Magic in the Stars

by Patricia Rice

  So disastrous it could easily explain the conjunction of Mars in both their charts on the part of peril! She shivered at just the thought. No matter how much she enjoyed looking at Lord Theo, she wasn’t crashing the heavens down on their heads for a set of manly shoulders.

  “You should re-do your chart,” Emilia said stubbornly. “If you are any kind of astrologer at all, your chart ought to say you’re perfect for an Ives household.”

  “Wait . . . right . . . here.” Aster marched off to her study, pulled out the well-worn scroll, and marched back to the parlor. She spread the paper open across the wall mural, tacking it with a hammer and small nails.

  “There, right there.” She tapped one of the zodiac signs. “The transiting planets in my chart are currently on the Part of Peril, coupled with Private Enemies, there is no mistaking the menace I present.”

  Aster did not mention the part of desire and sexual attraction in her ascendant. She feared that part almost as much as the others, because desire could distract from her goal in staying away from relationships. And Lord Theophilus was a very desirable man whose chart matched hers in perilous ways.

  Emilia studied the chart with doubt. “It would help if I had any idea what you were talking about. I’ll have to take your word for it. You have been remarkably accurate in all your other predictions.”

  Emilia politely did not mention the times Aster had ignored her own predictions and disaster ensued, but it was uppermost in both their minds. Aster never, ever wished to have a baby die in her arms again. She no longer ignored her intuition. “Prophesying from the stars is my Malcolm gift. I would have preferred being a healer like you.”

  Emilia said wistfully, “I only wish you could perform real magic and produce a match for me.”

  “Perhaps if I knew more of the planets and their moons, I could expand my understanding enough to find suitable people. I am working with an Arabic student to translate the original Arabic texts explaining the zodiac parts. I’m hoping there are errors in the translation, but her records are centuries old. I have only just begun to explore recent scientific discoveries. Information is extremely hard to find. Men like to keep it to themselves.” Aster rolled up the scroll again.

  “I’ll ask Deirdre to attend,” Emilia said, caving in to Aster’s plan. “She is moping about the house since her fiancé went off to Africa to look for gold. It would do her good to get out. But she is betrothed and not one of his lordship’s candidates!”

  Since her immediate family, except Briana, was in Scotland, Aster had hoped that at least one of her cousins might join her in this project. Briana and Deirdre would keep each other occupied, leaving Aster to manage all else. “I would love to have Deirdre, thank you! But she’s younger than I am, as is Briana. I still need a chaperone. Perhaps I should ask Great-Aunt Nessie to meet us. She lives right down the road from Iveston.”

  “It will do Nessie good to get away from all those heathen nieces and nephews of hers,” Emilia agreed. “She can’t hear a thing, but she’s respectable enough.”

  “Good,” Aster said in relief as their plans fell into place. “I’ve already had acceptances from half a dozen of my more practical friends to the tea. Perhaps we’ll conquer all of Ashford’s brothers!”

  “Mother has already informed me that they are a ramshackle lot, but that matters little to me. You had best warn your other guests and your maids, though.” Emilia picked up her parasol and sailed for the door. “I am almost looking forward to the circus!”

  After Emilia departed, Aster floundered between the pressing need to train her aunt’s orphans and the wish to hide under the bed rather than face the intimidatingly intelligent, annoying Lord Theophilus again. If anyone could activate the part of desire and attraction in her chart, she greatly feared it would be the astronomer who refused to believe her charts but was all too happy to accept her domestic help.

  ***

  Having spent another exhausting day talking to fusty old men, bored landowners, and a few of Duncan’s political friends in search of recommendations for the position of steward, Theo stopped outside a noisy tavern and debated joining the din.

  A ruffian stinking of ale staggered from the tavern, tripped over his feet, and fell into Theo, clutching at Theo’s already wrinkled waistcoat. Considering this old ploy the last and final insult of his London sojourn, Theo bent back the bony fingers wrapped around his watch. The would-be thief shrieked in pain and swayed backward, howling and releasing his prize.

