by Anne Herries
‘I knew you would be.’ Amanda smiled at her. ‘Oh, how welcome this tea is. We had lemonade at the picnic, but nothing compares with a dish of tea, does it?’
‘That’s what I thought,’ the housekeeper said, looking pleased as she turned to leave the room.
Amanda drank her tea and then walked over to the bed and placed a hand on the major’s brow. He felt a little hot and damp, and she dipped a clean linen cloth in fresh cool water, gently touching it to his forehead, under his chin and down his shoulders and what she could see of his chest above the covers. He moaned a little, but did not stir, and she felt certain that the doctor’s medicine would hold him asleep for a few hours.
A few moments later Cousin Sarah came in, bearing a small bottle of medicine, which the doctor had sent round. It had a white label with clear instructions of the dose to give in a tablespoon and Amanda decided to see if she could get a little into her patient. At first his lips remained firmly clamped, but by dint of holding his nose, she got him to open them for long enough to pour the mixture into his mouth. He swallowed and made a sound of protest, but still did not wake.
‘Oh, well done, Amanda. Is there anything more you need, my love?’ asked Cousin Sarah, preparing to leave.
‘I think a jug of lemon barley if you have the makings of it in the house?’
‘Yes, of course, for I drink it myself all the time. Mrs Miller shall bring it up for you later, my love.’
She went away and for a while, Amanda sat and watched her patient. Mrs Miller brought the jug and two glasses, for she said she thought Miss Amanda might like some herself. Having been thanked, she went away again. Amanda wandered over to the window and stood looking out. She was watching a thrush having a tussle with a worm when a sound alerted her. Turning, she saw that Major Brockley was staring at her.
‘You are awake, sir,’ she said and went to him with a smile. ‘What may I do for you?’
‘Miss Hamilton, what are you doing here?’ he asked, seeming puzzled.
‘I am here to nurse you, at least to sit with you until the footman arrives. If there is anything private you require, my cousin’s man will come.’
‘Thank you, I should be grateful for it later, but if I might trouble you for a sip of water?’
‘Water or some of this delicious lemon barley?’
‘Oh, the latter if you have it,’ he said. ‘I am unaccountably thirsty.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Amanda filled the glass to about half-full and took it to him. He tried, but was unable to sit up, so she put an arm about his shoulders, lifting him. He gulped thirstily and looked as if he would have liked more, but she thought it unwise to drink too much too soon and told him so.
‘Are you always such a strict nurse?’
‘Oh, always,’ she said and laughed softly as he relaxed against the pillows. A fine film of sweat had broken out on his face and she could see that he was in a deal of pain. ‘I fear I cannot offer you more laudanum for another two hours, sir.’
‘That filthy stuff?’ He shook his head. ‘No, I shall do. I know the harm it can do if freely indulged in. I think that footman may be needed now, if you please.’
Amanda inclined her head and went out of the room, but hardly had she reached the top than she heard voices in the hall and then Phipps came to the bottom of the stairs followed by Jenks, one of the most obliging of her father’s footmen.
‘I am glad you have come,’ she told him. ‘The major is just awake and needing assistance. You have a free hand, but I should be grateful if you will ask me before administering any medicine.’
‘Yes, Miss Hamilton,’ he said. ‘Mr Phipps has told me all of it, and you may rely on me.’
She thanked him and went down to join Phipps. He smiled at her, holding out his hands. Amanda took them and looked into his face, searching for she knew not what; all she saw was warmth and friendship.
‘Major Brockley is awake and was thirsty. He says he does not want the laudanum, but he is in pain—though if he did wish for it, he could not have it for at least two hours.’
‘If I know him, he will go through without it,’ Phipps said. ‘This is not the first time he has been shot and he is accustomed to the pain of such wounds.’
‘Yes, for I could not but notice old scars,’ Amanda agreed. ‘I am glad you brought Jenks. Your friend will do well with him. I shall hardly be needed if he goes on without fever.’
‘Would you wish me to take you home now that Jenks is here?’
