Magic Below Stairs by Caroline Stevermer Page A

neglected?” Frederick asked. “Because his lordship’s brother died there?”
    â€œIs that the gossip these days?” Mr. Kimball shook his head at such a notion. “No matter how great his sorrow, no true gentleman would let grief distract him from the welfare of his tenants and his property. No, Skeynes was left to itself for a time because it was cursed.”
    Frederick nearly fell off the coach. “Cursed!”
    â€œSteady on,” said Mr. Kimball. “The curse was broken. It took eleven wizards to remove the evil spell, and by the time they did, half the place was smashed to bits. You have no notion of the damage wizards can do when they set their minds to it.”
    Frederick couldn’t help asking, “Worse than brownies and hobgoblins?”
    â€œBrownies and hobgoblins? What have they to do with anything?” Mr. Kimball gave him a curious look but went on readily. “Far worse than that, I’m afraid. The curse was set upon the house by Sir Hilary Bedrick, one of the wickedest wizards who ever lived. He cast it the night he learned that the marquis had escaped the trap Sir Hilary had set for him. He meant to use Lord Schofield the same way he’d used his older brother, Edward. By great good fortune, young Thomas saw through his scheme and was able to flee the country.”
    â€œLord Schofield, you mean?” Frederick tried and failed utterly to imagine sturdy Lord Schofield as a young man.
    â€œThat’s right. He had been studying magic with Sir Hilary. Right along, Sir Hilary fooled everyone. Just as he had sucked magic from Edward Schofield until he killed him, he was sucking magic from young Thomas. He went on stealing all he could, even after Lord Schofield escaped.”
    â€œHow could he do that if Lord Schofield had run away from him?”
    â€œTo use their magic best, wizards must focus it. They put the magic into some object that looks quite ordinary. The focus can be anything, a ring or a walking stick or a lapel pin. Sir Hilary stole Thomas’s focus and used it to siphon off his magic.”
    â€œBut Sir Hilary was caught, wasn’t he?” Frederick asked. “Lord Schofield got his focus back?”
    â€œIn the end, aye.” Mr. Kimball smiled. “Lady Schofield helped. This was back in the days when he was courting her, of course. Talk of the town, they were. Fretted his lordship’s mother so, she came all the way from Paris. His mother, Lady Sylvia that is, took a liking to our young Lady Schofield and gave her blessing to the match. Game as a pebble, that young lady.”
    Frederick wanted Kimball to get back to the point. “What about the curse? How was it broken?”
    â€œI don’t mean to leave bits out of the story,” Mr. Kimball said, “but you ask too many questions. With Thomas safe out of the country, Lady Sylvia found wizards to break the curse, and lucky she did, for his lordship couldn’t tell there was a curse on the place if it bit him on the nose. That was part of the curse, you see. He couldn’t tell it was there. Even Lady Sylvia had difficulty sensing it, and she’s a prime wizard herself.”
    â€œWhat was the curse?” Frederick demanded.
    â€œSir Hilary hated all the Schofields, and he wanted them to die. So that’s what the curse was. Death to the Schofields. Lady Sylvia had married in, so she was not subject to the curse. But her surviving son was cursed to choke on Sir Hilary’s hate.”
    Frederick could not help asking, “Why did he hate them so?”
    â€œMagical ability runs in the Schofield family. He wanted their power for himself.” All disapproval, Mr. Kimball shook his head. “A wicked man, no loss to anyone now he’s dead.”
    Half afraid of the answer, Frederick made himself ask the question that leaped into his mind. “If Sir Hilary killed his brother, did Lord Schofield kill Sir