Madam Boswell had protected Charlotte last fall and had helped Charlotte’s brother find love last Christmas, yet she couldn’t manage to make one little talisman for her? It simply wasn’t fair. “Why me? What quest? Why can’t they choose someone else?”
Adam’s grandmother frowned. “They did not explain?”
“No.” In truth, Diana had never asked. Questioning encouraged and the last souls on Earth Diana wanted to offer encouragement were those two. “They’ve claimed that I’m their quest and are pledged to me, which is ridiculous.”
Madam Boswell looked to Somerton. “Has Lady Isolda been equally as secretive.”
“I know what she wants from me,” he ground out.
“Yet you don’t intend to grant her desire?”
The way the gypsy studied Somerton was unnerving, but at least she was gazing into his soul instead of Diana’s.
“What she wishes is impossible,” he answered.
“Is it?” the gypsy persisted.
“Yes.” He answered in such a way to indicate that he’d entertain no further questions from Madam Boswell.
“Why are the three intent on us?” Diana finally demanded.
Madam Boswell sighed. “I shall share the tale.” Then she took a sip of her tea as if there was no urgency in this matter and they’d simple settled down for a pleasant conversation.
“Long ago, Sir Orwen and Sir Gilbert were at Keyvnor Castle to participate in a jousting tournament. They’d always been competitive on the field and off. At this particular tournament, they also fell in love with the same maiden, Lady Isolda. She was quite beautiful, and many knights wished to carry her favour.”
Diana blinked at the old woman. “How do you know this?”
“Any of the locals could have told you,” she brushed away the question. “The only way we know that they’ve not succeeded in their quest is when the storms come the night of the Summer Solstice. The same time every year, and then disappear before they reach the shore. Though we’ve also wondered if it was simply a coincidence since nobody has complained of them in decades,”
“Probably not since 1765,” Diana grumbled.
“1765?” Somerton asked.
“The last time another miss saw them. They failed.” Diana sipped her tea.
“Yes, I remember.” Madam Boswell smiled fondly. “My Eva, Adam’s mother, was only two at the time. The two knights would not cease pestering the one miss who could see them. She was a guest at the castle and no matter how much she pleaded for help from the witches, it was forbidden. In the end, it was the viscount who ran away due to the haunting of Lady Isolda and thus the curse could not be broken,” Madam Boswell chuckled.
“Why are they cursed?” Diana demanded.
“Patience, Diana.” The old woman shook a permanently bent finger at her.
Diana blew out a breath, determined to rein in her patience while Madam Boswell took another sip of tea.
“Lady Isolda was quite taken with the knights at first. But soon, she grew irritated with their constant bickering.”
“I understand her annoyance,” Diana grumbled.
“After the constant competition for her hand, a challenge was issued.”
Somerton leaned forward. “She demanded such?”
“She did not ask it of them, and further, there was no guarantee the victor would gain her in the end, but they were too caught up in the rivalry to give her such consideration.”
“Gentlemen have not changed in that regard,” Diana grumbled.
“What is your meaning?” Somerton demanded.
“Gentlemen rarely give consideration to the woman when only concerned with their selfish desires.” Such as when a gentleman pursues a lady in a way that makes her believe he intends more than courtship, when all the while he simply wished a dalliance with no intention of betrothal, she didn’t add.
