Part IX: A Change of Heart

Mrs. Haddock couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was definitely different about how Malcolm was behaving around Miss Marlowe.  It had happened practically overnight.  She was sure that the couple was happily courting beforehand, though there was an odd coolness on Malcolm’s side.  Now, Malcolm and Miss Marlowe could be seen talking together, even when Mrs. Haddock wasn’t in the room with them to goad her son into saying anything.  There was a more relaxed nature about him when Miss Marlowe was around, no longer a feeling of restraint.  Mrs. Haddock assumed that the whole ordeal with The Other Woman had come bubbling out. 

She was seated in a cushioned chair, placidly knitting in the garden when she froze and sat bolt upright.  The sound of her son’s laughter carried over from the pond where he and Miss Marlowe had walked off to.  Mrs. Haddock’s hand moved to her thin, smiling lips.  She hadn’t heard a genuine peal of laughter from her boy since…since that woman…what was her name?  She leaned over in her seat, vying to hear what they were discussing.

                                                                        *

“Your mother is spying on us again,” Miss Marlowe said as they took another turn around the overlarge pond, arm in arm.  Haddock laughed.

“She’s such a littler voyeur.”

Miss Marlowe shot him a chastising look.

“You’d be too if you were confined to a chair like that and had to rely on others for even menial bits of information like the Walter’s new cow.”

“I don’t give a damn about the Walter’s new cow.”

Miss Marlowe pinched Haddock’s arm.

“Don’t be facetious.  You know what I mean.  And you should know better than to swear around a lady.”

              Haddock rolled his eyes.  Miss Marlowe stuck her tongue out at him.

“Toad.”

Their reflections rippled across the pond’s surface while silvery fish flitted in the shadows and frogs croaked from the forest of reeds at the center of the body of water.  Broadburn was experiencing a bout of Indian summer that would soon be overtaken by nipping winds, barren trees, and the promise of snow.  Haddock’s mother made the most of the mild weather and endeavored to venture outside with each passing day of un-autumnal heat until she would be forced to retreat indoors when the temperature would inevitably drop.  Consequently, Haddock and Miss Marlowe joined her, relegating half of the day to keeping her company while the other half they kept for themselves.  Haddock’s amber eyes drifted to the reflections again.  Miss Marlowe’s expression was pensive as she gazed straight ahead, her brow contracted.  Wisps of brunette hair had escaped her bun and were flying about her head in the light breeze.  Her eyes suddenly became clear as she dredged herself out of her thoughts.

“You should tell your mother.”

Back to the duel again.  Haddock snorted.

“She’d drop dead if I told her I was going to engage in a duel.”

              “Malcolm!” Miss Marlowe exclaimed.  She bit her lip, eyes darting, looking like she very much regretted the outburst.

“So you’re just going to commit a sin of omission, is that it?” she hissed.

              “I was considering telling her I’m going up to the hunting lodge for a short holiday,” Haddock said musingly.

“Oh well never mind, then.  You’re flat out lying,” Miss Marlowe said with a wave of her hand.

              “She’s a frail woman in more than just her body.  I don’t want to cause her unnecessary worry…”

Haddock’s voice trailed off.  Miss Marlowe’s mouth was set in a thin line.  She was directing her eyes straight ahead again, giving him a very arctic cold shoulder.  They made two, long wordless loops around the pond before Miss Marlowe drew to a halt, making Haddock stop with her.

              “If you’re so worried about your mother’s reaction to this, then why are you going through with it?”

              Her tone was acerbic.  Haddock was still looking at her reflection while Miss Marlowe’s pale eyes bore hotly into face.  Miss Marlowe’s mouth shifted to the side while she raised a brow as if to say, “well?”  He exhaled. 

              “A duel was just the means I needed to face Sir Drexel again in a way so that the whole town would see his baseness and lies,” Haddock began.  He met her gaze. “That’s what I thought at first.  But after what you told me that night you saw my other self, my reasons changed.  He sullied your name.  He hurt you, Miss Marlowe.  I think that’s more than enough reason for me to duel him.”

Miss Marlowe squinted at him.

“You’re not just saying that to ensure that I give you my blessing on this fight?”

              “No more lies, remember?” Haddock said with a smile.  Miss Marlowe shifted her gaze to the side, brows still furrowed.  She disengaged her arm and folded her hands in front of her, drifting backwards.

              “I-I need to be by myself for a bit.  Tend to your mother, will you?  She looks like she could use someone to talk to,” she said, and wandered into the garden.