He shook his head, blew out the candle and lay back on the sagging mattress. The momentum slammed the back of her into his side.
“Excuse me!” she said, as she immediately scrambled for the edge of the bed again.
James knew he was taking up well more than his share of the bed, so he carefully turned on his side so he was facing her back. Surprisingly, he realized that despite the intimacy – or perhaps because of the comfort he felt with this woman – he was about to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and began to let the worries of the day wash over him when he sensed Irene inching away from him. Then she started falling. James reached out and caught her just in time.
He pulled her to him.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Not ‘doing.’ ‘Did.’ As in I just saved you from falling to the floor. If we are to share this bed, we will have to sleep this way. Now, I suggest we both go to sleep, for we’ll need to watch over Anna in a mere four hours.”
Then he kissed the back of her head.
And fell into a deep sleep.
*
Irene could not believe the position she was in. Literally and figuratively. She wasn’t just sleeping in a bed with a man. She was in his arms. And it wasn’t just any man. It was James. She could feel him pressed to her back from her shoulders all the way down to her feet. The feet were especially troublesome since they were skin to skin, with their legs entwined.
She could barely breathe from the contact, and it certainly didn’t help to have his strong arm wrapped about her. He was being most presumptuous. Though that didn’t explain what her arm was doing pressed against his arm. She reasoned that it could be there to prevent his hand – the hand that was perilously close to her breasts – from wandering. But since he was already sound asleep, she supposed there was little chance of that happening.
And it was just the slightest bit embarrassing that he could sleep while they were in that position. Then she chided herself for not being fair. He’d been awake most of the previous night while she’d slept for a few hours. It was a wonder he’d been able to rescue her from falling off the bed, but his swift reflexes had saved her.
Now if only that bulge beneath her bottom would go away.
*
Irene awoke five hours later to the realization that she was alone in the bed. It was quite dark outside and she could barely make out the furniture in the room. But James was gone.
The fiend had left without her.
She quickly donned slippers and her dressing gown, shivering as she did so. The dower house was certainly not warm.
She hurried out to the kitchen to find James at Anna’s side. The little girl was awake and they were talking.
“I know the spots itch, my love,” said James. “But please try not to scratch. Maude’s salve helps, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Anna’s voice was soft but fairly strong, a marked difference from the previous day.
“I had a dream, Papa. It was about Nimaamaa.”
“Your mother? Did it make you sad?”
“Yes, no…I don’t know. I was walking through a field and the sun was out. Then I saw Nimaamaa and my friend Kimi, who died when we were four. And I was walking to them and they were smiling. I wanted to play with them. But then Nimaamaa touched my cheek and kissed me and said I couldn’t stay. I had to go back. She said she loved me, but you loved me, too. And I should be with you now.”
Then Anna began to cry and James pulled her onto his lap. The tears became sobs. And a little girl who’d lost her mother mourned in her father’s arms. Irene felt horrible for intruding on such a private matter. She tried to walk away softly, but tripped over a stool.
James’s eyes found hers, even as Anna continued to cry. James held out his hand to Irene. She had no choice but to go to him. To go to both of them.
She quietly made her way across the kitchen, then placed her hand in his. She sat next to James and together they let Anna cry herself out. Her sobs were heart wrenching, but they finally subsided to silent tears.
James held Anna, rubbing her back, whispering words of comfort.
Irene didn’t know how long they remained like that, the three of them. She was aware of the shadows cast by the fireplace, the sound of water at a low boil on the stove. She rose to refresh the water in the pan, but was stopped by James.
“I’m not going far. I just want to refresh the lavender water.”
Anna turned her head on her father’s shoulder to look at Irene.
“Are you feeling better, Anna?” she asked.
“Yes,” she said. Then she reached out to Irene, who lifted her onto her lap.
The three of them remained like that, no one speaking a word. It was the most beautiful moment of Irene’s life. And she wondered if she would ever again experience love like that.
But Anna soon began to itch, so Irene laid her back in bed, then she and James applied more of Mrs. Stemple’s salve. After a few moments, she fell asleep again.
“She felt cooler, did she not?” asked James.
“I believe she did. Perhaps the fever has broken.”
They watched her sleep, listening to her soft breathing. “Did you hear about her dream?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think it meant?”
“I think she knows her mother loved her.”
“I hope Alawa is watching over her, making her heal. Helping her get on in this life.”
“I like to think she is,” said Irene, as she squeezed James’s hand.
They remained that way for the rest of their shift until they were relieved by Colin and Ava.
“How is she?” asked Ava, wearing a heavy dressing gown over her cotton nightrail.
“The fever seems to have broken,” said James. “She’s been cool to the touch this entire time, though the spots are bedeviling her. Mrs. Stemple’s salve works wonders, but must be reapplied when it begins to dry.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Colin, who studied his brother with narrowed eyes. “I say….is that my dressing gown?”
“I’m sure it does not signify,” said Ava.
“It does to me. That’s my dressing gown.”
“Hush,” Ava said as she kissed her husband.
