Over a pot of gossip-water, Maggie had once told Eleanor how Grayson also made money in stocks and occasionally went to London for entertainment.
When pressed, her sister said he’d never brought a woman back to Turvey House, not while she’d been there. Nor did Maggie think he had ever given his heart away to anyone.
Grayson was thus a mystery.So attractive and smart, why hadn’t he yet found a wife?
Of course, in London, or even here in Bedfordshire, it was entirely possible he had female company on a regular basis. That could be his primary reason for going to London.
Eleanor was quite sure he never grabbed a woman behind a tree and hastily kissed her while leaving food on her face.
She couldn’t help watching him. He moved so easily from being down on the floor with the youngest Angsleys, playing checkers and even her old favorite game,Puss, Puss in the Corner, to playing cards with the adults. Just as effortlessly, he moved between the worlds of working for John and Maggie as their estate manager to being John’s best friend, she supposed.
When the children had gone to bed, except young Asher Angsley, who doted on Captain Philip and sat at his feet, the rest of them decided on charades. Grayson chose Eleanor for his partner, which delighted her. Moreover, as it turned out, they were quite good at communicating and won two rounds.
After that, someone suggested they each propose a riddle. Beryl groaned.
“Why are you moaning?” Eleanor asked her friend. “This is the best part of the evening.”
“Only because you love riddles and can guess them nearly every time, while I am utterly hopeless at them.”
Eleanor laughed, but it was true. After Beryl’s father, Lord Harold Angsley, started them off with more of a pun than a riddle, he said guests should go next and looked to her to offer one.
She scooted forward on the sofa. “Do you know the one that starts like this?
I sit on a rock whilst I’m raising the wind,
But, the storm once abated, I’m gentle and kind;
I’ve kings at my feet who await but a nod,
To kneel in the dust on the ground I have trod.”
Beryl groaned again, causing Leo to lift his furry orange head from the sofa and gaze quizzically at his mistress.
“That’s utter nonsense,” she muttered.
Philip put an arm around her shoulders to soothe his crotchety, child-carrying wife.
Eleanor looked around. “Has anyone heard it before? If not, there is more to it, and I should be happy to recite it all.”
Grayson sat back with a thoughtful look on his handsome face, nearly distracting her into forgetting the riddle’s solution. Then he folded his arms over his chest.
“Go on,” he prompted her. “We’re listening.”
She recited the next eight lines, ending with “And when I’m discovered, you’ll say with a smile that my first and my last are the pride of this isle.”
Lady Catherine Angsley, Beryl’s mother, frowned and made her repeat it twice more. Then she proclaimed, “I believe my daughter is correct. It is nonsense.”
“It has an answer,” Eleanor promised her. “And when you hear it, the hints and clues all make sense. Do you all give up?”
“No, I don’t, and I shall wager Philip doesn’t either,” Grayson said.
“Nor do I,” said Lord Angsley. “What’s more, I’ll wager my wife and I can come up with the answer before Grayson and Philip.”
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Lady Angsley. “Are you certain you wish to partner with me?”
“It’s either you or Beryl,” his lordship said, causing his daughter to toss a velvet cushion at his head.
After reciting it again, Eleanor waited, delighted to have stumped them all on her first try. However, after a few minutes of conferring with his partner, Grayson lifted his head and smiled.