  Drinking himself into a stupor held promise. Doing so in the company of strangers did not. He’d always had his brothers to watch his back, in the days when they’d indulged in such revelry. He damned well missed Duncan at times like this. Together, they would have dumped the thief in the Thames.

  Disgruntled, Theo tucked his watch back in its pocket and found his way back through the gas-lit dark to Pascoe’s house.

  He needed an observatory. He needed a glass grinder that would perfect the magnification of his new refractor.

  He needed a bloody damned wife and steward and maybe a new life in the Americas, he decided, upon finding Jacques sitting on their uncle’s doorstep.

  His half-brother leaped up with a beaming grin. “I knew someone would show up eventually.”

  “The footman wouldn’t let you in?” Theo pounded the knocker.

  “He doesn’t know me, and Pascoe is apparently out alley-catting.”

  “That will teach you to come to town and socialize with family more often so the servants recognize you,” Theo said dryly. As the footman opened the door, he gestured to their unexpected company. “This is my scoundrel brother, Jacques,” he told the servant. “It’s best not to let him in unless we’re given warning but don’t leave him out in a blizzard.”

  “I’m not likely to travel in a blizzard,” Jacques protested, trailing Theo into the house. “Why shouldn’t I have entrance if you do?”

  “Because it’s not my house. Tell stories to Pascoe’s demanding offspring, and he will grant you entrance for life. What brings you here?” Shrugging out of his confining frock coat, Theo hid his alarm at his brother’s unexpected arrival and led the way upstairs. “Dunc is well?”

  “Dunc is still moping and throwing fits and refusing to leave his chambers. The field laborers have gone on strike for fewer hours and more pay. Duncan says they may all go to hell. I’m thinking that’s not the best solution.”

  “You couldn’t send a note rather than abandon our churlish brother to the servants?” Theo flung open a few doors until he found a bedchamber that appeared ready for guests. “Do you even have baggage with you?”

  “Only the things I carry in my saddlebag. I was planning on riding back tonight except no one knew where to find you. What servant would you suggest I send who could find you any better? I doubt any of them know their way around London.”

  “One of us really ought to try visiting more often,” Theo acknowledged, “And it won’t be me. The city’s sooty murk hides the stars. Where’s Erran?”

  “In Brighton, looking for work. He’s been acting oddly since he won that court case. I thought he’d be insufferable in triumph, but now he’s considering giving up being a barrister. And William took his hounds to Oxford for some reason or another.” Jacques dropped back against the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Perhaps your astrologer should read all our charts. The household is descending into more chaos than usual. The twins are home from school, and the rest are expected at any minute. The housekeeper is drinking again.”

  Theo refrained from exercising his considerable vocabulary, knowing the havoc their various younger brothers, cousins, and Duncan’s twins could cause. A jungle would be more peaceful. “I’ve found a temporary solution. Lady Azenor has offered to bring a cadre of servants down to straighten up the place in time for Margaret’s fete.”

  Jacques sat up again. “Why? Does she have more death, doom, and agony to inflict?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.” Theo tossed his
coat over his shoulder. “Maybe I should ask if she knows any farm laborers. She has a prodigious list of people for all occasions.”

  “That would be most exemplary!” Jacques unfastened his cravat. “Every time we drive off another servant, we could just call on her to provide another. Where has she been all our lives?”

  Hiding from intimate relationships would be Theo’s guess.

  Remembering the lady’s suggestion that he share some small part of the mountain of tasks he faced, Theo asked, “You wouldn’t be interested in interviewing stewards, would you? They’re scattered over half the countryside, and if I need to return to Surrey to settle the strike, I can’t be everywhere.”

  “Have them come to Ashford,” Jacques suggested carelessly. “I know nothing of farming but surely Dunc can manage an interview.”

