I mastered the urge to roll my eyes, but only just.
“I saw Bertie talking to Mr. and Mrs. Busby a few minutes ago, so I suppose it’s just as well that Darien isn’t here to encounter him.”
“Darien isn’t afraid of Bertie,” she said quickly, rising to her beloved’s defense. “Bertie caught him off guard. It wasn’t a fair fight. In fact, it was only at my urging that Darien decided to stay away from Bertie. He wanted to fight him to restore his honor.”
I knew she meant this as an endorsement of Darien, but I found that Milo’s brother, despite our short acquaintance, was already growing very tiresome.
“And, of course,” she went on, “Mother is here, and I haven’t told her about Darien yet.”
That was one more reason to be grateful Milo’s brother was not making an appearance at the festival.
I could only imagine what a meeting between Mrs. Hodges and Darien would be like. Mrs. Hodges was the grimmest woman I had ever come across, and I had encountered some grim figures in my day.
“I haven’t told her that things are over between Bertie and me,” Marena said, drawing me away from my reverie. “I … I thought it was best for the time being.”
Mrs. Hodges had always been opposed to Marena’s involvement with Bertie Phipps, so I was sure the news would have been welcome. That Bertie had been supplanted by a disreputable young stranger was probably the reason why Marena had yet to mention it to her mother.
“Well, I’m sure everything will work itself out in time,” I said. I hoped that it was true.
“Yes, I’m sure you’re right. Thank you for talking with me, Mrs. Ames. I feel much better about everything.”
I only wished I did.
I stepped out from the space between the two tents and found Milo standing there. I wondered how much he had overheard.
“Oh, hello, Milo,” I said.
“What were you and Marena talking about?”
I glanced over my shoulder, surprised to see that Marena had disappeared. She must have gone off in another direction, hoping to avoid Milo and the topic of Darien, I supposed.
“Oh, the fair and such.”
He shot me a look that said he wasn’t fooled. “Amory, have you been involving yourself in things you shouldn’t?”
I ignored the question and returned to the booth where I completed the purchase of the baby blankets.
Then I turned back to Milo. “It was Marena who wanted to speak to me,” I said. “But, in answer to your question, I do feel like Darien is our concern, whether or not you agree.”
“Not for much longer. I’m going to make sure he leaves Allingcross.”
“I don’t know that he’ll be easily persuaded.”
“He will,” Milo said with a confidence I found difficult to doubt. He had always been extremely adept at getting his way, and I couldn’t help but feel this case wouldn’t be any different.
I supposed Marena would be heartbroken were Darien to leave, but I couldn’t help but feel it would be the best thing for her. Indeed, it would likely be the best thing for all of us.
“She’s infatuated with him,” I said. “I’m afraid it’s much worse than we thought.”
He shrugged. “What of it?”
“Milo, surely you see that he…”
“Yes, darling,” he said, cutting me off with a dismissive wave of the hand. “But we needn’t worry about him today. He’s not here.”
“Marena mentioned that he wasn’t coming because he thought the entire thing juvenile.”
“I rather suspect it was because I told him not to come.”
I turned to look at him. Though it was not at all surprising he had been in contact with his brother without telling me, I found I was a bit annoyed he had kept it a secret.
“Why didn’t you mention you’d spoken to him?” I asked casually.
Milo’s expression told me he wasn’t fooled by my show of indifference. “Don’t be angry, darling. You didn’t miss an emotional reunion between long-lost brothers. If such a thing is ever to occur, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
I quelled my irritation and the impulse to make a sharp retort. While a part of me was a bit hurt that this had occurred without me, I understood that the matter really was a private one best settled between Milo and Darien.
Though he lived life on a public scale, indifferent to the opinions of others, Milo was a maddeningly private person when it came to discussing his thoughts. It was a lucky thing I understood him as well as I did, for there had been very few occasions when he had confided his feelings to me.
To be fair, I, too, had often found it difficult to discuss my emotions with him in the past. We were improving on that score, but this latest revelation made it clear we still had a ways to go. And just because I understood Milo’s instinctual desire to keep matters to himself didn’t mean I appreciated having been kept in the dark that it had happened.
“When did this occur?” I asked.
“I went to see him at the inn yesterday afternoon. We had a drink and discussed a few things.”
He was being purposefully vague, and I didn’t intend to let it pass.
“What did he say, Milo? The particulars, if you please.”
He smiled. “There really isn’t much to tell, darling. We agreed that there was more to be discussed at a future date, and I told him it would be better for all concerned if he didn’t appear at the festival today. He’s going to come to Thornecrest the day after tomorrow. But let’s not discuss Darien any more today, shall we?” Milo said. “We’ve better things to do.”
I let out a little sigh. He was right, I supposed. While I had a good many more questions, there was no reason to let the matter of Darien and his rampant love affairs spoil the festival. There would be plenty of time to think about it later.
I tried to put the matter from my mind as Milo and I went to the livestock tent, more from my desire to look at the lambs, kids, and piglets than from any interest on Milo’s part. Aside from the horses, there had been no livestock to speak of at Thornecrest for many years. I, on the other hand, was keen to coo at the baby animals. It seemed the maternal spirit was strong within me.
“Shall we add him to the menagerie?” Milo asked as I patted the head of an adorable little lamb.
“I’m not sure Emile would take to him,” I said with a laugh. Emile was our pet monkey. Milo had acquired him in Paris in some sort of bet, the particulars of which I had yet to understand, and he had become a part of our household.
“He’d probably ride the thing across the drawing room the moment our backs were turned,” Milo agreed.
I laughed at the mental image, but it halted as I looked across the tent and spotted Imogen standing near the edge of the crowd at one of the booths outside. She looked very pretty in a dress of pale green that complemented her fair coloring, but her unexpected presence at the festival was a bit jarring somehow. Truth be told, I had rather hoped that, after learning Darien had used a false identity to woo her, she would go back to London and forget all about him. It seemed, however, this was not the case. Even from this distance I could detect the forlorn aura that hung about her.
I wondered why she was still here in Allingcross. Did she seek to reconcile with Darien? I hoped not. From what I had seen, his involvement with Marena Hodges had gone too far, and, in all honesty, I suspected it would be difficult for Imogen to compete with Marena for his affections. Imogen was a lovely girl with her blond hair and clear blue eyes, but she lacked Marena’s vibrant energy, the vitality that flashed in her eyes. I could see how Darien would be drawn to the dark-haired village beauty.