headed for the door. She paused on
the threshold and glanced back over her
shoulder at Lucas.
There was one other
thing, my lord."
Somehow I am not surprised," Lucas
said.
Pray, continue. You have my full
attention, madam."
What is this nonsense about an Amber
Lady?"
Lucas's eyes flicked briefly to the
pendant she wore.
Where did you hear
the phrase?"
One of the children in the village called
me by that odd title. I simply wondered if
you were familiar with it. Apparently it is
some sort of local legend."
Lucas glanced at Satherwaite.
I will tell
you what little I know of the story later."
Victoria shrugged.
As you wish, my
lord." She swept back out of the library
and Griggs hastily closed the door behind
her. The butler regarded her with an air
of acute concern
Have no fear, Griggs," Victoria said,
grinning with unabashed triumph at her
small, successful assault on the sanctity
of the library.
My lord has teeth but
it takes considerably more than a minor
interruption from his wife to make him
bite."
I shall remember that, madam."
In the library Lucas sat down again
and reached for the next aging ledger.
He realized Satherwaite was watching him
with an expression of deep curiosity.
My wife, as you can see, will be taking
an active interest in the estate," Lucas
remarked.
Yes, my lord. She appears to have a
rather keen interest in local matters."
Lucas smiled complacently.
Lady Stone
vale is a woman of great energy and
enthusiasm. She has been needing an
interesting challenge to occupy her full
attention."
Shopping in our poor village was
certainly an act of gracious mercy on
her part. I cannot imagine a lady of her
excellent taste finding anything she truly
desired in the local shops."
I believe the point was to do something
for the local economy," Lucas mused.
And
I am grateful to her. It will take both of us
to save stone vale. As I said, we are facing
a challenge." Satherwaite looked at the stack of
journals and ledgers that stood on the
desk.
No offense, sir, but rescuing these
lands presents enough of a challenge to
occupy a regiment." He looked back at
his employer with a hint of the sort of
hero worship a young man often feels for
an older male who has seen combat.
Of
course, you have had some experience with
military matters, sir."
Just between you and me, Satherwaite,
I don't mind telling you that I find the
challenge of making this land productive
again infinitely more appealing than the
business of war."
Satherwaite, who clearly did not see how
anything could be more exciting than the
business of war, wisely kept his mouth shut
and opened the journal in front of him.
Later that evening Lucas leaned back in
his chair, stretched his feet out toward the
fire, and indulged himself in the purely
masculine pleasure of watching his wife
pour after-dinner tea in the drawing room.
It was a small thing, this matter of
pouring the tea, but it seemed to symbolize
so much. He was not so foolish as to think
Victoria had surrendered to the inevitable
yet, but he saw the distinctly wifely act as
a definite step in that direction.
He suddenly realized that in common
with most of his sex, he was not given
to a great deal of idle reflection on all
the small routines that turned a household
into a home. At least, he had not been
particularly conscious of them until recently
when, having gotten himself a wife, he had
discovered he had not automatically gotten
all the little niceties that were supposed to
come along with one.
For the past three days he had been
living in a state of armed truce, a truce
that was only an inch away from open
warfare. Nothing in the household had
been seen to beyond such minimal matters
as producing meals and emptying chamber
pots. Griggs had been getting desperate.
misses Sneath had threatened to quit because
of overwork.
But as of the moment of Victoria's return
from the village, things had begun to
change. Lucas realized he thirsted mightily
for each small sip of the honey of domestic
harmony. Having his tea poured for him
by Victoria was one such golden drop. It
was the first he'd tasted since he'd taken
his wedding vows.
About the legend of the Amber Lady,
my lord," Victoria said coolly as she handed
him his cup and saucer.
I would like to
hear the details now, if you please."
I confess I do not know all of the
tale." Lucas stirred his tea, trying to think
of ways to stretch out the conversation.
Victoria was in the habit of rushing off
to bed early lately.
My uncle mentioned
the matter shortly before he died. It was in
conjunction with the pendant he gave me."
He frowned, wishing he had not called her
attention to the amber around her throat.
Victoria appeared totally oblivious of the
fact that she wore it twenty-four hours a
day.
I asked for the story, but you must
realize my uncle was a bitter, ill-tempered
man. To top it off, when I saw him, he
was on his deathbed and not particularly
inclined to humor me or anyone else."
What did he tell you?"
Just that the pendant had been handed
down through the family for several
generations. It apparently belonged to
the first lord of stone vale. My uncle said
I might get more information from the
villagers. I asked misses Sneath about it. As
you know, she was about the only member
of the staff left when the old bastard died.
He had turned off everyone else."
Go on, what did misses Sneath say?"
Lucas looked at her and saw the bright
curiosity shining in her beautiful eyes.
Having met misses Sneath, you must know
she is not the talkative sort. But she did tell
me that the villagers tell an old children's
story about the first lord of stone vale and
his lady. The man had been dubbed the
Amber Knight because of the colors he
wore into battle."
So he was a warrior, too," Victoria
murmured, staring into the fire.
Most men who acquired estates the
size of stone vale were," Lucas pointed
out dryly.
They called his wife the Amber Lady?"
Lucas nodded.
According to the legend,
the lord and his lady were very much in
love and devoted to the land and the
people on it. stone vale grew prosperous
under their guidance. Several generations
of happily married men succeeded the first
and the lands flourished. People began to
say that the well-being of the estate and
its surrounding lands was contingent on
the happiness of the lord and lady who
lived in the great house."
Victoria frowned.
A rather precarious
thing on which to hang the welfare of this
entire region."
It is just a superstition, Vicky."
I know, but"
Lucas interrupted her swiftly.
According
to misses Sneath, it became a saying in
the village that the Earls of stone vale
must marry for love or the lands would
suffer. Given the wealth of the estate, it
was very convenient for each succeeding
earl to make a love match rather than a
business match."
Very convenient. There was no need
to marry for money until the present
generation, I take it?"
Lucas hurried on, anxious to skirt the
quicksand he sensed waiting for him in that
direction.
At any rate, three generations
back, the Earl of stone vale fell in love
with a young woman who, it seemed,
had already given her heart to another."
Lucas paused.
Not only her heart, but
everything else, apparently. Her family
rushed her into the marriage knowing
she was carrying another man's babe, the
child of a penniless second son who left
for America when he found out she had
married the Earl of stone vale."
That poor girl. How sad for her to be
forced to marry a man she did not love.
But her family was not about to lose
the opportunity of having their daughter
become a countess, I suppose," Victoria
murmured with a touch of bitterness.
Probably not," Lucas agreed.
But as
long as you are overflowing with sympathy
for the young lady, you might spare some
for my ancestor who found himself tied to
a woman who was not exactly a virgin on
her wedding night."
Victoria's gaze turned even more frosty.
So? I did not come to this marriage a
virgin, either, if you will recall."
It is hardly the same thing, given the
fact that I was the one and only man
you slept with before the wedding. In
any event," Lucas added, feeling a little
dangerous now himself,
we haven't even
had a wedding night, so your point is
irrelevant, to say the least."
Do you know, Lucas, I do not see why
your ancestor or you or any other man
has any right to expect his wife to be a
virgin. You men certainly do not bother to
remain in a chaste state until your wedding
nights."
There is the little matter of attempting
to ensure one's children are one's own."
Victoria shrugged.
Aunt Cleo once told