‘Shall we see how he goes on in the morning? If there is no fever, then I may as well go, but if he should become feverish it will be as well if we are both to hand. Nursing a sick man takes several persons, you know, and we cannot leave it to my cousin or her housekeeper.’
‘No, that would be very wrong. Your cousin offered me a bed, but I have decided to stay at the village inn. I shall take my turn in caring for Brock, but for all of us to descend on your cousin would be too shocking.’
‘My cousin would be offended if you did, dearest Phipps,’ Amanda told him. ‘I do believe that she is enjoying this, you know. I dare say since she was widowed she has very little male company.’
‘Well, if you think so,’ he said doubtfully. ‘Now, are you sure you do not wish me to take you home?’
‘Let us see what the morning brings. I am going to walk in the garden a little—and you may go up and speak with Brock, but do not let him drink too much all at once.’
Chapter Eleven
They did not have to wait for morning for their answer. Brock became steadily more fretful through a long evening, and by the time the long-case clock in the hall had struck the hour of eleven he was burning up with a fever. Amanda had advised a dose of the fever mixture earlier, but discovering from Jenks that Brock had set his lips and refused it, she administered a dose in her own decided manner, while Phipps and Jenks looked on in silence.
‘You are a jade,’ Brock muttered, but since he was hardly in his right mind, she did not regard what she knew to be an affectionate form of insult as being meant unkindly, but turned to Jenks. ‘You must rest for a few hours, if you please. I know well how difficult the next few hours or days may be and we shall all need our rest.’
‘Yes, Miss Hamilton. Shall I return at three?’
‘Four will be time enough. I have been resting since you arrived and he had not caused me any bother before that. I think it will not be the case now.’
Brock had settled a little, but it was obvious that he was still in the grip of fever, for he threw himself about and tried to pull off the covers, his legs, now bare, protruding out of the side. Amanda removed the top quilt, leaving one thin blanket and the sheet.
‘You should get some rest, too,’ she advised Phipps, but he remained seated. ‘I think I can manage him—and you must take your turn later.’
‘Yes, but I do not wish to leave you just yet, Amanda.’
‘Very well.’ She smiled at him as she rinsed her cloth in cool fresh water and bathed the top half of her patient’s body. ‘If you wish to do the same for the lower half of him, I will turn my back and contemplate the moon.’
‘And what would you do if I were not here?’
‘Cover his private parts and bathe him myself.’
‘Well, I shall save your blushes. Go and contemplate the moon, Amanda.’
She gave a mischievous laugh and walked to the window, looking out at the garden as the moon turned everything to silver. It was such a lovely night, a night for lovers, and for a moment she wished that she and Phipps were alone in the gardens. She was lost in her dreams when she felt a touch at her shoulder, and, as she turned, found herself drawn into Phipps’s arms and soundly kissed. Responding with all the love that was in her, she gave herself up to his embrace for some minutes and then pulled away, for fear that she should be carried away and say something she ought not.
‘Now you know what a shameless woman you have engaged yourself to,’ she said, her cheeks burning. ‘It is quite impr
oper of me to allow you to kiss me when your friend lies ill and my cousin trusts us to behave with circumspection under her roof.’
Phipps gave a rueful laugh. ‘I am the shameless one, for I was overcome by my desire to hold you and kiss you. It was very wrong of me—will you forgive me?’
‘Indeed, I must,’ she teased. ‘How could I not? To draw back now would be most improper and lose me all your respect, after I abandoned myself to your embrace so willingly.’
He laughed, but shook his head at her. ‘You are a minx, Amanda. I had not suspected it and now, as you so rightly say, we are both caught and it would cause a scandal if either of us were to draw back.’
He was teasing, as she had been, and they laughed together, feeling better, as if the intimate moment had somehow cleared the tense atmosphere. But then a fretful cry from the bed had Amanda’s attention and she returned to her patient and began to stroke his forehead.
