Page 10 of Lady Elinor’s Elf

She looked well, he was happy to observe as they strolled in the garden.

In fact, she looked better than just well, she was smiling at him with warmth. He hoped it was perhaps a little more than mere delight at receiving a visitor.

“I’m glad to see you on your feet, Elinor. You scared the devil out of me, really you did.”

She sighed at his gentle scold. “I scared myself as well.” They walked slowly over soft green grass. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me before.”

“Did you see something? Feel anything? D’you have any idea at all what made you faint?”

Hesitating a little, she frowned. “I…I don’t know…”

Carrádog nudged her with his nose, almost herding her toward a bench that had been arranged beneath a large oak tree. The shade it offered would be most welcome on a hot summer day, Caleb realised, and it was the perfect place for them to sit and talk without a chance of being overheard.

“Clever boy,” she patted his head as he walked beside her. “Yes, we’ll sit here, and you can run if you wish.”

“He’s missed you,” observed Caleb. “Most distressed he was, checking the hallway every hour to see if by chance you had arrived when he wasn’t looking.”

“He is so sweet,” she answered.

“I will confess that there were times I accompanied him to the hall,” he sighed.

“Caleb, I’m so sorry…”

“Hush, it wasn’t your fault.” He gazed at the house for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. “What happened, Elinor? Please, if you can, tell me what happened?”

He casually rested his arm along the back of the bench, and she leant back against it, appreciating the comfort it brought her.

“I’ve been trying to remember,” she said. “I was in your library, we were talking, and I remember finding what looked like a truly ancient book, aged and well used. It was quite large…do you know the one I mean?”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t place it. And I thoroughly investigated that entire area after your experience to make sure you hadn’t tripped over anything.”

“How strange,” she frowned. “Anyway, I picked up this volume, and it was lighter than I expected…and…”

“And what, my dear?”

She turned to face him. “Caleb, it was glowing. Glowing in my hands as I held it.” She shivered a little. “I swear I saw a golden kind of aura surrounding it. And then I felt Carrádog’s nose touch my hand…and everything went dark.”

“Hmm.” He pulled her a little closer, keeping his arm around her shoulder. “I find myself at a bit of a loss, Elinor. Since there is no evidence to support what you’re telling me, nothing we can examine together, I don’t quite know what to say.”

“Do you believe me?” She turned to look at him, and to her surprise, Carrádog trotted over and sat very close to her knees, staring at his master.

Caleb swallowed. “I want to, Elinor, truly. I dislike the notion of something in my library making guests faint. It just will not do.”

She smiled, as she knew he meant her to.

The dog, on the other hand, still stared at Caleb, the intensity of his glare quite evident.

“I wish I had an answer to all this,” she sighed, pleating her skirt with her fingers. Annoyed with herself for resorting to an old childish habit of hiding her nerves, she managed a light laugh. “Perhaps it was just some hidden magic left behind by the Tylwyth Teg.”

Carrádog barked sharply, and made them both jump. He stared at Elinor, then at Caleb, and then back to Elinor.

“You know, it almost seems like he’s trying to tell us something, doesn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yes, it does.”

He stared at her, tongue lolling, his gaze nearly hypnotic, piercing her with his golden-amber eyes.

She leant down and stroked him, tugging gently on one ear.

“You are a delight, dear pup. I’m so glad we found you and that Caleb decided to keep you.

I think you’ll bring some sunshine into Tylwyth Teg Abbey, won’t you? ”

Bending even further, she dropped a kiss on his nose…and caught her breath as, quick as a blink, his eyes went from gold to pure blue, and then back again.

She tried to conceal her shock, but Caleb felt her jolt of surprise.

“What? What is it? Did he nip you?”

“No, no, not at all…”

Carrádog shot a look of disgust at his new master, who obviously recognised it right away.

“All right, I apologise. You’re not the kind of dog who bites people he likes.” He looked up at Elinor. “So, my dear, please tell me what it was that made you jump? I swear it was something.”

“A fly perhaps, around my ears…”

“Elinor.”

“Something on my foot?”

Caleb sighed. “Can you not trust me? I know we’ve not been acquainted for very long, but I feel as if I’ve known you for years. I had hoped you would feel the same.”

“Oh, I do, really. I experienced the same feelings over tea, the first time I came to the Abbey. It seemed so…so…comfortable. Almost familiar. And I felt quite safe with you, Caleb, I promise.”

“Then please…honour me with the truth? Whatever it is, I can assure you I can accept it. Or deal with it, whichever is best for you.”

She stood and held out her hand, indicating he should stay there on the bench.

“I need a moment or two to gather my thoughts, Caleb. Because if I do as you wish, things between us may never be the same. So you can understand I need to take my time making this decision.” She paused.

“I find…I find myself very comfortable with you. More comfortable than I’ve ever been with a man, I think. ”

“I’m pleased,” he began.

