English Trifle (16 page)

Despite having a lot of factors to choose from, Sadie felt sure that if not for Austin, the three of them would be discussing the situation rather than eating in silence as if there had been no murder at all. Austin and Liam sat at the ends of the table—Sadie didn’t know which end was considered the head—while Breanna and Sadie sat directly across from one another in the center of the table, with no fewer than four empty seats on either side of them. The staff had to pass the different condiments and dishes around the table since none of the diners could reach one another. However, each setting had its own cute little miniature set of salt and pepper shakers. Sadie was tempted to smuggle a set of them home.

Sadie tried to watch Austin without being too overt about it. To his credit, he did seem a bit more relaxed than he’d been this afternoon, but was still quite broody. An unspoken agreement had settled around the table and no one brought up John Henry or Inspector Dilree.

“This is delicious,” Sadie said after taking a bite of the pigeon and unable to stand the silence any longer. She looked toward the far end of the room where Grant stood at attention near the door—presumably in case there was some kind of dining emergency they couldn’t resolve on their own. She met his eye and smiled. “Please give my compliments to Mrs. Land if she’s still here,” she said, hoping it would help assuage any suspicion he might have as to her motives and discoveries in the kitchen. Grant did not look pleased to be addressed, but after a moment he inclined his head slightly.

“Roasted pigeon,” Breanna said, catching her mother’s eye from across the table. “How about that?”

“It’s a good thing no one in America knows how good this is,” Sadie replied, hoping to start a conversation. “We’d never see another pigeon in the park again.”

Austin looked up from his plate. “These aren’t park pigeons,” he said with derision. He took a long draw from his wineglass.

“I didn’t mean to insinuate they were,” Sadie said, smiling to hide her annoyance with his continued negativity. She went back to her meal, wondering why she even bothered trying to be sociable. The next few minutes continued without anyone speaking.

“Mom, did you lose an earring?”

Sadie’s hand went to her naked earlobe and she felt her face heat up a little bit. “Oh, I guess so,” she said, and busied herself with removing the other earring.

“I hope you find it, I love those earrings on you.”

“Thank you, dear,” Sadie said, feeling bad for perpetuating deceit. “I’m sure it will turn up.” She put the second earring in her pocket with the first one and quickly took another bite of her dinner.

Silence returned to the table.

When Austin, of all people, spoke next, Sadie looked up in surprise. “And what have you thought of your trip?” he asked, putting down his knife and fork and looking between Breanna and Sadie.

Sadie and Breanna exchanged a look as well, asking each other with their eyes who wanted to answer. Sadie was chewing, so Breanna took the lead. “It’s been very nice,” she said. “Well, up until this afternoon.”

Austin waved his hand as if this afternoon was of no concern and picked up his wineglass—Grant had refilled it twice already and Sadie wondered if that was why Austin was suddenly becoming a conversationalist. “What was your favorite portion?” he asked, looking straight at Sadie with those intense eyes that didn’t seem the least bit interested in whether or not she’d enjoyed her trip. However, she believed that even the best meals could be ruined with tension of the kind that was hovering over the table so she was willing to do her part to salvage the dinner.

“Well, I loved every bit of it,” Sadie said. “I loved the history and the culture and the food. Everything.” Yes, she realized she might be sucking up just a little bit, but a little brownnosing never hurt anybody and if it worked in changing Austin’s mood, it would be worth it.

Austin nodded as if to say she’d given an acceptable answer, then looked at Breanna. “And how about you, Miss Hoffmiller?”

“London,” Breanna said easily, stabbing a potato with her fork. Sadie reminded herself to tell Breanna about Austin’s apology as soon as she had the chance, but then was bothered by the fact that without knowing he had apologized, no one seemed bothered by his earlier insults. “I loved seeing all the things I’d heard so much about—Westminster Abbey, Tower Prison, Changing of the Guard, London Zoo—it was all fascinating.”

“I should have guessed Liam would take you to the zoo while you were there,” Austin said. His tone implied that he found it childish. Sadie watched Breanna straighten. She did not take kindly to cracks about her passion which would soon be her profession. Though there were many careers she could use her zoology degree toward, she’d always had her heart set on working at an actual zoo—a choice that was often seen as immature. But right now wouldn’t be a good time to go off on Austin about that—even if he was asking for it.

