“Thank you. So, Bened, when do you become our neighbor?”
“Not long now. Had to help Rose with her troubles and all. Been sending off instructions and funds when needed but do need to go have a quick look. The couple handling it all for me appears to be very good at it. Hard-working and responsible and, even more important, careful with the funds I send.”
“They are good people. Pughs. Your family seems fond of them.”
“When I saw the name of the caretakers, I did find it comforting.”
“It used to belong to Vaughns many years ago, did it not?”
“It did. Modred and Dob were quick to send me all sorts of information. I shall have to do a more thorough study when I settle in as I think it may be why that earl handed it over.”
Primrose listened to her uncle and Bened discuss his new lands and wondered if she would ever see them. Before she could fret over the future Frederick caught her attention and he rose to his feet and hurried out of the room. A moment later she could hear two childish voices with only the occasional interruption of Frederick’s deeper one. He walked in holding the hands of a boy and a girl, both with bright red curls and wide brown eyes. The children patiently allowed all the introductions and then sat politely while Frederick made them each a plate of treats.
“They were born to a poor couple who had no learning but we could see the spark,” said George in a quiet voice as the children talked to Frederick. “We want grand things for them and Frederick insists that means learning such skills as good manners as well.”
“Very wise. They are lovely children and seem quite content despite the tragedy they suffered.”
“Thank you for saying so, sweetheart.”
It was later that afternoon that Bened asked Primrose to join him, Bevan, Lilybet, and Morris in going to see his cousin the duke. Since she was not family she protested that she would be intruding. Then she worried that Simeon would feel left out if not invited only to find out he had been and had declined for he wanted to spend time with his uncle. Uncertain, Primrose finally joined the others. It was not until they were almost there that she noticed she was not the only one who was feeling intimidated.
“Lilybet, you did not have to come if you did not wish to,” she told the pale-faced woman riding next to her.
“I came on this journey to meet with my mother’s kin,” Lilybet said. “I will do that.” She grimaced. “I just had not realized one of those kin would be a duke in a castle. I was hunting for Wherlockes and he is a Vaughn. But, as Morris said, the Vaughns and Wherlockes are just branches off the same tree, their roots all having started at the same place and time.”
“Do you know what the duke’s gift is?”
“He can hear what you think.”
“I find that rather frightening and yet have not been at all troubled by anything else. Not even how Bevan can almost disappear in an open field.”
Lilybet laughed and her color improved. “Your brother’s face when he did that was funny.”
“I was not all that easy with it myself. Fascinating though it is. A puzzle, too, as he swears he cannot go invisible or change colors. I am thinking it is some trick he can play on our minds and he may not even know how he does it.”
“That makes a great deal of sense. It is not him who disappears but our eyes that do not see him because our minds tell us he is not there.”
“I just do not see how he can do that, either, but it is the only answer I could come up with.”
“Well, I like it. It feels right.” She frowned. “Do you get the feeling we are about to be put to some test?”
Primrose stared at Lilybet in surprise. “Yes. I thought I was being foolish but wondered why I was being brought along when it is clearly intended to be a family visit, the cousins coming to pay their respects to the head of the family and all that.”
“They are certainly doing that and bringing me to meet the head of the family so he can acknowledge me as family, I suspect. There just seems to be a little secret the three of them are sharing. Nothing huge, or really worrisome, just a little something.”
When they halted in the courtyard and let the stableboys take their horses, Primrose stared up at the huge castle. This family was old. She got the deep, sure feeling that they went back centuries, maybe even to the far distant time when there were many kings and not just one. She also noticed that the rose cuttings her uncle had sent were growing beautifully in a tidy little garden near the massive front doors.
She nudged Lilybet and nodded at the roses. “I must not forget to tell him about that.”