Part XVI: Home Again

Haddock didn’t realize that for such a small, frail old woman, his mother had quite a grip.  She had embraced him in a five-minute-long hug upon his return, a month and a half after he had left for his “vacation” at the hunting lodge.  Isolde had gone off to be reunited with her own family, leaving Haddock to fend for himself with the overenthusiastic old woman.  She asked him about his time out hunting in the countryside, then switched to talking about what had happened while he was gone when he tried to edge an answer or to in between her chatter.  Apparently, one of Isolde’s sisters had been substituted as Mrs. Haddock’s companion while Isolde was tending to her “sick relatives.”  Mrs. Haddock thought that the girl was much too flighty and manic, pestering her to go into town every other day and thundering around the castle at high speeds while the elder woman tried to read.  When Mrs. Haddock heard that Isolde would be back soon, she had immediately put together a little basket of presents to express her gratitude for her young friend’s return.  Running out of information on her end, Mrs. Haddock finally let Haddock speak for himself about his time spent at the lodge.

              He spun her a carefully woven story of hunting and peaceful isolation, and how in the end he had shot an elusive beast a fortnight before his return home.  Haddock’s wounds from the fight were still mending, though he wasn’t tearing any stitches or bleeding anymore, so that was a boon.  He did his best to hide the prominent neck bite by wearing his collar up to his cheeks and tying a very thick knot on his cravat, also taking care to keep his movements from being too stiff and pained, as his mother would definitely notice.  He squirmed in his seat a bit when Mrs. Haddock said:

              “Well, there has been one strange thing that’s happened while you’ve been away.  It seems that Sir Drexel has gone missing.  One day he just up and disappeared, and now his servants are without a master and that house of his is being boarded up again.  Did you happen to see him on your little vacation, Malcom?”

              “No,” Haddock lied. “How is your quilt coming along?”

Mrs. Haddock was successfully sidetracked and Haddock breathed a mental sigh of relief.  The two of them stayed up late in the library as Mrs. Haddock nattered for the both of them, Haddock not really listening entirely in the latter half of the evening, his mind meandering towards thoughts of Isolde.  She said that she would stay with her family for a few days before returning to the castle to resume her position as Mrs. Haddock’s companion. 

Haddock couldn’t wait that long.  He might have to go down to the village and pay her and her family a personal visit.  They were courting after all.

“Malcolm!”

Haddock jerked himself to attention in his seat.

“Yes?”

              Mrs. Haddock was leaning forward in her chair, shawl falling off her shoulders as she snapped her fingers under his nose.

“Ah.  There we are.  Were you listening to a single word I was saying?”

              “Ummm, new patterns at the tailor shop…?”

“I finished talking about that a half an hour ago, Silly”—she rapped his knuckles with her tea spoon—“I was talking about your brothers and sisters coming for Christmas!”

              Haddock leaned back in his chair, feeling deflated.

“Oh…won’t that be…fun.”

Mrs. Haddock shot her son a chastising look before continuing:

“I already sent out the invitations—though I don’t know if Ainslay will be able to make it, what with Felix being, hem, Felix and all—but I’m almost positive that everyone else will be able to come!  Even Grant!  The army finally brought him back from overseas and he’s now stationed back in Britain and we’ll be seeing much more of Grant, you mark my words, Malcolm!”

              Haddock hoped she would be wrong with her predictions.