“She does look better,” said Colin, as he studied Anna. “She’ll be in good hands as the two of you return to your bedchamber. She will likely sleep the entire time, so you should, as well. That is, by the way, an order, given by the fearsome Earl of Ridgeway, titular head of this family and owner of that dressing gown.”
“I do not know how your wife can stand you,” said James. “Ava, you are a saint.” But, knowing he was beaten, James kissed his sleeping daughter’s forehead, then led Irene back to their bedchamber.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next few days passed in much the same way as the first. James and Irene spent most of their time by Anna’s side, even as the girl began to make considerable progress. By the second day her breathing had improved to the point where she did not need the steam and Letty had asked for Anna to be returned to her bedchamber. But it was decided that it was better to keep Anna in the kitchen so everyone could keep an eye on her.
Jasper was even growing more tolerant of the rest of the family, though it was clear Anna and Letty were still his favorites.
On the morning of the seventh day, Maude brought in a fresh pot of salve as everyone sat around the table for breakfast. The spots which had first appeared were gone and the others were showing signs of drying up. But Anna’s discomfort remained, helped only by the salve.
“How did you learn to make this, Maude?” asked Irene, as she smoothed the creamy grey mixture on Anna’s few remaining spots.
“We had a good healer in our village who taught my mother, who then taught me. Since I was the oldest and had so many brothers and sisters, I was the one who looked after them when they were sick. One year we had four people come down with the chicken pox all at once. If we hadn’t had this
salve, I don’t know what we would’ve done, especially when I came down with it in the midst of it.” She laughed at the memory. “I can tell you I was none too pleased with my brother who gave it to us all.”
“But knowing you as well as I do, I’m sure you simply kissed him and nursed him back to health,” said Ava. “You are, dear Maude, quite predictable when it comes to those you love. I had a fairly miserable time of it. I was on a dig with my father in Egypt. He panicked when I became ill, afraid I’d contracted an exotic disease. He was quite relieved when it turned out to be naught but the chicken pox, though I was not quite as happy about it as he was. I feared I would forever walk about with spots on my face. But, fortunately, they went away soon enough.”
“Colin came home with them from school,” said Rose. “It was the beginning of the summer holiday and unseasonably hot, which made the itching dreadful. He gave them to James, Win and me. I don’t remember it well, because I was quite young, but I’m told I had them worst of all.”
“You did, my poor girl,” said Colin. “Even poor Grayson got them. His family lives in the castle on the hill,” he said for Irene’s sake. “He and James were the same year in school. He used to practically live here on holidays. James and I would go off on great adventures with Grayson, and Rose was always tagging along.” He laughed at the memory. “They didn’t get on well at all. I’m surprised they didn’t kill each other at one time or another. We only saw him briefly at Christmas this year. I hope he pays a longer visit soon. You won’t scare him off again, will you Rose?”
“I shall do my best not to,” said Rose quietly.
Irene noticed Ava studying Rose, but wasn’t sure why.
“Stemple, when did you have chicken pox?” asked Rose.
“I managed to escape until I was thirteen. They say it’s harder the older you get. I can attest to that. I had a miserable time not scratching. My mother had to wrap my hands in cloth to stop me. Fortunately, the very kind milkmaid down the lane helped me out.”
“I don’t like the sound of that!” said Maude as she playfully swatted her husband. Irene had a feeling the two were very much in love.
“You didn’t let me finish,” said Stemple, as he kissed his wife on the cheek. “What I was going to say is she tore a strip from a tree and I was able to use it to scratch myself.”
“You can tell me the real story later, Stemple,” said Colin with a grin. “What about you, Irene?”
All eyes turned to her. She smiled nervously. “Well, you see, I am not at all sure I had the chicken pox.”
“What?” said James. “But you…how could you have not had them?”
“I do not remember having them as a girl and I never did when I was older. I might have had them as a baby, but we were taught to never speak of illness. I didn’t ask if I did and no one ever told me.”
James was incredulous. “But that means you might not have. You might catch them from Anna. You should have told me!”
“To what end?”
“What do you mean, to what end? To protect yourself! The disease is highly contagious and you’ve been with Anna every minute. You’ve been bathing her. You’ve exposed yourself time and time again.”
“Do you really think I would refuse to help Anna from fear of becoming sick myself? She’s just a little girl and has had a terrible time of it. If I do get them, I can look after myself.”
For a moment, no one said anything. Just as the silence was becoming unbearable, James broke it with his bellow.
“What do you think you’re about, woman! And if you do get sick, you will not look after yourself. I will do that! And do a much better job of it.”
“Papa,” said Anna, who’d been sleeping until her father’s outburst. “Why are you shouting at Irene?”
“Your papa isn’t truly angry at me, poppet,” said Irene. “He is simply playing a game where the immediate goal seems to be imitating a braying ass.”
“I want to play!” said Anna.
“Perhaps when you are fully recovered.”
Letty then gingerly sat on the edge of the cot and the two girls began whispering to each other, eager to catch up on what had happened since before Anna’s nap.
