Knowing she would sound ridiculous, but accustomed to overriding protests, she gave the waiting footman his orders. “Have a team saddled to a wagon. I need a driver and whichever grooms are willing to go with me. Have someone ride ahead to Tobias Brown and ask where Mr. Madden went.”
“His grace. . .” The footman tried to object.
“My father and Rain aren’t here,” she said with the sternness she had learned to muster in emergencies—a lesson she’d learned the last time no one had listened to her. “Someone is in trouble, and a woman is needed. I’ll have Addy with me. Go, and hurry.” Rather than listen to more objections, she raced back up to her room. Addy would probably kill her.
But who else could she send if a woman was needed? Certainly not Aunt Tessie and her bad hip. Not her younger sisters. If she wasn’t willing to go out, then she really had no right to send anyone else. She either answered the plea or didn’t.
She could not ignore it. It simply wasn’t in her.
Her father was a physician and usually answered calls for aid, or he sent Rain, who was also educated as a physician. They had grooms and gardeners and footmen to deal with mechanical matters or field disasters. Rain acted as steward and had men under him to go out when he wasn’t available, but this was a baby. If the wretched men of the household wouldn’t marry, someone had to step up and do the work of a duchess.
It had never been Aurelia. Even Lydia had gone out upon occasion, during the day, to help the vicar visit the ill. Aurelia’s disability confined her to the safety of thick walls. Or her family confined her by not coming to her in the first place, she realized—for good reason, admittedly.
She doubted her decision to go out on her own every second that she pulled on warm clothes and Addy scolded. Her youngest sister offered to go with her, but Phoebe was far too naive to be exposed to whatever happened this night. Lydia was affianced to a gentleman who would one day be a powerful reformer with the duke’s aid. She couldn’t be risked.
Aurelia was the worthless one.
“Bridey should have married Rain,” she muttered as she and Addy ran out into the drizzle to the waiting cart. “She would know what to do. She would have been riding the hills to look for trouble before it happened.”
“Your cousin would eat your brother alive,” Addy grumbled. “Or your brother would strangle her. He needs a gentle lady, not a termagant.”
“A gentle lady who will ride in the middle of the night when a tenant needs them? Such a creature doesn’t exist,” Aurelia said in scorn. “That renders Rain as useless. We’ll have to place all our hopes on Teddy marrying early to someone worthwhile. I shall be an aging spinster by then. I might as well learn to be helpful before I take up knitting.”
Since her youngest brother was twelve and not likely to marry for another decade or more, that was a lot of cries for help not answered.
Aurelia didn’t hear the voice in her head anymore, just the despair echoing in her memory. The night creatures were quieter than they had been the last time she’d ventured out. Perhaps they stayed in their holes in the rain. No other anguished cries reached her. Even the tavern was reasonably quiet as they rode through the village. There was music and laughter, of course, and loud male voices, but no anguished cries to make her wince.
The groom who had ridden ahead galloped down to direct them. “Brown says as Mr. Madden was hunting the crofts. He’ll meet us at the ridge, but there’s half a dozen of them huts.”
Aurelia had ordered the exhausted mastiff to ride in the cart. The kennel keeper had fed and rubbed her warm and given her a blanket and complained the whole time about sending her out again. But Ajax could find Mr. Madden faster than Mr. Brown could. She offered the dog the glove she’d had one of the men fetch from wherever it was he stayed.
Well-trained, the dog sniffed, yipped, and stood up, eager to be on her way.
As soon as the cart reached Mr. Brown, she had the grooms let the dog down. Ajax took off in the direction of the cliffs where they’d found Rose.
“Looks like she’s aiming for Crockett’s place,” Brown said, tipping his hat to Aurelia. “It ain’t no place for a lady out there in the hills. You could stay with my wife,” he said stiffly. “She’d be pleased to have you.”
Aurelia doubted that. She didn’t really know Brown’s wife except to see her on an occasional visit to church, where she could hear her spiteful whispers.
She wanted to believe the voice in her head was Mr. Madden calling for her. Calling, as if he understood she might hear. The possibility that he didn’t scorn her but might actually find her useful forced her to stay focused. He hadn’t necessarily meant for her to come personally, but the message had said baby.
