Chapter 4

There wasnothing more satisfying than a good idea that was made excellent by the addition of the right help at the right time. Alden was convinced Lady Bernadette was the best thing that possibly could have happened to his search for a bride. Better still, even though he could tell she was still a trifle anxious about the inhabitants of the terrarium, she was trying her utmost to settle in and become used to the idea of sharing a house with a few hundred reptiles and amphibians.

Alden was enjoying his conversation with Lady Bernadette so much that he hadn't seen Lady Gladys approaching across the garden.

"What is she doing here?" he asked, squinting so he could make the lady out through the somewhat damp terrarium glass.

There was no mistaking Lady Gladys. The woman was formidable, and walked with her back straight and her head held high, whether she was taking a turn around a ballroom or hiking the distance from her estate of Emery Down. The two properties shared a boundary to the south, though Alden had only called on Lady Gladys once or twice since returning to Wessex.

Given the copious amount of bittersweet water that had passed under the bridge between the two of them, those visits had been awkward, to say the least.

"Do you know who she is?" Lady Bernadette asked, remaining seated, but turning and peering out the window.

Alden swallowed, glancing to Lady Bernadette, as Lady Gladys turned and followed the path through the garden that would take her around to the front door. "Yes," he said. "That is my neighbor…Lady Gladys Minstead."

He knew before Lady Bernadette whipped her head around to face him that she had made the connection to his earlier story. "Do you mean," she began, blinked, then finished with, "Is she the same as Lady Gladys Foyle, your lost love?"

Alden wanted to trick himself into thinking that he saw disappointment in Lady Bernadette's expression. He scolded himself for that impulse, though. Not only was it unkind to hope that a lovely woman like Lady Bernadette might be jealous of his past love, seeing as the two of them hardly knew each other and Lady Bernadette was in his employ, it would have been crass of him to assume anything of her emotional state.

"She is," he said, slipping guiltily into the chair he'd vacated. "The university friend I mentioned also happened to be my neighbor."

"Oh, I see," Lady Bernadette said, nodding sagely, as if she truly did understand. "It must have been extraordinarily painful to have lived adjacent to your friend and your former love. I can understand completely why you would want to sail off to South America."

Alden felt warm from the inside out. "That was years ago," he said, brushing away the confusing emotions warring within him. "As I said, it was a silly fancy at the time. I have moved on with my life, and Lady Gladys with hers."

"As it should be," Lady Bernadette said, smiling. "Have you repaired your relationship with your friend?" she asked.

Alden cleared his throat and squirmed in his seat. "Alas, Edward succumbed to a fever only two years after I left. Lady Gladys has been a widow for well over a decade."

"Oh," Lady Bernadette said, losing her smile.

The moment should not have been as awkward as it was. Alden no longer had feelings of any sort for Lady Gladys. She was the star of his youthful sky, but he had moved on, seen so much more of the world, and widened his horizons. He knew very little about Lady Gladys's life in the years since, or how she had taken to widowhood. He did not know why she'd never remarried, since she would have been likely to have her pick of gentlemen, but he also had little interest in delving into that mystery.

A moment later, one of the terrarium's doors opened and Smythe stepped in. "My lord, Lady Gladys Minstead is here to see you," he called out over the distance, rather than walking to the table and announcing the guest discreetly.

"Thank you, Smythe!" Alden called back, not caring a whit for proper household manners. He stood and added, "We'll be there directly."

"Very good, my lord," Smythe shouted. "I've got her in the blue parlor."

Alden waved, and Smythe bowed before stepping back. By the look of the way he fussed and shooed, something had tried to leave the terrarium with him.

"We'd best see what this is all about," Alden said, stepping to the side and offering Lady Bernadette his hand.

"You wish me to come with you?" Lady Bernadette asked in surprise.

"I don't see why not," Alden said. "I will tell Lady Gladys about the ball, and you can relate the details in far greater depth than I ever could. Women adore that sort of thing, particularly when in conversation with other women."

"Yes, I suppose," Lady Bernadette said, allowing Alden to help her rise.

In truth, Alden didn't relish the idea of being alone with Lady Gladys. He may have only called on her a few times since returning to Wessex, but she had attempted to call on him far more frequently than he cared for.

