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“What happened?” Rose could not help but ask. “Is that when he went to war?”
“Not quite,” Mrs. Linehan replied. The two older women exchanged a strange look, as though they held a secret that could not be spoken. “He went on te Cambridge fer a time and caused such trouble over them two years that he were asked not te come back. It weren’t what he wanted, ye see, so he deliberately caused bother.”
“But why? Isn’t that what all fine gentlemen want—to gain an education?” Louisa interjected. Apparently, Rose was not the only one who did not know this story. The other girls arranged themselves around her like children huddling in by the fire to hear mystical tales told by a weathered and wise grandmother.
Mrs. Bell paused in her scrubbing. “Not His Lordship. He demanded to be allowed to join the army and fight on the Continent at the age of ten-and-eight when his change began. His father argued with him and insisted he attend university first. If he refused, his father threatened to lock him away in a wing of the house until he submitted.”
Neve gasped. “Did he?”
“Aye, His Lordship said he’d not obey, so his father locked him up fer a month.” Mrs. Linehan stretched out her fingers, which were red raw from the harsh soap. “Finally, His Lordship agreed te go te university, which is where he caused all that mayhem fer two years and got sent away. After that, his father had no choice but te let him join the army since Oxford, Durham, and Edinburgh refused te take him instead.”
“Did they see one another again?” Rose perched on the very edge of her seat, stunned by these revelations. “His Lordship and his father, I mean? I do not know the circumstances of the old Earl’s death, you see.”
Mrs. Bell scratched an itch with the back of her wrist, while her fingers dripped water back down into the tub. “They did, only once. His Lordship returned briefly to attend his mother’s funeral and to pay homage to a sister who didn’t live long. Afterward, His Lordship went back to the battlefield and never saw his father again. The old Earl died of gout a year before His Lordship’s contract was due to end.”
“That’s… terrible.” Rose was so invested in the story that she did not realize she had pricked her finger, the scarlet blood beading from the tiny wound. She put it to her lips and sucked away the blood, her heart aching for Lord Langston.
I thought my tale was sad, but his… He has lost his entire family. He must have thought me so selfish, chattering on about my losses while he has dealt with so much of his own.
“And it made him terrible,” Mrs. Bell said. “Well, perhaps that’s unfair, but it altered him beyond recognition from that gentle boy that Mrs. Linehan and I remember. He’s got a temper and a darkness in him that we’re all eager to avoid. You ought to do the same. Steer clear of him where you can, though you shouldn’t find that too hard, being here with us.”
A temper…Rose thought of the unexpected outburst in the carriage, where Lord Langston had cursed at Lord Bentley. It had not been a pleasant side of him, but it had passed so swiftly that she had almost forgotten it. Perhaps, she reasoned, that was why he had learned to fight and insisted on going to war to put his temper to productive use.
Mrs. Linehan offered Rose a kindly smile. “Ah, can’t ye see ye’re scarin’ the lass?” She gave Mrs. Bell a light smack on the arm. “He’s not all that bad, Rose. He’s firm but fair, and he rarely turns his temper at the staff. It’s the strangeness that we like te avoid if we can—his odd quietness or that look that he gets like he’s not really here. I call it his ‘faraway glare.’ Lord Bentley’s usually the one what gets a scoldin’, and usually fer good reason.”
Georgie nodded effusively. “He caught Lord Bentley with his hand on my back while I was standing on a stool to try and fix one of the hanging baskets, and His Lordship almost wrenched Lord Bentley’s arm clean out of his shoulder.”
“I noticed they forgive one another quickly, though.” Rose did not know if she should say such things, but the women took it well, with a mumble of agreement.
“They’re like brothers, after a fashion,” Hannah said.
“Been inseparable since they were wains,” Mrs. Linehan added: the voice of wisdom. “Might as well be bound by blood, after what they’ve been through together. I often wonder how His Lordship would be if it weren’t fer Lord Bentley. He’s a doctor, friend, brother, all in one.”
Rose frowned. “Doctor?”
“He listens when His Lordship’s in one of his strange moods and talks him out o’ the darkness, so te speak.” She slapped her palm against her forehead. “Here I am, frightenin’ ye again. Truly, His Lordship is a reliable sort, who’s kind enough te us staff. He’s always there if a need arises on the estate.”
Neve raised her hand excitedly. “Yes, like the time he went down to the farm in the driving rain to help the farmers with the harvest before the storm could ruin all the crops!”
“The scandal of it reached the village, though,” Louisa added reluctantly, “so he never did it again. He retreats when there’s gossip about him and gathers his favorite animals into his chambers and doesn’t leave for days. I suppose that’s understandable. I’d hide away if there was gossip about me.”
Hannah snorted. “There’d never be gossip about you. You’re too prim and proper.”
“It’s where he finds his peace again,” Neve explained sagely.
“Like a tortoise,” Rose murmured, more to herself than to the women. She pictured him on the squab opposite, chin to his chest, shoulders narrowing, making himself as small as possible.
Mrs. Linehan laughed. “Aye, a bit like a tortoise.”
“He must love animals.” Rose thought of the multitude of cats she had seen just that morning. “I saw many cats, and I heard he had dogs.”
“He’s got a whole menagerie: cats, dogs, birds, even some turtle things that he keeps in the garden ponds.” Mrs. Bell’s expression brightened. “When he’s with his animals, he’s that sweet boy again, free with his affection.”
He must prefer their company.It saddened Rose to think that he had become so weary of humanity that he sought comfort in creatures instead. It saddened her more to think of what might have caused that shift. The war. A dark cloud that still loitered on England’s horizon.
What did he see that made him lose his faith in people?She could not even begin to imagine the horror, the blood, the death, the pain. It would be enough to drive anyone half-mad.
