Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The Masked Avenger (6/46)

[Previously: Lavinia has now discovered the name of her mysterious rescuer--The Masked Avenger--and is determined to try and discover who he really is.]

After breakfast, the Earl invited Lavinia to go riding with him but she declined, stating aloud that she was tired still from her journey, but privately unwilling to leave her father alone with nothing to do. Lucius was disappointed but made a quick recovery, offering instead to give them a guided tour of his house. This invitation she was happy to accept, not only since it included her father, but also because she felt it would give her the opportunity to query the Earl about his neighbours. She felt sure that the Avenger would be found among the prominent families of the area and so directed her questions towards learning as much about them as possible.

Surprised but pleased with her interest in Kentham and its neighbourhood, Lucius was more than willing to oblige her with all the information at his command. He was a witty and amusing companion and his observations about his fellow men, although sometimes a bit more barbed than Lavinia thought proper, did manage to keep them all fairly well entertained as they made the rounds of the house. Lavinia was pleased to learn of the families in the area that had sons, and she looked forward to making their acquaintance when they came to pay morning calls, as the Earl assured her his more genteel neighbours would do.

Their tour passed through the various parlours and the picture gallery on the first floor. Lavinia was particularly intrigued by the portraits of the most recent generation of Laneworths. Lucius' father and brothers were there, of course, and the usual comments were made as to which son most closely resembled the previous Earl. But the picture that drew her most was a small family group showing Cedric when he was about five years old being read to by his mother while his father looked on. Charmingly painted, it showed a very happy young family; a woman who delighted in her child and was doted upon by her husband.

"Oh, yes," Lucius said, when he'd noticed what she was studying, "that's my younger brother, Charles. He and his wife were killed in a carriage accident. Now, the portrait that you really must see is over here ...." He turned away and walked towards the other end of the gallery. Perhaps, Lavinia thought, it is still painful for him to speak of his brother, so she allowed herself to be diverted by the other portrait rather than to ask for further details about Cedric's parents.

The drawing-room was next on the tour. A handsome room, with large windows overlooking the gardens, it enchanted Lavinia. She was delighted to see a beautiful pianoforte in one corner and immediately went towards it. The Earl begged her to favour them with a short tune by way of trying the instrument. Her father suggested a favourite of his and, to please him, Lavinia sat down and began to play.

*

Cedric locked his office door, checking that he had brought with him everything he would need for his work that morning. His satchel contained several plans and papers, but he also carried his coat, hat and gloves. He was planning to spend the next few days making day trips out and about the estate and seeing various people in need of his help. He often travelled at this time of year, sometimes returning to his own bed at night, but at other times needing to make more extended stays when his work took him further afield. Kentham was a large estate.

As he descended the stairs on his way to The Hall and eventually the stables, he heard music playing and stopped, one foot still on the step behind him. Lavinia and her father were singing together, and someone (probably Lavinia) was playing the pianoforte. The melody, nostalgic and lovely, tugged at Cedric's memory but he couldn't quite place it. He stood there on the stairs, motionless, listening intently to the sounds drifting down the hallway from the drawing-room. That it must have been from his childhood he knew since the song was in French, but while he thought he recognized the tune, the words were unknown to him.

Footsteps sounded from the opposite direction, warning him that one of the servants was coming. Hastening down the stairs again, Cedric adjusted his satchel strap as he went. As he reached the bottom step, Portman came into view. The Earl's stately butler, hired since Lucius' ascension to his father's shoes, bowed slightly to Cedric as he passed. "Good morning, sir."

"Good morning," Cedric replied, a bit annoyed that the man should have chosen that precise moment to be going about his legitimate business. In the drawing-room, the sweet little tune was coming to an end, and he hadn't heard nearly enough of it to suit him. From that direction he could hear light applause and his uncle's voice complimenting the singers. There seemed to be movement, too, which meant they might soon appear. Cedric turned in the other direction once more, wanting to be gone before his uncle might see and question him. It was Lavinia, however, preceding the gentlemen out of the drawing-room, who noticed Cedric. Before he moved out of her sight, just for an instant, she felt that same unconscious something about him that she'd noted at breakfast. Then her father touched her arm, and the Earl asked if they would enjoy seeing the library, and the moment, whatever it was, passed.

