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SEEMINGLY HOURS LATER, I watched Ben as he mindlessly picked at the dirt underneath his fingernails. We were stationed outside of the library, both of us silent.
I had a feeling Ben was going through the same emotional turmoil as I was; as I gave him an overview of what happened in the dining hall, his expressions shifted constantly, ranging from amused to angry to suspicious.
“Do you think she’s really our grandmother?” I finally asked Ben.
“No one with that kind of coach and team would come to our manor in Bohemia if it were not for real,” Ben said. “Besides, it makes sense. She is British, as Máma was, and she’s clearly a member of the higher social circles. And remember, when Máma left us, she was headed for London.”
“And then her ship went down,” I remembered. “Táta was devastated.”
“We were all devastated, Nora. Táta wasn’t the only one.”
The door opened behind us, held open by one of Lady Penelope’s companions wearing a long cloak. He shuffled back, keeping his face hidden under the hood, and I was just about to ask him what he wanted when I heard Lady Penelope call out from inside the room.
“You may enter.”
Ben and I exchanged a quick glance, and then the two of us walked into the room.
The doors shut quickly behind us, and my attention was immediately focused on the lady sitting at my father’s desk.
Up close, Lady Penelope had even more formidable features. The wrinkles around her eyes complimented her resolve, while her high forehead suggested intelligence and insight. Her lips, though they were thin with age, curled into a small, somewhat welcoming smile as she looked at us. “It is good to see you.”
Ben and I bowed and curtsied respectively, unsure of what else to do.
She waved her hand, brushing our formalities aside. “There’s no need for that. Now, I imagine you have a lot of questions for me.”
“Yes,” I said, unable to resist. “It is not every day that one is introduced to one’s own grandmother.”
“Especially when our mother has been dead for over ten years,” Ben added.
Lady Penelope frowned at his surly tone. “I apologize if you are somewhat inconvenienced by my arrival,” she began, and then I cut her off.
“As Lady Cecilia might have failed to mention to you, we have been more inconvenienced by your absence, Madame.”
“She did not need to mention it,” Lady Penelope assured me, her voice still calm and level despite the anger within my words. “I have two perfectly good eyes; I can see it for myself. Cecilia is like a slow-acting poison; sweet at first, and then sickly, and finally too painful to hope for anything but a quick death. Your father must have been mad to have married her.”
I looked over at Ben. He shifted his weight onto his straight leg entirely, hiding his begrudging agreement. I was suddenly glad he had left his crutch in the stables. I did not want to see our maternal grandmother cringe at the sight of it.
“I can assure you, your stepmother will be paid back for all the pain she has caused, down to the last little prick.”
“She should,” Ben muttered. “With interest.”
“On that, we agree.” With her gray hair and her frosty face, Lady Penelope suddenly radiated a chilly aura. But as she softened her smile, warmth suddenly shone in her blue eyes—eyes that mirrored my own.
Máma had eyes like that, too.
I nodded, barely able to contain my delight, but Ben huffed. “I would have preferred it ten years ago.”
Lady Penelope looked at him, taking in every detail. Her eyes raked him up and down, before she let out a tired sigh. “And I would have preferred it that your mother stay at home, rather than cross the sea to come to London.”
As Lady Penelope made her way over to us, walking around my father’s desk, there was a small shuffling noise behind me. I glanced back to see the same man as before, straightening his shoulders and pulling at his cloak.
“Well,” Lady Penelope said, “there is no point in questioning what happened back then. What is important is what we can do about the here and now.”
“And ... you will be staying with us, then?” I asked.
“Nora,” Ben hissed.
Lady Penelope eyed him carefully. I watched her lips purse tightly, pinching her face into a scowl. “There is no need to be so hostile, Benedict. I am, after all, your grandmother. And you are correct. It is time I take up the duty my daughter’s departure has left me. I intend to not only pay Lady Cecilia back for her trouble, but I will do what I can to make it up to you.”
“Really?” My heart beat faster as she nodded. Ben and I exchanged a glance. I was hopeful; he was distrustful.
“What do you want in return?” Ben asked.
I was about to assure Ben there was nothing we could possibly give Lady Penelope when she gave him a wry smile “You’re a clever young man, aren’t you?”
My heart sank. “But we can’t give you anything. “We have no money to offer.”
“I’m not after money, am I?” Lady Penelope stood tall as she looked back at me. “You are so much like your mother, Eleanora. And I believe I may yet have a use for you.”
“Pepé.”
A guard spoke up and stepped forward. Ben and I watched as Lady Penelope frowned at him.
The man removed the hood of his cloak, revealing his tan face. He was a man who had clearly traveled the world, all the way from his home in the East Indies to the streets of London. From his crown of bright white hair, I would have said he was close to Lady Penelope’s age, though there was something about him that seemed ageless.
“Pepé, I must object,” he said. “These are your grandchildren.”
Lady Penelope shrugged. “Then it’s not your concern, is it, Harshad?”
“It is my concern if we are compromised.”
“We need not worry about what might be.”
“Your duty has higher demands,” Harshad said.
“Is there any higher demand than family?”
Harshad’s eyes narrowed. “You swore your life over to a different ideal.”
