An Interview with Harry Bellingham,
the Earl of Glaston.
By K. R. Richards, author of the Lords of Avalon Series: Lord of the Abbey, Lords of Honor, Lords of Retribution (release date Feb. 2013) and Lords of Atonement (release date Fall.Winter 2013).

K.R.: I appreciate you taking time off from your current duties in Cornwall to speak to us today, Harry. Our readers have given me some questions to ask you. I’ll just get started. What moved you to become a part of the Avalon Society? How did you become the head of the Society?

Harry: It is my pleasure to join you. I’ve always had an interest in history, paranormal subjects, religious relics and ancient or lost relics. My interest came from reading when I was young. I began to seek additional information as I grew older. The Avalon Society began as a small group of friends during our school years. It was more of a social club. There were eleven original members including myself; Micah, Lyon, Owen, Luc – er, rather Lucien, Trevan, Jack, Gabriel, Newt, Marrek and Charlie. With Charlie’s passing our original founding members number only ten.

More of our school chums joined the Society over the years. After we left the University, we kept our group in operation and met in London. We began searching for items and investigating lost relics and paranormal situations. In over a decade, we actually have grown into more than just a private club. We are a center of learning, a business and we have our very own private museum. We are very proud of our accomplishments.

As the Society grew larger, the members voted me the Head of the Society and assigned the other ten original members duties regarding the actual running of the business.

K.R.: What is the most valuable treasure that you have ever found? Also, we would like to know if the Avalon Society members are always in danger when they are on a quest.

Harry: The most historically valuable find to date will be discussed in the upcoming Lords of Retribution. You will hear even more of it in Lords of Atonement.

Aside from the cruets, the Glastonbury sapphire and other items found during the Lord of the Abbey; there was a large historically valuable find some years ago. I, Lyon, Owen, Micah, Charlie and Jack went to Italy to excavate a city buried by a volcano. We were surprised to find some very nice artifacts during that dig. A few of them are quite valuable. They are kept in our private museum because of their historic and monetary value. There was no danger involved on that trip. We were commissioned to do the excavation.

Several years before that, the eleven original members traveled to Egypt and stayed there for three months. We discovered a tomb of someone we believe to have been very important. I must keep the identity of the person secret, for that excavation was very dangerous and we hid our finds. There may be certain persons out there still interested in what we found. The Egypt trip was the most monetary valuable find we made. It was an extremely dangerous trip. We did have to elude several groups of people who coveted our finds. Some of our quests are rather dangerous in some form or another.

We are quite used to being shot at and followed. One of the greatest lessons I have learned in my time with the Avalon Society is that when it comes to items regarded as great treasures, be it historical, religious or simply their monetary worth; there are some men and even a few women who will murder, cheat and steal to possess them. We seem to have run into our fair share of those types of people lately.

K.R.: Harry do you have any amusing anecdotes you would like to share about yourself or your colleagues?

Harry: What would your readers like to know about my colleagues,
K. R.? I truly don’t have any amusing anecdotes about myself.

K.R.: In Lord of the Abbey we heard you possessed the reputation of a rake before stepping into your position as the Earl of Glaston. Is this true?

Harry: I must correct you, K.R. That was my old reputation; I’m a married man now. I adore my lovely wife.  My old reputation was nothing compared to that of Jack, Newt, Lyon, Wyldhurst, or even Micah for that matter.

It is true what Lyon has said before. Women flocked to Micah; before he married his lovely bride, Libby, of course. It was his sad eyes, his dark, mysterious manner and the fact that he swore to never love another that had them chasing him through the streets of London.

K.R.: Chasing him through the streets of London, Harry? Truly?

Harry: Perhaps chase isn’t the right word. But if Micah set foot in a ballroom, he was surrounded by twenty to thirty ladies within minutes. This happened. They all wanted to relieve his loneliness and he used that to his advantage on many occasions. It was his sad eyes. The serious, melancholy look he gave them worked every time. Women pooled at his feet, hung on his every word. They would sigh longingly at everything he said. Lyon often tried to copy that look. It never worked for him.

K.R.: Harry, you realize I’m interviewing Micah next time, don’t you?

Harry: Oh. Well, Micah is reformed now, as is Lyon and Owen since their marriages. Their behavior is saintly; just as mine is.

It is truly Jack who earned the title of the Lusty Lords of Avalon for our Society. Women fall all over him. They follow him. They hide in his shrubbery outside his homes and once a scantily clad young matron hid in his stable and waylaid him as he came to take his morning ride. Women actually swoon when he pays them any notice whatsoever.

A female friend once remarked to Lyon that it was Jack’s grin and his smooth silver tongue that wins over every woman he meets. He has a way of telling the ladies exactly what they want to hear; even when he is in the process of jilting them. Their anger is generally delayed in Jack’s case. The euphoria has to wear off a bit.

