I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. ~ John Locke

Chapter 39.

What a Kiss Can Do.

Dawn was still hours away when Iestyn stormed back to his mother's cottage. He slammed the door loudly and thundered to the library, banging the door while he was at it. These loud action soon had Lady Blethyn coming in her dressing gown, her nightcap on her head, her eyes sleepy and confused.

"Iestyn," she reproached. "Where have you been at this hour of the night? Look at you! You have mud all over your boots, on your coat, have you been riding out in some wild marshes? I would think after such a lively time at the ball you would have gone straight to bed. And Miss Morton did favor you so, even above Charles. I think you were right about her after all."

Iestyn plopped down into the chair. "I was not," he smirked. "Charles was never my competition. Even though he does seem to court her, he is not the one Miss Morton is after. And it is not I either. There is another, a third suitor in this quest for the English Beauty."

Lady Blethyn swished over and gracefully sat down in chair with an overstuffed cushion. "And who is this third suitor who obviously has Miss Morton's favor?"

"Elwyn," Iestyn spat the word out. "Or rather Captain William Fleets. Elwyn is 'away in Italy' after all, but Fleets sits in that tower day in and day out."

"But...but how?" Confusion was written all over Lady Blethyn's face.

Iestyn put his hand into his pocked and pulled out a folded card. "I stumbled across this in the library at one point in the ball." He handed it over to her.

With dainty fingers, Lady Blethyn took the note and unfolding it, read the words. "Captiain W.F." She slowly said outloud. "William Fleets. Are you sure it is to Miss Morton?"

"Mother, it was Miss Morton's birthday ball, of course it was addressed to her. I took the note with me, whether that was a wise decision or not I do not know. I wanted to confront Elwyn. I thought I would wait until morning but I could not sleep and at last decided to go to the castle, and that was when I saw...them!"

Lady Blethyn lifted an eyebrow.

"Miss Morton and Elwyn. They were walking hand in hand. I dismounted and followed them at a safe distance. The wind was loud and I made sure my horse kept quiet. At any rate, they were so lost in each other they never heard me. At the Hanging Tree they parted, but not before...not before..." Iestyn clenched his fist. "Not before she kissed him! Can you believe it?"

"With the mask on?"

"Of course!" Iestyn let out a snort. "He will never take off that mask in front a lady to save his life. I have no idea how long they have been seeing each other, but obviously for a long time. No doubt she is the one who got him to open the window, who awoke his passion for reading. She's giving him the will to live. He bloody left the castle! And I have a feeling it is not the first time he's gone out. He is not the weak, wasted captain who locked himself in a tower for three years! Oh no. There is health and strength in him again."

Lady Blethyn sat quietly, pondering all her son had said. "Elwyn is just born to be a thorn in your flesh," she quietly said. "It is true when they say the Blethyn's don't go down easy. You have proven it time and again, but he proves it as well. What did you do?"

"I came here. I wanted to go to him, but though the better of it. Sometimes guerella warfare will get your further than a head on charge."

"So, what is your plan?"

Iestyn took the note from his mother and sat for a while, staring at it. At last he lifted his gaze. Despite burning fire burning in his eyes, his face broke into a cold smile.

"I shall write the mother," he stated with a chuckle. "Let us see what she thinks when she discovers her daughter goes out at all hours of the night and meets at lonely places with mysterious and suspicious men. Oh, I think Mrs. Llewelyn will be thrilled, delighted when she finds out."

Iestyn removed his coat and hung it over the chair. He did not bother to eat or drink or wash. Right away he sat down at the table and began writing. When the letter was complete, he called a servant and instructed it be delivered to Derwen Goch Manor.

Delivered anonymously.

***

Ignorance is bliss, and Elwyn, who knew nothing of the plots against him, came back to his tower with shining eyes and a soul that soared higher than any of the towers of his castle. Raj noticed right away.

