“Have ye resolved the other matter betwixt ye?”
Cleo looked at the cook confused. “What other matter is there?”
Mrs. McGrath raised a brow in question as if Cleo had missed the most obvious thing of all. The sound of Aunt Caroline calling for Mrs. McGrath stopped her from saying anything more. “Never ye mind that now. There is time enough for such things once ye are safe.” The cook stood and left the room, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
“Mrs. McGrath!” Aunt Caroline’s voice called again through the open door, this time with much more impatience.
“Coming!” Mrs. McGrath’s voice retorted with an edge that said for the other woman to mind her manners.
Cleo smiled at the cook’s tone, a reminder of who was really in charge when it came down to it within their household. Rising, she lifted her father’s letter from the settee where Mrs. McGrath had set it down and placed it lovingly back into the drawer.
“I will honor your wishes, Father, but I wish you would have been much more straightforward.” Kissing the tips of her fingers, she placed them on the part of the parchment that held her father’s signature, then locked the drawer and left the study. She paused to look into the eyes of King Arthur upon the wall. “I blame you, you know,” she informed him, then shut the door and locked it.
Returning to the kitchen, she finished packing the basket for her sojourn to the university, then waited for Arthur in the drawing room. She found Aunt Caroline sitting beside the fire mending the collar of one of the professor’s old shirts. A single tear dripped down her cheek, but upon seeing Cleo, she quickly brushed it away.
“All set for your outing with His Lordship?”
“Yes, Auntie,” Cleo answered coming to sit across from her. “Are you well?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” She waved away Cleo’s concern as if there was nothing at all to bother her.
“You miss him as well, do you not?”
Her aunt looked up at her startled for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Yes, I do,” she said softly taking a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed at her nose with it as she attempted to conceal a sniffle. “Every day.”
“I am sorry, Auntie. I have been so consumed by my own grief that I did not stop to give yours enough acknowledgement.”
“Nay, Niece, it is not your concern to see to my needs. I am here to see to yours. I am accustomed to grief, having lost my own dear parents and my husband so many years before. I am grateful to have had the time that I had with my brother. Every day was a gift that I will cherish always. Even when we went days without seeing one another, I knew that he was thinking of me, just as he knew that I was thinking of him. We walked many years upon this earth together, and we will walk together again someday basking in the glory of the Eternal Father.”
“Auntie, I am so very sorry. I must admit that I have been avoiding you, not for your own sake, but in order to avoid the continual discussion of an unwanted marriage.”
“I know that, my dear, and I understand. I only had your best interests in mind and at heart. I will not always be here, and I wish to leave you with someone who loves you and will care for you. I do not want you to know the pain and loneliness of losing everyone that you have ever loved. It is not a life I would wish upon anyone, least of all the most precious jewel of our family.”
“Oh, Auntie!” Tears streamed down Cleo’s cheeks fueled by remorse and genuine affection. She knelt down in front of her aunt, taking her hands into her own, careful not to get her sewing needle caught between them. “I am so sorry.” It was all that she could say. “I never should have avoided you. I should have been by your side as you attempted to be by mine.”
“Do not cry, my dear, all is well between us. Lest you forget, I was young once too.” Aunt Caroline smiled down kindly into her niece’s eyes, unperturbed by Cleo’s behavior towards her. “My father was less than pleased by my choice of husband, but Mr. Brown was a loving and compassionate man. He was more than worthy of my love and he was my choice. I understand more than you know the difficulties that you have endured of late and the secrets that are becoming increasingly clear that you are keeping.”
“Auntie, I…”
Aunt Caroline raised her hand in protest of any argument. “There is no need to explain anything to me. Your father had his secrets as well and I learned long ago not to ask. Simply know that I am here when you are ready to share them with me. If that day never comes, I only ask that you please take better care of yourself than my brother did. I could not bear it if you shared his fate. Such pain would be too cruel to bear.”
A knock at the door announced the arrival of Arthur. “My Lord,” Mrs. McGrath’s voice floated down the hallway in greeting. Moments later the Earl of Irondale stood before them.
“Mrs. Brown,” Arthur bowed over her hand, then turned to Cleo. “Miss Wallace,” he placed a kiss in the back of her hand.
“I think that we can dispense with the charade of formality between the two you, do you not agree, My Lord?” Aunt Caroline greeted him with amusement. “You are, after all, here to court my niece are you not?”
“Aye, Mrs. Brown, that I am.” Arthur chuckled and took a seat beside Cleo on the settee.
“Arthur,” Cleo blushed in greeting.
“Cleo,” he answered grinning.
Aunt Caroline smiled “Well, that is better now, is it not?”
“Aye,” Arthur agreed, “It is at that. I am glad tae see ye come tae approve o’ it.”
“I only ever wished for her to be happy. If she has found that with you, then who am I to stand in the way of it, that is assuming that your intentions are honorable, My Lord.”
