Chapter 2

It was the perfect plan.Alden had thought it through from every angle, and he was confident that the best way for him to find a wife and dodge The Curse of Godwin Castle was to hire his cousin's new wife's friend to host a ball for him at Lyndhurst Grove. To be honest, his Uncle Gerald's ultimatum fit perfectly with his desire to fill the empty space in his life and to settle more completely, now that he was back in Wessex to stay. He wanted a wife. He wanted to put past hurts aside and love again.

Lady Bernadette was the key to fulfilling those desires. She was reported to know everyone who was anyone in London, and most of the rest of the kingdoms of the New Heptarchy. That meant he wouldn't have to bother combing through his scant list of acquaintances to determine who had women of a marriageable age in their family and to drag himself through the tedious process of meeting each one individually. Time was not in his favor at his age. He could entrust Lady Bernadette with all preparations for the ball as well, which was convenient, since he knew more about the mating habits of marine iguanas than he did about the ton.

Alden knew nothing about music, dancing, decorations, and, he had to admit, proper manners either, but a woman of good standing, whose profession relied on a deep knowledge of every one of those things, would be more than capable of arranging the perfect event. He could continue with his research and with writing his definitive guide to sustaining non-native reptile and amphibian species in captivity without being bothered by the whole thing.

All Alden would have to do would be to socialize with the array of fine ladies who would be invited to Lyndhurst Grove for the duration of his house party, choose one that was to his liking, and marry the woman. The curse would be avoided, and more importantly, his happiness, and, he hoped, the lady's, would be assured.

Frankly, he was surprised that none of his other cousins or his brother, Dunstan, had come up with the idea themselves.

He was even more certain of his plan after Smythe announced Cedric, Lady Muriel, and Lady Bernadette had arrived at last. He'd been deep into rewriting the chapter of his book dealing with propagating the correct flora for lizards in captivity when he'd received the happy news. Well, in all honesty, he'd been searching for Egbert, his knight anole lizard, whom he'd raised from an egg that he'd accidentally taken from its natural habitat on the island of Cuba on an expedition there the year before returning to Wessex. Egbert would do well enough on his own for the moment, so he'd left his study and headed to the parlor to greet his guests.

It was always a pleasure to see Cedric again, and his new cousin-in-law was a formidable woman whom he'd liked from the start. But it was Lady Bernadette that had captured his attention from the moment he spotted her, rising from the couch where she'd been waiting for him.

"And you must be Lady Bernadette Attleborough," he greeted her, drawn straight towards her as she smiled at him in greeting.

He wasn't entirely certain what he said to her, he was so surprised by Lady Bernadette's appearance. She wasn't at all what he'd expected when Lady Muriel had told him about her. He'd thought he was welcoming a spinster who would dress in grey, pull her drab hair back in a tight chignon, and who would frown and criticize everything she saw. Instead, he was astounded to find Lady Bernadette was small and bright, with sun-blonde hair, sparkling, green eyes, and a shapely figure.

She looked younger than her thirty-some-odd years as well. Lady Muriel had told him that Lady Bernadette had attended Oxford University with her many years ago, so Alden was expecting someone old and bookish.

He was so surprised by the fine woman who still hadn't let go of his hand after she'd taken it as boldly as any man that he almost didn't see Egbert slip out of the sleeve of his jacket and skitter onto Lady Bernadette's arm.

"Oh! Egbert!" he finished whatever nonsense he was babbling to Lady Bernadette with an exclamation of surprise.

A fraction of a second of confusion creased Lady Bernadette's beautiful face…and then she screamed.

"Oh! What is it? Get it off me!" she shouted, dancing back from Alden and batting at her arm.

She shrieked a few more times, shaking her arm, then held stock still, her shoulders pulled up and her eyes squeezed shut as Egbert settled himself around her neck.

"Not to worry," Alden said, maintaining as much calm as he could as he stepped forward and plucked Egbert from Lady Bernadette"s neck. "It's only just Egbert."

