“I look forward to it,” Alexander said, surprised to find the words coming out of his mouth. “Now, would you like to meet some of the tenants?”
“Yes, please.” Her eyes shone with interest as Alexander turned toward the area where most of the tenants lived. “How many tenants do you have?”
“We have quite a few now. There were more when my father was in charge, but after he passed, several of them moved on. I don’t blame them after what happened.”
Beatrice looked up at him, her eyes speaking in a way that suggested she wasn’t likely to verbalize her thoughts.
Alexander sighed. He hadn’t wanted to get into it right now, but the words had slipped out of his mouth before he had thought through what saying them would mean. He should have known better than to say something around her and expect her not to show interest.
“There was a fire,” he said, his curse stopping him from speaking further, and Beatrice frowned.
“They never found where it started,” Guinevere supplied after a moment, when Beatrice’s frown persisted and the silence grew too long. “There was some question as to whether it was natural or not.”
Alexander took a deep breath. Perhaps it was fortunate that Guinevere had come along; maybe she could fill in the blanks where he couldn’t say anything and make Beatrice wonderwhat had happened. If someone asked questions, sometimes the words could slip through, and maybe Beatrice was curious enough to figure out that something wasn’t quite right.
Even if Beatrice didn’t connect all the dots on her own, Guinevere was suddenly looking at him with eyes far too keen. Did she know more than she was letting on?
The thought of someone else figuring it out filled him with hope.
He still wasn’t sure how the sorcerer would react to him having a wife, but the thought of him arriving with his daughter made his stomach turn. Maybe it wouldn’t change anything if Beatrice found out, but at least he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
He just wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t.
The words wouldn’t come out, no matter how much he wanted them to.
Chapter nine
Beatrice
As they made theirway to the first tenant's cottage, Beatrice puzzled over the fact that Lord Alexander wasn’t telling her everything about the fire.
Was it the one that had killed his parents?
Was it a different fire?
Was he silent only because it was a painful memory, or was there something else there?
She couldn’t think long, though, because soon they were drawing near to the first cottage.
She had never visited the tenants as the lady of the estate before, but she knew many of the families from her time in town. They would come to town occasionally to shop or for events put on by the school.
The children walked into town to go to school in the warm months, but in the winter, it wasn't practical for them to come. She was lucky to see them a few times a month when the snow was easier to traverse, and she was hoping to see a few of her favorites here.
She allowed them to take out more books in the winter so that they had something to read if the weather turned, so they might not even know that she was no longer the librarian.
Would the children be sad that she was no longer the one presiding over their books?
She’d always been happy to purchase more children’s books with her salary. She had never told her father just how much she made, so she had plenty to spend on books. She probably shouldn't have kept it from him, but if she hadn't, he would have spent it all himself.
She wanted that money to go toward something other than funding the tavern, so she bought more books with it.
It was well worth it to see the smiles on the children's faces.
“Here we are,” Lord Alexander said as he knocked on the door of the first cottage and it opened almost immediately.
Beatrice was pleasantly surprised to find a large, cheerful home with two bedrooms, judging by the number of doors, and a warm fire. Several children were seated at the table, engrossed in books.
The sight instantly made her smile.