‘Yes, I know,’ she said soothingly. ‘It is very bad of us to laugh and be happy when you are feeling so ill. I shall tell Phipps to go away, for he cannot be trusted and you must be quiet.’ She glanced at Phipps, saw his brows rise and nodded. ‘Yes, do go and rest if you can. I think it better that we spend time with him separately, for I promised Mama that I would do nothing that she would think wrong...and I am not sure that I could resist if you were to kiss me so charmingly again.’
Phipps smiled, touched her head as she bent over Brock, then walked from the room. She heard the door close softly behind him and almost wished that she had not sent him away, for in the moment of their embrace it had seemed to Amanda that a bridge had been crossed and they were closer than they had ever been. Yet this was not a time for making love and she knew her cousin would be shocked if it came out that she had spent the night in the same bedroom as her fiancé, even though they were nursing a sick patient.
Had Phipps remained they would have had little time for talking or for kissing, for Brock became feverish quickly, thrashing and throwing his arms and legs out of the bed. Amanda gave him a wash all over in cold water, having first slid a towel over his middle before peeling back the sheets. She bathed all his limbs and it seemed to ease him for a while, but within an hour the fever started to mount. She administered another dose of Dr May’s fever mixture, but it seemed to do little good and she was on the verge of going to wake Jenks when he entered the room at precisely three o’clock.
‘I woke and thought I would come, miss,’ he said, looking down at the major’s flushed skin. ‘He looks worse, miss. Has he had the doctor’s mixture?’
‘Half an hour ago. I was wondering if we should send for the doctor, though I do not know what he could do other than what we have been doing all the time.’
‘I shall fetch him if you wish, miss—but I think the fever is almost always worse before the dawn. If he does not cool down after I’ve bathed him again, and seems worse, I shall take it upon myself to call the doctor. Your cousin’s man told me to wake him if necessary and I shall do so. You should go to bed, miss, if I may make so bold.’
‘Of course, I thank you for you advice and will go,’ she said. ‘If you should need me, knock on my door. I shall wake.’
He promised to do so.
* * *
Amanda had fallen asleep on top of her bed without bothering to undress and had slept until the crowing of a cock somewhere and the sun pouring into her room brought her to her senses. She yawned, stretched, got up and poured water into a bowl to wash. Mama had thoughtfully sent her a change of gown and she was glad of clean linen and a dress that did not look as if it had been lived in a week and was stained with blood. It had been new and would have to be thrown away, but she did not regret it, for what was a silk dress when a man had risked his life for hers?
After she had made herself presentable, she went along the corridor to find that Phipps was sitting beside the bed, applying a cold cloth to Brock’s brow. He smiled at her.
‘You look as if you slept, Amanda. I sent Jenks to have his breakfast. Thank goodness, Brock is better this morning—still not clear of the fever, I think, but through the crisis.’
Amanda checked and discovered that their patient was indeed cooler. She thanked God for it and offered to relieve Phipps, but he said he was perfectly comfortable and told her to have her own breakfast.
Going downstairs to the parlour, she discovered that the servants were just preparing it and was offered tea, coffee or chocolate and whatever she wished to eat. Rolls and butter with a preserve of strawberry jam and a pot of tea was brought within a very short time. Amanda then took a turn about the garden, before going upstairs perfectly refreshed.
Phipps relinquished his place to her, for he had messages to send, but said he would return shortly. Amanda sat with Brock and gave him one last dose of the fever mixture; they would need more if the fever recurred, and she was about to pour more water into a bowl when she heard a moaning sound from the bed and turned to see that Brock was watching her.
‘You are an amazing woman, Miss Hamilton,’ Brock said, lifting his head from the pillow. ‘I feel as weak as a kitten and should like something to restore me. I take it I have been in a fever?’
‘Most of the night you were very hot and thrashing about,’ she replied with a smile. ‘I was on the verge of recalling the doctor, but Jenks advised me to wait. I do not know what he did, but when I returned this morning you were much better.’
‘My arm hurts like hell, my mouth feels like ashes and I have a throbbing head,’ Brock said, ‘but I dare say I shall live—and I believe I owe it that I am not worse to you, Miss Hamilton. Phipps is a luckier man than he knows.’
