Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell anfh-4

by R. L. Mathewson

  Bridgewater, Massachusetts

  “So, what do you think?”

  “What do I think?” Elizabeth repeated numbly as she slowly turned around, taking in the large room covered in dust, cobwebs, the peeling wallpaper, dull floorboards, covered furniture and ruined rugs.

  “I know it’s not much,” Robert began, but she didn’t let him get far before she was throwing herself in his arms.

  “I love it!” she said, giggling excitedly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and covered his face in kisses.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, sounding pleased as he wrapped his arms around her and stopped her kissing assault by pressing a swift kiss against her lips.

  “I’m sure,” she said, grinning hugely as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “It’s going to take a lot of work.”

  “I know,” she said, sighing with pleasure as she looked around the large sitting room, already running ideas through her head.

  “We’re going to have to do most of the work ourselves,” he explained, giving her an apologetic look.

  “Can I be in charge?” she asked teasingly. She truly didn’t mind getting her hands dirty, especially if it meant that they had a home of their own, but also because she knew that he was embarrassed that he couldn’t afford a houseful of servants.

  “Yes, minx,” he said, pressing a quick kiss against her lips as he turned them around and headed through the open door that led to the dinning room that needed just as much work, if not more, as the sitting room.

  “I asked Higgings this morning if he could find us a live-in maid,” he announced, surprising her as he walked over to the windows that were covered in ratty old curtains that were definitely going to have to go.

  “Can we afford that?” she asked, nibbling on her bottom lip as guilt once again surfaced.

  Thanks to her, Robert was forced to support two extra people on a limited income. If her father had given her a dowry, things wouldn’t be so bad, but he hadn’t. They were left completely dependent on the money Robert had raised from selling all of his investments before they’d left London and the money he had left over after buying this house and fixing it.

  For a moment she thought about writing her father for help, but then she remembered the morning when they’d left. He’d pleaded with her not to leave, begged her, offered her anything and everything that she could ever want and when none of that had worked, he’d yelled at her. He told her that if she left that she was on her own. He wouldn’t help her.

  Robert’s parents had pretty much said the same thing as they’d tried to talk him out of leaving. He tried to explain things to them, but they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t seem to realize how unhappy Robert was living in England, something that she had understood since that night in the orangery. All they saw was their youngest son leaving everything behind and taking a woman with him that they believed would destroy his life.

  Everyone in their family was terrified that this marriage was going to ruin their lives and, no matter what they said or did, they couldn’t convince them otherwise. So Robert and Elizabeth had stopped trying and instead made the best of their goodbyes. She’d squeezed her father tightly, kissed her mother’s pale cheek, hugged the life out of Mary and Anthony and chased down her nephews for enough kisses to last a lifetime. She’d even had a chance to say to goodbye to Heather.

  Unfortunately.

  Just as they’d been preparing to leave, Heather arrived home in an extravagant coach, the first of many purchases that Heather had made with her newfound inheritance. When she’d stepped out of her coach, covered from head to toe in silk and jewels with James by her side, Elizabeth realized that her sister had made another major change in her life.

  She’d married James.

  Apparently the will had been more lenient for Heather. As long as she married a respectable man, the inheritance was hers. There was no request for a title, for Heather to remain chaste before the wedding, or a proper wedding. James apparently had discovered that the morning that he’d waited in her father’s office for her marriage to Robert to be annulled. Once he realized that he would only get the inheritance if he married Heather, he did everything he could to make that happen.

  Not that she suspected Heather had put up much of a fight. James was handsome and titled. They were married by special license and after a very short honeymoon, they decided to come home and announce their good news, which coincided with her and Robert’s goodbyes. Even though it had turned her stomach to see Heather enjoying the inheritance that should have done some good in this world, she was happy that Robert had a chance to say goodbye to his brother.

  Unfortunately, James hadn’t felt the same way. He’d walked right past Robert as though he hadn’t seen or heard him. He did stop to give her a brief hug and wish her luck, but then he was back by his wife’s side and that was it. Seeing the hurt expression on Robert’s face had nearly destroyed her. She tried to call James back, but Robert simply shook his head and helped her into the carriage that took them to the ship.

  “Yes, minx,” he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose as he turned to survey the rest of the room, “we can afford a live-in maid.”

  “And the baby?” she asked, voicing the fears that had taken root as soon as Robert had told her the wonderful news.

  “Will no doubt be spoiled,” he said with a smile as he carried her towards what appeared to be the kitchen door, but a loud knock from the front door had him pausing mid-step.

  With a frown, he carefully placed her on her feet, took her hand in his and led her towards the front entrance where a formidable looking woman in her fifties stood waiting, looking around the foyer with a look of determination that actually frightened her a little. She reminded Elizabeth of her old nanny, Mrs. Mathers, who had run the nursery like a general.

  “Can I help you?” Robert asked as they stepped into the small foyer.

  “Are you Mr. Bradford?” the woman asked as she looked them both over.

  “Yes, and you are?”

