, Lady Bernadette and Lady Muriel joined them in the small dining room for luncheon.

“The guestrooms are salvageable,” Lady Bernadette reported. “However, they are all in need of updating.”

“I suspect no one has so much as set foot in them since the reign of King Edwin the Third,” Lady Muriel said with a flat look for Cedric.

“Money is no option in improving them, Lady Bernadette,” Alden said, smiling across the table to her. “Whatever you need as you oversee the renovations, just ask for it.”

“AsIoversee the renovations?” Lady Bernadette asked, surprised.

Alden felt momentarily sheepish, as if he’d assumed too much. “Would this not be considered preparation for the ball?” he asked. “If it is not within your purview, I could hire someone else to oversee the work.”

“Oh, I am more than capable of overseeing home improvements, my lord,” Lady Bernadette said, a delicious spark of pride in her expression. “If that is what you wish me to do.”

Alden smiled, hope and confidence growing in his chest. “I would be honored if you would stay at Lyndhurst Grove, as my guest more than my employee, for the duration of the renovations, Lady Bernadette, however long they may take. Together, I am certain we can accomplish them in no time at all, no matter how large the task ahead of us. And then we will celebrate at the ball, when I choose my bride.”

“Thank you, Lord Alden. I accept the challenge,” Lady Bernadette said.

Alden breathed in a sigh of contentment. If it meant such a lovely and charming woman were to be his guest, he was looking forward to the next few weeks, or however long the renovations took. Even more so than the ball itself.

Chapter Three

Dearest Hethersett,

I have arrived at Lyndhurst Grove, and I do believe I am about to face the greatest challenge of my organizational career. Lord Alden Godwin is one of the most charming, agreeable, and beautiful men I have ever met, if you do not mind my saying so, he has a fortune and comes from a fine, reputable family, but I truly am not certain whether he is remotely marriageable.

There are snakes involved.

I do not simply mean a snake or two that has slithered into the house from the garden either. Lord Alden is a herpetologist, and he has converted his entire ballroom into what he calls a terrarium. It houses hundreds of species of reptiles, amphibians, and birds from South America and the Caribbean. He has removed the floors so that he could plant trees and other native plants in Wessex soil, hehas constructed a fountain that feeds a stream which runs through the room, and he has enclosed the entire thing in glass, like a hothouse.

I must confess, after my initial shock when one of his lizard specimens crawled up my arm to perch around my neck–I was terrified at first, but no harm came to me, and the thing was a rather pretty shade of green–I forced myself to have courage and to assess the surroundings for the event I have been called upon to orchestrate. I do believe I can make a magnificent weekend for Lord Alden and give the ton a ball it will talk about for years.

Whether I can find a woman willing to live in a house of snakes for the rest of her life is a different question entirely.

I do so hope the weather in Christiana has cleared up. You seemed so despondent in your last letter. All will be well and the sun will shine once more, I am certain. Please do tell me more about your voyage to Stockholm in your next letter. Is the situation still as volatile now as when the Norwegian independence movement was at its height? I do so wish you could come to Britannia, but I understand the delicacy of your current position. Perhaps someday soon.

Yours, Bernadette.

“Iam certain if anyone can accomplish this monumental task, it will be you, my dear,” Muriel told her as she and Lord Cedric prepared to depart the next morning. “My husband’s cousin is a good man, and you will be entirely safe here within his care.”

“Are you quite certain about that?” Lord Cedric muttered as he carried the last of their traveling bags out the front door to the carriage.

“Cedric,” Muriel scolded him, smiling as she did.

“I merely wish to keep Lady Bernadette on her guard,” Lord Cedric said as he handed the traveling bags over to the footmen by the carriage. He turned to Bernadette and said, “I am quite certain you can work miracles for my wayward cousin, but do have a care for the alligators.”

Muriel laughed and shook her head. “There are no alligators.”

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