He indicated his Chamberlain, who inclined his head gravely in response.
'Apparently, a Patron-Sponsor's duties are relatively clear cut.' He reached into the cuff of his sleeve and produced a small sheet of parchment on which he had written notes. 'As Patron-Sponsor, I am charged with,' he paused and consulted the notes, 'adding a sense of royal cachet to proceedings today.'
He waited while a ripple of conversation ran round the room. Nobody was quite sure what adding a sense of royal cachet really meant. But everyone agreed that it sounded impressive indeed. Lady Pauline's mouth twitched in a smile and she looked down at the table. Halt found something of vast interest in the ceiling beams high above. Duncan continued.
'My second duty is… ' again he consulted his notes to make sure he had the wording correct, 'to provide an extremely expensive present to the bride and groom… '
Lady Pauline's head jerked up at that. She leant forward and turned to make eye contact with Lord Anthony. The Chamberlain met her gaze, his face completely devoid of expression. Then, very slowly, one eyelid slid down in a wink. He liked Pauline and Halt a great deal and he'd added that duty without consulting them. After certain events in the past, he thought he owed at least that much to Halt.
'And finally,' Duncan was saying, 'it is my duty to declare this celebration officially open. Which I now do, with great delight. Chubb! Bring on the feast!'
And, as the assembled throng cheered, he sat down and the feasting began.
'I liked your speech,' Alyss said to Will, as the puddings were cleared away. He shrugged.
'I hope it was all right,' he said. As best man, he had proposed the toast to Halt and Lady Pauline. It was a mark of his growing maturity, thought Alyss, that he had the confidence to speak from the heart of his deep affection for his teacher and friend. As a member of the Diplomatic Service, she was a trained speaker herself and she had admired the way he hadn't shied away from voicing his true feelings, yet avoided cheap sentimentality. She'd glanced once at Halt during the speech and saw the grim-faced Ranger furtively wiping his eye with a napkin.
'It was a lot better than all right,' she assured him.
Then, as she saw him starting to grin, she jogged him with her elbow. 'What?'
'I was just thinking, I can't wait to see Halt in the bridal dance with Pauline. He's not known for his fancy stepping. He should be quite a sight to behold. A total fumble foot!'
'Is that right?' she said dryly. 'And how do you think you'll manage it?'
'Me?' he said in some surprise. 'I won't be dancing! It's the bridal dance. The bride and groom dance alone!'
'For one circuit of the room,' she told him. 'After which they are joined by the best man and first bridesmaid, then the groomsman and second bridesmaid.'
Will reacted as if he had been stung. He leant forward to speak across Jenny, on his left, to Gilan.
'Gil! Did you know we have to dance?' he asked. Gilan nodded enthusiastically.
'Oh yes indeed. Jenny and I have been practising for the past three days, haven't we, Jeri?'
Jenny looked up at him adoringly and nodded. Jenny was in love. Gilan was tall, dashing, good looking, charming and very amusing. Plus he was cloaked in the mystery and romance that came with being a Ranger. Jenny had only ever known one Ranger and that had been grim-faced, grey-bearded Halt.
Well, there was Will, of course. But he was an old friend and held no sense of mystery for her. But Gilan! He was beautiful, she thought.
And he was hers for the rest of the reception, she promised herself.
Will felt a sense of panic as he heard the orchestra playing the opening bars of Together forever, the traditional bridal dance. Halt and Pauline rose from their seats and people stood and applauded, craning to watch as he led her down the stairs from the dais to the main floor, where a space had been cleared for dancing.
'Well, I'm not dancing,' Will said through gritted teeth. 'I don't know how.'
'Oh yes you are,' Alyss told him. 'Let's hope you're a fast learner.'
He glanced at her and saw no prospect of escape. 'Well, at least I won't be the only one,' he said. 'Halt will be terrible too.'
But of course, what he and nobody else in the assembly knew was that for the past ten days, Halt had been having dance lessons from Lady Sandra. He had always been well balanced, co-ordinated and light on his feet, and it had 'taken just a few hours for the Baron's wife, an expert herself, to turn him into a consummate dancer. Now he and Pauline glided around the room as if they were born to dance together. There was a gasp of surprise from the crowd, then an enthusiastic roar of applause.
Will felt Alyss's surprisingly firm grip on his forearm as she stood and brought him to his feet beside her. Let's go, Fumblefoot,' she said.
There was no escape, Will knew. He preceded her down the stairs, giving her his arm as she descended. Then he turned to her uncertainly.
'Arm there,' she said. 'Other arm, idiot. Now hand there… okay, ready? We're going to start with your left foot. On three. One. Two… What the devil is he doing here?'
She was looking over his shoulder towards the main entrance to the hall, where a commotion had broken out. There was a huge, unkempt figure standing just inside the door, arguing with the servants posted there, who were trying to restrain him. His fleece jacket and horned helmet marked him as a Skandian. Heads had turned towards the noise and, already, Horace was heading down the aisle to take charge. But after a few paces, he stopped in surprise, recognising the man at the same time Will did.
'It's Svengal,' Will said.
Chapter 7
Horace reached the arguing group just inside the main door and quickly quietened things down, reassuring servants and guards that the Skandian was a friend, and not about to make a one-man attack on Castle Redmont. Will watched as the tall warrior spoke quickly to Svengal, then led him away to a side room. As they went, Horace turned, caught Will's eye and made an unmistakable gesture for him to join them.
Gradually, the people in the hall relaxed as it became apparent that the incident had been resolved and there was no immediate danger. The orchestra, which had tailed off at Svengal's appearance, picked up the melody once more and eyes returned to the bridal couple. Will saw that Halt and Lady Pauline had paused and were standing motionless in the middle of the dance floor. He crossed quickly to them.
'Finish the dance,' he said quietly. 'I'll take care of it.' Halt nodded his gratitude. The last thing he wanted was any kind of disruption to Lady Pauline's special day. 'Find out what he wants,' he said.
Will grinned. 'Maybe he's brought you a wedding.present.'
Halt jerked his head towards the back of the room. 'Get going,' he said. Will grinned again and turned away, taking Alyss's hand as he passed.
'Come on,' he said, leading her off the dance floor with him. He glanced up to catch Gilan's inquiring look as the tall Ranger led Jenny down from the dais. Will jerked his head towards Halt and Pauline and mouthed the words, Keep dancing.'
Gilan nodded. The less disruption to the normal run of events, the better, he realised.
Pauline saw the quick exchange between the two young Rangers, then watched as Will picked his way through the tables, Alyss accompanying him. From time to time, he would pause, smile at a question from one of the guests and make what appeared to be a reassuring comment. She admired the speed with which he had reacted, the way he was taking over the situation.
'He's growing up,' she said to Halt as they began to dance again. Gilan and Jenny now circled the floor with them as well. Then Duncan and Cassandra joined them, followed by the Baron and Lady Sandra. That was the signal for other dancers to crowd onto the floor. Within a few minutes, most people had forgotten that a travel-stained, weary Skandian had just crashed the wedding party.