"Oh!" Lady Bernadette breathed out, her body beginning to shake. "What is an Egbert?"

"Forgive me," Alden said briefly as his fingers brushed the soft, warm skin of Lady Bernadette's neck. "Egbert is a species of iguana that ordinarily resides in the Caribbean. He's not particularly fond of our cooler, Wessex weather, so he likes to perch someplace warm, generally on people, against their skin."

Alden drew Egbert gently into his embrace, unbuttoning his jacket with one hand so that Egbert could tuck himself into the warmth of his body.

"He can usually be found on my person while I work, since, when sitting still, I make the ideal perch upon which to bask," he continued. "That is, if I'm in the sunlight. If not, he'll join the rest of our family in the terrarium."

"Your…your family?" Lady Bernadette asked, her voice still wobbly as she brushed her neck, perhaps to rid herself of the sensation of scales against skin. "Terrarium?"

"Alden, what have you done?" Cedric asked, rolling his eyes.

Despite Cedric's disapproval, his cousin's question energized him. "I've done the impossible," he said. "The terrarium is a veritable home away from home for my specimens. But that's right, you have not visited me since I finished the room. Come! Come and see what I've done."

Alden turned to lead Cedric, Lady Muriel, and Lady Bernadette out of the room and down the hall to the terrarium. They followed, although a little too slowly for his liking, because it meant he had to hold his enthusiasm for everything he'd accomplished in check. At least that gave him the opportunity to walk by Lady Bernadette's side.

"I do not know if my cousin and his lovely wife have informed you, but I spent ten years of my life traveling in South America and the Caribbean, as a student of Herpetology."

"I…they did inform me, but only in the vaguest terms," Lady Bernadette said.

Alden might not have been an expert at social interactions, but he was savvy enough to tell when a lady was anxious.

"Do not worry, Lady Bernadette," he said, offering his arm in case it would help her feel more at ease in his home. "The vast majority of specimens I have in my house are completely harmless. The only venomous or poisonous creatures housed here are kept safely in the terrarium. And even those creatures would never dream of attacking a human."

"Alden," Cedric huffed his name scoldingly. "Stop trying to frighten the ladies."

"I am not frightened," Lady Muriel insisted, grasping Cedric's arm as they walked. "They're just animals."

"Oh, my specimens are so much more than just animals," Alden said, glancing over his shoulder to Lady Muriel, then focusing on Lady Bernadette again as they neared the terrarium. "They are precious examples of the diversity and vastness of life on this earth. They are vibrant and beautiful, and each one is different in its own way."

"I see," Lady Bernadette said, smiling.

The way she held herself and the attention she gave him were admirable. Like many others, she was clearly alarmed by his collection without even seeing it yet, but she was putting on a brave face and attempting to keep an open mind. Those were both traits that Alden prized greatly.

"Here we are," he said, stopping in front of the closed doors of what had once been the ballroom. "I've been working on the terrarium since I returned from my travels. Over a hundred craftsmen from the length and breadth of Europe and the Americas have contributed their time, talents, and efforts to create what I believe is one of the most?—"

"Just get on with it and show us what you've done, Alden," Cedric interrupted him.

Alden was too excited to show off his pride and joy to be cowed by Cedric's grumpy manner. He grabbed the handle of one of the doors, turned, then pulled it open to reveal the wonders within.

The terrarium was absolutely wonderful. Even Cedric seemed to think so as the four of them made their way inside, Alden carefully shutting the door behind them. Immediately, they were confronted with the moist, damp scent of earth, the humidity of towering trees in the sunlight, and the splash of the indoor fountain he'd set in place to feed the miniature river that wound through the enormous room. There was even a bit of birdsong from the exotic birds he'd brought back from the Amazon along with his reptiles and amphibians.

"Good God, Alden!" Cedric exclaimed, taking a few steps deeper into the room, then looking straight up. "What have you done with the ceiling?"

The ladies looked up as well and gasped.