“It wouldn’t make much sense for me not to go,” Breanna said, and Sadie held her breath. “I’ll begin my career working at a zoo in Florida after I graduate in the spring.”

Phew, Sadie exhaled in relief.

“And did you enjoy our zoo?” Austin asked, saying it in such a way as to make it sound like a challenge.

“Very much,” Breanna said, returning his tone and his look with one equally condescending. Sadie was glad to see the spark in her daughter’s eyes. “London is one of only a few zoos in the world to have successfully hatched a Rhynchophis boulengeri snake in captivity—we studied it in my assisted reproduction class last year. Such snakes are highly respected in the zoo communities.”

Austin raised his eyebrow, watching Breanna in a way that almost looked as though he were impressed. “I’ll take your word for it,” he drawled. “I myself haven’t been to the zoo since I was a child and I can’t remember enjoying it all that much back then either. I guess I didn’t know about the rare snake.”

“Well, it was a rather recent development,” Breanna said after taking another bite.

“It was fun to see the python exhibit they used in the Harry Potter movie,” Sadie broke in, wanting to divide the tension she felt building again. “But I guess it really holds a black mamba snake, which is actually olive green.”

“The inside of its mouth is black,” Breanna explained. “And it’s among the most deadly snakes in the world, hence the name black mamba.”

“Yes, I suppose green mamba doesn’t sound quite as frightening.” Sadie turned back to Austin. “Although it’s still a snake, which is scary enough as it is. Anyway, we also got to see the castle they used for the Harry Potter movies when we were in Northampton earlier this week. That was fun too.”

“Ah, yes, the beloved Harry Potter. What trip to England—the birthplace of Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, and Jane Austen—would be complete without the unfailing fortitude of the Harry Potter tour?”

Sadie knew he was being insulting, but the thrill of hearing Harry Potter’s name spoken with a real British accent was just too much fun. Sadie wasn’t sure how to respond, so she settled for a rather deflated, “Yep, we loved it.”

The silence returned for several seconds until Austin looked up and pointed at the half-finished plate in front of him. Grant fairly tripped over himself to retrieve it while Austin shook his head slightly as though disappointed that the butler hadn’t read his mind and picked up the plate before being told to do so. Grant handed the plate to a footman who stood near the door, giving the young man almost the exact same look Austin had given the butler, before proceeding to clean up any crumbs Austin had left behind. Grant used a scraper-type tool he swished over the tablecloth in wide arcs, catching all the crumbs before scooting them into his hand. Efficient.

“I’ve been wondering,” Sadie asked, determined to keep the conversation alive. “How old is Southgate estate? Is it as old as some of the other estates and castles we toured?”

“Not nearly,” Austin said, hinting that it was a ridiculous question; certainly anyone could look at the architecture and design and know it couldn’t possibly be as old as Hampton Court Palace, for instance, or Chatsworth. Austin continued, “The earldom, however, predates Southgate by almost a hundred years. The fifth Earl of Garnett had Southgate built in the late eighteen hundreds. He married the third daughter of the Duke of Gloucester and built the home for her when she bore him an heir. Of course the boy was nearly fourteen before it was finished.”

“Oh, wow,” Sadie said. “My husband only bought me a rocking chair when we brought Breanna home.”

“Well, I wasn’t the heir to an earldom,” Breanna said.

“True,” Sadie said, glad to see Breanna helping to lighten the mood. “But you were no less loved.” She smiled at her daughter but directed her next comment to Austin. “Are all the titles determined by birth order?”

She took a bite of her pigeon while waiting for Austin’s answer—the bird was pretty good, though not as tasty as the Cornish hens in York. This meat was denser, not as moist. Then again, perhaps being transported in Styrofoam and then kept warm in the warming ovens had made a difference, but she chose not to dwell on that. “The younger sons don’t get anything?”

“No,” Austin said. “The heir is the oldest male in the line and he not only gets the title, but most dukes and earls hold numerous lesser titles as well. The other sons often receive inheritances that allow them to find means of supporting themselves, but the heir gets everything tied to the earldom. In fact, the heir is usually referred to by his father’s next highest title until he fully inherits.” He looked across at Liam. “Don’t they refer to you as a viscount or something?”

