The Magicians And Mrs. Quent Part 8

Yet its beauty had been real. It had moved Eldyn just as true beauty did. And that it had vanished did not lessen its worth in any way, for all beauty was fleeting. For some reason he thought of the church of St. Adaris, and the statue of the angel in the churchyard, and the priest who had shouted at him.

Has one of them come again from Durrow Street to mock us? the priest had said to the younger man. And at Eldyn he had shouted, Begone, daemon. Go back to your houses of sin and trouble us no more!

The illusionists must have come to the church before. Why they had done so, Eldyn could not say. But the older priest must have mistaken Eldyn for one of the Siltheri, half-hiding in the shadows.

"You're thinking something, Garritt," Rafferdy said, eyeing him. "I know that look."

Eldyn could not have explained it if he wanted to. "I was thinking you have yet to tell me what happened to you today," he said, changing the subject back to Rafferdy-a topic his friend could always be easily persuaded to speak about. "What made it so very trying?"

Rafferdy glanced at his hands, as he had done several times that night, and at first Eldyn thought he was going to say something about them, but instead he looked up and said, "I'm afraid I have gotten myself in a most disagreeable situation I can't get out of."

"You, Rafferdy?" Eldyn said, incredulous, and amused as well. "You've been caught in a trap your golden tongue can't free you from? I can hardly wait to hear the details!"

Eldyn listened with ever-increasing enjoyment as Rafferdy described what had happened: how at Lady Marsdel's he had made the unlikely acquaintance of a lawyer named Mr. Wyble; how he had happened upon this Mr. Wyble in Gauldren's Heights, stranded by a broken carriage wheel; and how he had been forced to take Mr. Wyble back to his accommodations in Lowpark. On the way, Rafferdy had been subjected to conversation of the most tiresome sort, and had been so bored he had hardly heard a word, and had contributed nothing himself to the discourse save for nodding and saying, Yes, yes, of course, at periodic intervals.

Unfortunately for Rafferdy, one of those absentminded declarations had come right after Mr. Wyble asked if Rafferdy wished to accompany him on a visit to some acquaintances of his. Rafferdy had realized his error too late, and Mr. Wyble had been so delighted that there had been no opportunity to rescind the acceptance.

"So who are these acquaintances of your Lowpark lawyer, the ones you are to see on the first of the month?" Eldyn said, having difficulty speaking through his mirth.

"They are his cousins," Rafferdy said with a scowl. "Three young ladies. Can you imagine what they must be like, being his relations? And they are of the gentry!"

"Yes, I'm sure they're quite hideous," Eldyn said merrily. "But tell me, Rafferdy, what in the name of all that's holy were you doing in Gauldren's Heights? It's hardly a place I'd expect to find you."

"You must come with me," Rafferdy said. He grabbed Eldyn's arm across the table. "When I go with him to visit his cousins, you must come with me, Garritt."

"Why is that?" Eldyn said, taken aback.

"You're far handsomer than I," Rafferdy said, "which means they'll look at you."

Eldyn laughed. "Not when they discover who is the son of a magnate, Rafferdy. Then all their gazes shall be for you. I am quite sure they'll think G.o.d above has sent them a miracle, and they'll be trying to get a proposal of marriage out of you before the tea gets cold."

However, Rafferdy would not let go of his arm until Eldyn swore that he would accompany him on his unwanted social call next month. So it seemed Eldyn was caught in his own little trap, and as he shook his head and sipped his whiskey he thought Rafferdy was right after all.

There really was nothing more dangerous than words.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

S OONER THAN ANY of the denizens of the house on Whitward Street might have wished for, the beginning of the new month arrived, and the visit of Mr. Wyble and his acquaintances along with it.

The new moon had come just before the rapid dawn, according to the almanac, and the first day after Darkeve was to be a short lumenal of only seven hours and twenty-three minutes, to be followed by an umbral of middle duration-which meant, if nothing else could be hoped for, the guests would not be tempted by a long afternoon to linger over tea.

"They're coming, I can see them coming!" Lily cried from her perch by the parlor window. For the past hour she had been kneeling on a chair, a hand across her brow like a lookout atop the mast of a ship in the royal navy. Lily had been reading romances concerning sailors of late.

"A carriage is stopping in the street," Lily went on. "It's black and very stylish and is drawn by the most beautiful horses. It cannot be Wyble's. There are three of them getting out. I cannot tell what they look like from here, but one is shorter than the others, and thick about the middle, so it must be our cousin. Now they've left the carriage and are coming to the gate. I must say, they walk very well-the two who are with him, I mean."

