He nodded and bowed, making an effort to hide his confusion as he walked away. Emelia talked as though she had no idea how unusual it was for a lady to show such direct interest in the medical profession. At the door Montgomery glanced back and caught her looking at him with a thoughtful expression before he slipped inside.
Chapter 10
It was two days before Hannah had fully regained her strength, and though the other guests had been able to return home that very evening, Emelia could only imagine that they were struggling just as much to recuperate after the effects of the medicinal tea. She was horrified. She'd only received one note of remonstrance from Lady Michelle Parker, but the silence of the other guests was nearly as damning.
"Although I don't have a desire to drive further home the humiliation you must certainly be enduring," the letter had read with icy sophistication, "I do think it behooves me to step into the role that your mother would certainly take were she still alive under the circumstances, and implore you on every occasion to find a way to slow down in the arranging of such events and make certain of your details so that repeat disasters like this do not occur. I cannot, of course, hold your current lack of knowledge against you, and I'm certain there was no malice in it, but going forward I would appreciate a bit more care on your part in the planning of such events. The afternoon was only saved by the thoughtfulness and gentility of the good Dr. Shaw in his tender treatment of our ailment. Please tell him he has my eternal thankfulness at your next meeting."
"I will not," Emelia said after she read the letter the second time, this time aloud to Hannah. "She can do her own preening; she doesn't need my assistance."
"Does she not?" Hannah sniffed and began pinning her luscious brown curls up high atop her head. She was dressed in a riding habit for her weekly ride with Emelia into the neighboring town. It was a good bit of exercise, but light enough that it wouldn't risk disrupting her still fragile health. "I think she can use all the help we can give her. Montgomery hardly looked at her the entire tea party."
"You say, 'the entire tea party' as if it lasted any length of time at all. I assure you, he did have to look at her a bit when she first fell ill, and after that there was hardly time for him to look at anyone." Emelia knew this was her chance, and she felt the note Brody had sent over that morning tucked in the wrist of her gown. It seemed enormous, as though Hannah must be able to see it glowing like a candle through the grey fabric, but Emelia knew that was nonsense. She would have no way of knowing, and even if she did, she would not imagine the contents. "I think he spent the most time speaking with you, actually." She put her hands to her own hair. It was already pinned at the base of her neck to allow for her riding hat, but she needed to look nonchalant; busy, so Hannah wouldn’t suspect anything.
"He would have to, being seated by me and all." Hannah fumbled with the rag curls around her forehead. Emelia had never understood why a girl born with perfect ringlets would feel the need to curl her bangs, but it was all the fashion now to have undisturbed perfection around one's face, and though Emelia had never much cared about fashion, Hannah was attuned to it always. "And we only exchanged a few words before I was forced to flee."
"What did you talk about?"
"I'm not sure I remember," Hannah said airily. She ran her fingers gently through a few of the curls, softening them. "I think I asked after his visit, and he said that he'd found his mother well. I think he'd only just arrived a few days ago, the day of your garden party, perhaps."
"And you said?"
"Why are you so interested?" Hannah leapt up and took her bonnet from the rack, tying the wide blue bow smartly under her chin and then pulling on her dark red riding gloves. "Do you quiz all your guests with such intensity about their conversations?"
"I just wanted to make sure you had a good time." There was a moment's pause and then Emelia let out a short laugh. "Before you didn't, of course."
"Yes," Hannah said, peering in the mirror and pinching her cheeks for the finishing touch, "I think you can hardly imagine the party was a 'good time' for anyone, except perhaps Montgomery. Morose as the fellow is, he does have a knack for medicine, doesn't he?"
Emelia watched Hannah skip out of the room and bit her lip. Her sister would be onto her plot sooner rather than later if she wasn't more careful. She slipped the note out of her sleeve and opened it, reading again the short phrase that had secretly coordinated the timing of today's activity.
The covered bridge by noon. I know you always ride that way. Brody.
It was a clever ruse, not only because it followed normal patterns and would raise no suspicions in either Montgomery or Hannah's mind, but because it also required no event from Emelia, and therefore no potential for disaster. She'd always had a good attitude about her failings, but it was harder to shake this most recent public fiasco and she wasn't sure why.
She took her straw hat from the peg and pinned it onto her hair. It sat back a bit against her low chignon. She wished for a moment that she'd taken the time to curl her bangs as Hannah had and pull them down to frame her face; all she had were a few long strands that came loose out of necessity, not style.
"Who are you primping for?" she teased herself, tying the hat ribbon loosely so it hung down near her neckline. "Remember, you've already got Brody ten years out." She winked at herself, trying to keep the tone light; trying to hold on to that wispy happiness that seemed so dissatisfied as of late.
