tales of the latter kingdom 08 - moon dance Read Online Free Page B

impression of one who was light-headed in the extreme, concerned only with fashion and gossip and the marital futures of her daughters, but six years of sharing the same household with her had taught me something quite different. She missed very little, especially when it came to the young man everyone hoped would marry her middle daughter.
    “It is a good place to escape the heat of the day,” I said, my tone noncommittal. Yes, I knew that I would have to tell her the truth eventually, but her possible reaction worried me. I thought I might as well put it off for as long as possible.
    “That it is,” she returned, her tone equally neutral. “One might argue that the arcade on the north side of the castle is equally cool, and perhaps better for catching the breeze.”
    “I suppose.”
    Aunt Lyselle put her hands on her brocade-covered hips and watched me carefully for a moment. “And I suppose you think that I am going to be angry with you.”
    Her remark made me blink. Certainly nothing in her voice indicated she was angry at all, but I’d also learned over the years that she was quite good at hiding what she was thinking, of putting on the façade of the even-tempered, always good-natured lady of the house. Her outward mien did not always indicate what might be occurring inside.
    “I-I am not sure,” I said honestly. “I would hope not, for Lord Mayson has his own free will, and may walk where he wishes. I certainly did not invite him to come see me there.”
    “No, I did not think you had, for you are far more circumspect than that.” She paused, hazel eyes searching my face. As I often did, I found myself examining her features, seeing in them an echo of my own mother’s countenance, although it had been ten years since we lost her, and some of the details of her appearance had begun to slip from my memory. And I also tried to see something of myself in her, and again found myself failing. My mother had told me once when I was very young that I had inherited my golden curls from her mother’s mother, but I had never met my great-grandmother, nor my grandmother, either, as they had both passed away before I was even born.
    True, I possessed the greenish-hazel eyes of my mother’s family, but in shape they were quite different from my aunt’s, or my sister’s. To anyone who had not known us, we would not have appeared to be related at all.
    “But,” Aunt Lyselle went on briskly, “I would have to be blind to see that Lord Mayson has very little interest in Carella, whereas he seems to make some effort to seek out your company, Iselda.”
    “I am very sorry,” I began. “I have never encouraged — ”
    “No, I know you have not,” she broke in. “I did not mean to imply such a thing. But if he has taken you into his confidence — if he has said anything — ” A pause, as if she was steeling herself to face an unpleasant truth. “If Lord Mayson has spoken with you, then you must tell me, my dear. I do not want Carella to make a fool of herself by chasing him if there is no possibility of a marriage between them.”
    I swallowed. “Dear Aunt Lyselle, I must confess that he did say something, but his entire manner was so strange, his demeanor so agitated, that I am not sure what to make of it.”
    My reply seemed to flummox my aunt. She crossed her arms, head tilted as she surveyed me. “What on earth do you mean, Iselda? Did he offer for you or did he not?”
    “He — ” Oh, how I wished I might be anywhere but here confronting Aunt Lyselle, who looked as if she couldn’t decide whether to be worried or confused. “He spoke of how he didn’t wish to be married at all, but if he must, that he would rather it were with me, as he seems to regard me as a friend. I must confess that I did not understand him at all, and told him that if I were to marry, it would be to a man who loved me and did not merely regard me as a friend.”
    “You told him that?” For some odd reason, she did not seem