  “Mrs. Brown, your new maid,” she announced with a nod as she reached down and picked up the bag that Elizabeth hadn’t noticed until now. “I assume my room is off the kitchen?” she asked, already heading that way.

  “May I ask who sent you?” Robert asked as they moved to follow after the woman, who’d apparently decided that the job was hers.

  “My son-in-law, Mr. Higgings. The pay is less than I would have liked, but I suppose it will have to do,” she said, pausing to look at the tattered curtains in the dining room and with a shake of her head, she continued on to the kitchen. “Now, I don’t have any references, but you don’t really need them.”

  “We don’t?” Robert said dryly, sounding amused.

  Mrs. Brown simply shook her head as she paused just inside the kitchen so that she could survey the room. “No, you don’t. The only thing that you need to know is that I’m a hard worker, raised ten children, five of them my sister’s. I know how to cook, clean, run a household, and I’d wager my skills with children will come in handy soon enough. As long as you pay me my wages on time, respect my privacy, allow me to have every other Sunday and Wednesday off and remember to keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Bradford, I think we’ll get along just fine” she announced, testing a door to the right and when it opened she peered inside the room, nodded and walked inside, shutting the door behind her and leaving Elizabeth shaking with uncontrollable laughter.

  “Did…did she just imply what I think she just did?” Robert asked, looking torn between amusement and horror.

  Unable to answer, she was forced to reach out and grip the table or take the chance of falling flat on her bottom.

  “Why are you laughing, minx? You should be going in there and defending my honor!” he said with mock outrage as he swept her up into his arms and headed for the door.

  “Where are we going?” she asked when she could manage to talk again.

  “To find a bedroom so that y
ou can make up for your lack of loyalty to me,” he said, smiling that carefree smile that had started to appear since they’d left London.

  “Because I wouldn’t attack an old woman for you?” she asked, trying not to smile.

  “Yes,” he said without pause as he opened the first door that they came across and walked inside, kicking the door closed behind them as he set her on her feet. Biting back a smile, she moved away from him, loving the playful grin that tugged at his lips.

  “Now,” he said, stalking after her as he reached down and undid his pants, “let’s see if we can’t find a way for you make this betrayal up to me, shall we?”

  * * *

  “Out,” Mrs. Brown simply said, ignoring his glare as she continued to point towards the door.

  “But-”

  She stubbornly shook her head. “You were warned, Mr. Bradford,” she said while his minx stuck her tongue at him from across the room and away from Mrs. Brown’s stern gaze.

  “But, she-” he said, starting to point at his wife, but Mrs. Brown wasn’t listening.

  “I told you that you could stay in the house as long as you didn’t interfere with our work,” she said firmly, still pointing towards the door.

  “This is my house, woman,” he bit out, deciding that the woman simply needed to be reminded, but apparently she didn’t give a damn whose house it was, because she just kept pointing as she said, “Out.”

  So he decided to try a different tactic, one that he hadn’t used since they were children. “She started it!” he said accusingly as he pointed towards Elizabeth, who apparently remembered this little ploy because she let out a heartfelt sob, the same one that used to work on his parents and end with him sent to his room without pudding.

  Finally, the damn woman dropped her arm. She folded her hands in front of her as she looked up at him, her expression stern. “Mr. Bradford, it wasn’t Mrs. Bradford that I caught pinning you up against the wall and kissing you senseless when I returned from getting another bucket of soapy water,” she said, reminding him of his offense and making it damn difficult not to smile.

  “I was just trying to clean,” Elizabeth said softly, adding a pathetic sniffle at the end that had him biting back another smile and Mrs. Brown’s eyes narrowing on him.

  “Why are you taking her side?” Robert demanded, loving the mischievous smile that his minx was sending his way. “She’s the one that started it! She attacked me!” he said, slapping a hand against his chest and making sure to look properly wounded. “I was minding my own business, taking down the wallpaper like you’d asked when she grabbed me from behind and manhandled me!”

  With a small sigh, Mrs. Brown looked over her shoulder at his minx, who was smart enough to wipe that smile off her face and let her chin tremble as she made a show of picking up her brush from the bucket of soapy water and return to washing the floor, adding a little sniffle here and there as she worked.

  The woman was screwing him over and clearly enjoying herself, he realized with a grin. His minx was wonderful, he thought with a sigh as he took a step to go to her, but Mrs. Brown wasn’t having any of that.

  With that damn finger pointed back towards the door, she said, “Out.”

  Knowing that the woman probably wouldn’t leave the room again so that he could have a chance to kiss his minx, he decided that perhaps it was best to head out to the barn and set up his shop.

  “Fine, I’m going,” he said, heading for the door, pausing only long enough to send his minx a wink, “but you’ll pay for this later.”

  Chapter 33

  “Don’t turn around.”

  Elizabeth had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as she looked up from her sewing to share a knowing look with Mrs. Brown, who was sitting on the couch across from her, and looking quite amused with Robert’s latest attempt to sneak a kiss under Mrs. Brown’s nose.

  “Go away,” she whispered back, loving this playful side of her husband.

  There was a slight pause before Robert whispered back, “I have something for you.”

  She just bet he did.

