Agent of the Crown (53 page)

Telaine looked at Ben, whose face was
crimson. “Excuse me,” she told him, “I have to go murder my
cousin.” She leaped up and flew across the room toward the door,
shoving it slowly closed against Julia’s laughing weight.

“Father wants to meet him,” Julia panted,
“and Mother said to tell you both that dinner will be at
twelve-thirty. Ouch.” She shoved Telaine back an inch. “But if you
are
going to make use of the bedroom, I could tell her to
push it back to one o’clock—”

“Go
away
, Julia!” Telaine shrieked,
and slammed the door on her cousin’s hearty laughter. She leaned
against the door, forehead on wood, and wondered if it were
possible to die of embarrassment.

“Now I’m not sure if she likes me or not,”
Ben said. He was just as red as she felt. She went back to sit next
to him on the sofa.

“She approves of you, which is the first step
toward liking you,” she told him. “You already know the rest of the
family is going to like you, because you saved Jeffy’s life.”

“Can’t believe a grown man lets anyone call
him ‘Jeffy’.”

“My cousin Mark will want to talk about your
military prowess. I’m afraid I can’t stop him. Jessamy—oh no. I
forgot about Jessamy. I left him with the project and told him I
was coming back.” She dug out her watch. “He’s probably given up on
me by now, but I should go back anyway.”

“Can I come along?”

She kissed him. “It’s up four flights of
stairs. I don’t think you’d make it. You can wait for me in the
drawing room. It will give you a chance to meet some of the
family.”

He went from red to pale. “You’ve got a lot
of family.”

“You faced the Ruskalder army. How much worse
could this be?”

She saw him settled in the drawing room and
then flew back to the Library and the attic. Jessamy had indeed
gone, but had left the box of parts and tools neatly in the corner.
She turned over the half-finished Device in her hands, hesitated,
then set it in the box. She decided never to tell Ben he’d almost
come second to a piece of Devisery.

When she returned, he was gone. Julia sat
demurely in one corner, doing her needlework, with Emma Telaine
chewing on a soft stuffed toy at her feet. The baby sat up when she
saw Telaine and reached out her chubby arms, burbling a
welcome.

“Where did he go?” Telaine demanded. Julia
tied a knot and bit off the loose end.

“To whom are you referring? Oh, the
blacksmith? He went off with Father to his study. I expect he’s
being thoroughly interrogated as to his intentions. I ought to tell
Father you were planning to have sex just minutes ago—no, don’t, I
have a needle!”

She held up her embroidery hoop as if it were
a shield, laughing. Then she lowered it, her eyes shining, and
said, “I am so happy to see
you
so happy, my dear. It is
what you wanted, isn’t it? I didn’t overstep by throwing you
together?”

“You did exactly right, coz,” Telaine said,
kneeling next to her chair and brushing the soft toy across the
baby’s face, making her giggle. “And I am wonderfully happy.”

“I was going to make him suffer,” Julia said.
“But it was obvious after only a few minutes that he was already
suffering quite a lot. So I knew if you’d talk to each other, you
could work things out. I do like him. He’s very quiet, isn’t he? Or
maybe that’s him being out of his element.” She put away her
embroidery and picked up Emma Telaine. “I hope we don’t all
overwhelm him at dinner. I wasn’t thinking about how loud we can
all be.”

“I think he can hold his own.”
I hope he
can hold his own
.

“Well, if you need me to sit on any of my
more exuberant siblings, give me a nod.”

“I think sitting on your brothers at the
table would be a bad idea,” Uncle said, entering the room. Ben
trailed a few steps behind him, looking solemn. “Hard on the
digestion.”

“You know Mark won’t stop talking about guns
unless someone muzzles him, Father,” Julia said.

“That’s true. Come here, niece.” Uncle put
his arm around Telaine’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “I’ve had an
enlightening talk with Mister Garrett, and you’ll probably want to
discuss it with him. Why don’t you take a walk in the garden before
dinner? You have a few minutes.”

It sounded like a suggestion, but Telaine
could tell when her uncle was serious. “All right,” she said, and
took Ben’s hand.

