Читать книгу Candlelit Christmas Kisses: Captain Moorcroft's Christmas Bride / Governess Under the Mistletoe - Anne Herries, Anne Herries - Страница 13

‘SHE is worse than Major Barton,’ Robert grumbled when Henry brought water to shave him some days later. ‘I tell you, Nor, you have no idea what she’s put me through this past week. I have been forced to swallow the vilest stuff imaginable, made to wake up and eat gruel when I wanted to sleep—and refused decent food. If I don’t get out of this bed soon, I shall murder her.’

‘That’s better,’ Henry said, and grinned at him. ‘You are feeling stronger at last. Shall I tell her I can manage alone now? I know she can be a dragon at times. I have it on the highest authority.’

‘Who told you that? Miss Millie or Amy?’ Robert scowled at him. ‘Do you know that she has been bathing me with cool water—stripping me off and washing my body while I was in that fever. Damn it, I wasn’t wearing a stitch. What does that say for her modesty?’

‘Did she not cover your … er … private parts?’

‘Well, yes, she said so when I told her she was behaving in a most improper way for a spinster lady.’

‘So you came to your senses at an awkward moment, did you?’ Henry’s eyes sparkled with humour. ‘What did she answer you?’

‘She said that I need not fear for my modesty and implied that she was indifferent to my person, for a patient has no sex and they are all the same to her. Apparently she has nursed her father, her mother, her sisters—and one occasion one of the male servants.’

‘I trust you will not repeat that in company?’ Henry said. ‘What Selina may have said to you in confidence she would not wish known to others.’

‘Selina, is it?’ Robert glared at him. ‘Just what has been going on while I’ve been out of it?’

‘Nothing untoward,’ Henry said with serene indifference. ‘As for Selina—she is a perfect angel. I daresay you might have died if she had not been so devoted in her nursing.’

‘Nonsense! You would have pulled me through. You’ve done it in the past.’

‘You’ve never been quite as ill as you were that first night. I was truly worried until Selina took charge, but you soon rallied once she had cooled you down. Your fever came back three times, but between us we sat with you every moment of the day and night.’

‘Well, it was generous of her to give up so much time,’ Robert conceded grumpily. ‘I daresay she would have rather been preparing for Christmas.’

‘Yes, I imagine she might—especially since you started to get better and complained nonstop every time she gave you medicine.’

‘Well, it stops today,’ Robert said, a grim expression in his eyes. ‘I refuse to be treated like a naughty boy. Do you know what she said to me this morning?’

‘Pray enlighten me. I know you will …’ Henry turned away to hide his smile.

‘She said that I was a selfish man to be ill, and she was not going to let me spoil Christmas for her sisters by dying on her.’

‘Yes, I’ve heard her tell you that a few times,’ Henry said, and nearly choked as he tried to hide his amusement. ‘Sorry, I’ve got a tickle in my throat, I think.’

‘Well, don’t be ill,’ Robert warned. ‘She will make you pay for it, Nor. I’m telling you …’

‘You cannot mean it,’ Henry said. ‘At one time you were calling her your mama.’

‘I was off my head—and she scolded me just the way Mama did when I was ill as a child, after I went swimming in the river and caught a chill.’

‘I thought you didn’t catch chills?’

‘I don’t—haven’t for years.’ Robert glared at him. ‘You can take that grin off your face and help me get up. I’ll shave myself. It seems she’s got you all under her thumb.’

‘If you feel able to …’ Henry invited, and stood back.

Robert pushed the covers off, swung his legs over the edge and put his feet to the floor. When he stood up, he felt a most unpleasant sensation, as if the floor were rushing up to him, and sat down abruptly, cursing.

‘I’m as weak as a kitten.’

‘The doctor said you should stay in bed for two weeks.’

‘Damned if I will. It’s only just over two weeks to Christmas, and I’ve things to do, Nor.’

‘Miss Selina said that was rubbish. She thinks you should try sitting in a chair by the window today and see how you are tomorrow,’ Henry said gleefully.

‘Oh, she does, does she?’ Robert threw him a look calculated to kill at ten paces. ‘Well, as it happens, I don’t feel like getting up today. I shall stay in bed—and you may shave me this time.’

‘Whatever you say,’ Henry said, and hid his smile. ‘Shall I bring you something to read? Or would you prefer to work on your accounts?’

‘Trying to give me a headache? You can bring me a book—poetry or history or something of the kind. It’s ages since I bothered to read anything other than the news sheets.’

‘I’ll see what I can find,’ Henry promised. ‘And when I’ve shaved you, I’ll get you a plate of good beef and some pickles, if you fancy it.’

‘Thank you,’ Robert said, and laughed. ‘How do you put up with me, Nor?’

‘When you’re ill, with great difficulty,’ his friend said. ‘I’ll bring you some food, but you must eat it at once so I can take the tray away, or Selina will have me put on a court martial …’

‘He wanted to get up but decided to stay in bed for at least today,’ Henry said when he took the empty tray back to the kitchen and found Selina there, in the middle of stirring a rich cake mixture. ‘He has cleared his tray, as you see.’

