Resolutely, she pushed any thoughts of the future from her mind and continued her search for Mrs. Brody.
She was lost for a good ten minutes before she found herself in a wide corridor leading to the public rooms. She opened a door she thought was the dining room, one that would lead to the kitchen.
This wasn’t the dining room at all, but a strange room with curved walls, one covered in weapons. Worse, Mr. Kerr was seated at a table in the middle of the room.
She stepped backward, hoping the solicitor hadn’t heard her. Her hopes were dashed when Mr. Kerr raised his head and pinned her with a look.
“Can I assist you, Lady Fairfax?” he asked.
“No,” she said, stepping back. “I’m simply exploring Doncaster Hall. I apologize for the intrusion. I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“Without a guide?” he asked, putting down his pen.
“Do I need a guide, Mr. Kerr. In my own home?”
When he stood, she took another cautious step backward.
“Are you afraid of me, Lady Fairfax?”
She stared at him for a moment, uncertain how to answer. The solicitor wouldn’t understand the confusion she felt in his presence. His emotions felt restrained and blanketed as if he hid his feelings even from himself.
Something about the solicitor disturbed her, an odd feeling that grew stronger each time she met him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had an air of barely suppressed superiority, but then, she would have expected that if he knew the story behind her marriage to Montgomery.
“No, Mr. Kerr, I am not. Do you want me to be?”
“Indeed not, Your Ladyship. It’s just that you seem hesitant in my presence. As if you fear me, somehow.”
“This is quite an unusual room,” she said, looking around rather than responding to his comment.
“The Armory is one of the more famous rooms of Doncaster Hall. The 3rdLord Fairfax purchased the weapons from the Office of Ordnance. It’s said he nearly stripped the Tower of London of its collection of swords, pistols, and other weapons.”
“Why?” she asked.
He looked surprised at the question. “To have them, of course.”
She looked around the room. One particular sword boasted a blade with a dark red stain. She sincerely hoped it was rust and not dried blood.
Mr. Kerr walked to the curved wall. “Twenty-five chests of weapons were delivered to Doncaster Hall, along with two men from the Tower who were skilled in their use. Now, they’re displayed here.”
“And you’ve chosen to work here.” She simply could not envision Mr. Kerr as a warrior. Perhaps a warlike squirrel, brandishing a nut as a weapon, but hardly more.
“Since the Armory contains an area for the cataloging and maintenance of the hundreds of weapons stored here, I’ve chosen to use this desk, yes.”
“A reminder of England’s bloody past,” she said. “And Scotland’s.”
Added to the English weapons were those from Scotland: enough Highland dirks, cudgels, two-handed claymores, and basket-hilted broadswords to outfit a good sized army.
“The majority of Fairfax men were not of a warring mentality, your husband excluded.”
Had she heard correctly?
She glanced at him.
“Your husband fought in the American Civil War. Did you know, Lady Fairfax?”
She nodded.
“Quite a brave man. Decorated for it.”