Despite what Uncle had said, Telaine was
content to walk in silence with Ben through the royal family’s
private garden. The roses were blooming, great sweeps of red and
pink and gold, and they filled the air with a sweet, tangy scent
Telaine wished she could bottle and carry with her, to open some
winter day when the snow fell. Finally, Ben said, “Lainie.”

“Yes?”

“You set me some conditions, last
Wintersmeet. Do you have any other secrets you haven’t told
me?”

“Well, I’m the heir to a Veriboldan fortune
and my mother was a harem—all right, stop tickling me! You know all
my secrets now.”

“That’s good. Let’s sit down.”

They sat on a marble bench big enough for two
in the shade of an elm tree. It was cool and smooth, and Telaine
ran her free hand along its surface before Ben took her hand in
his.

“Lainie,” he said, “I know we’re not the same
people we were at Wintersmeet. But I certain sure still want what I
wanted then. Your uncle’s given me his permission, so…will you
marry me?”

Telaine smiled and touched his cheek. “I
will,” she said, “but on one condition.”

“Never mentioned conditions before, Lainie.
You trying to back out?”

She laughed. “No. Just…promise to take me
home.”

They held the
wedding on Midsummer Day, in the Library under the giant
chandelier. Telaine paid Ellen a vast sum of money to turn out
spheres enough that she and Jessamy were able to finish the Device
in only four days. Grandmama’s eyes when she saw it descending from
the ceiling made the long hours, and Telaine’s resulting separation
from Ben, seem like no burden at all.

He gave her the ring he’d made for her. She
gave him her father’s ring, a battered circle of white gold Ben had
resized during the hours they were apart. She saw her uncle’s tears
fall as she slid the ring onto Ben’s finger and swore to be the
strength to his weakness, all the days of her life, and knew he
felt Owen Hunter and Elspeth North’s presence as deeply as she
did.

There were tears from every member of the
North family when the King uttered the words, “Telaine North
Hunter, do you of your own free will relinquish all claim to the
North name and to the Crown of Tremontane, to take the name of
Garrett to yourself and to your children?”

She had insisted on it. She loved her family,
she assured them, and she would always be niece and cousin to them,
but she would never be able to truly be part of Longbourne if she
still had one foot in her old world. But her tears only came when
she saw the look on her uncle’s face that said she no longer
registered with his magical senses. She closed her eyes and prayed
to heaven she’d made the right decision.

They spent their wedding night in her
bedroom, and this time they didn’t have to stop.

Two days later they began the journey back to
Longbourne in their own hired coach, an extravagance Ben protested
until Telaine pointed out that they were bringing back all of her
new household fittings and she didn’t want anyone else breaking her
dishes until she had the chance. She bought plain, simple things,
linens and earthenware dishes and stainless steel flatware
(sensible, really, not an extravagance), two fluffy pillows and a
thick quilt for those long winter nights. New clothes, furniture,
curtains and the like would wait until she could buy them at home.
Thinking the words made her smile.

In the darkness, that first night, she’d
curled up against his side and whispered, “Are you sure they want
me there?”

“I told you, everyone else forgave you long
before I did. You should have heard them. The Andersons, telling
everyone who’d listen that no one needed to hide their identity so
deep they’d rescue a girl not even related to them and nearly get
killed doing it. Jack Taylor playing with his watch so I had to
remember you couldn’t lie about being a Deviser. Then, Mistress
Weaver—”

“What did she tell you all about me?”

“Just that the King made her take you in
because she’s your father’s half-sister. She got plenty of
criticism for that, more when we remembered Owen Hunter was from
Ruskald, but mostly people wouldn’t say things to her face. There’s
something about her makes people step quiet because they don’t want
to be on her bad side. Never seen anyone with that kind of power
until I met the King.”

“So what else did she say?” Better to cut
that line of thought off before it went too far.

Ben put his other arm around her and hugged
her close. “She asked how my throat was. Said a little cut like
that would have healed right away. Didn’t know what she meant at
first—I’d completely forgotten about Morgan what with everything
else that happened that day. Then I remembered how agonized you’d
looked, just before you threw that knife. How when he was dead you
didn’t look guilty or elated, you looked relieved, like you’d
prevented the worst thing you could imagine from happening. Then I
knew no one was that good a liar.”

