A Prince for Aunt Hetty (8 page)

Agatha was grinning and holding up a letter she had just received. “I have something to share with you all!”

“What?” The children crowded around her and tried to grab for the letter.

She held it just out of reach. “A very special invitation has come for you, my dears.” Their excitement was palpable. “Would you like to know what it says?”

She had barely finished her question before they were yelling “yes” again.

“It says...” she paused dramatically. Agatha might have had a great career on the stage.

“It says...
Honorable Children of the Hayes House
,” the children giggled at the formal address. Agatha continued, “
The resident beast of the castle, would like to invite you all to walk for the afternoon. He requests that you bundle up carefully and come over at your convenience to romp through his hedge maze and eat all of the sweet things in his house.
”

The children were already jumping with excitement. Agatha held up her hand to silence them. “I have not finished reading the letter!” They quieted to let her finish. “
Post script, your parents and aunt are welcome to come, too, if you think they should also be allowed to eat sweet things and play in the maze.
”

“Can we, mama? Please?” Agnes asked. The others chimed, in their most pleasing and sweet voices.

“I shall have to consult your father,” Agatha laughed. She turned her head to Jonathan and raised her eyebrows in question. “What say you? Shall our children be allowed an afternoon of fun?”

“I'm not certain that they should, my dear,” Jonathan pretended to consider.

Vanessa spoke up. “But
you
had a party last night and we didn't get to do
anything
. You even ate all the apple tarts so we didn't have any today. It's only fair that we get to have some fun.”

Hetty bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Fair play to Vanessa. Hetty wondered if Agatha could see just how much her oldest daughter resembled her mother at that same age. Of course, Agatha had been the youngest where Vanessa was the oldest. But they both had a sense that they were owed something. And neither would let it go without at least making a good case for it.

“I see a problem with this invitation,” Agatha shook her head sadly. “I have too much work to do after the preparations of yesterday.”

“And I do, too,” Jonathan agreed.

All eyes turned to Aunt Hetty, the only other adult in the room. She had been named specifically, after all.

“So your entire happiness in life now rests on me, I suppose?” Hetty teased. She already knew her answer would be yes, but it was so much fun to tease the children. Besides, she was just as curious as they were to explore the castle and to perhaps get to know the “resident beast” a little more.

Hetty watched the children. From oldest to youngest, they were all giving her their most pitiful looks, as if to say that they were the most deprived children in the world who had never had any treats at all and their dearest aunt could give them one truly delightful afternoon before they had to return to their normal life of drudgery. It was too much. Hetty giggled. That started the girls giggling. Then everyone joined in.

“Of course, you silly children, I would be happy to accompany you.” They rushed to her and clung to every limb. Hetty thought they might have hoisted her on their shoulders and paraded around the house if they had been bigger.

“Hetty, once the children leave you alone for a moment, would you pen a brief response to Mr. Henderson? You're already there near the writing supplies anyway. Tell him the children will come
only
if he agrees to come to dinner here tomorrow night.”

“Of course, Agatha. Annabella, would you like to come to?” Hetty thought it might be a nice treat for the girl after being house bound with her illness.

“Oh no, madam,” Annabella protested. “I will be quite happy to stay here and help with the mending.”

“Excellent,” Agatha smiled. “Then, children, you shall have your treat. Make sure to thank your aunt. And make sure you thank Mr. Henderson when you see him. He is a very kind man for thinking of you.”

The children agreed and squeezed their beloved aunt tighter.

Chapter Six

“
I
S EVERYONE BUNDLED
up tightly?” Hetty surveyed her nieces and nephews, checking for coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The air was cold with the feel of snow which had not yet broken.

Hetty knelt down to help Vincent with his heavy scarf. He protested. “It's either the scarf or you stay here while we go.” The young boy reluctantly submitted to the indignity.

With winter kits all in place, they struck out for the castle. The boys ran ahead of them, whooping with glee.

“Aunt Hetty, have you ever seen a real castle?” Margaret asked.

“I have, indeed,” Hetty confirmed.

The girl's eyes went wide. “You
have
? What was it like?”

Hetty described the castles in London, telling the girls – the boys had already run well ahead of them by now – about how the castles looked and what she had heard that lords and ladies did in the king's court.

“Have you ever met the King?” Agnes asked, her eyes as wide as her sister's.

“No, I have not had that privilege. I do not have any special title to be able to meet him. But I have seen him from a distance. That was before he was king, though, back when he was just a prince.”

“So is Mr. Henderson a prince because he lives in a castle?” young Harriet asked.

“It's not a
real
castle, silly,” Vanessa chided her sister. Harriet looked hurt, so Hetty stepped in.

“Princes can live anywhere they want to, Harriet,” she reassured the young girl. “I do not know if we shall meet a prince at Mr. Henderson's house. Perhaps he has one hidden away somewhere. We shall have to keep our eyes open.”

“So what makes a prince, if it's not because he lives in a castle?” Harriet pursued.

“Hmm... well, a prince is the son of a king or a queen. But
I
think a prince is any man who acts in a gentlemanly way. A man is a prince if he cares about someone besides himself and tries his best to help all people.”

