must be kept between the two of us. I do not know how he will take our growing acquaintance, but I am ready to risk it, are you?”
Marguerite pondered for a moment. Tristan refused to discuss his mother, had done all he could to keep them apart, but somehow she did not think she would be chastised by more than a glare for spending time with Felicity. And even if she was, it was worth such a risk to find a friend. “Yes,” she said firmly, “I am ready to brave whatever dragons he may summon.”
Felicity laughed and held out a hand. “Then come. I was heading to the park myself. You are correct, the weather is irresistible.”
Feeling encouraged, Marguerite said, “I asked you before to tell me about Tristan when he was young and you pushed aside the question. Is there not anything you can tell me that will help me understand him, without betraying whatever it is that lies between you?”
“You do ask difficult questions. I can see why my son likes you. Ah, I see the doubt in your face. He would never have married you if he didn’t. More doubt. I know that the circumstances between you were most unusual, but I do know this about my son. No matter what he may tell himself, he holds marriage sacred. He would not have married you if on some level he did not think you would make a good wife for him.”
“But, you do not understand –“
“I don’t need to. Tristan and I were the best of friends, as well as mother and son, until his father’s death. I do know my son. Despite what has happened since, I do not believe his basic character has changed.”
Marguerite shook her head slowly. “He is so confusing.”
“He always was. He thinks he is wiser than everybody else, and most of the time he happens to be right. It is a most troubling dilemma. Because he always thinks he’s right, he can have very little tolerance for others, although,” and here she grinned at Marguerite, “he is always intrigued by what he doesn’t understand. He can’t stop thinking about it. He does love a puzzle.”
“I am not sure I understand what that has to do with me.”
“I think it has everything to do with you,” Felicity replied. “I’ve yet to see you with Tristan, but my instincts are telling me you may be just what he needs.”
They crossed the street and walked into the park. For a few moments neither spoke as they gazed up at the newly budded branches. Marguerite filled her lungs and could almost smell the coming spring.
“You still haven’t told me anything that would help me understand Tristan. What was he like as a child?” Marguerite picked a leaf off a bush and twirled it between her fingers.
“He was delightful, so full of joy and quickness. He was never able to sit still for a moment and then I’d turn around and he’d be a different child, quiet and studious, his nose pressed into a book or moving chessmen about a board in patterns only he could see. Does that help?”
Marguerite snorted. “So really you are telling me he has not changed at all. It is impossible to reason what he will do next.”
“I did not say that. I said he was changeable, not unpredictable. He moves rapidly from thing to thing until one engages his mind, and then once engaged he is almost impossible to pry away.” Felicity paused and regarded Marguerite carefully. “Until he becomes bored. Then he flits and flutters until he finds another activity that fascinates him.
“I consoled myself during his wild behavior of recent years by deciding that he simply could not find anything to hold his attention and so was constantly seeking that certain something. When I first heard of his marriage, I hoped he had found it.”
“I am sorry that all was not as you expected,” Marguerite answered. She turned to stare across the park. It was difficult to meet Felicity’s gaze. A high curricle pulled up at edge of the grass. Marguerite froze as she recognized the woman seated in it. A low contralto laugh echoed through the nearly empty park.
It was the redhead, Violet, the woman she had seen on her first night in Town and then again at the ball, pulling Tristan away from the dance, and from her. Tristan’s mistress. She pressed her fingertips tight together and tried to look calm.