In the stables, as he waited for his horse to be saddled, Cedric shrugged himself into his coat and put his gloves on. While he checked the stirrups and arranged his satchel, his mind replayed for him the bit of the tune he'd been able to hear. It wasn't until he had ridden a couple of miles, lost in thought that a fragment of memory floated up: his mother's voice singing to that tune. His memories of both of his parents were vague at best, and based mostly on the portrait of the three of them that hung in the gallery. As soon as he snatched at this one it floated away again, but he felt that the tune had been the same, even though he hadn't had time to catch the words.


Chapter Three



The professor was overjoyed with Kentham's library. The seventh Earl had been an avid collector of historical and scientific texts, in any language, and had thereby added to an already impressive collection. Lucius, seeing how wistfully the professor pored over these volumes, offered to allot one of the parlours for his exclusive use, if he wished to resume his work. Professor Le Mersurer was almost tearful in his gratitude, and Lavinia's heart warmed towards the Earl.

Luncheon was accompanied by the professor's excited voice, sharing with them all of his plans for immersing himself in the wonders of the Earl's library. Afterwards, the first part of the afternoon was taken up with deciding which of the parlours best suited the professor's needs, then finding and having a couple of footmen relocate such furnishings as Monsieur thought would best serve him. Eventually he appeared settled in his new quarters, and Lucius could finally have a few moments alone with Lavinia.

The rain foretold by Tobias had, as yet, held off, but the sky did look threatening off to the east, so the Earl thought it prudent not to venture too far from the house. He did, however, persuade Lavinia to take a turn about the rose garden with him.

This she was happy to do. Her time spent in London, even with the kindness of Lord Fordney and his lady, had felt constraining, used as she was to the freedom of the country, and she'd been glancing out the windows wistfully ever since she'd awakened that morning. She asked him about the various gardens she had been able to see from the house. He admitted with a smile that he, himself, was no gardener but he begged her to make herself free of the gardens if she wished. She thanked him and they passed the first few minutes of their walk with Lavinia sharing her own experiences with flowers, herbs and other plants. He promised to have his housekeeper make Lavinia known to the head gardener, which delighted her.

As they walked along the paths, passing bushes nearly barren of blooms with the coming of autumn, the Earl searched for a way to recall her attention away from plants and to put it back on him. He ventured to suggest a plan he'd been hatching for her entertainment.

"Mademoiselle, since you have expressed such an interest in getting to know my neighbours, would you mind if I invited a few of the more notable ones to a dinner party?"

The thought flashed through Lavinia's mind that this would give her yet another opportunity to ferret out the identity of her Avenger, and so she responded to the Earl's plan with enthusiasm. "Mais oui, Milord! I should like that very much. Merci beaucoup!"

Seeing the excitement on her face and the sparkle in her lovely eyes, Lucius congratulated himself on his latest stratagem. The more he saw of the professor's daughter, the more enamoured of her he was becoming. Her family's estate was more than likely lost to her, but Lady Fordney had confided that Lavinia and her father had managed to leave the country with whatever valuables had been easiest to conceal, so she wouldn't be dowerless. And, thanks to his own father's husbandry and Cedric's subsequent capable management of Kentham, it wasn't strictly necessary that Lucius marry for money. However, he'd always subscribed to the dictum that one couldn't be too rich, hence certain outside business ventures of his own. In Lavinia's case, he might be willing to overlook her relative lack of fortune in favour of winning her other obvious charms.

Those charms had enticed him from across the room at the Duchess of Omsley's rout party, where he'd first made Lavinia's acquaintance. He had journeyed to London only the day before that party. The all-consuming need to place orders with his tailor and boot maker, as well as various other errands, had made the trip an absolute necessity. He was acquainted with Lady Fordney, and so had found it easy enough to achieve an introduction to her young protégé. After spending a short time in the company of the lovely Mademoiselle Le Mersurer, and hearing her speak of the country estate she'd left behind in France, he'd discovered within himself the sudden urge to return without delay to his own ancestral, pastoral halls, and to beg for the pleasure of her company there. Along with her esteemed father, of course.

It had taken a bit of adroit persuasion but, by venturing to suggest to each of them, out of ear shot of the other, that a spell of quiet and country air would do wonders for them both, he'd gotten his way. He prided himself on getting his way.

And now, today, by allowing Professor Le Mersurer free reign to use the Kentham library as his own--a library that Lucius cared nothing for and could have disposed of without a pang--and by promising a party for Lavinia that he would not have to lift one finger to bring off successfully, he'd managed to garner the gratitude of both. It had been a very good day.