  “I’m busy,” she whispered back, not bothering to turn around or look out the window since she already knew that Robert was kneeling beneath the window and out of sight.

  It was the same way that he used to torment her when they were children and she was stuck inside to complete her studies. He’d hide beneath the open window, taunting and teasing her until she finally had enough and made some excuse so that she could go outside and box the little beast’s ears. Not that she would ever admit this to him, but she used to secretly love it when he interrupted her lessons. It gave her something to look forward to everyday.

  “Meet me outside in five minutes, minx.”

  “No,” she said, having too much fun to give in so easily.

  Besides, the kisses were always so much better when she made him work for them. There was just something about teasing and tormenting her husband that brought a smile to her face. Every day Robert found a way to sneak inside the house to steal a kiss, doing his best to get in and out of the house without Mrs. Brown finding out.

  Not that Mrs. Brown actually cared what the two of them did. She found the whole thing amusing and seemed to enjoy tormenting Robert almost as much as she did. She also doubted that Robert would ever allow anyone to stop him from stealing a kiss from her and was doing everything he could to tease a smile out of her when most days, she hardly had the energy to do much more than curl up in bed and read.

  She was only five months into her pregnancy, but she felt like she’d been pregnant forever. Her appetite was almost as large as her husband’s, which truly frightened her. She also found herself sleeping throughout most of the day, having very little energy to be much help. If it hadn’t been for Mrs. Brown, the house would still look like it was decaying, the gardens would still be overgrown with weeds and she doubted that there would be anything to eat since Elizabeth usually fell asleep halfway through making biscuits.

  In truth, she was terrified. Between the first doctors misdiagnosing her, her appetite, and the intense exhaustion that she couldn’t shake, she didn’t know what to think or expect from this pregnancy. Every day she worried that she wasn’t giving the baby enough food, resting enough, or a hundred other things that could hurt the baby, and every day Robert did everything he could to make her smile.

  He knew her concerns, had comforted her enough times over the past month to know that she was terrified that she was going to lose their baby. He did everything that he could to comfort her and reassure her that everything would be okay and when he couldn’t, he held her in his arms as she cried her eyes out. He was the sweetest man that she’d ever met and she couldn’t imagine what she’d done to deserve someone like him.

  “Come on, minx, you know you want to,” he whispered teasingly.

  “I thought you were fixing the Marshall’s roof today?” she said, noting that it was barely two in the afternoon. It made her wonder if he’d snuck off from work to steal a kiss from her.

  “I finished a few hours early,” he answered, making her smile.

  Her husband was a very hard worker as everyone in town had learned over the past month. At first they’d refused to hire him, thinking that he was just the spoiled second son of an English lord looking for a handout, but once they saw some of his work being sold at the shops in town, they couldn’t seem to hire him fast enough. There were several carpenters in town, but none of them had the skill that Robert seemed to have. Not to mention that he worked faster and harder than most men, at least that’s all she ever heard when she went into town. She couldn’t help but wonder if his size or the insane amount of food that he ate everyday had something to do with it.

  “Well, I’m still working on the baby’s blanket so you’ll just have to find something else to do, Mr. Bradford,” she said in her haughtiest whisper that she could manage without laughing.

  Robert sighed heavily. “Then I guess I’ll just go fishing all by mys
elf.”

  “Fishing?” she repeated with interest, her plans to torment him forgotten. She’d never been fishing before. It was one of those things that she’d always wanted to try, but her father had absolutely forbid her from ever doing.

  “I was going to take you with me, but since you’re not interested.....,” he said, allowing his words to trail off as she imagined him shrugging even as he grinned that mischievous grin of his that used to irritate her, but she now loved.

  “Wait!” she hissed, trying to get to her feet as Mrs. Brown, who was smiling and shaking her head in wonder, reached over and carefully picked the unfinished baby quilt off her lap and set it aside. Once that was done, Mrs. Brown took her hands into hers and did her best to help Elizabeth get to her feet. Although she was only five months along in her pregnancy, her stomach was a bit larger than most women’s at this stage. It was just another thing that frightened her.

  Just as she was about to scoot to the edge of the chair with the hope that it would give her better leverage to stand up, she felt Robert’s large hands gently grip her hips to help her stand. Once she was on her feet, she didn’t bother looking back or thanking him since that would only give him a chance to change his mind and she most definitely did not want him doing that.

  With a grateful smile to Mrs. Brown, she turned to head out the front door when she remembered the blueberry tarts they’d made that morning. Deciding that she was going to need a light snack to keep up her energy, she abruptly turned and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Already packed them,” Robert said, grinning boyishly from the backdoor as she stepped inside the kitchen. He held out his hand for her to join him.

  Smiling, she went to him, only pausing twice along the way to grab some cheese, bread and a couple of meat pies along the way. As she stuffed the last meat pie in a sack, she prayed that her appetite returned to normal once she had the baby, because the thought of eating like this for the rest of her life terrified her.

  “This way, minx,” Robert said, taking the sack from her and tossing it over his shoulder with the one he held in his hand before he took her hand in his and led her towards the woods.