"Sahib," he dared to point out, "I have never seen you in such a state of joy."

"You know, Raj," Elwyn replied, removing his coat and giving it to his faithful servant. "All spring and summer and most of winter I have been in silent anguish, wishing I was what I once had been. I was so sure that in this wretched state I had no chance with Miss Morton, angelic beauty that she is. In all my years of courting women, and you know I courted hundreds of them, I never met someone like Miss Beatrice Morton. Yes, she has the looks that would make Venice want to murder her, but there is more to her. Depth, I suppose, and desperation. Anyway, I was sure, so sure that she would never care for me because of the way I turned out." Here Elwyn broke out into a merry laugh. "But I was wrong. Can you believe it? I can't believe it myself. Out there, Rah, she kissed me. Out of the blue, turned around and kissed me. It was like the mask, which as you know outlines a part of my mouth, didn't stop or hinder her. She initiated the kiss, not me, probably the first time in my life that I never made the first step. And then, then she said that I should have guessed by now. Raj, Raj, I think she really cares for me...you know...like cares for me...like she could be in love with me."

Elwyn shook his head and let out a deep, contented sigh. "Oh Raj, it feels so...so...strange. Remember that day when she came in here and opened the window and let the light and the air in? Well, now it's like that, like that inside of me."

Striding over to the window, Elwyn threw it wide open and breathed deeply the cold, winter wind as it blew against his face. "It's like...like...like all the windows of heaven were opened and all the light, and wind, and beauty from up there has come flooding down. Oh why is there no moon out there? I want the moon." He laughed harder here. "I suppose I couldn't expect to have Miss Morton's love and the moon all at one time."

Turning he saw Raj shaking his head a little, but the man had a smile on his face.

"So now what, Sahib?"

This question had Elwyn stop laughing. "Good point, Raj," he quietly said. "What now?" He turned from the window and sat down in his chair, motioning for his servant to also have a seat.

"The trouble here, Raj, is I am not only Captain Fleets, but Elwyn Blethyn as well. Of course she doesn't know that, only Charles and Uncle George and Uncle Iestyn and that woman who is his mother...and you...oh and the housekeeper and butler know that. To the rest of the world I am away in Italy, sick and most likely dying. Thing is, I don't want to die anymore. Honestly, I'm not sure what I want at the moment...other than Miss Morton. But I can't hide the truth from her forever. If it is love, it has to go somewhere, and if it does go somewhere, I don't think the path of deceit is a good direction."

Raj nodded, quite pleased with the direction this monologue was headed.

"So you want to tell her?"

Elwyn bit his lower lip, a slight scowl appearing on his face. "Not really. I mean, what does Elwyn Blethyn have to show for himself? At least Captain Fleets fought for his king, he served in India, though I doubt many Indians appreciated that, and he was part of Wellington's campaign against Napoleon. Even if he was a bit of a flirt and a womanizer and even if he is now scarred for life due to a foolish accident, at least there is something to show for his life. But Elwyn, what is Elwyn? Elwyn is doing nothing in Italy."

"But, Sahib, Elwyn and Captain Fleets..."

"Of course, of course," Elwyn nodded. "Still. I cannot just come up to Miss Morton and say, I am the Earl of Llys Gwyn, I ran away from home, gave myself a fake name and all this time I've been pretending to be in Italy because it was easier than facing the truth and the stupidity of my actions. I've done nothing for my land and it's been wasting away ever since my father died, which was seven and a half years ago. No, Raj, no, I cannot come to her like that, with nothing to offer. I need to win my honor back before I can truly win her."

Raj had to admit his master did have a point. It was one thing to pretend to be some random captain with no family and nothing to live for, another to be an irresonsible Earl who has been lying to many people for a long, long time.

"But how can you do that, Sahib?" He practically asked.

"I am not sure, Raj, not sure," Elwyn confessed. "But there has to be a way. An opportunity will present itself, I just have to keep my eyes open."