The first of those visits had been amiable enough, though that had been in the days when his specimens were kept in aquariums and cages in various places inside the house, before the terrarium had been built. Lady Gladys had expressed her distaste for reptiles, however, and Alden's once-rosy impression of the woman had begun to change.

And then came the whispers from the servants that Lady Gladys had squandered the money Edward had left her. Alden might have been eccentric, but he was not a fool. He knew that the fortune his parents had left him was his greatest attribute in the eyes of many fortune-hunting females, and he did not like it.

Come to think of it, he would probably do well to tell Lady Bernadette that the women he wished to invite to his ball and the one he would marry must not be the sort who only wanted him for what his fortune could purchase for her. Although, to be honest, it would be nearly impossible to find a woman who was not moved by guineas at all.

Lady Gladys was waiting in the parlor, just as Smythe had informed him. She'd chosen a seat near the window and was perched as beautifully as any of the parrots who made the terrarium their home. She wore a gown of deep lavender that not only indicated her partial mourning, but that set off the alabaster glow of her skin perfectly. The bodice of her gown was cut low, and she did not wear a fichu, even though it was the middle of the morning. Her bodice was cinched tightly under her breasts, making them seem even more ample than they already were.

The somewhat dark and sultry smile she wore disappeared as Alden entered the parlor with Lady Bernadette by his side, which Alden noted carefully.

"Lady Gladys. What a pleasure to see you," he greeted her, stepping ahead of Lady Bernadette and reaching for Lady Gladys's hand.

Lady Gladys slipped her gloved hand softly into his, then squeezed tightly, like she'd caught him in her trap, as Alden lifted it to kiss her knuckles. "Lord Alden," she said with lightness that was as sharp as glass. "It has been too long."

"It has," Alden agreed. He let go of her hand and stepped back so that she would be forced to let go as well. "Allow me to introduce you to Lady Bernadette Attleborough of East Anglia," he said, gesturing toward Lady Bernadette.

"My lady," Bernadette smiled and curtsied to Lady Gladys, as if she were someone grand who commanded respect.

Lady Gladys was the sort who commanded respect, but she could only have been ten years older than Lady Bernadette, if that. She had a sort of gravity to her carriage, however, and Lady Bernadette appeared to be many years younger than she actually was.

And, of course, like all territorial birds, Lady Gladys likely saw Lady Bernadette as a rival for her territory. Which was fascinating, if Alden were honest.

"How do you do?" Lady Gladys greeted Lady Bernadette with a regal nod. "Lady Bernadette Attleborough," she said. "I believe I have heard your name mentioned before."

"I'm certain you have," Alden said, gesturing for Lady Bernadette to sit as he took a seat himself. "Lady Bernadette is one of Britannia's foremost organizers of parties and social events."

"So I have heard," Lady Gladys said, her smile wolfish as she studied Lady Bernadette. "In fact, I believe I have attended an event you orchestrated, Lady Bernadette."

"Have you?" Lady Bernadette asked, looking curious, but slightly anxious as well.

"Yes," Lady Gladys said, tilting her chin up. "It was a coming out ball for the Duke of Hamilton's daughter, held at their London townhouse."

"Yes, I remember the event," Lady Bernadette said with a smile. She scooted slightly forward in her seat and opened her mouth, as if she would continue to converse and befriend Lady Gladys.

"I did not enjoy myself," Lady Gladys cut her off before she could make a sound. Lady Bernadette snapped her mouth into a tight line. "The refreshments were bland at best. The orchestra was third-rate. And for the eldest daughter of a duke, I found the array of guests to be lacking."

Awkward silence filled the parlor in the wake of Lady Gladys's statement. Alden glanced nervously between the two women. Lady Gladys wore a sly smile, as if she'd won some sort of contest. Lady Bernadette's jaw was clenched, but she smiled tightly nonetheless.

"I am very sorry you did not enjoy yourself, Lady Gladys," Lady Bernadette said at last. "Fortunately, it may relieve you to know that Her Grace, the Duchess of Hamilton, was thoroughly pleased with the event and provided me with a handsome addition to the stipend I was to receive."

"I find it vulgar for a woman to be paid for her services," Lady Gladys said, as sharp-tongued as ever. "Do you not feel as if it says far too much about a woman's character if she is paid for work, Lord Alden?" she asked, turning to Alden with one eyebrow arched.

