The earl crinkled his eyes in amusement. “Be honest, Miss Chilton—would you settle for a rock in your garden?”
Alex smiled. “Quite likely not,” she admitted.
“I rather thought not. My sense is that you would inform the rock of all the reasons its presence was unacceptable there … and it would scurry off of its own accord.”
Justin let out a peal of laughter. “You have the right of it, sir,” he said, ignoring Alex’s indignant expression. “Why, I could tell you some tales of what Alex did …”
“Justin! I’m sure His Lordship is not interested in such childish nonsense.”
“Remember the time you and Papa …” Justin stopped and a pensive look clouded the laughter from his features. “LordBranford was asking me earlier about Papa, and what sort of a man he was. It seems that His Lordship feels it might be helpful to know something of Papa’s quirks .” He glanced at the earl. “Perhaps you should ask Alex and Aunt Aurelia the same question, sir.”
Alex frowned in thought. “You are thinking about the code?”
He nodded.
She sat in silence for a few moments, a furrow forming between her brows. “Papa shared his passion for his work with us—his love of flora and fauna—but little of his private thoughts. He was very remote at times, even angry, though I could never imagine at what. For the most part he was?—”
“He was averytroubled man.”
Everyone turned to look at Lady Beckworth.
“I don’t know quite why he married your mother,” she continued. “Forgive me if I cause the two of you any pain, but I believe you are both of an age where you will understand what I am saying. Oh, he cared for Olivia and the two of you, but it was as if it were merely accommodating his … daily needs.”
“It doesn’t sound a great deal different from many marriages of the beau monde,” observed Branford softly.
Lady Beckworth acknowledged his quick insight with a nod. “Too true, milord. But it was not mere indifference or indulgence. Something was eating at him inside. Something he wouldn’t share with anyone.”
“H-How did Mama feel about it?” asked Alex.
“At first, I believe my sister thought she could change him. Later, she simply accepted what part of himself he could give to all of you. As you know, he was never deliberately cruel.”
But blindly selfish, thought Branford with an inward frown. It had been very self-serving to saddle a young daughter with the burdens of an adult. He noticed that Lady Beckworth’s grip tightened on her teacup as she went on.
“However, I thought the fact that he let the responsibility of running a household and managing Justin fall on you at such an age was egregiously wrong,” continued Lady Beckworth, echoing the earl’s assessment.
“I didn’t mind,” said Alex quietly. “And we had a very interesting time growing up—we learned a variety of fascinating things and visited a number of interesting places as he worked on his manuscript of the natural history of England.”
“There is more to life than work, and I shall always be cross with him for failing to realize that with his own children,” replied Lady Beckworth, her tone gentle yet edged in anger.
“What of his family?” asked Branford. “What were his parents and his siblings like?”
Both Alex and Justin looked blank.
“He never spoke of them,” answered Alex.
“It was as if they didn’t exist,” mused Justin.
The earl looked questioningly at their aunt.
Lady Beckworth shook her head too. “I remember him telling my sister that his family was—gone. He seemed unwilling to discuss the matter, so she never pushed him further.”
Branford frowned, thinking it very odd.
“Yes,” acknowledged Lady Beckworth, catching his expression. “I suppose it sounds strange. But he was a respectable young man, introduced to Olivia by a friend of our family. It didn’t seem terribly important.”
“You have no idea where he was from?”
Lady Beckworth shook her head.