***

It was a happy, blissful, content Beatrice that awoke the next morning, awoke very late at that. Argos was sprawled on the bed next to her and she threw her arms around the dog and covered his shaggy face with kisses.

"Good morning, dearest of all friends," she whispered to him. "Oh Argos, poor Captain Fleets, I wish you could have seen the look on his face when I, when I..." Here Beatrice lowered her voice and put her mouth close to her dog's ear. "When I kissed him."

Argos licked her face and wagged his tail.

"So shocked, oh he was so shocked," Beatrice continued to laugh. "But I think he was happy, oh yes, he was happy. He didn't want to let me go. I wonder, if I would have put my arms around him, would he have returned the embrace. And how wicked it was too, out there in the night, alone in the dark. Wicked...and romantic! Who would have thought, dear boy? Who would have thought? I hoped to fall in love one day, but never imagined it would be with such a man. To me they were always such annoying pigs, all they wanted was my beauty and my money. He doesn't even know I have any money, and while I am sure he thinks me very pretty, he's seen the side of me I never showed anyone else. I'm not the jilt of society, the breaker of hearts. To him I am...I am...oh I don't know what I am, but I wish to find out. Oh how I wish to find out."

Giving Argos a final kiss, Beatrice scrambled out of bed. After washing and dressing she was determined to have the quickest of quick breakfasts and rush off to Llys Gwyn.

Upon going into the hall, however, Beatrice met a pale and confused Catrin. She would have brushed past her, but Catrin called to her in a quiet voice,

"Bea, we are going to London."

Beatrice stopped in her tracks. "What? Now?"

"Yes, Mamma has already ordered the carriage to be prepared. Amy will come to pack your trunks in a moment, Fanny has been sent to pack mine."

"But why?"

Catrin's delicate shoulders gave a confused shrug. "I wish I knew, Bea. All I can say is Mamma is in a terrible state of temper. There is no changing her mind. We are all departing to London and that is the end of it."

Beatric scowled. Go to London? In this sloshy, annoying weather? Whatever for? Not even Lord Woodworth was there at the moment. She remembered him saying how he would stay with his father for a week before returning to the nation's capital.

"Unless he changed his mind and Mamma wants to follow him," Beatrice mused. "Still, why would she be in a terrible state of temper? Could she have guessed he liked Catrin? I hardly think she would want to take her to London then."

There was nothing to be done but confront her mother on this annoying plan of action. Beatrice didn't want to go to London. At last things were moving with Captain Fleets. She'd just made sense of her feelings, now she had to make sense of his. He would expect her to give some sort of explanation after her actions last night.

Hurrying over to the breakfast room, Catrin found her mother finishing the last bits of her tea.

"Isnt' that so like her," Beatrice snorted to herself. "Have the whole house in an uproar and be sitting here having second breakfast."

Mrs. Llewelyn had heard footsteps approaching and looked up. At the sight of her daughter her face turned purple with rage.

"You!" She hissed. "You whore!"

The words hit Beatrice like a hundred burning darts and she froze in her tracks. During the long and strained relationship with her mother, Beatrice had been called many things, but never something so...so...so vulgar!

"Mamma?"

"Come here. vixen! Sit down this instant."

Vixen? What had gotten into Mamma? She knew that tone of voice, however, and dared not disobey. Mechanically, Beatrice put one foot in front of another and came up to the table. She was still in the process of taking her seat when Mrs. Llewelyn reached over and smacked her across the face with all her might. The force was so strong it made Beatrice lose her balance and she toppled over. Mrs. Llewelyn grabbed her by her hair and thrust her into her seat.

"Mamma!" Beatrice exclaimed in pain and dismay. She fought to free herself from her mother. Her cheek stung and turned a deep red, the roots of her hair screamed out in pain. "Get your hands off of me!"

