Lord Sebastian's Secret (The Duke's Sons #3)(85)

She nodded to Georgina’s father. He stood very straight, looking vastly pleased with the scene as he referred to his sheet of paper.

“‘A bloodline is an ancient thing,’” he read. “‘It stretches back through centuries, and more. Further than we can know. It links us to a host of ancestors. A few we remember; many more we do not. But their legacy runs in our veins.’”

He was truly in his element, Georgina thought. The setting and the phrases had him almost wriggling with joy.

“‘Others have lived in this castle before me,’” he continued. “‘And will after. I am a link between past and future, a conduit for a valued heritage, one man passing along whatever wisdom I can muster to my children. And they to theirs. And so on down the years.’”

Georgina found that she was moved by the sentiments, and she could see that Edgar was as well. Whatever had happened to Joanna, her words exhibited surprising depths. Her former governess—former in more than one sense now, Georgina thought—turned to signal her mother.

“‘I came here a stranger,’” Mama began, with less relish than Papa, and yet a definite solemnity. “‘As many women had done before me. And I made this place my home, as others will do when I am gone. It should be acknowledged that this is no easy task. Not for the sake of bemoaning the difficulties, but to recognize the achievement.’”

Georgina watched her mother’s face change as she read the passage she was seeing for the first time. She too seemed startled and impressed by what Joanna had produced.

Joanna moved both her arms, like the conductor of a small eccentric orchestra.

Georgina’s parents read together, though not exactly in unison. “‘Our eldest is leaving us now to found her own household elsewhere. Though she changes her name, she will always be a Stane, and thus we do not let her go but rather welcome another into our line.’”

Joanna allowed a dramatic pause, then pointed at Sebastian.

He held the page just as the others had, as if he was reading from it. He spoke loudly and clearly. “‘I do not become a Stane. But from this day, I count them as my kin, extending the range of my relations. Families spread out over the land like a bright net, bonded and woven together.’”

Every word was familiar as he went on, but Georgina could never have repeated them as perfectly as he did. Watching him pretend to read, she felt proud and full of admiration and so very sad for the boy who’d had to struggle. Before he was done, she had to blink back tears.

As Sebastian came to the end of his part, a candle next to Randolph began to behave very oddly. The flame fluttered and started to hiss. In the next instant it shot up much taller than the others, burning a striking blue. With a wordless exclamation, Randolph backed away from it. Hilda moved closer, eyes bright with curiosity.

“It is a sign,” declared Joanna, making passes with her hands.

They all watched, fascinated, as the candle rapidly burned down under this much-stronger flame. Wax curled and slumped into fantastic shapes, almost seeming to writhe at one point.

“The powers acknowledge our efforts,” Joanna added.

“Astonishing,” Randolph muttered. He’d moved a bit behind Georgina; she wasn’t sure whether the others could hear him. “Imperfections in the wax?” he said. “Some sort of chemical contamination?” He moved further away from the group. “I must make a note,” he murmured. “So much in the world is still a mystery to us.”

“Come,” said Joanna. She beckoned. Georgina and Sebastian obediently stepped forward. Joanna took their hands and pressed them together. Briefly, it seemed she might hold them over the last vestiges of the hissing candle. Georgina braced herself to rebel and felt a similar tension in Sebastian’s fingers. In the end, however, Joanna merely extended them in that direction. “It is done,” she said with a complacent smile.

Georgina’s father broke into applause, which clearly did not please their mistress of ceremonies. Hilda joined in, then Edgar, then Emma. The peculiar candle flared up one last time and went out.

Randolph strode out of the room without looking back. Georgina’s mother lingered briefly, but soon followed him. Her father went over to shake Joanna’s hand. “That was splendid!” he exclaimed. “Better than a play, I swear.”

“It was not an entertainment,” she replied, pulling her hand away.

No, she would not be remaining here as a governess, Georgina thought, as Joanna began to pace the perimeter of the room, making more mysterious passes with her hands. It seemed unlikely that she would even want to stay to aid Papa’s studies. She was going to require greater scope for her newfound talents.

The rest of them moved out of the room and along the corridor. Hilda and Emma chattered to Edgar about the amazing behavior of the candle.

Georgina and Sebastian shared one lingering glance, hot with the promise of what was to follow later tonight, and then avoided each other’s eyes.

“Shall we have a brandy to celebrate?” suggested Papa.

He must be wrapped up in the ritual still, Georgina thought. This was hardly a company for brandies. “I’m quite fatigued,” she said. “I shall say good night.”

“I, too,” said Sebastian.

“What, so early?” the older man asked.

“This evening gave me much to, er, contemplate,” Sebastian said, earning Georgina’s wholehearted admiration for the quick-witted charm of his answer. How could he ever have imagined he was stupid?