‘I thank you for the compliment,’ she said and laughed in a rallying way. ‘I know you do not want to be fussed, sir—but shall I send for the doctor? Though in truth he will only give you more of that wretched stuff you hate so much.’
‘No, I shall not call him out, though I dare say he will come to maul me again and change the dressings. I am not a good patient, Miss Hamilton, but I do thank you for all you have done.’ He looked about him. ‘Whose house am I in?’
‘My mother’s cousin’s house, sir. She is a widow and I think she has quite enjoyed having so many people under her roof.’
‘I must not impose on her,’ Brock said with a frown. ‘Is there an inn that would take me in until I am ready to travel?’
‘Yes, indeed, there is an inn of sorts, but I assure you that my cousin would take umbrage if you were to leave too soon. Now please be sensible, sir. Your own servants have been sent for. They will surely arrive before the end of the day and then you will be comfortable. If the doctor says you may be moved, my parents would be pleased to give you a bed for as long as you need it.’
‘I should then have disrupted two households...’
‘Indeed, a little disruption is nothing compared with the life of my father’s daughter. I assure you he will think so and it will not surprise me if he arrives before the morning is much advanced to see how we go on.’
‘Phipps saved your life, not me,’ he said. ‘I could not get a clear shot for I might have hit you by accident. Phipps had the advantage of the silent assassin...as we have been used to call his knife.’
‘Yes, I know that it was he that disposed of that evil man, but had you not been there he might have arrived too late. Please allow us to be grateful. I understand that you were of some assistance to Miss Langton also, for which we are all grateful.’
‘It was my fault...’ Brock shook his head impatiently. ‘I pushed him into a desperate act...but...’ He lay back against his pillows with a sigh. ‘I cannot fight you, Miss Hamilton. I am too weak.’
‘I dare say you lost a deal of blood,’ she said, and then, hearing a familiar voice, ‘If I am not mistaken that is Dr May come to visit you. I shall leave you for a while, because Jenks is with him and will assist him.’
She left the room, pausing to tell the doctor that his patient had recovered his senses, but was out of so
rts and fretful.
‘I shall soon have him more comfortable. I quite expected to be called out last night and am delighted that you have pulled him round between you.’
Phipps had returned to the house when she went into the parlour and told her that he’d seen a carriage approaching and thought it might be her father come to see how she did. He was proved right within a few minutes and Amanda soon had the happiness of being wrapped in his loving embrace.
‘My dearest child,’ he said emotionally. ‘I might have lost you to that madman. Your mama has told me all and I shall be eternally grateful to Phipps and indeed to Major Brockley. How does he go on?’
‘He had a bad night, Papa, but he is a strong man and seems much better this morning. I think the fever has waned, though of course it may return.’
‘Well, well, we must hope not,’ her father said and turned to greet Phipps and then Cousin Sarah, who had come to greet him.
By the time he had been pressed to take a glass of Madeira, the doctor had come downstairs and was brought in to give his expert opinion.
‘I am happy to say that he is well on the mend,’ Dr May said and looked approvingly at Amanda. ‘I do not generally like to see a young woman in the sickroom, but she has played her part very well. Between them all they have brought their patient through, and unless I am mistaken the danger is now over.’
‘I am glad to hear it, sir. Do you think it necessary for my daughter to remain here?’
‘I think your footman very capable. I believe the major’s own people have been sent for and must arrive some time today—which leaves me able to say that Miss Hamilton may consider her job done.’
Amanda would have protested, but since the doctor and her father were united there was nothing she could say, but went upstairs to take her leave of the major. He greeted her with an ease of manner that made her feel she had always known him and feel grateful that she had been of use to him.
‘I shall stay here another night on the doctor’s advice, and then my servants will take me home in easy stages. I thank you for your prompt and efficient action when I was shot, Miss Hamilton. Phipps tells me it was you who took charge and stopped the bleeding as best you could before conveying me here.’
