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“Good morning, my Lady.” As Polly did not ask any questions, Caroline could not tell if the maid was fooled into thinking Alexander had visited and simply left early or not. She allowed Polly to wash her face and fix her hair, before dressing her and leading her to breakfast.
Caroline walked into the dining room to find it empty once again. She frowned when her food was immediately brought to her. “Will my husband not be joining me for breakfast?” she asked. It was the first time she uttered the word husband, and she was surprised with how easy it had flowed out of her mouth.
“No, my Lady. Sir Mannfield stepped out very early this morning and has not yet returned,” the maid informed her. Caroline ate her food, failing to taste any of it. They were not on good terms. She understood that very well, but still. They had just been married the day before and he was already leaving her alone so often. She wondered to what extent his courtesy would go. Perhaps only meeting for dinner? Appearing as a unit when they needed to attend social gatherings?
After breakfast, she headed to the garden to see if it would soothe her like it had the day before. She was walking leisurely through the small garden when she turned the corner and bumped into an elderly man she had never seen before. He seemed to have been inspecting the grounds.I did not realize we had a gardener already. I thought I learned the names of all our servants.The man hurriedly greeted her first, bowing as he did.
“Good morning, Lady Caroline. I am Baldwin, the butler at the Mannfield mansion,” he said smiling sweetly at her.
Caroline realized this was the half-blind butler who had brought the letter to her house that started all this. She was surprised, but she found she could not be upset with him. It was not his fault how the situation had been handled, and more importantly, there was nothing they could do about it now. Being upset with him would serve no purpose and would only be vindictive.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Baldwin.” She returned his sweet smile. “I had not realized that you were here. I apologize that I was unable to greet you when I arrived yesterday.
Baldwin balked at that, throwing his hands up. “Oh dear, certainly not, my Lady. I was not here. I only arrived this morning!”
“Oh,” she said. He had arrived before she even woke up. Just how early did Alexander leave? “May I help you with anything?”
“Master Alexander sent me here to examine the condition of the garden and decide if it needs special care,” the old man said.
“I did not realize he was interested in the garden,” Caroline said without thinking, as she remembered how he had not wanted to waste time on it the day before.
“Pardon? Indeed he has not, but he said that you seemed to enjoy it, my Lady.” The butler gave her a confused look, as though he was surprised she did not realize it was for her.
Caroline was even more confused. Her jaw dropped open slightly and she looked at the old man in shock. “He said that I did? I did not imagine he noticed.”Or cared.
The old butler seemed greatly troubled as he looked at her. She watched him struggle as it seemed he had things he wished to say. “You seem like you have something to say. Would you like some tea?”
Baldwin accepted her invitation and she had tea brought to them in the drawing room. “Please, speak freely,” she said as she lifted her cup to her lips.
The butler sighed loudly before speaking. “I know of the circumstances that brought about this marriage, as I am the main cause, so I know that you are probably upset. You read the letter, and no Lady wants to be married to a man she knows is involved with another. It seems like you two are off to a rocky start, but if I may, my Lady, I ask that you be patient with him. The young master was certain that he would marry for love, and he thought that he had already found it. It will take him a while to open his heart again.”
Caroline stared at her reflection in the surface of the tea. Baldwin was correct. Although things had turned out this way, if Alexander really loved his previous partner, he should not be able to turn to her that quickly. If she were his lover, she would hate it if he jumped right into the arms of a another woman. It would show that he could be swayed at any moment to the arms of someone new.
“I too, dreamed of love. I never thought I would find myself in an arranged marriage with a man who loves another. I know nothing about him…” she said.
“Would you like to?” the old butler offered. “I watched the young master grow up, so I can tell you all sorts of stories from his childhood.”
Caroline smiled at the old man. “Really? I wonder… it is hard to imagine a man that serious as a child.” She thought of his curt responses and simply could not imagine a sweet child in his place.
“He was not always this serious. He and his brother Colin used to get in all sorts of trouble when they were younger, but those days are long gone. He understood that with age, came responsibilities, so he put away his childish antics and became the man he is now.” Caroline watched as a look of fondness filled Baldwin’s eyes and she knew he loved Alexander more than just as a master. It was almost as though she were watching a father speak of his child.
She was curious about the kind of child Alexander had been. Maybe knowing would provide her with insight into his life and an idea of how to move forward as his wife. “"What sort of mischief did he get himself into?" she asked. The old man beamed at her interest, and she could not help smiling. He was trying so hard to foster some good feelings in her for her new husband. She couldn’t help but admire how loyal he was.
“Oh there are so many stories to tell! When they were younger, Alexander discovered Colin was afraid of frogs and avoided certain areas of the manor where he had once found some. He eventuallydecided to help Colin overcome his fearanddevised this brilliant plan to gift his brother some tadpoles.”
“Oh my! How would that help him?” Caroline asked. She pictured how the scenario played out and let out a peal of laughter despite herself. It reminded her of her childhood with her sister. She hated roaches and one day her sister had needled a roach on a handkerchief and gifted it to her. She had almost fainted.
“I admit he could have found a better way to help Colin, but in his defense, he was a child, and his intentions were honorable. So he set up a net trap to catch a lot of tadpoles, and when he did, he took them to his brother and told him that he was giving them to him so that by the time they matured, he would be so used to them that he wouldn't find them scary anymore.”
“Did Colin accept his gift?” she asked.
“Oh no, Colin was frightened! He screamed and begged for his brother to take them away, so Alexander panicked and tossed the tadpoles into the latrine. He returned to console Colin and assure him that the frogs had been disposed of, so no one really found out about it. Life went on as usual and Alexander did not repeat his mistake,” Baldwin said.
“Well, that does not seem so terrible. It was not how I imagined it would be,” Caroline said, disappointed with the climax of the story.
“Ah, but that was not how it ended. You see, although the young master disposed of the tadpoles, they were not completely gone. A few months passed and Alexander ran to Colin’s room in fear when he heard a very loud scream. The tadpoles had matured into froglets and there was one in Colin’s room. Alexander quickly caught it and took it outside but for months, Colin was petrified because they kept popping up everywhere despite our best efforts to curtail the situation.”
Caroline laughed even harder, this was a better ending to the story, “Oh, poor Colin. I do wonder if he is still afraid of them,” she said, unable to control her laughter, still.