“Hush…I don’t wish to jeopardise that. It has become quite important. Just how important I don’t know yet. But I do feel that giving you cause to walk away and never come back would be…would be quite painful.”

He had to stand at those words.

“Elinor, I sincerely doubt there is anything you could say to me that would make me walk away.” He took her hand, found it cool to the touch. “I would be hurt more if I thought I’d given you reason to distrust me than I would be by anything you choose to share with me.”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, then smiled as he heard her indrawn breath. “Just tell me, my dear.”

She looked at him, her eyes more green than blue this morning. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Very well, then.” She took a breath, and her fingers tightened on his hand. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve seen elves .”

*~~*~~*

She should not have told him.

That thought rattled around her mind as she watched him blink, blink again, frown, and then swallow.

“I think I need to sit down again.” Which he promptly did, with a little less elegance than usual.

“Of course. I understand.” She twisted her fingers together awkwardly. “If you wish to leave, I will walk back to the house and let them know you’ve gone…”

Please don’t go.

“I am not leaving, Elinor. Good lord, do you think me such a-a-daft idiot that I cannot recognise the truth when I hear it?”

Her jaw dropped, and she sat down on the bench beside him. “I…”

“Hush,” he said, covering her hand with his as it lay on the bench between them. “Let me… let me absorb this for a moment or two.”

Carrádog walked to her knees and rested his head on them, an offering of such wonderful doggy-comfort that her eyes stung for a few moments. She rested her hand on his head. “Thank you, dear Carrádog. I have to wonder if perhaps I’m not alone in my gift.”

She could have sworn he grinned at her before giving a quiet little woof and then returning his head to her knee.

She stroked him gently and turned to Caleb.

“Since you’ve not stumbled over your feet in an attempt to escape the madwoman sitting beside you, I’m going to hazard a guess that you have some questions? ”

He managed a chuckle. “That is truly an understatement, Elinor.” He nodded. “I scarcely know where to begin, as a matter of fact.” Absentmindedly, he ran his hand through his hair, as if to stimulate his brain back into working order.

“Perhaps it would help if I related the history of the Molliney family,” she offered. “For that is where this—this odd ability began.”

He managed a smile. “I’ll wager this is going to be an interesting tale.”

“I think so,” she nodded.

And for the next half hour or so, Elinor related the tale of the first Jeanne Molyneux, and how an elf was rescued from certain death by her kindness and bravery.

“Since then, there have been many Mollineys with this…this gift, I suppose you could call it. It is a part of our family history, Caleb, much like those who have ancestors carrying other sorts of adventures with them…” she thought for a moment, “like the ones who fought at the Battle of Hastings, or those who lost people during Cromwellian times…all legends that become an integral element of a family’s antecedents. ”

Caleb’s eyes remained fixed on hers, and she breathed a little easier when she saw his interest, not the derision she’d feared.

“I wouldn’t call this a legend, Elinor. You’re living, breathing proof of its reality. And this…this gift , if you will, has been possessed by many of your forebears, I would guess?”

Elinor nodded. “It has.” She relaxed even more.

“Not all those who received it wanted it, of course. And in our family archives—which are extremely well documented, by the way—slight mentions are made of the times the gift was accepted, and the times the recipient decided never to use it.” Glancing at him, she took a breath.

“It is carefully written down, but names are not, Caleb. If you were to read our history, you wouldn’t notice the references.

None of us know who had the gift, and nobody asks. It just is .”

“It’s a choice, then?”

“I suppose you could call it that. But accepting it is also not a burden. And before you ask, no, my parents do not know.” Still unsure of his reaction, she stood. “Shall we walk a little? I think better on my feet.”

He rose as well. “You seem to be thinking very clearly just sitting there, but by all means let’s stretch our legs.”

Suiting words to action, he offered his arm, and Elinor willingly took it as they began a leisurely stroll toward the shrubs and trees that shaded the lawns.

Silent for a few minutes, Elinor managed a laugh as she noticed Carrádog patiently following them, tail wagging, and an expression on his face that just had to be a smile.

Caleb grinned as well, and drew them to a halt. Then he put his hand over hers, and they paused, screened by massive rhododendrons.

“I believe you, Elinor. I truly do. I have no idea why, but one look into your eyes and I can see the truth.”

She gulped down her gasp of surprise. “Caleb,” she whispered, “You have to understand, I never imagined hearing anyone say what you just said.”

She felt the sun warm on her face, and licked her lips as she smiled up at him.

His expression changed a little, and she saw his chest rise with an indrawn breath. Gently pulling her closer, he slid his free arm around her waist. “I don’t even care if you can summon angels from Heaven or devils from Hell. I know only one thing…”

“What?” she whispered, gazing at him.

“If I don’t kiss you right this minute, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”