James lowered his voice, but no one could mistake his intensity. “You put yourself in harm’s way. You should have told me.”
“But you needed another pair of hands, especially before we arrived at the dower house. I wanted to help her. I’ve grown quite fond of her.”
“And she has grown quite fond of you, though why anyone would like a bird-witted female who doesn’t know enough to protect herself, I will never know. You need to leave the kitchen right now to protect yourself. You should leave this house. The manor house is still unoccupied as we await new tenants. Go there now.”
“But I have already been exposed. If I am to come down with the disease nothing will prevent it.”
James turned to his brother. “Colin! Make her see sense. Be an earl. Order her away from the kitchen.”
Colin ruefully shook his head at his brother, but turned to Irene. “Miss Wallace, perhaps my bull-headed brother is correct. If you have had not the chicken pox, there is a chance that you have not yet been exposed. Perhaps you should absent yourself from the kitchen.”
“Thank you Colin,” said James with some sarcasm. “But I believe Letty would have been more fearsome.”
“Thank you for your concern,” said Irene. “But I am simply not leaving Anna.”
“I support Irene in her decision,” said Ava, as she went to stand by Irene. She was then joined by Rose and Maude.
James rolled his eyes. “I cannot believe this. What if she comes to harm?”
“None of us wants that, of course,” said Maude. “But that’s a woman’s lot in life, is it not? We bear your children at some risk to our lives, then love them and raise them and keep them safe. The last thing a woman does is ask why. It’s just part of being a mother.”
Stemple walked across the kitchen to stand by his wife.
“Good Lord,” said James. “You’ve even enlisted Stemple in your cause.”
“I am going to take Anna to Letty’s room to give her a change of scenery,” said Irene. “When I come back, I hope you are in a reasonable mood. As reasonable as you ever are, of course.”
“I shall carry Anna to Letty’s room,” said James, in a tone of voice that brooked no opposition.
“Do be a good chap and come to the library when you’re finished,” said Colin. “There is something Ava and I would like to discuss with you. And before you say you cannot leave your daughter, I am sure she will be in quite capable hands with Irene, Rose and Letty.”
“Now you’re issuing commands, Colin? What about when I needed you to?”
“I said ‘do be a good chap.’ It wasn’t a command as much as a…all right, it was a command. We shall see you soon.”
James wasn’t happy but he did as his brother told him.
*
A quarter of an hour later – and only then because Rose had kicked him out of the room – James came downstairs to find Colin and Ava waiting for him. They had chosen to occupy their time as they so often did when they were alone: Ava was on Colin’s lap and they were kissing and laughing softly.
James had grown accustomed to the sight in the past several weeks, always marveling how his brother had not only found a love match, but was almost impossibly happy because of it. Now he envied him.
He cleared his throat to get their attention.
Twice.
Finally, they looked up. Ava blushed and tried in vain to get off her husband’s lap. In the end she was successful only because he allowed her to do so.
“Thank you for coming,” said Colin.
“I had no choice.”
“True. Here’s another, shall we say, ‘suggestion.’ I hope you’ll apologize to Irene for your outburst. After all, she was only trying to help Anna.”
“Would you be so sanguine if Ava were to risk her health to
aid someone else?”
From the look on Colin’s face it was obvious he would not be. James had a feeling his brother was trying to figure out a way to avoid telling a bald-faced lie.
Perhaps sensing her husband’s internal struggle, Ava said, “I believe what Colin is trying to say is that Irene has a good heart.”
“And she isn’t hard on the eyes, either,” said Colin.
James and Ava turned equally disapproving looks on him.
Colin kissed his wife again. “I am only making an observation that has no doubt been noted by both of you. My point is that we were wondering about your intentions toward Miss Wallace.”
James stiffened. “Do you think they are not honorable?”
“If I thought that,” said Colin quietly, “I never would have allowed you to share a bedchamber with her, despite the best matchmaking efforts of the females of this household. But it has become evident, especially after the declarations of this morning that Irene cares very deeply for Anna and you. The latter is, of course, quite inexplicable. Is there an understanding between you?”
“There cannot be one. Even if there wasn’t this whole affair with her brother – which there is – and even if she had feelings for me – which is a rather large conjecture on your part – what do I have to offer her? A lifetime of poverty and hard work in America? She is a viscount’s daughter. How do you think she would like living in the wilderness, working her fingers raw with nary a servant to help her?”
“I am not a nobleman’s daughter,” said Ava. “And we have two of the hardest-working servants one could hope for, but I daresay I would have happily adapted to any life with Colin.”
“But I’m a much more pleasant companion than my brother,” said Colin.
“Hush!” said his wife. “You have a great deal to offer the woman you love, James. And you do not have to return to America. You would be more than welcome to stay here.”
“And depend on my brother’s charity? I do not mean to throw such a kind offer in your face, Ava. But I have no profession, no money, no prospects. I do not have the stomach for military work or the temperament for the clergy. And while I admire Colin’s work as an author, I know that, as of yet, it is not very high-paying. You do not need more mouths to feed.”
Always True to Her (Emerson Book 2) Page 15
