Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

When Basil came into the drawing room behind Henry later that evening, gone was the assured expression he had worn all through dinner. Passing Evangeline to play jackstraws with Adele and William, he pressed his lips and raised his brows at her. "Might be harder than I thought," he murmured.

Henry's stormy face told Evangeline enough. Basil must have said something that set up his back. He sat the rest of the evening with Ettie, both of them reading on the settee next to the pianoforte while Charlotte played.

In the drawing room, Evangeline had no opportunity to find out what had happened. And when the hour came for Basil to take his leave, Henry, coming out of his brown study, stood and said he should be happy to see him out along with his mother. No hope for private conversation there.

"Tomorrow," Basil mouthed to her as he stepped out the door.

Left to themselves, Evangeline faced Henry. "Are you well, dear? "

"I told him no, ma'am," he said, turning back to the drawing room.

Evangeline followed. "Did you? Why?"

"Because I do not like him."

"That is not sufficient reason, and you know it. What happened? He is forever jesting about something or other. Did you take something in bad part?"

"I?" He spun around. "No, I did not. Though he does jest too much. He is not a serious-minded man at all and meets none of the qualifications my father swore me to uphold."

Evangeline held back an aggravated sigh. "Do you not think me able to choose for myself which man would suit me?"

"I should think you would wish for a man who is more like my father."

A hot, stinging retort perched on her lips, ready to take flight, but she bit it back. Many grievances she had against the old earl, but disrespect his memory in front of her children, she would not. "I do not think there is a man in the world who could replace your father. Do you?" she asked diplomatically.

Henry hummed at this, shuffled his feet, then met her eye. "Well anyhow, I have said no and that is that."

"Oh, come now, Henry. You said yourself you would be fair. One evening can hardly be enough to judge a man's character."

"Well, I meant it. I told him not to bother coming back again either. And you know what will happen if you go against my will. Do not do it, ma'am."

Evangeline, so weary of him always grasping for power whenever a disagreement arose between them, strode up to him. Her future happiness was in the balance, not his. She must show him that she would not give up after one evening gone awry.

"Henry," she said. "You forget, so I will remind you. Firstly, Amsbrook is mine . Head of the house of Payne you may be, but you have no power to dictate who may come or go under my roof. Secondly, you are like your father in many, many ways. Honorable, venerable ways. But in this way, I hope you never feel obliged to imitate him."

A hard stare into his eyes, and she walked out of the room.

"Mama, are you ill?" Adele asked the next morning, reaching over to feel Evangeline's forehead.

Evangeline frowned. "Why, no, darling. Why do you ask?"

"You are not doing the voices right."

Evangeline looked down at the book of nursery rhymes in her hands. "Am I not?"

Adele shook her head.

Evangeline took in a silent breath. That Adele had noticed her lack of enthusiasm during their usual morning reading was not surprising. So far, she had not been able to muster any cheerfulness that morning. She took herself to task for being so blue-devilled. Henry had refused his consent, true. That did not mean he could not be persuaded to change his mind once he became more acquainted with Basil, but it did mean Evangeline lost much of the night to wondering and fretting over the matter.

She had sent a note round to the White Hart first thing that morning telling Basil to come, but here it was nearly noon with no sign or word back from him.

She patted Adele's hand. "I am sorry. I shall try harder, shall I?"

Adele nodded. "Yes, please."

Later, when Haney took Adele away, Evangeline joined Ettie and Charlotte in the garden, where Miss Pitt was instructing them in watercolors. Try as she would, she could not concentrate or admire their progress as she usually did. As the afternoon ticked away with no sign of Basil, she felt at once listless and restless, half wishing to take a nap, but tapping an impatient foot she could not keep still.

Ettie said her name twice to gain her attention.

"Hmm? I am sorry, my love. What is it?" Evangeline asked.

Charlotte and Miss Pitt had gone to a different part of the garden to practice painting hollyhocks, leaving Ettie to concentrate on the study of a creeping vine. "Is Mr. Morley coming today?" she asked.

"I do not know."

"Should you like him to?"

"Yes," Evangeline replied gently.

Ettie nodded, touching her paintbrush against her paper in quick, meticulous strokes for the tiny vine leaves. "I should too. I spoke to Henry last night. Charlotte too."

