what was going on as their masters.
“At any rate, failing a Guardian or Protector being named in his father’s will, he was left to the care of the King and was brought up at Court until he was eighteen.” Granny took another drink of tea. “I’m told he was pleasant enough to look at and pleasant enough as a person, but neither he nor his inheritance set any hearts on fire. Then when he turned eighteen, he came into his own and moved onto his estate, but for the first few months, until he was about nineteen, he continued to turn up all the time at Court. Daily, sometimes.”
“Daily?” That surprised her.
“Redbuck Manor is not that far from here,” Granny pointed out. “I would see him ride by on the road down there two and three times a week. Then something happened. He stopped going into the city every day. I stopped seeing him ride by, stopped hearing the horns of his hunting party in the woods. He withdrew, and no one knew why. And that was about five years ago.”
Granny waited. Bella’s mind raced.
“He hadn’t any sweetheart, so it couldn’t be that. He hadn’t any close relatives left to shock him by dying, so it couldn’t be that. It wasn’t some accident or other?”
Granny shook her head. “I’d have been called. Not accident, nor illness. In fact, I can think of only one thing that would cause someone to shut himself up on a lonely estate like that.”
Bella waited.
Granny paused portentously. “A curse.”
3
BELLA CONSIDERED THAT. “IT’S POSSIBLE, OF COURSE,” she agreed. “But this is one of Godmother Elena’s Kingdoms. If someone had been cursed, wouldn’t she do something about it?”
“Should she?” Granny countered. “He’s not at all important. And not everyone gets happy stories.”
Bella gave her a mock scowl. “Really, that’s cruel of you, Granny. And I don’t know — I don’t know anything about the business of being a Godmother. But you have said that it’s not a good thing to have curses floating about at random. They tend to be like tarred brushes — everything they get near ends up with black, sticky marks on them.”
“So you were paying attention that afternoon. Good.” Granny put her empty mug down; Bella just then realized she had been clutching hers, and set it down, as well. “It’s possible that it’s a very complicated curse, and she still hasn’t worked out how to lift it. I wasn’t telling the whole truth about Sebastian being shut up inside the walks of his own Manor. He does come out, rarely, and only for those social events he really cannot avoid. He’s still eligible and handsome, and yet he stays on the outskirts of society and is quite isolated. It’s quite the mystery.”
“But why put all your trust in a Gamekeeper?” she blurted, then blushed. “Good heavens, Genevieve’s snobbery is contagious.”
“No, that is a perfectly legitimate question. And there is one tiny bit of ancient gossip that might explain it.” Granny raised an eyebrow. “It’s said that Eric von Teller is the image of the Old Duke in his prime.”
“Eh?” Bella replied, then, “Oh!”
“It’s only gossip,” Granny said warningly.
That would certainly explain his arrogance, Bella thought. In fact, it would explain all of Eric’s behavior. He swaggered about the place as if he thought he was entitled to it, and that might have been because he did think he was entitled to it. And with Duke Sebastian being so reclusive, he might just as well be the master of the place.
“Well, then, I shall have to give him an apology if I see him again,” she said out loud.
“I don’t follow,” Granny replied, tilting her head to the side.
“I told him he needed to be put in his place, or something of the sort,” Bella admitted. “I was wrong. If he really is the Old Duke’s son, even on the sinister side, he outranks me.”
Granny made a rude noise. “I wouldn’t waste an apology on that one, and even the bastard son of a King gets only as much rank as the King permits. He should count himself lucky that he has the position that he does.”
Bella looked up at the tiny windows and realized with a start that the light had the distinct reddish tinge of sunset. She realized to her chagrin that she and Granny had spent at least two or three hours over the book, and then far too much time talking about the Gamekeeper and the Duke. “Bother. I’ll be going back in the dark now,” she said, with a twinge of irritation. “On the other hand, at least I know more about the Gamekeeper, and I should be able to give him something to think about besides tormenting servant girls.”
They both got up; Bella collected her cloak and the empty basket, and Granny saw her out. “At least there will be a full moon,” she pointed out. “And it’s due to rise a little after sunset. You should have no problem seeing your way.”
Bella kissed the old woman on the cheek and shooed her inside before she caught a chill. It was with no little regret that she turned away from the warmly glowing windows of the cottage and headed into the darkening, cold woods. She rather wished she could stay the night, and Granny would have put her up on the trundle bed if she asked — but if she did, it was odds-on that she would return in the morning to find quarrels in the kitchen and everything behind time.
She pulled her cloak tightly around her and snugged her scarf around the hood at her neck. There was a bit of a wind picking up; the fire in her room was going to feel very welcome.
When the moon rose, it was a lot easier to see. The silver light poured down through the bare branches and reflected off the snow, and if it hadn’t been so cold and lonely, she would have stopped more than once to admire how pretty it was.
However, it was tremendously cold; already, despite the two pairs of socks over her feet and the fleece of her sheepskin boots, her feet were like ice. She wished she could run, but the snow was deep enough that running was a bit difficult. But I could run a bit, then walk awhile — that would warm up my feet, too — she thought, vaguely.