Alden grinned proudly. "I had the rooms above taken out and paned glass built in its place. Likewise, I had the room extended quite a bit and enclosed in glass as well."

"It is a giant hothouse," Lady Muriel said, pressing a hand to her chest.

"More precisely, it is a giant terrarium," Alden said. "I had the floor removed as well, and rich soil was brought in to create the perfect foundation to grow some of the rarer species of palms and trees. If you'll follow me along the path, I'll show you the frog pond."

"Frog pond?" Lady Bernadette asked, her voice wavering, but curiosity shining through.

"Yes," Alden drew her along the flagstone path toward the part of the room where the walls and ceilings were entirely glass. "Herpetology is the study of both reptiles and amphibians. I have over three hundred species of frogs, lizards, turtles, and snakes living here at Lyndhurst Grove with me."

"Did you say snakes?" Lady Muriel asked from several steps behind them on the path.

"Yes," Alden answered, failing to see why Lady Muriel had turned so pale, or why Cedric was now glaring at him. "Lyndhurst Grove is home to everything from the Barbados thread snake to a lovely albino boa constrictor named Phyllis."

"You own a boa constrictor named Phyllis?" Lady Bernadette asked weakly, glancing around and inching closer to Alden as she did.

"Yes, but she's usually sleeping at this time of day." Alden looked around as well. "Ah, yes, there she is." He pointed up to the branches of one of the false trees on the far side of the room that he'd had built specifically for basking reptiles. "She should be docile for a few more days at least, since I just fed her the day before yesterday."

The ladies gasped, and Lady Muriel clung tightly to Cedric.

"What did you feed her?" Cedric asked sardonically. "The neighbor's dog?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Alden laughed. "I have the children of tenant farmers bring rats up to the house when they catch them. I pay the boys tuppence per rat," he said proudly.

Lady Bernadette made a high-pitched, strangled sound as she glanced around, clutching Alden's arm. "It…it is rather beautiful, if you think about it," she said breathlessly.

Alden smiled at her. "Just wait until some of the more exotic flowers are blooming," he said. "I have gone out of my way to make the terrarium a place of beauty as well as scientific splendor, but to be honest, my expertise is more with fauna than flora. I should like to hire a gardener with knowledge of tropical plants at some point, particularly if I decide to expand."

"Expand?" Cedric asked incredulously. He closed the gap between Alden and himself, bringing Lady Muriel with him as he did. "Alden, is this what you've been doing for the last two years? Is this what all the work and improvements you've told us about incessantly have resulted in?"

"Yes, of course," Alden said, failing to understand his cousin's upset.

"How much money have you spent on all this?" Cedric demanded, gazing up at the glass ceiling, then over to the combination of false and real trees at the far side of the room.

"More than it would be prudent to discuss in front of the ladies," Alden said discreetly. "But never fear, cuz. I have more money than I could ever spend in one lifetime, even if I built three more terrariums onto the house." He smiled at Lady Bernadette, intending to proceed on to tell her she could spare no expense while planning his ball.

"We thought you were having the house redecorated," Cedric said, still incredulous.

"In essence, that is what I have done," Alden said.

"No, I mean having new paper put on the walls in the dining room, investing in new carpets for the parlor, purchasing a new pianoforte for the conservatory," Cedric said, angrier still. "You know, things that ordinary, sane gentlemen would do to improve their estates." He turned to Lady Bernadette and said, "Now do you see what I meant before?"

Alden could only imagine what had been said before.

"I can assure you," he said to Lady Bernadette in a confidential tone, "I am quite sane."

"You are not," Cedric protested. He huffed, then let go of Lady Muriel's arm to turn in a circle. "This…this used to be the ballroom, did it not?"

"It did," Alden answered.

Cedric focused his gaze on Alden with a sharp stare. "Alden, how do you propose to host a ball at which you intend to find a wife to put up with all this if you no longer have a ballroom?"

"Oh." Alden hadn't thought of that when he'd designed and built the terrarium. He hadn't thought he'd have any need to host a ball to begin with.