"Quick, everyone!" Mrs. Lockwell exclaimed. "We must be ready for them. Hurry now, there isn't a moment to waste!"

Despite their mother's admonition of urgency, there was nothing for any of them to do, as every possible preparation had already been made in advance of the visit. The parlor was dusted, the windows polished, and the best lace set out. Mrs. Murch had been given instructions on how to prepare and deliver the tea. Even Ca.s.sity had been accounted for and at present was under strict watch, helping Mrs. Murch put the finishing touches on the sandwiches.

As they were already dressed, and their hair combed, and ribbons done and redone, they could do nothing but regard their mother, who was driven to the edge of despair by their inaction, even though it was beyond her to give utterance to what they should be doing.

"Ivy, put away that book!" Mrs. Lockwell said, triumphant at finding something that yet needed to be done. "And, Lily, take that chair back to the table. Look lively, everyone. We must show him how content and pleasantly engaged we are and how we suffer no want of additional society."

Ivy did not say that she might look more convincingly engaged in a pleasant activity with the book in hand than without it. Instead, she closed the volume she had been reading and rose, intending to take it to the shelf in the corner, then reconsidered. Mr. Wyble had a tendency to pry when he was visiting, examining everything in the house as if making an inventory of its worth. The book concerned a topic that might not be deemed entirely appropriate for a young lady, involving as it did legends of pagan origin, for she was still trying to determine the meaning of her father's riddle.

So far she was at a loss. She had read the riddle a dozen times over, backward as well as forward, and had even looked for patterns by taking only the first letters, or the last, or every other one, and rearranging them.

She had begun to wonder if the meaning had something to do with the planets. After all, the book she had found the riddle in concerned the story of two of the planets, and the ancient Tharosian word for planet and wanderer was the same. However, after much thought she was forced to dismiss that idea. There were only eleven planets, not twelve-a fact of which her father would have been well aware.

Ivy started for the stairs, intending to take the book to the attic, but just then a knock sounded at the front door, propelling Mrs. Lockwell to even greater heights of anxiety. Ivy tucked the book beneath a cushion on the sofa and went to help Lily with the heavy chair.

The door opened below, and the sound of Wilbern's greeting echoed up the stairs. With frantic motions, Mrs. Lockwell directed her daughters to arrange themselves about the parlor. Rose was baffled by their mother's gestures and only stared until Ivy took her hand and led her to the sofa, while Lily sat at the pianoforte and Mrs. Lockwell plopped into a chair, cheeks glowing.

"Thank you, Wilbern," came their cousin's overloud voice. "Are they in the parlor, then? There is no need to escort us. I will show my company up, for I know the way. Indeed, I always feel very at home here."

"He acts as if the house is already his!" Mrs. Lockwell muttered, a bit louder than was prudent.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Play, Lily!" Mrs. Lockwell whispered. "Play something cheerful!"

Lily commenced playing, and of course the piece was low and dolorous. Before Mrs. Lockwell could direct her to play something else, the gentlemen were arrived at the entrance to the parlor, and they found the Lockwell women thus engaged: Mrs. Lockwell red-faced and leaning forward in her chair, Lily pounding away at the keys of the lowest register, Rose sitting transfixed on the edge of the sofa, and Ivy doing her best to appear happily occupied with absolutely nothing in her hands.

There was a moment when all was frozen, then Mrs. Lockwell rose and affected a convivial smile (an expression that faltered only for a moment, when she was forced to wave for Lily to stop her performance). With great solicitude she greeted Mr. Wyble. He in turn presented his two acquaintances, Mr. Rafferdy and Mr. Garritt.

Whatever their flaws must be-and they must be significant, to be a.s.sociated with Mr. Wyble-their looks were not to be counted among them, as both men made fine figures in their suits. True, Mr. Rafferdy's attire, while darker and more simple, was also more rich, and he was the taller. However, it was the case for Mr. Rafferdy that his attire added to his appearance, for his face, upon closer inspection, was open and pleasing but not really handsome, while Mr. Garritt was a striking man-so much so that what he wore was quickly forgotten. His face suggested the bust of some Tharosian hero, framed by a tumble of dark hair much too long for current fashion, of which Ivy-if handed a pair of scissors-would not have shorn off an inch.

Mr. Wyble greeted his cousins then, a lengthy proceeding involving in each instance at least a half dozen declarations of exultation at the meeting. Always deeming it best to cleave to the truth, Ivy said in return that he was always welcome here, and she and Rose curtsied. However, Lily's greeting comprised no more than a muttered, "h.e.l.lo, cousin."