“I made my vow to God, and God himself has given us the blessing of family. Fealty to one cause does not preclude another.”
Up until that moment, I had only seen Lady Penelope calmly and coolly dismiss any arguments or objections at Cecilia’s hysteria and Ben’s distrustful sneering. As she battled against Harshad, she quickly lost her calm and fire replaced it.
At my inquiring gaze, she immediately switched to another language, still bitterly exchanging verbal blows with Harshad. Even as they spoke in what I guessed was an Indian tongue, I could tell they were nowhere close to a compromise.
Taking the opportunity, I took a moment to study Harshad; I saw he was slightly shorter than Lady Penelope, only a little taller than myself. His accent was distinct, and even when he had spoken in English, his heritage seemed to carry the essence of his past. From his tone, I could tell he was a stubborn man, deeply rooted in his beliefs.
Why is she traveling with an Indian? And what are they talking about?
When I heard Lady Penelope say “Artha,” in her mix of lilted language, my heart jumped.
Why is my grandmother arguing about a dead man?
A second later, I frowned. That did not make sense. Was it possible I had heard her incorrectly?
Lady Penelope went back to ignoring Harshad. She returned her focus to us, and somehow she gave the impression that the argument with Harshad had never happened.
“Well, Eleanora, Benedict, there is no need to worry about all the details tonight. Now, I will need you to go and collect your things and bring them back to this wing of the house. You will have new rooms while I am here, and my servants will see to your needs.”
Ben and I remained unmoved, and she seemed to be at the end of her patience.
“Go,” she instructed. “It is for the best, after all. Your stepmother will be tempted to take her anger out on you, especially since she knows she cannot touch me. We should at least agree that for now, you will be safer with me.”
Ben clenched his fists, and I had to wonder if he was upset at Lady Penelope for successfully making her point.
“You have already had a long night. Nothing good comes from talking business or making deals when you are tired.”
We filed out of the room, passing the other guard. I watched as he shifted, burying even further into his cloak as I passed.
I was confused, but Lady Penelope and Harshad once more began to talk, and I forgot the strangeness of it all.
Remembering my time in the city, watching Dr. Artha’s funeral procession, meeting with Ferdy and Mr. Clavan, fighting with the Turkish thief, and seeing Lord Maximillian and Teresa Marie, I decided there was a lot that was extraordinary about the day. Lady Penelope—my estranged grandmother—suddenly did not seem so unusual.
Unable to help myself, I let out a tired giggle.
“What are you laughing for?” Ben snapped. “There is nothing funny about this, Nora.”
“You didn’t see her battling with Cecilia and Alex.” I wrapped my arm around his. “Come now, Ben, it might not be funny, maybe, but it is still not bad. Cecilia’s angry, and there is nothing she can do about it.”
“There doesn’t seem to be much we can do, either,” Ben pointed out. “We are dependent on Lady Penelope now.”
I thought about the letter Lady Penelope had in her hands, the one she had given to Cecilia. She was clearly here on some kind of business. What it could be, and what it was, I was not sure. But she was our family, and I told Ben as much. “Surely there is nothing inherently dangerous about that.”
“I don’t know, Nora.” Ben sighed. “Did you hear her, at the end? She’s talking about making business deals. That hardly seems like the terms you would use to describe family matters.”
He did have a point.
I hated how he had a point.
“But she promised us she would take care of us.” I nearly jumped in excitement. “Just think of it, Ben. If nothing else, Liberté could be ours at last!”
“The devil always offers you everything you want,” Ben said darkly. “But there is always a price to pay. Always.”
“We have already paid it. All these years of serving in our own household, under a tyrant of a woman and a beast of our stepbrother, and not to mention the pampered princess who masquerades as our stepsister.”
“Only to now find ourselves dealing with an even more dangerous woman.” Ben sighed. “Our dream of opening our own bookshop and lending library is not worth the cost, as far as I can see right now. Liberté will have to wait, so long as we know there are invisible strings attached to anything Lady Penelope has to offer us.”
“You certainly have a way of dampening my spirits,” I muttered.
“I’m allowed to do that, since I am the only one who cares enough to raise them,” he said. “Now, as much as I hate to agree with Lady Penelope on something, she was likely right about Cecilia. Go and get your things and come back here quickly. If Lady Penelope is interested in making a deal with us, she is unlikely to harm us.”
I rolled my eyes. “How does it feel to be suspicious of people all the time? To always feel like everyone is going to treat you horribly?”
“I find it is easier to live with their derision than my disappointment. Being a cripple in a society that has no use for you will remind you of that every day.”
“Oh, Ben. Please don’t think that. You know I was only teasing ... ” Before I could embrace him, he twisted out of my grip and headed down the dark hall toward his own room.
I watched him until his shadow disappeared around the corner, and then I hurried out to the barn to collect my things. Ben was right to be worried, but I still believed I was right to be hopeful.
Wasn’t I?
I glanced up at the ceiling, ignoring the fine craftsmanship of the stonework to look for the face of God behind the darkness. “Well, Lord, this certainly has been a long day,” I said with a tired sigh. “I can only pray for your peace in the night.”