"I am certain we can come up with a solution," Lady Bernadette said, her voice slowly regaining the strength it had had when they'd greeted each other in the parlor. "If the weather holds, the dancing could be held outside."

"I am quite certain that the weather would not dare to spoil any event you might plan, Lady Bernadette," Alden said with a smile.

Lady Bernadette blushed modestly for a moment…which was every bit as beautiful as the delicate pink dewlap of the anolis carolinensis in springtime.

She then drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders, as if she'd come to some sort of internal conclusion. She let go of Alden's arm at last and said, "Well, if you intend to host a large, weekend house party, that will require that your guestrooms be presentable. Perhaps I should make a quick survey of those rooms so that I might determine what is needed before we discuss a timeline for the happy event."

"An excellent suggestion, Lady Bernadette," Alden said. "I'll find Mrs. Pettigrew so that she might take you on a tour of the house."

They left the terrarium, the ladies sighing in relief once they reached the hall, where Mrs. Pettigrew was conveniently standing by, perhaps knowing her services would be needed. Mrs. Pettigrew was more than happy to take Lady Bernadette and Lady Muriel off to the upper floors so that the three of them might inspect the guestrooms together.

"Would you care for a bit of sherry, cuz?" Alden asked, gesturing for Cedric to walk with him to the far end of that wing of the house, where his study was located.

Cedric went with him, but before they even reached the study, he growled, "You demolished part of your house in order to build that monstrosity of a hothouse?"

Without ladies present, Alden felt he could be a bit more unguarded in his responses to his cousin. "It's my money," he said. "My father left it to me."

"And to Dunstan," Cedric pointed out.

"Yes, and Dunstan has done as he wished with his half of our inheritance, as have I."

Cedric huffed impatiently as Alden poured them two glasses of sherry from a decanter on the shelf behind his desk. As he poured, Egbert decided he'd had enough of nestling against Alden's chest. He skittered out through the undone buttons of Alden's jacket and made his way to the sunny patch at the far end of the bookshelf.

"I will concede that the terrarium you have created is a marvel of engineering and zoology," Cedric said after the first swig of his drink. "But you've made the task you've set before Lady Bernadette next to impossible."

"She had a brilliant idea of holding the ball out of doors," Alden said with a shrug, gulping his own drink.

Cedric scowled at him as if he'd missed the point. "What woman in Wessex, in all of the New Heptarchy or beyond, is going to want to marry a man whose house is crawling with snakes?" he asked. "What other horrors do you have waiting for a new bride? Are there crocodiles in that pond of yours?"

"No, do not be ridiculous," Alden said. He took another drink, swallowed, then muttered, "They're alligators."

"Alligators!" Cedric exclaimed. "Are you mad, Alden?"

"They are small alligators," Alden defended himself, then winced. "That is why I will need to build another terrarium or garden house of some sort in a few years. I may need to separate some of the…hungrier species from the animals they tend to prey on."

"And what if they prey on humans?" Cedric demanded.

"They wouldn't dare," Alden said, pretending to be deeply offended.

The truth was, he shouldn't have brought the alligators back with him. But he was already in conversation with the Herpetological Society in London, who had expressed interest in providing new homes for some of the more unwieldy species he'd brought home from his travels. The Mercian Zoo had expressed interest in some of his pets as well. It wasn't as if he was the only man in Britannia who had an interest in creating exhibitions of exotic animals. His book would be a guide to teach those who were interested to keep those sorts of animals in humane conditions.

There was one thing he'd forgotten about entirely, though.

"You have a house full of dangerous reptiles and a curse hanging over your head, and now you're proposing to fill the house with unsuspecting women, one of which you intend to make your wife?" Cedric asked. "That, my friend, is a recipe for disaster."

"Oh," Alden said. "I hadn't paired the curse and the reptiles together in my mind."

Cedric merely stared at him.

"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 my guests. 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."

"As I oversee 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.