The horses were already saddled and waiting when she and Hannah went into the courtyard. They climbed aboard with the help of a mounting block and took off down the road towards the overlook they both loved. It was a beautiful ride that looped along the moor to a high place—not the most direct route into town, but certainly the loveliest.
"I really think we should go back to the sea this year," Hannah said as they rode along, legs looped over the horns of their saddles, backs straight. "I do so miss the fresh air and the sound of the gulls."
"You hated the gulls," Emelia pointed out with a teasing smile. "Remember when one swooped down and stole your hot cross bun right out of your hand? It terrified you."
"I thought it was going for my ribbons," Hannah answered with sparkling eyes. "And it was your fault, after all. Father said we weren't supposed to throw bread at them, and you kept on doing it anyway."
"They looked hungry." Emelia laughed, feeling a tiny bit of her discomfort ease in the warmth of the day and the company of her sister. Both girls knew that she'd kept up feeding the gulls because it brought them near, because Hannah insisted that it was more important they follow the rules.
At the overlook, Emelia looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was nearly overhead. She nudged her horse on. "We'd best hurry," she said lightly.
"Why?" Hannah slowed. "You always like to sit here and dangle your legs over the side. I'm not saying I want you to do that, exactly—one of these days you're going to fall to your death, Emmy—but I don't understand what the rush is. We've nothing to be back for this evening. No engagements in town, either."
"No rush." Emelia bit her lip. She'd almost given up the game again. This was really Brody's wheel house, not hers. "I just want to make sure this lovely weather persists. You know, there was talk of rain today."
"I didn't hear such talk." But Hannah urged her horse on anyway. Emelia had accidentally stumbled on exactly the most motivating thing to say. Hannah wouldn't risk getting caught in a rainstorm, which she feared both for the danger of a chill and the danger of a soaked gown.
As they neared the covered bridge, Emelia saw two figures riding up from the right, across an open field. Right on time. She wondered from whence they'd come. Brody must have gone far off his normal riding path to make them meet at the bridge, otherwise they would have missed each other completely on the way to town.
"Who is that?" Hannah asked. And then, a moment later, "Emmy, it's the Shaws. Imagine meeting them here."
"We are in the same county," Emelia said quickly, desperate to
cover any suspicions Hannah might have. "The likelihood is that we'll run into them sooner or later."
"Don't be a pill." Hannah cast a quick glance her way and then raised a hand to wave. "I wonder if they're headed to town too? Maybe they'd fancy a ride with us."
This was working out much better than Emelia had imagined. It seemed that, when it came to Montgomery, Hannah was more willing than one might expect. She had come up with the idea of riding together even before Brody had had the chance to present it, and she seemed eager enough to see the newcomers.
At the bridge, the men drew their horses up and waited for the ladies to make their way down the hill. When they arrived, Brody spoke first, sweeping off his hat and bowing from atop his horse in that gallant way he had.
"Tell me," he said, "what privileged two gentlemen such as ourselves to cross paths with two ladies of your caliber today?"
"We're riding to town," Hannah said cheerfully. She smiled at Montgomery. "Dr. Shaw."
"You look better," he said, examining her with what Emelia could see was a mixture of interest and concern. "Although a bit pale too. I hope you aren't exerting yourself too much."
"Part of the paleness is by design," Hannah teased. "It is, after all, the mark of a lady to care for one's complexion."
Montgomery looked uncomfortable. "I wouldn’t know."
"No," Brody interjected, "us gentlemen have such little knowledge of such affairs. If you ladies are riding to town, perhaps we could accompany you. I remembered while out on our ride that I need a special tool from the bookbindery, and today is as good a day as any to fetch it."
"We're going to the bookstore too," Hannah said. "Although I just want to look for the new poetry manuscript from William Blake. Then we have to go over to the milliners and look at the new ribbon."
"Of course," Brody said with mock sobriety. "One couldn't go to town and miss out on that opportunity. Perhaps we can accompany you there as well and offer our assistance."
"In the choosing of ribbons?" Montgomery raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure that we'll have much to say in that regard."
"Come now, Brody's been helping us choose ribbons since we were girls," Emelia said airily, finally finding her voice now that it seemed the whole thing was coming off as planned. "Let us go off with it now."
They urged their horses on down the road, and after a few paces, when the street narrowed, Brody fell back alongside Emelia and left Montgomery and Hannah riding ahead.
"Slow it a bit," he said under his breath when she tried to keep up. "You've got to give them space to talk."