  “Perhaps.” Theo remained noncommittal. Dunc hadn’t been amenable to seeing anyone but family since the accident, but there was always a first time. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  But the thought of sending stewards to Iveston so he could return to his work had Theo humming on his way to his room. If Dunc wouldn’t interview them, maybe he’d have Lady Azenor look up a steward’s astrological chart. That would be about as useful as an astronomer asking about crop production.

  Eight

  “We refuse to share the carriage with Mrs. Barnes,” Briana hissed as Aster attempted to arrange the various occupants of the berlin and the baggage wagon Lord Theo had provided. Briana re-tied the strings of her bonnet over her fair curls. “She smells of camphor and vinegar. You must ride with us and leave her in the wagon. Besides, if we became separated, who would introduce us at Iveston?”

  “They are expecting us. It’s not as if you would be stranded,” Aster retorted desperately. “You, of all people, ought to understand the problem of my riding in the same carriage with you.”

  “We can’t be more than a few hours from Iveston, and it’s a beautiful clear summer day. Lightning won’t strike.” Deirdre added her insistence. She wore a flirtatiously up-tilted hat brim that flaunted the thickness of the mink-brown hair at her nape. “You must tell us all about the estate so we are prepared. We won’t go unless you ride with us.”

  “I was counting on the two of you to be sensible,” Aster wailed. “How will I explain to our mothers if anything should happen to you?”

  “You travel with us, or we’ll not go,” Briana said adamantly. “Once we are there, we will attempt to leave the room when you enter it, we promise.”

  Aster glanced back at the wagon packed with servants patiently awaiting orders to move out. She had three potential maids and two footmen to train for service. They would be horrifically disappointed if they couldn’t find positions. Her entire house of cards rode on this visit.

  Recklessly disregarding potential catastrophe before they even started invited the worst sorts of peril.

  Lord Theophilus chose that moment of indecision to ride up on a magnificent roan gelding. Today, the preoccupied scientist almost looked the part of elegant aristocrat in his tailed coat and knee boots—except for his unstarched neckcloth. His horse pranced restlessly as he lifted his tall hat in greeting. “All ready to go?”

  Without waiting for her reply, he waved the wagon on and nodded at the carriage driver to assist Aster inside.

  “I detest being bullied,” she protested, taking a seat as his lordship rode up to give instructions to the coachman.

  “He is not bullying. He is taking charge. That is what men do.” Deirdre settled back against the seat cushion in satisfaction. Not quite as tall as her sister Emilia, Deirdre had a softer, rounder face and a cherubic smile which she employed now. “Thank you for inviting me on this adventure. Town is much too dull this summer with everyone in mourning.”

  Aster took the rear-facing seat across from her sister and cousin and fretted at her gloves while glancing out the window at Lord Theo guiding the team’s horses into a busy intersection. His riding breeches pulled tight across muscled thighs, and she swallowed hard and dragged her gaze back to the girls.

  “I fear Iveston will be the exact opposite of dull. You may wish to run screaming for the safety of town before the first day is over. I am counting on you to be brave and patient and help me make order of anarchy.”

  Both girls were foolish enough to look intrigued. Aster sighed and regaled them with the tale of her arrival at the marquess’s derelict estate.

  “A billiard table in the foyer?” Briana asked with laughter when Aster was done. “Really, they had no servants at all?”

  “If they have them, they were in hiding. You must understand that this is an all-male household. The last Lady Ashford died over twenty-five years ago. If the company rooms are any evidence, not a thing has been changed in a quarter century or more. All those years of dogs and boots will take their toll on the best of carpets and floors. We cannot possibly wreak miracles. We must concentrate on emphasizing possibilities.”

  “We need Moira,” Deirdre said with a sigh, referring to another of their cousins. “She can simply look at a room and know exactly what needs to be done to make it presentable. Her bedchamber is fit for a princess.”

  “We haven’t time for pretty. We must settle for tidy and not-so-frayed, and we must do that with untrained staff. This is not a house party.”

  “But we get first glimpse of the amazing Ives who never circulate in society,” Briana reminded her in satisfaction. “I’m so glad I’m not in Edinburgh this summer.”

