Page 12 of The Earl and the Wedding Crasher
Mrs. Brooks blinked, opened her mouth, and closed it again. She looked from Louisa to Kenneth for a few moments. "Well, I- I'm not sure that's wise, my lady."
"Whyever not? Do you suppose there is a monster in the topiary maze, waiting for us to venture forth unaccompanied? We might never emerge again!" Louisa exaggerated her horror at the prospect, and was rewarded with a wet giggle from the small boy still hiding behind her.
Mrs. Brooks sighed deeply, and once again Louisa got the distinct impression that she was truly trying the woman's patience at every interaction. "Lady St Vincent. His Lordship has made it very clear that I must aid you until you are settled. Moreover, I am not at all sure that he would appreciate the dismissal of his instructions with regards to the children and the building of their relationship with my lady. I do not believe he would consider this notion to be a suitable one."
"I appreciate your concern for Lord St Vincent, Mrs. Brooks. And if you feel that he would be unduly harmed by such knowledge, please feel free not to inform him of such. But I am quite sure that you have your own duties to attend to today, and as, dare I say, the most important of my duties is to 'his lordship's wards, I am sure Kenneth and I will get on tremendously well."
Louisa held her hand out to the boy, and he instantly took it. He tucked himself close to her side and she smiled kindly down to him. "Would you like to explore the topiary maze with your Aunt Louisa, Kenneth?"
Kenneth nodded firmly, and started off towards the tall hedges, towing Louisa behind him. She laughed, turning to glance at Mrs. Brooks once more. "I promise you, Mrs. Brooks, we shall be absolutely fine! And I shall ensure we are back inside with plenty of time to change for dinner!"
Cedric massaged his temples in a vain attempt to stave off a headache. The words on the papers in front of him had started swimming half an hour ago, and yet he had no choice but to plough on. He had to read over the contracts in time for his business meeting in a few days, but the thick piles never seemed to get any smaller despite how many he shifted onto the "completed" side. He sighed heavily and stood, crossing his study to stare out of the window.
On fine days such as these, Cedric always resented being cooped up indoors. He wished he could stroll the grounds or perhaps even take the coach out somewhere, do anything except sit in this dark room writing and reading and worrying. Was he doing enough? Was he handling the estate in the way his father wanted? These thoughts had plagued him almost since he had inherited, but they had very recently been joined by a new, somehow even more urgent and terrifying question. Was he going to raise the children the way his brother would have wanted?
Gazing down into the topiary maze which had always been one of his favorite parts of the vast grounds, he lost himself in his thoughts. The children were still so quiet and guarded. He had tried to make them feel at home, had bought them fine clothes and toys to replace those that had burned alongside their parents. And yet they still stood silently whenever he went into the nursery. They watched him carefully, but every question he posed to them was met with short, flat responses from Abigail and sad silence from Kenneth.
Am I doing the right thing by them? How would I know? I've never had to take care of children before, I've barely interacted with any. Surely they would tell me if they were so unhappy?
Cedric was pulled from his morose musings by a peal of laughter echoing up to his open window. He peered down towards the sound and, finally spotting the source, his hands tightened on the windowpane involuntarily. What on earth were the Balfour girl and his boy doing running around in the maze?
Frustration simmering in his veins, Cedric turned and rang the bell to summon his housekeeper. He could hardly believe that his mousey wife had defied his direct orders not to interact with the children until he decided she should. Had he made a mistake in marrying her after all? Was she going to prove more trouble than she was worth?
A tap at the door shook him. "Enter," he called roughly. Mrs. Brooks hurried in and stood before him. Was it his imagination or did she look thoroughly resigned, as though she already knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth?
"My lord." She dipped a respectful curtsey and awaited his instructions.
"Mrs. Brooks, I wonder if you may indulge me. I have a query that needs answering right away."
"Of course, my lord. You just let me know how I can be of service."
"You have spent a lot of time with Lady St Vincent since she arrived at St Vincent, have you not?"
Mrs. Brooks blinked, taken aback by the question. "Well, yes my lord. You asked me to. You instructed me to aid Lady St Vincent as she learned her new household duties and found her feet here."
Cedric nodded. "And would you say that Lady St Vincent was of average intelligence?"
Now, Mrs. Brooks looked thoroughly confused. "Yes? My lord," she added hurriedly. "Lady St Vincent is very dedicated to learning her duties. And in my opinion, I suppose she is a quick study. Forgive me, my lord, but I am not quite sure what you are asking."
"Something strikes me as funny, Mrs. Brooks. You see, I also got the impression that Lady St Vincent is an intelligent, well-read sort. So tell me if you can, why would such an intelligent woman have so much trouble with such simple instructions as "do not interact with the children until I am satisfied that you should and tell you as such"?"
"Ah." Mrs. Brooks' shoulders dropped as she finally realized what was troubling her employer. "She is in the garden with Master Kenneth."
Cedric worked to suppress his irritation. After all, it wasn't his housekeeper's fault that his new wife seemed immune to instructions. "Yes Mrs. Brooks, I can see that. I can see and hearthem running around in that damn maze. I believe I told you to take Lady St Vincent on a tour of the grounds? I did not realize you were going via the nursery."
Mrs. Brooks hung her head, wringing her hands in front of her. "I am sorry, my lord, truly. We didn't go to the nursery, I would never disobey your wishes. my lady and I were by the pavilion when young Master Kenneth came running to us, crying about insects. I attempted to explain to him that crying just is not done, and to take him back to his nursery, but my lady saw that he was upset and was adamant that she would cheer him up. She sent me away to attend to my own duties. I can fetch her though? If you wish to see her, my lord?"
Cedric mused, then shook his head. "No. It's all right, Mrs. Brooks. You can leave." As she turned to go, he called her back. "Oh - go and find Abigail, will you? And bring her to me."
"And then- And then, the princess saw the boy and the golden goose and then she saw everyone following them and she thought it was funny and she laughed and she never laughed and then the boy got to marry the princess. Because she laughed, you see."
Louisa couldn't help but laugh either, seeing how utterly serious and earnest the small boy is. When she had asked him about his favorite fairy tale, remembering when he told her he liked stories, she hadn't quite expected a full retelling of it. But her heart swelled with every word. She had never seen the quiet,serious little boy look so animated and happy before. She realized she was getting a glimpse of what he must have been like before tragedy struck his happy little family, when he felt loved and safe and had no inkling of cruelty in the world.
"That sounds like a lovely story, Kenneth. I can see why it's your favorite."
Kenneth nodded vigorously. "Yes, Abigail, like the one with the red cloak and the wolf but I don't like that one, it's scary and I don't like scary. My mama always says she doesn't like scary either, so she reads The Golden Goose with me and Papa reads the scary wolf book with Abigail and-" He cut off abruptly, stopping in his tracks.
Louisa turned and dropped down before him. "Kenneth? Darling?"
