Page 6 of A Landscape of Love

Brightening, the boy lifted his head. “Yes, would you take a look?”

“Said I would. Tea first,” Hart said firmly. He poured it out, adding a generous amount of sugar, a dash of milk, and stirred it well. Looking up, he offered a mug to Alex. “That’s proper tea, not that wishy-washy stuff that tastes like perfume. The kind ladies brew when you go visiting.”

Alex grinned at him and took the mug, taking a tentative sip. “Oh. That’s good,” he said in surprise.

Hart laughed. “Have a biscuit.”

They drank the tea and munched biscuits in companionable silence for a while. Hart watched the lad as he worked his way through the plate of biscuits, copying Hart surreptitiously as he dunked them in his tea. Hart hoped he didn’t do that in front of the duke.

“You don’t say much, do you?” Alex observed, once all the biscuits were gone and they’d drunk two mugs of tea.

Hart shrugged. “I talk when I’ve something to say.”

“That’s good. Sort of peaceful,” Alex added.

“I think so. Can’t stand a lot of chatter and nonsense. Now, show me the plans.”

The boy got to his feet, unrolling the plans and weighing them down between the teapot and the empty plate.

Hart stood beside him and studied them. “They’re well drawn. You’ve got skill. Have you ambition to be an architect?”

“N-No, I… I want to do what you do,” the lad said hesitantly, and with good reason.

Hart could only imagine what the duke would think about his son becoming a landscape designer. He frowned down at the drawings. “These are good, my lord. I have doubts about the structural strength of that tower, mind. That’s a lot of weight there, and not much support.”

“Yes, I worried about that,” the boy admitted.

“Then why didn’t you fix it?” Hart challenged him.

“I… I didn’t know how.”

“Then figure it out. You have tutors, don’t you? Get them to teach you how to calculate these things.”

“Can’t you?”

Hart hesitated. “I don’t think it would please your father to discover you’d been spending time with me.”

“Nothing pleases his grace,” Lord Alex muttered, eyes flashing.

Hart was glad to see it; the duke hadn’t entirely crushed the lad’s spirit.

“What makes you think you want to do what I do anyway?” Hart asked, curious despite knowing he ought to tell the lad to go.

“I like the idea of making a garden,” he admitted. “I like the thought of leaving somewhere more beautiful than when I got there, of leaving a mark, a place that brings people joy.” His face grew serious then, pale eyebrows tugging together. “There is not enough joy in the world.”

Amen to that, Hart thought, studying the lad. “You want to make it for your sister,” he said with sudden clarity.

Alex met his eyes and nodded, and there was such fear in his expression, Hart knew he’d been right to worry over Fidelia.

“She used to be wonderful,” the boy said quietly. “Kind and funny, she made me laugh a lot.”

“What happened?” Hart asked, even though his instincts told him he’d do well not to get involved.

“I don’t know.” Alex’s face clouded. “But I bet it's Father’s fault. He’s always been awful to her but recently it’s got worse.”

“Perhaps she wanted to marry someone unsuitable?” Hart offered, knowing this was often a reason for heartache. The upper classes often married for duty, for wealth and status. That had to be hard on a young woman’s heart if she’d given it elsewhere.

Alex shrugged. “Perhaps. I know when she came out, years ago, Father wanted her to marry some fat old man. Disgusting of him, but she refused. I was only ten at the time, but it stuck in my memory as quite an event. I think it’s the one time I ever saw her stand up to him. I thought his grace was going to have an apoplexy. I’ve never seen him so angry. Then he sent her away, and I didn’t see her again for months. When she came back… well, she was never the same. It’s like she’s here in body but not in spirit. Even the duke can’t get through to her, no matter how he rages. Every year I hope she’ll find something to make her happy, but nothing changes. I sometimes think she’s got stuck in a thick fog, and she can’t find her way out.”