  Aster frowned at this foolishness and dug through her valise to present her list of plans. “This is only a quick sketch of priorities. We’ll know more once we arrive.”

  Briana glanced out the window at their escort. “If there are more of him there, I cannot promise my mind will be on clean windows.”

  Aster suffered a twinge of jealousy at her sister’s freedom to choose a husband—or to admire the choices available. She had accepted long ago that she would never be able to do so.

  “Lord Theophilus is in search of a useful wife,” she reminded Briana. “Prove you can handle his household, and he may overlook the fact that you’ve never lived outside a city and that your grasp of mathematics is appalling.”

  Briana brightened. “But I like dogs. We should go on quite swimmingly.”

  Aster sniffed. As if a love of dogs was a basis for marriage! “Perhaps I should work harder at discovering the romantic parts of our charts,” was all she said in acknowledgment.

  As the high-sprung berlin rolled over the newly improved highway toward Iveston, Aster began to relax and enjoy the journey. She wasn’t much of a rural sort and couldn’t identify the trees or crops that they passed, but the fresh air and sunshine improved her spirits. The countryside looked much more cheerful in sunshine than in a downpour.

  An hour later, they were well outside of the city, and were traveling a rural lane. She recognized a milestone and knew they weren’t far from the manor. She wondered if any of the fields they passed belonged to the marquess. They seemed orderly enough.

  The wide berlin slowed to traverse a narrow curve. She glanced out to see what Lord Theo was doing but couldn’t find him. The hedge was too close for him to ride next to them, she supposed. Or perhaps he rode ahead to warn the household of their arrival.

  She peered out the window to the road behind and noticed a cloud of dust. A moment later, the dust parted to reveal a phaeton drawn by a team of two chest-heaving, galloping bays racing up behind them.

  Nervously, she heard their coachman cursing as he hauled on the reins. Remembering another day and another disastrous carriage accident, she turned and strained to see the road ahead. A slow-moving farm wagon eased to the far side of the lane into a small opening in the hedgerow made for a stile.

  “The phaeton driver is quite mad!” Briana exclaimed, looking out the window. “He means to race between us . . . .”

  Always primed for danger, Azenor flung aside her papers. “Hold the straps
and brace your feet,” she shouted, grabbing the leather holds with both hands. Making certain the others obeyed her order and were holding on for dear life, she closed her eyes and prayed frantically.

  Pulled as far to the edge of the road as possible, the berlin lurched when one tall wheel slid off the road. The phaeton barreled past in a billowing cloud of dust and pebbles. Aster’s heart lodged in her throat at seeing the brink of the ditch out the far window. One slip to the left and . . .

  The rear wheel hit a stone, bounced, and struck the gulley. Briana and Deidre screamed and clung to their straps as the entire high-slung berlin tilted.

  Cursing herself as much as the phaeton, Aster leaned her weight toward the road. She prayed that with enough leverage, the driver could right the vehicle before they hit the farm wagon.

  Instead, the horses screamed their panic and picked up speed. Aster watched in horror as another sideways bounce tossed the swearing driver into the hedgerow. Shrieking their terror, the berlin’s team broke into a run, dragging the driver until he was forced to release the leathers.

  With a loud crack, one of the slender wheels broke and the unbalanced berlin toppled on its side, half-dragged by the frantic animals.

  In a tumble of skirts and petticoats, Aster crashed into a tangle with her sister and cousin on the carriage’s door, bumping with every rock the splintering wood hit.

  ***

  Having ridden ahead to let his family know the ladies were arriving, Theo panicked at the scream of frantic horses. Seeing a phaeton flying past as if the hounds of hell were on its tail, Theo kicked his gelding into his racing stride.

  The sight of the driverless berlin overturned in the ditch conjured visions of hysterical bloodied females. Theo’s panic escalated to outright terror. With the horses straining against their traces, dragging their hapless burden, he had to act quickly. He shoved his deepest fears into a dark hole and bolted the lid.