Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Shoko Yoshinaka.

Chapter Seven

Zelgadis led Lina into the Greywers mansion by her little gloved hand, and wondered if he could possibly have a moment to speak with the housekeeper before he introduced Lina to his mother and brother. It might not be possible, but he would have to give it a try. He led Lina immediately into one of the sitting rooms that was situated close to the great hall, and asked her if she wouldn't mind waiting a few moments while he spoke to the groom and the house keeper about her luggage and accommodations.

She placed her hand on her hip in the most impatient gesture and nodded her consent.

"You're going to have to be more lady-like," he said, commenting lazily on her attitude. "If you behave that badly, we'll surely be discovered."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have to pretend to a lady all the time. That would just take far too much effort. You'll have to allow for these little outbursts while we're alone, or I won't be able to cope. Besides, if I'm allowed these little moments, I'll be sure to behave better when the pressure's on," she said with a wink. "You won't regret it."

He shrugged his shoulders in assent. "I'm sure I won't," he said as he turned and left the room.

His conversation with the housekeeper was extraordinarily brief, as she was a dear little soul who seemed to have his wishes in mind whenever he was visiting.

"The room is ready now, if she'd like to get changed before dinner."

"Thank-you Miss Amelia. I'm sure she'd like that," Zel said comfortably.

"And I'll come down with you and escort her to her room – her trunks should already be there," she said to Zel batting her blue eyes at him twice while she was speaking.

As Zel and Miss Amelia walked down the back hall, the shortest distance from the housekeeper's rooms to the sitting room where he had left Lina, he thought he heard voices. He approached the back entrance to the room and listened at the door for a moment, with the little housekeeper at his side. Someone was definitely talking – it was Rezo!

"I still don't understand why you would feel it acceptable to reject an older brother only to dive headfirst into a relationship with a younger brother. Zelgadis has nothing you know," Rezo said pompously.

"That's just like you," Lina said back clearly, not seeming to care who heard her. "You think that nobody thinks of anything except social position and wealth when thinking about marriage. To tell you the truth I had no idea that he was your brother. Of course I recognized his last name and considered the possibility that he might be a relation of yours, but it never even occurred to me that he might be your brother."

"You're wrong," Rezo said deeply.

"Wrong about what? What could I possibly have been wrong about?"

"Social position and wealth are not the only things I thought of when I began visiting you."

"Really?" Lina asked in disbelief. "All right, I doubt you were thinking of social position. I don't have a social position, but I'm certain my inheritance was enough to make up for that. I have no idea how well the Greywers fortune is doing, but if you were interested in me, than there might be some truth in the idea that your finances are floundering."

"You always twist what I say around," Rezo said heatedly. "I was about to tell you how charming I find you. You are so fascinating, but you never allow me to say so. You always make it sound like I couldn't really have cared for you at all, which is simply not true."

Zel could not believe what he was hearing, and obviously neither could the Miss Amelia. He wanted to wave her away, but as he knew that she was his best friend in the mansion he refused to send her away. Besides, he knew that she wouldn't approve of Rezo's advances on his own fiancée.

At least Lina was defending him, Zelgadis, loyally. But, this explained everything. Rezo had expressed that he found Lina more attractive than Luna at the ball the other night, but Zelgadis had thought nothing of it. Then that morning when he announced that he was going to marry Lina instead, Rezo had acted so strangely. Zel hadn't been able to figure it out. Now it all made perfect sense.

"You're lucky I don't accuse you of worse things than being greedy and calculating. Besides, nothing you could tell me would convince me that you really had any true feelings for me," Lina said dryly.

"But tell me," Rezo asked in a smoother tone. "How was Zelgadis able to do win you over?"

"It's really quite simple," she said smugly.

"Tell me."

"Zelgadis isn't pushy. You could learn a thing or two from him on how to treat women so they don't slam the door in your face."

"I guess we're through talking then," Rezo said.

"I guess. You're the one who wanted to talk in the first place. I would have been glad never to lay eyes on you again."

"Always with that mouth . . ."

Zel, suddenly getting the idea that maybe it was time for an intervention, asked the housekeeper to knock on the door. The little woman did as she was bid, and Rezo barked at her to enter.

"Miss Lina, I'm to show you to your room," she said with the appropriate curtsy.

Zel stood behind the door, and hoped that neither Lina nor Rezo guessed that he was hiding there.

Lina promptly followed the housekeeper out of the room, and waited as the housekeeper shut the door to the sitting room. There was no way that Lina wouldn't have seen Zelgadis as the door shut, but for some reason refused to acknowledge his presence there and followed the housekeeper up the stairs without a backward glance.

Suddenly, it occurred to Zel that she might have thought that he planned to have her meet Rezo there. That was something that would make her very angry indeed! He hoped that she didn't think that.

He moved away from the door and realized that he was clenching his teeth tightly. He didn't like the way Rezo talked to her. He didn't like that one bit.

Some twenty minutes later Zel was introducing Lina to his mother. Lina was dressed beautifully in a light cream gown of the palest ivory. She greeted his mother modestly – a manner he hardly believed that Lina could call on cue. How was she able to do that? His mother looked impressed and even hugged her when Zel informed her that their engagement had been finalized that day.

Rezo came barely in time to escort their mother to the dinner table. Zel watched his brother very carefully as they ate and noticed a few things. For one thing, Rezo never looked directly at Lina. He seemed to have no trouble meeting Zelgadis' eyes. For another thing, he didn't speak. Rezo was not a great talker, but he usually dropped his sarcastic comments at exactly the right moment, but not tonight – he was keeping it all to himself. However, the biggest telltale sign that all was not right with Rezo was the way he drank. Zel had hardly ever seen Rezo take a drink. He always used to say that it numbed the senses and made a man stupid, but the way Rezo was partaking was totally uncharacteristic. The man would be completely drunk with one more swallow.

Zel's mother talked about wedding plans and wedding dates. She talked about the social engagements they would have to have before the big day and talked ceaselessly about the engagement party she would hold in their honour as soon as possible.

"I'm afraid the engagement party will have to be very soon, mother," Zel said easily. "You see, I'm due back at my post in two months. We will have to have the wedding itself before that in case I get sent off to India. I'd like to take my wife along with me."

"India," Lina squealed – suddenly excited. "You would take me to India with you. I'd love to go there. I've heard so much of the culture, so much of the heritage, so much of everything. I would love to go there with you."

"And so you shall my dear," he said reaching across the table and kissing her gloved hand. Then he had the courage to look at Rezo with a look that could only read, "I dare you to try to stop me."

Rezo wasn't looking at Zel. He was looking at something else – perhaps the carpet. Had the man drunk himself into a stupor or was he simply concentrating very hard on something?

Author's Notes: Bet you didn't see that one coming, now did ya?