‘How did you manage that?’ Selina looked up and smiled. ‘I am relieved to hear he is being sensible at last. When he banned me from his bedchamber, I thought he meant to get up to spite me.’

‘Oh, it was easy enough,’ Henry said, but refrained from telling her how Robert had grumbled about her. ‘I think he will begin to get stronger now, and I daresay he will be down soon enough.’

‘We’ve had several visitors asking after him,’ Selina said. ‘I was obliged to say I wasn’t sure how he went on and to tell them that you were his nurse, as you have been much of the time.’

‘Very sensible of you,’ Henry said. ‘I think the reason he was so annoyed was because he thought he might have compromised you. Should it become common knowledge, you might suffer some loss of reputation, Selina.’

‘It hardly matters for my sake. Since I shall be seeking a position as housekeeper, my ability as a nurse will not be held against me. I care only for my sisters’ sake. If Amy or Millie were to be harmed …’ She shook her head. ‘How can anyone outside the house ever know? No one calls in the evenings, and I have been downstairs during the day. Besides, Jobis cared for him much of the time once he began to recover. I made it clear to our visitors that the two households are separate.’

‘Yes, so Amy told me. The arrangement may be unconventional, but it is not unknown for two households to live separately in one large house. If the door was locked at our side of the library, no one would ever know how easy it is to go from one to the other.’

‘We must remember that when we have guests,’ Selina said. ‘Tomorrow is Millie’s birthday. She told me she hoped the earl would be well enough to dine with us but I wasn’t sure. I shall, of course, leave his nursing to you now that he is through the crisis, but we shall hope that you at least will come. Millie would be disappointed if you did not.’

‘I shall certainly be there, even if Robert cannot manage it,’ Henry assured her. ‘Jobis can take his meal up if I am otherwise occupied. I am not certain Robert will make it downstairs by then, but I think he has a gift for Millie—as do I.’

‘You really shouldn’t,’ Selina said, looking and feeling delighted. ‘How very kind. She does set great store by her birthday, though I’ve told her she ought not.’

‘Your sister is refreshingly honest,’ Henry said. ‘How much easier life would be if everyone were as open and natural as Millie.’

‘Well, yes, I suppose so,’ Selina said, and laughed. ‘We never have a dull day with her. She was subdued when Mama was ill, and she cried as much as any of us when she died—but she recovered quickly and bounced back to her normal self. She says that Mama told her not to be unhappy, because she would be with Papa and the babies she lost. Millie firmly believes that heaven is a beautiful place, where the sun shines and birds sing.’

‘It will be a shame when she loses that innocence.’

‘Yes. I remember I was much the same until I was sixteen.’

Henry’s gaze narrowed, intent on her face. ‘Did something happen when you were sixteen?’

‘I fell in love,’ Selina said, and smiled. ‘For one night I was gloriously happy, because I thought he loved me too—but the next day he passed me without seeing me. He went away and I never saw him again.’

‘And did that break your heart?’

Selina considered. ‘I felt hurt when he ignored me, but then decided he had not seen me. It was such a foolish incident, and yet for some time I believed my bold hero would come galloping back, sweep me up on his horse and ride off with me into the sunset. Then Mama took a turn for the worse, Papa started to gamble recklessly—perhaps because he could not bear to sit at home and see her fading—and I finally grew up.’

‘Yes, very understandable,’ Henry said, managing to look mildly interested instead of hanging on her every word, as he actually was. ‘Do you ever think of him now?’

‘The memory still makes me smile,’ Selina replied. ‘Should we ever meet again, we should be different people, of course—older and wiser. I am not suffering from a broken heart, sir. That would be nonsensical. No, no—I remember it as a young girl’s dream. My dreams today are very different.’

‘Would I intrude if I asked what they were?’

‘Not at all,’ Selina said with a smile. ‘Now I think of my sisters. I hope that Amy will make a good marriage. She would shine in society given the chance. And as for Millie—well, I hope to find a good home for her, and to be able to send her to a school where her thirst for knowledge would be answered. She had a governess until Papa died. Since then I’ve given her lessons in drawing, dancing and the pianoforte, but she needs no urging to learn.’

‘Your wishes for her are creditable,’ Henry said. ‘You know that there is no pianoforte here, of course? I realise you have a spinet, but you must wish for more musical instruments. The late earl had them all removed when his wife died.’

‘Yes, Trent told me something of the sort. I believe he actually had his wife’s pianoforte smashed to pieces when in the first flush of his grief.’

‘He could not bear anyone else to touch it. If Robert were to take up residence here, I think he would need to purchase an instrument.’

‘Yes, for it is pleasant to play to one’s guests in the evening, or have them play to you.’

‘I must speak to him. It would be good to have one in time for Christmas, and one could be delivered from Long Melford in two days. We brought several fine things with us from Italy and from France, but mostly art, statues and furniture. Robert had some idea of hiring a house while this was pulled down and rebuilt. Now I am not quite sure what decision he has made concerning his future.’