"I—" Alden had no idea how to respond. He was astounded that Lady Gladys would make such a statement when she had only just been introduced to Lady Bernadette.

Instead of addressing the harsh comment or answering Lady Gladys's question, he cleared his throat, then said, "I have asked Lady Bernadette not only to plan and execute a ball for me, but after it was determined that the guestrooms and other parts of the house are sorely in need of updating, I have asked for her help in seeing to those improvements as well."

Lady Gladys's eyes turned downright steely. "You should have asked me, dear Alden," she said, leaning her elbow on the arm of the chair closest to him and resting her chin against her hand in a perfect pose of coquettishness. "If the past had been rewritten, it would have been my duty to see to the improvement of this house as a matter of course."

She glanced back at Lady Bernadette with a tight smile.

Alden had little patience for whatever game Lady Gladys was attempting to draw Lady Bernadette into, but he would rather have licked one of his poison dart frogs than step between two ladies who looked as though they would not get along.

"Lady Bernadette came highly recommended to me by my cousin's new wife," he said, hoping to get the obvious out of the way and proceed to the reason for Lady Gladys's unannounced visit. "I have full faith that she will be able to turn the parts of Lyndhurst Grove that I have, sadly, ignored into a home away from home for the guests I will host soon. In fact, I have already sent summons to several builders and tradesmen in the area, requesting their presence here as soon as this afternoon."

"Have you?" Lady Bernadette asked, her smile returning, along with a good deal of awe.

"Have you?" Lady Gladys asked the same question, but with suspicion.

"Yes," Alden answered them both. "I intend to host this ball before summer's end, which means we will all need to look sharp and act lively to have the house in proper order as immediately as possible."

Both ladies looked alarmed.

"I suppose I should have asked in more detail when you wished this ball to be," Lady Bernadette said. "A guest list should be compiled as soon as possible and invitations sent out."

"What, precisely, is the purpose of this ball?" Lady Gladys asked before Lady Bernadette had finished speaking. "The servants at Emery Down have been abuzz with gossip about it."

"Ah," Alden said.

Of course. He'd shared his early ideas about hosting a ball to find a bride with Mrs. Pettigrew, when he'd asked if she thought such a thing was possible. Mrs. Pettigrew had likely shared what Alden had told her with some of the maids, whom he knew to be particular friends of hers, and those maids were almost certainly in contact with the maids at Emery Down. Alden should have been surprised that it had taken so long for Lady Gladys to arrive on his doorstep.

"I am hosting a ball," he began, his neck and face heating over the way everything he was about to say would likely be taken by Lady Gladys, "because I am in need of a bride."

"A bride?" Lady Gladys asked, blinking rapidly, color slowly seeping into her face.

"Yes." Alden glanced to Lady Bernadette for support and was pleased to find her watching him with encouragement. He focused on Lady Gladys again and said, "It is a trifling thing, really, but my uncle, Lord Gerald Godwin, Duke of Amesbury, who raised me and my brother Dunstan as his own, and we were very grateful for it—" he was blabbering and delaying on purpose. He stopped, cleared his throat, then finished with, "Uncle Gerald has declared that whichever of his sons and nephews marries last will inherit Godwin Castle and the curse that goes along with it."

"A castle, you say?" Lady Gladys's smile lit almost as brightly as Lady Bernadette's naturally was.

"A cursed castle," Alden said, his enthusiasm for the tale growing. Perhaps if Lady Gladys believed him to be cursed, she would give up whatever designs she obviously had on him. "Possession of the castle has brought terrible luck to the family for generations. Apparently, there was a woman who was scorned by one of my ancestors at the beginning of the whole thing, and she declared that tragedy would befall the family until such a time as the wrongs done to her were righted. Something along those lines."

"How very exciting," Lady Bernadette said. Her shoulders sagged a bit as she added, "And very sad. I am sorry that your family has had to brave so much tragedy in their history. Perhaps there is a way?—"

"You plan to avoid this curse by hosting a ball?" Lady Gladys interrupted, shifting even more so that she nearly had her back to Lady Bernadette.

"Yes," Alden said, glancing several times between both women before continuing with his answer. "The aim is that I will, with Lady Bernadette's assistance, invite as many eligible ladies as possible to Lyndhurst Grove for a weekend, I will be introduced to them all and come to know them in a small way, and at the ball that will be held as the climax of the event, I will choose one of them to be my bride."