“Viscount of Darling,” Liam said, though he didn’t look up and did not seem the least bit in favor of this conversation. Breanna didn’t seem all that comfortable with it either as she pushed her food around her plate. Sadie was reminded that it was all these titles and inheritances that had gotten in the way of their relationship. She wondered if Breanna had known about the viscount thing.

“Darling Viscount,” Sadie said, smiling and hoping that at least one other person at the table would laugh at her joke. “That’s cute.”

“But it’s never said like that,” Austin said, not sounding pleased with Sadie’s attempt at humor. “It’s the Viscount of Darling.”

Sadie cleared her throat as she squirmed beneath the reprimand. She hoped that bringing up the question of titles and pedigrees wouldn’t make Austin or Liam uncomfortable—then again, maybe she didn’t mind their discomfort. Especially Austin’s. So far, however, he didn’t seem to be bothered by her questions.

“I noticed that the fifth earl was the second son.”

Austin nodded. “The spare,” he said. “Backup. Isn’t he the one who inherited because the previous earl, his brother, had only daughters?”

“Yes,” Sadie said, surprised he knew the details so well.

“Exactly, so if the title holder has no son, then the title passes to a brother—the next male descendant from the previous title holder. If there is no living male through a brother, the title can revert entire generations until it finds a male heir in direct line of the original Peer.”

“Sounds complicated,” Sadie said before taking another bite. The meat was just getting drier. She dipped the next bite in some of the gravy that had spread out on the plate. Better.

“It can be,” Austin said. He held out his glass to the side and Grant hurried to refill it again. Austin took a long swallow, draining half of the deep red liquid from his glass. Sadie wondered if he always drank this much or if he was unusually stressed out tonight in particular. “But it’s taken quite seriously to be even a potential heir. Just having a direct link—meaning an exact direct male line—to an earl or a duke in your history can make all the difference to some people. Schooling, profession, even marriages have been decided on that kind of merit—entire lives forged simply because there is a distant chance that a title could fall on their shoulders at some point.” He shook his head and smiled slightly, as if amused by the whole idea.

“I’m assuming that it doesn’t matter so much to you,” Sadie said, wondering if she had misinterpreted what he’d said.

Austin waved his hand, again dismissing the comment. “My paternal grandfather was an untitled Scotsman, but he married well and was able to use those connections to do well for himself and send my father to the best schools. Eventually, my father became a doctor—a position above the class he was born into. He then married my mother, the daughter of a baron and the granddaughter of an earl, and those connections helped him even more in his career. Things are changing in England,” he said, though his face had fallen and he stared into his wine glass. “Many of my generation use the station afforded us through our parents, but are trying to find a way to chart our own course as well.”

“Hmmm, well, it’s very interesting,” Sadie said benignly, watching him closely. It was difficult to judge his sincerity, but she sensed a personal note in his words. He wasn’t simply talking about his generation, he was talking about himself—his own desire to chart his own course. And yet, he had become an apprentice to the earl and was currently acting as trustee. It seemed to Sadie that he was staying very close to his family ties—specifically to the person who had the most power to give him a leg up when he needed it. It smacked of hypocrisy in her opinion. Maybe he felt like he had no choice and resented it.

She glanced toward Liam to see his reaction to what Austin had said, but he was simply eating his meal, his expression tense. She couldn’t help but admit that Breanna might be right: he did not seem cut out to be earl. In fact, Austin was the one sitting at the head of the table, leading the conversation as if this were his home and Liam were his guest, instead of the other way around. Regardless of what Sadie felt about the way the social systems worked in England, she was disappointed in the way Liam seemed to almost refuse to stand up for his position.

“So, if your grandfather was a baron, are you heir apparent for that?” Breanna asked Austin, interrupting Sadie’s thoughts about Liam.

Austin looked over at her, seemingly pulled out of his own thoughts. It took a few moments for him to completely reconnect. “Grandmother had three daughters, but no male heirs. Grandfather was an only child. When he died a few years ago, the barony reverted two generations and passed to a cousin.”