Jack, Newt, Wyldhurst and Lachlan have a propensity for becoming entangled with married women, who fall head over heels in love with them. The women become possessive and oft’ times their husbands become involved when the particular lady’s behavior becomes unacceptable to society's standards. This makes things rather messy for the gentlemen; as in the case of the scantily clad Earl’s wife in Jack’s stable. That did cause quite a stir. My colleagues have come out unscathed thus far. We are hoping this luck continues. 

Over brandy and cigars on many a night in the past, at the Society House in London, we decided that it is Jack who is the largest rake. He is followed by Newt and then Luc. In recent years, Lachlan has spent more time in London and he has garnered quite a large following of females.

K.R.: Can you tell us any stories of Newt, Lachlan and Wyldhurst?

Harry: Wyldhurst loves the company of women. Their bedchamber or his, in an out of the way closet; it matters not to him. And the ladies love him. They actually gush over him.

He manages to remain friends with most of his paramours and the man has hordes of them. Most of us find that rather odd. For the rest of the members, once a liaison ends, it generally leaves the woman in question rather bitter.

Newt is a man of few words but that doesn’t seem to bother the ladies. They must be entranced by him, for he doesn’t have to say much at all to whisk them into a dark ante room at a ball or to gain admittance into their bedchamber. A crook of his finger or a suggestive glance is practically all it takes with Newt. We have watched him at work. We have never decided exactly what his secret is. It remains a mystery to us. 

Lachlan, who is still recovering from his serious injuries in London, poor fellow, has a way with the ladies. He is a brute of a man, but his charm and brogue serve him well amongst the ladies of the ton. He has a following amongst the ladies and oddly enough he prefers gardens, woodland walks, beaches and even stables for his trysts. I do not know why. We have found him quite a few times up to mischief in the shrubbery with a lady when we needed him to be doing something else; like keeping watch.

K.R.: Don't you have any stories about the Chynoweths, Trevelyans or Lord St. Erth?

Harry: Tristan has a reputation, as you well know, but he seems to have cooled his heels since he has become interested in my younger sister, Caroline. That is all I wish to say about that.  It is not one of my favorite subjects.

You have probably noticed, K.R., the Cornishmen are a good deal larger than I am, so I do not have much to say about them. Trevan
has been faithful to his childhood sweetheart for many years, but I will add that this never stopped the ladies from pursuing him while in London. Tremayne is quiet and even tempered, but don’t let that fool you. He has his own good luck with the ladies. Gabriel is in the betting books at all the clubs currently. They say his extreme good looks make him the most sought after bachelor of the upcoming season. He is not a rake, as such. He is quiet, kind and always a gentleman. Lyon and I have conversed many times and it is our belief that the greatest numbers of ladies are drawn to the quiet, unassuming gentlemen who also happen to be handsome in looks. Ladies who are determined to find a good husband will not chase after a blatant rake, such as, um, Lyon; but they will go after a quiet unassuming rake. This is the truth. Lyon and I have witnessed it countless times.

The Trevelyans are known in legend for their devilish good looks and rakish manner, and they certainly live up to that in reputation.  
Of course, you are aware that Marrek Penaluna, Lord St. Erth is with The Department and known to be quite a dangerous man. That in itself attracts many ladies, but I have found him to be nothing other than saintly in his behavior amongst them. He has a sword cane, did you know that?

K.R.: Yes I am aware of that.

Harry: Ah!  It has a very long blade and he is quite skilled with it. Just saying, I haven’t slandered him at all. The man is a saint.

K.R.: Thank you, Harry, for the interesting tidbits. I have noticed that although the members of the Avalon Society argue and tease one another that you seem to be a close-knit group. Why is that, do you think?

Harry: I would have to say it is because of our common love of history and our fascination with myths and legends, ancient relics and what-not. We are all family oriented. We are all of us scholars and open-minded. Most importantly, we have each at one time or another had a special part in building the Avalon Society into what it is now. We all take pride in our work and what we have created. We also have the opportunity to help many people along the way.

K.R.: Thank you so much for joining us today, Harry. I believe our time is up and I hear your wife, Lady Glaston, coming down the hall. Do you have any parting comments? I know you and your wife are expecting your first child.

Harry: I would just like to say that truly the greatest treasure I have discovered in my life is my wife, Rowena. She is my Angel, and I simply adore her. We are both very excited about the impending birth of our child.  

Rowena: There you are. That was so sweet, Harry. Hello, K.R. Good to see you. Are you finished Harry? Micah, Libby, Lyon and Sophia await us in the carriage. We must get back to Menadue at once. We are all needed right away. There is serious trouble there.

Harry: Coming, my love. Duty calls. I must go. Thank you, K.R. and the readers of the Lords of Avalon Series. We will be talking to you all very soon, in February, when Lords of Retribution is released.

K.R.: Aw, they are such a cute couple. I hope you enjoyed the interview with Harry Bellingham, the Earl of Glaston. Next month, K.R. will be interviewing Micah Wychcombe, Lord Wincanton, one of the heros of Lords of Honor. The End.