A beat of silence followed, then Lady Gladys burst into peals of laughter. "My dear Alden," she said, pressing one hand to her bosom and fanning herself with the other, "you have had many ridiculous ideas in your time, but this is perhaps the most?—"

Her comment ended with a sharp scream as her eyes focused on something in the far corner of the room. Not only did she scream, she leapt out of her chair, then ran behind it, using it as a shield.

Alden leapt to his feet, as did Lady Bernadette, and both of them turned in the direction Lady Gladys was now pointing from behind her chair.

"Dragon!" she shouted. "You have a dragon in your house!"

Alden knew what must be the matter immediately and relaxed into a smile. "Has someone escaped?" he asked.

"Oh! I see it!" Lady Bernadette said, stepping tentatively toward the corner where Lady Gladys was pointing.

Alden walked with Lady Bernadette to the far end of the room where, as it turned out, one of Alden's chameleons was doing an admirable job of blending into the brown of the curiosity cabinet in the corner. The lizard's camouflage might have gone unnoticed for the duration of Lady Gladys's visit if the lizard—Alden was fairly certain it was Herbert and not his brother, Farley—had not moved to chase a fly that was buzzing near the window.

"Fascinating," Lady Bernadette said, leaning closer and squinting at Herbert once they reached the cabinet. "I can see its colors changing before my eyes."

Indeed, the slight shift as the chameleon moved meant its coloring was changing as well to help it blend into its new background.

"Yes, there are many lizard species that have the ability to change their colors in order to blend into their surroundings," Alden said. "Chameleons, skinks, and anoles are just a few who adapt through a process called metachrosis to?—"

"I demand you dispose of that horror at once!" Lady Gladys shouted from the other side of the room. "What is it doing in the house? What is it doing in Wessex?"

"It lives here," Alden said, forgoing what could have been a delightful lesson in herpetology for Lady Bernadette to scoop Herbert onto his arm. "He must have escaped from the terrarium when someone opened the door," he continued, walking back towards Lady Gladys, arm and Herbert outstretched. "Really, there's no need to worry. Chameleons are quite harmless, and?—"

"Get that creature away from me!" Lady Gladys said, skirting the edge of the room to bypass Alden and to bolt for the parlor doorway. "I shall call upon you some other time, Lord Alden, when that thing has been dealt with."

"Really, there's no need to go," Alden said, trying again to show Lady Gladys that Herbert was docile.

"There is every reason to go," Lady Gladys protested. "Just as I now see there is every reason for you to find a wife. You need someone to set this entire place and yourself to right. I will assist you in this endeavor. You can dismiss this woman and put aside the idea of this matchmaking ball. I have far better ideas for you."

"I rather like the idea of a ball," Alden said, glancing to Lady Bernadette. Really, he liked the idea of planning the ball with Lady Bernadette. "But if you wish to help?—"

"Oh, I couldn't ask Lady Gladys to extend herself like that," Lady Bernadette said.

Simultaneously, Lady Gladys said, "I cannot think with that thing anywhere near me. Good day, Lord Alden. I will return when my nerves have calmed."

With that, Lady Gladys rushed out to the hall. A moment later, Alden heard Smythe wish the woman a good day as the front door closed.

"It's a shame she couldn't stay," Alden sighed, staring at Herbert as if he was addressing his comment to the chameleon.

"She did say she would return," Lady Bernadette said, stepping forward to look at Herbert as well.

"Yes, she did," Alden said, not certain how he felt about that. He shrugged and smiled at Lady Bernadette. "Never mind. We should return Herbert here to the terrarium, and then we'll retire to my study, where we can discuss plans for improvements to the house in greater detail. Does that suit you?"

"It does," Lady Bernadette smiled, seemingly more relaxed, now that Lady Gladys had gone. "I have already had additional ideas since our earlier conversation. If you would but lend me paper and a pen with which to write them down, we can formulate a plan and an order of work."

"I have all of that in my study, Lady Bernadette," Alden said, heading out of the room and down the hall to the terrarium with her.

However worrying it was that Lady Gladys wanted to be involved in plans for Alden's future happiness, Alden was satisfied with the course things were taking so far. He was certain that with Lady Bernadette's help, he would have the finest house and host the finest ball in Wessex before the summer was over.