There was no time for Ivy to prompt Lily to do more, as by then Mrs. Lockwell was already hovering near the sofa, unable any longer to restrain herself from introducing her daughters to the newcomers. Her eye was shrewd in such matters, and no doubt she had noted that, of the two young men, one was exceedingly handsome and the other exceedingly well dressed and that both appeared to be gentlemen of some degree.

The introductions were made-a bit floridly, for their mother presented each of them with a grand wave of the arm, as if this were a ballroom rather than their little parlor, which, accommodating nearly twice its usual population, suddenly seemed cramped. Ivy gave each of their hands a firm shake, but Rose could only be compelled to grant them each a nod. In contrast, none of Lily's reticence at greeting Mr. Wyble was in evidence as she clasped their hands heartily, lingering particularly long upon Mr. Garritt's, and when he attempted to pull it back, he did not find himself immediately able to do so.

They sat, though not without some false starts. "Do try the sofa, Mr. Rafferdy," Mrs. Lockwell said. "The center is the most comfortable part, I'm sure." And "I think you'll find that chair to your liking, Mr. Garritt-no, no, not that one-yes, the one near the pianoforte." There was even a whispered "Not there, Rose!" which was of course audible to everybody in the room.

Finally everyone was settled according to Mrs. Lockwell's satisfaction, if not to their own. Mr. Rafferdy sat on the sofa between Ivy and Rose, while Mr. Garritt was situated in a horsehair chair that was more notable for being near the pianoforte than for being comfortable. Lily had alighted on the pianoforte bench. Mr. Wyble was relegated to the periphery of the room near Mrs. Lockwell, though he seemed oblivious to any slight, and he beamed as if bearing witness to some utterly delightful scene.

What followed next, in fact, was an extended moment of fright. It was Mrs. Lockwell's place to begin the conversation, but evidently she had not thought past making the seating arrangements, and though she was usually loquacious, words were suddenly beyond her ability. Mr. Rafferdy shifted on the sofa next to Ivy, and Mr. Garritt cleared his throat as if he was about to say something, only he didn't. The clock on the mantel ticked away the seconds. Mr. Wyble smiled.

They were saved by the arrival of the tea.

Ivy helped Mrs. Murch set the heavy tray on the table. She took the opportunity to make a survey of its contents and was relieved to note that the sugar bowl indeed contained sugar, and that there were lemons and spoons. However, the odor rising from the sandwiches confirmed that they were filled not with b.u.t.ter but rather with neat little slices of soap. She covered the plate with a napkin and gave it back to Mrs. Murch. The biscuits would have to do.

"Mr. Wyble, why have you never told us you went about with companions of such great distinction as Mr. Rafferdy and Mr. Garritt?" Mrs. Lockwell exclaimed once tea had been served. "Surely they are remarkable."

Ivy swallowed her tea. "As you'll recall, Mother, Mr. Wyble has only recently had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Rafferdy."

"You're quite correct, cousin," Mr. Wyble said. "I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Rafferdy at the house of Lady Marsdel last month. And hardly a brief lumenal had pa.s.sed before I wrote to tell you of my overwhelming pleasure at meeting so excellent a gentleman."

"Indeed, we have never known you to keep news of your own good fortune to yourself," Ivy said. "You have ever been generous in that regard."

Mr. Wyble nodded. "Why should I spare news of such grand happenings from those who can have so little excitement in their own necessarily sedate lives? If I can impart a hint of what such affairs are like, even a fraction of the joy and pleasure I experienced myself, then it is a gift I am glad to give."

"And one that happily costs you little," Ivy noted. "Yet you have been ungenerous in one regard, cousin, for prior to this you have not shared news of your acquaintance with Mr. Garritt."

"In my defense, I could not have told you of that acquaintance!" Mr. Wyble declared. "For I have only just made it this very day. It was Mr. Rafferdy who designed to bring him, and I must say I am elated he was able to come."

"As are we!" Lily said, a bit too robustly.

Ivy found this a curious revelation. She could understand what had caused her cousin to seek the acquaintance of a lord's son; Mr. Wyble had ever been drawn to the grand, the gilded, and the glorious, and liked nothing more than to bask in its glow, no matter that such a light might serve to illuminate his own ordinary nature. But how the relationship was reciprocated she had difficulty imagining, unless it was simply that gentlemen like Mr. Rafferdy and Mr. Garritt needed to be admired by those lesser than themselves in order to continue to feel superior. In which case they were men of the most shallow concerns and superficial tastes.

She turned to Mr. Rafferdy. "We would much like to hear about your initial meeting with our cousin. I'm sure the party at Lady Marsdel's was an impressive affair."