Evangeline put up her guard. Charlotte's previous discussion with Henry had not helped. What had be spoken of this time with Ettie? "You did? That seems to be a habit with the three of you now."

"I know why he was so cross and sullen last night. I made him tell me."

Evangeline interlaced her fingers in her lap. "And? What happened next?"

"I told him we all like Mr. Morley, not only you. Charlotte said only an idiot would not see how happy you are when he is here. I said I should be sorry to not see him anymore and told him he was being foolish."

Evangeline's brows snapped together. "Foolish? When was Mr. Morley foolish?"

"Not Mr. Morley, Henry. I told him one cannot pass a final judgement on someone they have only just met, as Henry did last night. That you are perfectly clever enough to find a good husband and not attach yourself to a villain or a nincompoop. That he cannot act like a king simply because Papa's will told him to."

Evangeline chuckled. "I do not think that was the exact wording, but I see what you mean."

Ettie raised her shoulders and circled her hands in the air, formulating her next words. "I think you should marry whomever you like without anyone's permission. You were sixteen when you married Papa."

"Yes."

Ettie bent her head. "I am sixteen."

Evangeline laid a hand on Ettie's lap and smiled gently. "Yes, you are."

"I have only been thinking. You were married for a long time. Engaged before you were even presented. I am not ready to be married. Were you?"

What a question. Evangeline considered for a long moment before answering. "In some ways, no. I was very young. Too young, in fact. But had I not married, I would not have you or your brothers and sisters, and I would not give that up for anything."

Ettie sighed and said haltingly, "I have thought about that a lot since my last birthday. If I were to marry someone who was Papa's age, it would be like marrying old Mr. Reeth from church and—" She shuddered. "I think it cannot have been easy, even with Papa loving you so."

Evangeline gathered her daughter up in her arms. "Life is never easy all the time, darling, no matter how much love you may have. Thank you. And do not fear, you shall not marry for years to come. I forbid it."

Ettie squeezed her back and laughed. "Yes, I know that."

Boots crunching against the path made them turn around. Evangeline's heart leapt within her, a ready smile on her lips. Basil had come at last.

But it was Henry, not Basil, who appeared around the greenery.

"There you are," he said, coming up.

"Good morning to you too," Evangeline returned, striving to hide her disappointment by smoothing her skirts.

"Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Ettie. Mama, might I have a word with you?"

While he spoke, Evangeline eyed him up and down, frowning. "Those are the same clothes you were wearing last night. What happened, Henry?"

He gave a pointed look at Ettie and nodded his head in the other direction. Concerned, for Henry was always very particular about his appearance, Evangeline rose and followed him down another path that led to the fountain in the center of the lawn.

"I went into Hollyford last night," he said once Ettie was out of earshot.

"Last night? After we spoke? What can you have been doing there so late?" Evangeline asked, concerned. "Henry, you are only eighteen. You cannot go careening about the countryside in the middle of the night. Suppose something happened to you?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "There are no highwaymen from here to Hollyford, Mama. I was only thinking. Ettie said something last night that…anyway, I went into the White Ha rt for a drink in the taproom and found Mr. Morley there too. Had quite a talk with him, as a matter of fact. He said some things."

She stilled. A hundred questions sprung to her mind, but she forced them down, waiting for Henry to continue in his own time. "Oh?"

Henry shifted back and forth on his feet. Was he blushing?

"I have never heard someone talk about you like that. Say such things."

Now she was blushing. "What things did he say?"

"That you are more than just a beautiful woman and good company and a devoted mother. I knew all those things already," he said, waving a hand. "But he said you are also forthright, independent, strong spirited, clever. Ettie said much the same last night. I suppose?—"

He paused, thinking. Evangeline turned her head away, looking at the fountain as tears sprang to her eyes. Dear, dear Basil.

"I suppose I knew all those things about you too, in a way," Henry continued. "I just never really thought about them. Mr. Morely holds a very different opinion about you than Papa did. Papa told me you would always need someone to help you. That you could not make decisions without guidance and that the guidance would have to come from me when he was gone."

