Ophelia glanced at him and had to look away in order to stop herself from laughing. The duke’s eyes were dancing.

“Oh, whatever it is you do to evil spirits,” Lady Knowe said, waving her hand.

“Exorcised. He thought they were possessed?” Lady Woolhastings said. She looked perturbed. “I, for one, would not welcome such an impudent suggestion from a cleric.”

“A metaphor, I assure you,” Lady Knowe said. “Help me, Duke. Defend your children. Leonidas, for example, isn’t nearly as naughty as the older boys were.”

“I hate to mention it, but dead chickens come to mind when one thinks of Leonidas,” her brother said cheerfully.

“That is true,” Lady Knowe acknowledged.

“Isn’t he merely six years of age? What did he do to the chickens?” Maddie gasped.

Apparently chicken carcasses were occasionally taken from the kitchen and made their way under the covers of dislikable guests staying at the castle, thanks to little Leonidas, who would tuck them carefully under the coverlets.

“It isn’t the smell that’s vile,” Lady Knowe said judiciously, “as much as the feathers. They paint them red, you see, so when someone puts their feet down in the bed, they encounter a disagreeably sticky, wet object. When they remove their feet, they appear to be covered with blood. Shrieking invariably ensues.”

Maddie winced.

“Naughty,” Lady Woolhastings stated.

“I believe you know the Bishop of Halmarken, Lady Woolhastings?” Lady Knowe asked.

The lady’s eyes narrowed. “These children behaved so disgracefully toward a man of God?” For the first time, she seemed genuinely affronted. “I should send them to bed without any supper at all.”

“They also played the dead-chicken trick on a scion of the Swedish royal family,” Hugo said. “I do not blame Leonidas; after all, he’s only six years old. My older sons planned the trick, even if Leo was dispatched to the royal bed with the infamous chicken.”

“I know what I’d do,” Maddie exclaimed. She was obviously enjoying herself immensely. “I’d make those boys sleep with a dead chicken at their feet for a whole night. Perhaps a week.”

Lady Knowe shook her head, her eyes twinkling. “Dearest, think of the nursemaids. They are the most valuable members of a household, as you shall soon learn. They won’t tolerate odor, let alone stray feathers, and one can hardly blame them.” She lowered her voice. “They have much to put up with, as it is. I am loath to admit it, but His Grace’s children have been very slow to learn to use the privy.”

“Well, that I will not put up with,” Maddie said, nodding her head as if she had the faintest idea how to train a child.