Mr. Rafferdy shifted on the sofa next to her, and a grimace crossed his face. "So Mr. Wyble tells me," he said, which was hardly the gush of praise she had expected.

Mr. Wyble, however, more than made up for Mr. Rafferdy's reticence and for several minutes regaled them with every possible detail he could recall from the night at Lady Marsdel's, from the size of the house to the number of the servants to "the very lovely little spoons upon the tea table, each one possessing a handle carved in the most unique and delightful way, and so ornate as to render ordinary silver spoons such as these you have here dull, even austere."

"Yet I find they stir the tea remarkably well," Mr. Garritt said, which won him a brilliant smile from Lily.

"What of you, Mr. Rafferdy?" Ivy asked. "Do you not share Mr. Wyble's appreciation for the fineness of spoons?"

"Although I have known him but a short while," Mr. Rafferdy said, "I have become certain that Mr. Wyble, above all other men, has an acute and keenly developed appreciation for the most minute and trivial of details. Such is the nature of his appreciation that it varies inversely with the importance of a thing. That is, the more insignificant the detail, the more our Mr. Wyble pays attention to it."

"Indeed, indeed!" Mr. Wyble said, clapping his hands. "I have often observed that I notice things others remain quite oblivious to. But it is only natural that, as a man of law, I should do so. Even the most important case can turn on the smallest, most tedious fact."

Ivy was astonished. Mr. Rafferdy seemed to be having some amus.e.m.e.nt at Mr. Wyble's expense. But were not the two of them friends?

"If it is the most minute of things that demands my cousin's attention," she said, "what is it that captures yours, Mr. Rafferdy?"

"Very little, I confess. If Mr. Wyble's interest is held rapt by the tiniest of matters, I am quite his opposite in that even the grandest of things cannot maintain a grip on mine."

Again he grimaced, then he reached beneath the sofa cushion and extracted the book Ivy had been reading. She felt a thrill of panic-the t.i.tle Pagan Tales of the Occult was wrought in gilt on the cover-but he set it on the floor without glancing at it, sighed as he settled into the sofa, and resumed sipping his tea.

"Rafferdy excels at being bored," Mr. Garritt said.

"Oh, how delightful that must be!" Mrs. Lockwell exclaimed. "I say, I should be very glad to be bored of fine things. For it can only mean you have everything you could possibly wish for and that you never waste a moment's thought fretting over some thing you must but cannot have. I say, you must be exceedingly content, Mr. Rafferdy!"

For a moment an expression of discomfort pa.s.sed once again over Mr. Rafferdy's face. But the book had been removed, and perhaps it was only that his tea had gone cold. Ivy used the moment of distraction to nudge the book beneath the sofa with her foot.

"My friend does me a disservice," Mr. Rafferdy said at last, with a pointed glance at Mr. Garritt.

"How so?" the other young man said. "You know it is uncommon for you to be engaged in something with true interest."

"Yes, but that is not because I am easy to bore. Rather, I am exceedingly difficult to amuse."

These words brought a sudden agitation upon Ivy. They had not asked Mr. Rafferdy to visit here; yet he seemed to imply, almost to accuse, that they were somehow remiss in providing him with sufficient entertainment. That he was a man of frivolous nature and poor judgment she had a.s.sumed, given his a.s.sociation with Mr. Wyble, but this showed a level of callowness that she had not expected.

"Then a monumental task has been set before us today," she said, "and one that I fear is beyond our ability to achieve success in. For if all the grand sights and wondrous diversions to which a gentleman must surely be accustomed cannot engross you, Mr. Rafferdy, I am certain it will be impossible for the simple, even mundane pleasures at our disposal to do so. I would offer you a biscuit or suggest that Lily play a piece on the pianoforte, but perhaps it is better to admit defeat immediately rather than subject you to such rude delights. If you decided to ask your leave at this moment, I can only imagine its being granted."

Ivy found herself out of breath and waited for his expression of shock or his declaration of affront. She was a.s.sured of his rising quickly, and calling for his hat, and making his immediate departure with his friend Mr. Garritt. However, when at last he responded, it was not with words.

Rather, he laughed as if he had just heard the most amusing story, and he was forced to set down his teacup to keep from spilling it. Mr. Garritt was laughing as well, though more at his friend than anything else.

"I knew you would find the eldest Miss Lockwell to be particularly engaging," Mr. Wyble said. However, given the uncertain look on his face, he was as perplexed as Ivy was concerning the source of Mr. Rafferdy's sudden mirth. Speech had fled her; she could do nothing but gape at Mr. Rafferdy, and she noticed that he was really quite good-looking when he smiled.