She pressed her lips together for a moment. "That was, perhaps, true when I first married. I was very young and did not know many things. Your father was quite set in his ways. Once he decided I needed help and guidance, he thought I should always need it, no matter how many years passed."

Henry looked here and there about their surroundings. This conversation could not be comfortable for him. "Mr. Morley said that in this season of life, you do not need a husband so much as you need a friend. I am not quite sure what he meant by that, but, all this to say, I am sorry for my behavior last night. I was too hasty. I only wish to uphold the responsibility my father left to me."

She took his hand and held it tight. "You are a splendid earl already, my dear. Your father would be proud, I have no doubt. But do, in this instance, allow me to know my own mind, my own heart , better than your father thought he did."

Henry pressed her hand and let it go. "Charlotte said only an idiot would not be able see that Mr. Morley makes you happy. And I find I liked him better than I thought, after I left the White Hart. He took four guineas off me too, in a game of cards while we talked."

Evangeline laughed. "Did he really? Yes, that is just like him. I suppose he was smiling all the while?"

"He was, dash it all. Well, not when he said he loved you. He got quite serious at that part, actually," he said, quite as if this revelation was a mere afterthought.

Evangeline, her heart full and fit to burst with happiness, let this pass without further inquiry. "He is quite out of the common way, but I like that about him. He is a good man. You shall see as the two of you become better acquainted."

Henry nodded and moved to go. "I shall leave you to it, then. But if you think I am going to call him Papa, I tell you now that I will not."

Evangeline closed her eyes patiently, shaking her head. "I would not ask you to, Lord Ramsbury."

Satisfied, he nodded and took his leave.

Evangeline chuckled to herself and turned back to the fountain, studying the trickles of water as they splashed down the stone and into the basin. So, Basil saw fit to declare his love for her in the taproom of an inn over a game of cards, did he? Well!

Henry's voice, far away now, reached her ears. "She is just over there, see?"

Turning, she saw him pointing in her direction. Next to him stood Basil.

He walked across the green toward her. She waited and watched his progress, eyes alight with merriment, happiness, and a dozen other emotions. "Here you are at last, my strait-laced rake," she said when he was close.

Basil stopped short and grimaced. "Strait-laced rake? What did I do to deserve a title like that?"

"Well, the rake part I will not comment on. As for strait-laced, you helped establish a school for boys and gave a young woman a chance at life again without any thought to cost or inconvenience," she returned as he proceeded toward her. "Perhaps strait-laced is not the correct term, but I believe it is fitting, nonetheless."

"Just see that you don't let it slip to any of our acquaintance. I should never live it down if Sir Michael or Stratham got hold of that information." He stopped in front of her and took off his hat. "Miss me?"

She held him in a loving gaze. "You spoke to Henry."

He nodded.

"And fleeced him."

"What? Never. He simply lost to a better player." He chuckled as Evangeline shot him a scolding look. "Now, do not ring a peal over me. I am a strait-laced rake, remember? Not a Captain Sharp. Ramsbury is a fine young man, not one of those peep-of-the-day boys you see so often now. He will do well, in time, once he grows out of some of his top lofty ways."

"Yes, I think so. I had a talk with him too, just now."

"Yes?"

"He said you told him that perhaps I needed not so much a husband as I needed a friend. Now, what could you have meant by that? Are we to remain only friends then? Since that is what I truly need?"

Perplexed, Basil said, "What? Egad, no."

She cocked her head. "You did not say that?"

"I did, but to take it to mean that you cannot be a friend and something more at the same time, you are not thinking broadly enough, my love. I believe it is entirely possible to be married to one's friend. And to become even better friends afterward, God willing. Or, rather, Ramsbury willing."

Evangeline turned and walked a few paces to the fountain. "Yes, Henry and I talked about that as well. I believe we see eye to eye on the subject."

"Oh?" Basil's voice said behind her. "To what end?"

She turned around, grinned, and spread her arms out wide, not unlike the way Basil had long ago. "Marry me, my darling."

He gave a shout of laughter. "You minx. But I shall not simply laugh at you, as you did to me," he said, moving in for the kill.