Harriet seemed to be satisfied with this explanation and drifted on ahead, lost in her own daydreams. Hetty had a little pang of regret. Maybe she
did
tell the children too many fairy tales. By the broad definition she had just given, Harriet might believe there were many more princes in the world than there actually were. The poor girl might even fall for a man like Barry Dungworth as Hetty had all those years ago... He had seemed like a prince at the house party they'd been at but then he'd disappeared in a very unprincely way. Hetty's embarrassment still haunted her.

“We're here! We're here!” She heard the boys shout from far ahead of them. Hetty hurried to catch them up, but the boys were already running across the yard and toward the front door.

Hetty paused for a moment to take in the sight. It had been years since she'd been here. The Armstrongs had moved out at least five years before, choosing to stay mostly in the smaller resort towns. It had been bruited about that they were forced to retrench due to some bad investments, though Hetty had never heard anything substantial. In any case, the house had been empty, so she'd had no occasion to visit.

The house was beautiful and nearly twice the size of Hayes house. There were small turrets at either end that made the castle comparison even more apt. But what really drew the eye, even in the winter with all the green leached out of the foliage, was the well-kept hedge maze in front of the house. It rose to the height of her shoulder and towered over the younger children. She could already hear their delighted gasps as they saw it.

Mr. Henderson must have seen – or probably heard – them coming. He was waiting in front of the doors to welcome them.

“Hello Hayes children!” He boomed out. His voice carried even to where Hetty had stopped. She watched as he knelt down to the boys who had run straight toward him and asked them something she could not hear. Both boys shook their heads vigorously.

Mr. Henderson rose again to welcome the girls. He took them each by the hand and raised it to his lips. Hetty couldn't help her smile. The girls had no experience with courtly manners and she was sure the gesture would be discussed for many weeks to come. Being kissed on the hand by a gentleman for the first time was certainly a big moment in a young lady's life.

As he finished with them, Hetty arrived. He turned to her with humor in his eyes.

“Miss Masters,” he said. “Thank you for bringing the children here this afternoon.”

Hetty smiled at him. “Thank
you
for the invitation, Mr. Henderson.”

“Oh, you all must call me Rupert now that you are in my home,” he insisted.

Hetty acknowledged the familiarity. “Then by that same rule, you must call me Hetty.”

“I would be happy to do so, Hetty.” His smile deepened.

Her cheeks heated and awareness of his gaze raced over her skin. “Thank you, Rupert.”

The young boys were dancing where they stood, waiting for the adults to be finished with their boring introductions. Rupert seemed to realize it, too, because amusement and mischief suddenly sparked in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows as if to recruit her to whatever he had planned.

“So, you have walked all this way. I think you must be in need of a rest... perhaps a... nap? Am I right, Miss --” he caught himself, “Hetty?”

The children all looked stricken. Hetty barely kept herself from smiling as she played along. “Oh yes,” she feigned a yawn. “I am quite tired. I think we should all lay down for at least... oh... an hour or two of rest.”

That was too much for them to take. “No!” Stephen wailed. “We should play!”

“I hate naps,” pouted little Harriet.

Vincent simply ran away toward the opening of the maze.

“Children!” Hetty could no longer contain her laughter. “We were just having a little fun with you.”

“Indeed,” Rupert chimed in. “No naps for us! Instead, I think there is a prize for the first child who makes it through the maze and comes right back to this spot.”

“
Without
cheating and
without
fighting,” Hetty qualified. Even with these prohibitions, their eyes were alight.

“What is the prize?” Margaret asked.

“Hmmm... Perhaps an extra piece of cake later?” Rupert suggested.

“What kind?” Margaret wanted to know.

“Well, I asked cook to make four different kinds, so I think an extra piece of one or the other might be satisfactory, do you think?” Rupert spoke seriously to her.

“Yes, I think that will be all right.”

“Excellent! So here are the rules: the first one to come back to this spot after going through the whole maze will get the prize. However,” Rupert looked at Hetty, “as your aunt has said, there is to be no fighting and no cheating. If we catch you doing anything to hurt someone else, your aunt and I will disqualify you. Understood?” The children nodded. “Now, everyone nine years of age and under come stand by me.” Rupert moved a few steps toward the maze and young Harriet, Vincent, and Stephen followed.

“Hey! Why do they get to be up there?” protested Agnes who was just outside of the age limit.

“Because they are younger and need a head start on you,” Rupert reasoned. “You three stay there by your aunt until I say go.” The girls grudgingly stayed, but that piece of cake prize was too good to pass up.

Once they were in position, Rupert yelled “go” and the children all scrambled for the entrance. Hetty laughed at their shrieks and whoops as they tried to make their way through the maze. Rupert stepped back to where she was and they watched the hedges shake with the impact of bodies running into wrong turns.

“Do you think my hedges will withstand the onslaught?” Rupert asked with laughter in his voice.

Hetty chuckled. “I am more worried about how the children will fare. They can be ruthless beasts when cake is on the line.”

“Most people are,” he said seriously.

“They are?”

“Oh yes. Who wouldn't fight for a delicious piece of cake?” He turned to her and cracked a smile.

“True, I have seen many a fine lady turn into a jealous mess when another lady has taken the last of the sandwiches.”

“Absolute beasts,” Rupert winked at her. “You know I once saw a woman smack her daughter's hand in order to have the last biscuit on the plate.”

“Not seriously?” Hetty couldn't believe it.

“Quite seriously. I expect if the mother had seen the way her daughter stared daggers at her, she might have kept her eyes open while she slept that evening.”