It seemed like they were talking, indeed. Emelia couldn't hear exactly what was said, partly because the horse's hooves and distance were disorienting, and partly because Brody decided to launch into a long and tedious explanation of the local flora and fauna to cover any possibility of eavesdropping. Emelia cast a glance in his direction and rolled her eyes. He paused.
"That's not ladylike," he said, again under his breath. "You're setting a bad example for your sister."
"Aren't you afraid you're being a bit obvious?" she answered back. "They'll surely suspect that all this was a ruse."
But, in fact, that seemed to not be the case. Montgomery and Hannah kept talking all the way to the town, and when they pulled up in front of the bookstore he helped her off her horse and tied up the girls’ mounts alongside his own. There wasn't even a hint of confusion. He seemed to take in stride that Emelia and Brody had just happened upon one another; that Brody had happened to fall back during the ride; that Emelia had happened to be interested in the local plants and animals.
She couldn't believe how well Brody's ridiculous plan was working. It was baffling. Almost as baffling as the feeling of annoyance that was simultaneously unfurling in her chest—she wasn't altogether pleased with the way this was turning out, and she wasn't sure why.
Chapter 11
Montgomery opened the door to the dusty bookshop and held it for the ladies and Brody to walk through.
"I'm going to the back to look for the tool," Brody tossed over his shoulder. Then, as he passed Emelia, "Would you help me?"
Emelia looked up with surprise, her hand resting on one of the many volumes stacked to be shelved near the front. She looked different today, Montgomery thought. Softer, perhaps. She hadn't met his eyes when he rode up to the two sisters on the road, but he understood as much. Their last meeting had been at the height of one of Emelia Wells' most horrendous hosting disasters, and he guessed she was still embarrassed.
She was hiding, almost, behind her sister, and when Brody called her name she followed him quickly into the back shelves of the bookstore. Hannah watched her go and then turned a dazzling smile in Montgomery's direction.
"Did you find your Blake?" he asked, stepping over to where she stood.
She frowned and looked back at the books, her hands tracing the spines. "No," she mused. "I'm worried he's too forward-thinking for this little bookshop."
"Romanticism is becoming more and more popular in the cities," Montgomery said, pulling out a copy of Wordsworth and flipping through the pages. "I shouldn't think it is even considered modern anymore."
"Well." Hannah turned her attention to another book. After a moment's pause she looked up at him with a questioning eyebrow. "I'm sorry, did you need anything?"
Montgomery stepped back and shrugged. "No. I'll go find the bookkeeper and see if we can't track down your Blake."
He walked to the back of the store. It was in a tall, narrow building facing the street, and it was deeper than it was wide. Looking back to the front, Montgomery could see that Hannah had taken her seat by the window with the copy of Wordsworth he'd pulled out and was thumbing quickly through the pages.
In the back, there were six rows of tall, narrow shelves, with all the hidden away books that the public was not necessarily seeking on a daily basis. It was here, rounding one of the shelves a little too quickly, that he nearly ran into Emelia. She was three rungs up a ladder, reaching for something, and when she saw him she gave a little cry.
He put a hand up quickly to her back, steadying her, and then let go as soon as she seemed stabilised again. She looked down and widened her eyes with a bit of self-degradation.
"I really oughtn't to be allowed on ladders," she said. Then, looking behind him with a question in her eyes, she added, "Where's Hannah?"
"Reading." He peered above her. "Which book were you reaching for?"
She cleared her throat and bit her lip. "Promise you won't tease?"
"I'm not the teasing type," he said seriously, wanting very much to smile.
She pointed at a rather thin book that claimed to be a complete chronology of beetles. Montgomery reached out and pushed at the base of the ladder, propelling Emelia so she was just within reach of the book so she could pluck it down with her own fingers. She took it in hand and climbed down carefully. When she was on the ground again she risked a glance up at him and he managed to keep his composure serious.
"So, beetles are what capture a young lady's fancy these days?" he asked.
"I was just curious," she said, flipping open the book and scanning the pages aimlessly.
"No, by all means," he went on, mocking a bit now, "you've found this bookkeeper's main flaw. If only he would agree to put books like this in his front window instead of all that romantic nonsense. Then he might actually sell books. I hear that the townspeople have been clamoring for A Complete Guide to Coleoptera."
She said nothing in response, and he realised with a jolt of amusement that she had tuned him out completely while she was reading. Suddenly sensing the silence, she looked up at him.
"Pardon me?"
He smiled then, ever so slightly. "What have you found thus far?"
A Lady's Perfect Match: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 8