Her own laughter came out only as a squeak as he caught her in a crushing embrace and kissed her again and again. When her efforts to speak were disregarded, she resigned herself to the moment. In her little sanctuary of Amsbrook, amidst the garden full of flowers and beauty and peace, she kissed her friend, her love. Her equal in wit, age, and nature. Basil's prophecy of three years ago was on a fair way to being fulfilled. She decided not to remind him of it. She would never hear the end of it if she did.

"You got it sorted?" he asked a few moments later, his forehead pressed against hers .

She nodded. "We got it sorted. We all did. Henry, me, you, the children. We all took part."

"Good. I love you, E."

"And I love you?—"

At that moment, a great noise came from the house. The ominous sound of something breaking.

"Oh, dear," Evangeline said, leaning away from him. "I suppose I had better go and investigate."

"Fancy some company?" Basil asked, extending his arm.

"Please."

Coming into the house, they followed the ruckus of voices that came from the drawing room. One glance told them everything. A large potted palm lay on its side, dirt spilled on the floor, its ceramic pot split in half. That was nothing compared to what they saw next.

There, in the middle of the drawing room, was the old cob pony, Star. Not standing as any natural equine would, but sitting, his haunches on the deep purple settee, legs stuck out in the middle of the air, placidly munching bits of carrot from Adele's hand.

"Look, Mama, isn't Star a clever little thing?" Adele asked. "We got him to sit down just like a real person."

"Simon, Gregory, William," Evangeline cried. "What is the meaning of this?"

Wide-eyed, Simon exclaimed, "We saw Mr. Morley arrive. We meant to put Star back before you got here, but that would mean Mr. Morley would not see that we do have as much pluck as he does. So we had to wait for him."

"As much pluck as…? Basil." She turned to find her betrothed admiring the ceiling with a sudden intensity. "What have you done?"

All innocence, Basil placed a hand to his heart. "Done? Me? What makes you think I'd anything to do with this?"

"Doorknobs, string, and scissors. That is what makes me think it."

"Ah, but is not bringing farm animals indoors a signature tactic of yours?"

She twisted her lips at him, but before she could say anything, Charlotte's voice sounded behind them. "What is going on? What is—is that Star? Good heavens, what is Star doing in here? Ettie, Henry, come, look!"

She and Ettie dashed into the room. Behind them, followed Henry. The room fell silent as they all waited for his reaction to the scene. Indeed, looking on the spectacle, he remained in a shocked silence for several seconds. Then his shoulders began to shake, then his chest, then his entire frame until he could hold it in no longer. Great bursts of laughter filled the room as he held his sides while all his siblings followed suit. "That is the best joke I have ever seen," he gasped. "And on Mama's favorite settee too."

"Yes, and trouble will come speedily if I find any horsehair on my gowns. Simon, get Star out of the house this instant."

"Yes, Mama. But Mr. Morley? I believe you owe us each a half-crown."

Simon took hold of the headstall and gave a pull. Star did not move.

Evangeline gasped. "A half-crown for what? For this?"

"Yes, Mama," Gregory said. He came up to Star and gave a pull as well. Nothing. "Mr. Morley told us he once brought a horse into a house where a whole party was going on and said that we did not have half as much wild pluck as he did, and bet us we could not do the same. But we did, didn't we?"

"I want to help, I want to help," Adele said, reaching her hands up to the headstall. With her added effort, Star finally relented and pushed himself off his comfortable seat with a grunt, thanking the children for their aid by sneezing on them.

Evangeline closed her eyes and threw up her hands. "I take it back. I take it back. I will not marry such a scapegrace, such a ludicrous, ramshackle?—"

"Oh, no you don't," Basil said. He caught her up in his arms and twirled around and around before laying a kiss on her mouth while the children laughed. "You cannot take it back. Now that I know they have as much pluck as I, I will not aggravate it, I promise."

"Marry?" Ettie cried. "Do you mean you are engaged to Mr. Morley, Mama?"

Flushed with pleasure and embarrassment, Evangeline faced her expectant children. "As a matter of fact, I am."

Ettie and Adele squealed with joy. Charlotte clapped her hands. The boys exclaimed with wonder and approval.

"I am glad you will be our new papa, but could you not kiss Mama in front of us, please?" William asked.

Basil took the liberty of immediately disobliging them.