As no one seemed to know what to do next, Mrs. Lockwell took up Ivy's idea and called for Lily to play, and this suggestion was greeted with universal approval.

Ivy was grateful for the temporary suspension of conversation. Mr. Rafferdy's response had confounded her; neither he nor Mr. Garritt were what she might have expected in a friend of Mr. Wyble's. Both of them watched Lily, who was summoning the most doleful music out of the pianoforte: a dark and rumbling piece, which she no doubt fancied especially mature.

To his credit, Mr. Garritt listened intently. He seemed genuinely affected by the music. However, Mr. Rafferdy, while initially adopting a grave expression, was soon doing everything he could to conceal his rising mirth. He held his teacup before his mouth, and when that was in danger of shaking too much, he set it down and took out his handkerchief. The more she watched him, the more Ivy felt absurd laughter rising in her own breast, and she was on the verge of releasing it against her will when at last, with a flourish, Lily finished the piece.

They all clapped, none louder than Mr. Wyble, who proclaimed the composition quite ominous and said that it reminded him of the firm and unforgiving hand of justice.

This comment elicited a gasp of horror from Lily.

"It is a romantic piece, Mr. Wyble," Mr. Garritt said seriously, and Lily shot him a grateful look. "Though I will grant you, there is a sorrow to it."

"But is not the ability to feel sorrow intimately related to the ability to feel love?" Lily said. "For if you are insensible to the one, surely you must never feel the other."

"I believe it is so!" Mr. Garritt said, leaning forward in his chair, animation lending his visage, if possible, even greater charms. "To understand joy, one must be able to experience sadness as well. Indeed, there are times when the two are so mingled as to be indiscernible. Sometimes, when I awake in the middle of a long night and hear the bells of St. Galmuth's, I think that there is no lonelier sound in all the world, no music more forlorn and desolate, and none more beautiful."

Lily gave an emphatic nod. "I have heard them too," she said, rather breathlessly.

"Well, I am filled with an incomparable sorrow myself at this very moment," Mr. Rafferdy said after a long moment of silence.

"And why is that?" Ivy said, suddenly concerned.

"Because my teacup is empty, and the biscuits are all gone."

And this time it was Ivy who laughed.

M R. WYBLE'S ACQUAINTANCES lingered far longer into the afternoon than Ivy would have ever expected. More tea was fetched, and biscuits, and a tray of sandwiches that were actually edible. Lily asked if Mr. Garritt had ever been to the theaters, and when he replied that it was Mr. Rafferdy who more often attended plays, Lily plied him with a mult.i.tude of questions about what attending the theater was like, and what people wore, and how the actors looked upon the stage.

Much to Mr. Rafferdy's credit, he indulged Lily with answers to all her questions, and when she made the very impertinent suggestion that they all read from a play that very moment, he was the first to agree to the scheme.

Sitting there in the parlor, they read through the first act of Alitha and Antelidon. Lily was Alitha, of course, and she a.s.signed the other parts to her liking, so that Mr. Garritt was the n.o.ble Antelidon, Mr. Rafferdy arrogant King Daelos, and Ivy was both Queen Selenda and the doomed seeress Ephalee. Rose could not be compelled to take a part, though she agreed to strike a spoon against a cup when the direction called for the toll of a bell offstage, and Mrs. Lockwell wished only to be the audience. When Mr. Wyble asked what his part was to be, Lily a.s.signed him the role of the courier and a.s.sured him the part was crucial, despite his sudden death in the middle of Scene One.

They pa.s.sed around the book of Tharosian drama, each reading their part in turn. By the time the end of Act One was reached, and Alitha thought Antelidon perished, when in truth he lived, though the caprice of the G.o.ds had left him bereft of memory, the afternoon was fading outside. As Mr. Garritt spoke his final lines, beseeching Loerus to reveal who he really was, Rose watched so raptly that she quite forgot her cue until Lily nudged her, upon which she struck the cup, heralding the return of the king and the end of the act.

A feeling of oppression came over Ivy. But it was only the sadness of the play, she told herself, and the failing daylight. For a moment none of them was willing to break the silence, as if a spell had been cast by the ancient words they had spoken. Then a shadow sprang up, landing on the open book on Mr. Garritt's lap, giving them all a start. It was Miss Mew, of course, craving attention. Lily made an attempt to retrieve her, but only succeeded in chasing the cat onto the back of the sofa, which she raced across until deciding that Mr. Rafferdy's shoulder would form an excellent perch.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Rafferdy!" Ivy exclaimed, s.n.a.t.c.hing up the cat.