"Oh, my hands off of you," Mrs. Llewelyn taunted. She rose and stormed to the door, she shut it firmly before returning to the table. "While you keep yours all over someone else? I know all about it, Beatrice! Where you were last night...what you were doing!"

Beatrice was having trouble comprehending everything. How could Mamma have known? The entire house had been still when she got back last night. Nothing moved or peeped as she had climbed back to her room.

Mrs. Llewelyn read the questions in her daughter's mind.

"Thought you could get away with it, didn't you? Will, little birdies fly at night too, and this little birdie was at the Hanging Tree. Look and see!"

She thrust a paper at her daughter's face. Beatrice took it and read the following.

To Mrs. Llewelyn.

It is in the best interest of your daughter that I disclose to you what I saw taking place last night. Except for you I have revealed this to no one and I can give you my promise at discretion. Such matters of delicacy would never even be written on paper, did I not think it vital that you know. I beg, burn this letter when you have read it, so no one will discover what has been seen and written. Between the hours of three and four in the morning I saw your daughter in the arms of a man. I know not who he was, but they walked arm in arm. At the Old Hanging Tree they parted ways, but not before your daughter put her arms around him and kissed him in a manner most unfitting for a young girl of her unmarried status. From their behavior it would seem they have known each other from before. I urge you to take some actions, as your daughter's repuation is at stake. As for myself, as I have promised, I shall keep what I saw to myself. Your daughter is still in the bloom of youth and I would not want to see it fade away in ruin.

My regards.

Beatrice let out a gasp. So they had had an audience last night? What sort of person would be snooping around the Old Hanging Tree at that hour? It was obviously someone who knew her. How had he, or she, known it was her? Had Beatrice been followed?

"Kissed him?" Mrs. Llewelyn hissed in her face as she snatched the letter out of Beatrice's hands. "Embraced him? Seen him before? Is that where you have been riding, Beatrice? Is that where you disappear too all the time? To go and see him? What else have you been doing with him? How could you? We are this close to getting Lord Woodworth and you begin some romance with some Captain?"

"What makes you think he is a captain?" Beatrice sputtered.

"Oh, there is more," Mrs. Llewelyn replied. She tossed another paper at Beatrice. Beatrice, though afraid to look at it, picked it up and her heart sank. It was the note from Captain Fleets, the note that had his name signed at the bottom.

"Shame of your father!" Mrs. Llewelyn slapped her again. "Death of your mother! Disgrace of your uncle! I take you to so many balls, I introduce you to so many men and this is what you do? Go snooping around, doing things unfitting and unseemly? After all I have done for you?"

"It is my life, Mamma," Beatrice retorted, rising to her feet.

"Is it now? Alright,we can play the game that way. I have a life as well, Miss Morton, and if you can run around courting and kissing strange men in the dark then I can marry you off to Lord Woodworth. You see, young lady, put to much work, so much time and effort to lose it all to some silly passion of yours. We are going to London and we are not coming back to Wales or to Derwen Goch until you are Beatrice Errol, future Duchess of Denster."

"And if I don't, what will you do?" Beatrice taunted.

Mrs. Llewelyn yanked her firmly from the chair. "Anything, Beatrice, anything. I'll poison Argos if I have too! I'll marry you off to the Duke instead of his son. I'll burn the entire library. I'll make sure Catrin stays an old maid. Don't challenge my imagination! I am not giving you an option here. There will be no Beatrice go do this and Beatrice go do that. Since you have proven that I cannot leave you alone, then I shall be with you at all times. And we are going to pack right now. Make one sound, one tiny sound, I'll kill your dog! Let's go!"

With the iron strenght that Mrs. Llewelyn had been blessed or cursed with, she dragged Beatrice up the stairs and to her room, but not befoe tossing the letter, and the precious note, into the fire that burned in the fireplace. Amy was already packing. Before the morning as completely threw the little family was packed up in the carriage and heading off in the direction of London.

For once again, the dragon had won the battle.