“And then you came for me.”

“I almost didn’t. Kept going back and forth
all those weeks between despair and hope. So I started telling
folks I was going to the city to get my wife, hoping maybe that
would make it come true. Though I nearly gave up when you came
through that door like you were looking for revenge. Right then I
thought I’d be going back to Longbourne alone, and heaven knows
what I would have told everyone then. Good thing for me you said
yes.” Telaine laughed.

“But that was before I saw this place,” he
added. He turned on his good side to face her, not that she could
see him as anything more than a slightly darker shape against the
gray background. “You sure you want to go back? I never realized
how much of a shock Longbourne must’ve been, those first weeks.
This is a lot to leave behind. Never felt such a soft bed in all my
days.”

She trailed her fingers down his chest and
lower, making him sigh with pleasure. “I’ll miss my family,” she
said, “and there are some other things I will miss, mostly hot
baths and indoor toilets. But I have never felt more like myself
than when I was up on that mountain. Besides,” she smiled, and did
something else with her hands that made him groan, “
this
we
can do anywhere.”

It turned out she did have one more secret
that made Ben sit down on a bench outside the bank to regain his
composure. “You have
how much
?” he exclaimed hoarsely.

“I have my mother’s entire fortune,” she
said. “There was something unusual about how she came by it no
one’s ever explained to me, but it’s all mine, free and clear
without regard to the North family. Then I’ll have a portion of
Grandmama’s estate when she dies many, many years from now, and
that should be quite a lot. Grandmama’s good with finances. And I
don’t want you to say anything about not taking my money, because
it was our money the moment you put this ring on my finger. We’re
not going to live on it, but it will be there if we need it. Or if
our children do. And I’m going to use some of it to start our life
together. So let me know if you need a new anvil or something,
though I don’t know how we’d get it on the coach.”

He raised his head and gave her that level
gaze, then he laughed and laughed until passersby began to look at
them both with nervousness, as if hilarity might be catching.

They made the journey in short, easy stages,
to ease the burden on Ben’s leg as much as to enjoy their wedding
trip. After the first few days, in which they told each other every
detail of the time they’d spent apart and Telaine told Ben as much
as she could about her life as an agent, they traveled mostly in
silence, hands clasped, her head on Ben’s shoulder, watching
Tremontane pass their coach window. Telaine saw the mountains draw
closer, and thought,
Soon, now
.

It was not Abel Roberts’ day to come down the
mountain, but they had enough baggage they had to hire their own
wagon anyway. They sat atop the quilt, which was bundled over
crates of kitchenware, and bounced back and forth all the way up
the trail. Ben started to look white around the lips about halfway
there, and Telaine thought he would need to lie down as soon as
possible.

This prompted another thought, and she said,
“We never did do anything about that bigger bed.”

He smiled at her, though it was clear he was
still in pain. “Not a problem,” he said. Then he frowned, and
added, “Shouldn’t be a problem. Guess I could’ve been clearer with
Harkins.” Adam Harkins was Longbourne’s carpenter.

“Ben Garrett, you sly old thing. What under
heaven were you going to do if I said no?”

“Happen I’d change my name and move somewhere
far away. Maybe Eskandel. But I figured, you did promise to say yes
the next time I asked.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Isn’t there anything I can do to help?”

He shook his head. “Just have to…ride it
out.” He leaned his head on her shoulder. “Talk to me,” he said.
“Take my mind off it.” She told him stories of her family until the
wagon came out of the mouth of the pass and they made the gentle
curving ascent to Longbourne.

They drew surprisingly little attention on
their way into town. Telaine was preoccupied with Ben’s condition
and didn’t quite know when people started calling out greetings,
but a child’s piping voice broke through her distraction.

“Lainie, Lainie, you came back!” shouted
Hope, running dangerously close to the wagon wheels. “Lainie, why
did you go away? My doll stopped working again and you need to fix
her!”