Keeping the Castle - By Patrice Kindl Page 0,21

and ridden over from Gudgeon Park one afternoon to sit with us as we sewed in the central bailey, which is open to the sky and possesses the remains of a rose garden now coming into bloom.

Prudence and Charity were far too overawed by his eminence to say much to him, leaving us in a blissful silence wherein rational discourse was possible. Rather to my surprise, my mother was uncharacteristically silent as well, tho’ His Lordship was as affable and approachable as our good neighbor Sir Quentin. The Marquis and I therefore bore the burden of keeping the talk flowing, but this was no hardship. He seemed to be enjoying the pale sunlight and the brave roses that had, against all odds, struggled out of the thin, chalky soil and flaunted themselves against the stones of the bailey keep.

He had brought a small, cowhide-covered ball for the dog Fido. After some initial suspicion, Fido had grasped the purpose of this item and they began a game of toss and fetch. That is, His Lordship tossed, and Fido restored the ball to him after much racing about and hysterical barking.

I later learned that it was a “golf” ball, stitched and stuffed with feathers for the game of the same name, at which the Marquis was an adept. Had I known how expensive the ball was, I should never have allowed Fido to sink his little teeth into it. However, by the time I did learn the ball’s value, it was too late. He became addicted to the diversion and expected a game of ball every night after dinner for at least half an hour. However, I digress.

Since His Lordship the Marquis was lately come from London, I pressed him for details about the new fashions, books, and plays of the capital. When he spoke of new publications my mother at last lifted her eyes from her work and began to join in. Soon they were engaged in conversation and I was pleased to note, and to observe my mother note, how his every word and expression marked him out as a man of intelligence and cultivation. One would expect polished manners and an extensive knowledge of the world from a man in his position in life, but he was better than that: he was possessed of a superior mind and a liberal nature.

I will not attempt to disguise the fact that I found Lord Boring to be an attractive man, not only in his purse but in his person. But it would not do to be too hasty; here was yet another man who was more than worthy of my consideration.

True, he was a widower more than twenty-five years my senior, and a head shorter than I. But I believed him to admire me, and I liked him very much. No, the concern was that he was far, far too grand for me; mine was an ancient and honorable lineage, but the Marquis was a celebrated member of the ton, on terms of easy familiarity with the Prince Regent’s residence at Carlton House and with the most distinguished houses of Europe. If he did remarry (and thousands of young ladies and their mamas must have exerted themselves to the utmost to achieve this goal, but had in the end been forced to admit defeat), it would be expected that he would choose a woman from one of the great families of England, not an impoverished young girl from the back of beyond in a dilapidated castle by the edge of the North Sea.

How foolish I was to even think of him as anything but a pleasant acquaintance!

And yet . . .

And yet I will admit to another side of the story. He was the last of his line—his wife and young child had died some years ago and he had no close relatives to resent his choice. He was free to marry as he pleased. Therefore, perhaps it was not entirely foolish, I thought as I watched him smiling contentedly around at our little family party.

Ah well, I told myself, it was early days yet.

Life in little Lesser Hoo had become much more interesting of late.

7

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, AND yet more rain. On the day after we sat in the sunlit garden with the Marquis, black clouds rolled in off the sea bringing a driving downpour. It rained and blew and then rained some more, for five nights and days. No one came to call. The plans that the Baron and