“I have a notion a woman is needed, Mr. Brown,” she said coolly. She’d heard the disdain he tried to disguise behind politeness. She knew the villagers perceived her as arrogant. She had no help for that. She could either go to town and listen to the private conversations of every person there, or keep her distance. For the sake of sanity, she chose the latter. “Let us go on.”
Mr. Brown and several of the grooms rode ahead since horses were faster than the cart over these rutted lanes. Addy complained bitterly. Aurelia had half a mind to leave her with Brown’s wife, except it would take them out of their way.
Why couldn’t she hear the baby or the woman who presumably needed her?
It was almost restful out here in the hills with the gentle rain pattering. The men accompanying her were silent. If anyone was awake in the crofts, they weren’t talking. She could almost fall asleep to the sway of the cart—except she was too tense worrying if she was making an utter fool of herself. Oh well, then even Mr. Madden would think her crazed instead of just mildly addled.
She could smell the peat fire before she saw the hut. They rode over the ridge to find a small stone building with light gleaming through a narrow window and a lantern hung to guide them down the nearly invisible path.
At their noisy approach, Mr. Madden ducked his head to pass through the doorway. He waited outside the door, fists bunched at his side, as if to restrain a volcano of rage. Despite his casual clothes, she’d recognize his wide shoulders, barrel chest, and aristocratic posture anywhere. Not too many gentlemen were built as he was.
Once the cart halted, he covered the distance in one long stride to lift her down. The sensation of his gloved hands around her waist jolted her with the force of lightning. She could barely hear him through her startling consciousness of his physicality.
“They’re still alive. I have no notion if it’s safe for them to be out in this mist or if the cart will kill them. Thank you for coming, but it was mad of us both.”
Alarmed by this many words rushing from the usually taciturn gentleman, Aurelia daringly squeezed his massive arm and hurried into the hut.
A fire warmed the small space. A crude bed dominated the room. A frail face surrounded by a cloud of dark hair rested against what appeared to be a saddle padded with a blanket. Eyes closed, the woman didn’t appear conscious. Addy hissed in dismay. The grooms had stayed outside with the horses, but Mr. Brown and Mr. Madden hovered nervously on the edges of the chamber, out of the lantern light.
Aurelia was not a physician. She had lived with two all her life though. They’d done their best to protect her, but those things they most wished to hide were the ones they transmitted clearest. Biting her lip, she approached the opposite side of the bed from her maid. The patient was dressed in a worn white nightshift, but the fabric seemed of decent quality and looked clean. If a baby had been involved. . . Deliveries were messy. She noticed a bucket in the corner and for the first time, recognized the odor of strong soap.
She shot Will a look. He merely looked tense, waiting for a command from her—as a woman who should know these things.
Was he responsible for the normalcy of the scene? If so, he’d gone far beyond the call of duty. She must do the same. Where was the baby?
Old linen covered the mattress,
the kind that her housekeeper would have turned to rags long before it reached this stage. Addy lifted the blanket over the woman’s still body. An infant wrapped in a rather expensive shawl suckled weakly at a bare breast.
Bruises covered the woman’s face and shoulders. Stifling her horror, Aurelia brushed the mane of hair out of the woman’s face. A recent gash on her brow had scabbed over. An older, deeper one on her shoulder had re-opened and left blood on her nightshift. But she still breathed.
Judging by the newborn, someone had beaten this woman within an inch of her life—while she carried a child!
Ice formed around Aurelia’s heart. Glancing at Addy, she could tell her maid was about to be ill. Balling her fingers against her own fury and nausea, she gestured for Addy to step back. “If anyone finds this woman’s husband, beat him into mash before you bring him to my father. It will save him the trouble,” she announced to the room at large, needing to release her anguish and anger before she cried in front of all.
Mr. Madden had distanced himself to a far corner where only shadows from the firelight crossed his face. But he emanated such tension that she knew. . . she did not doubt in the least. . . that if he’d been able to find the monster who had done this, he would have murdered him with his bare fists. A man like Mr. Madden did not let down his pride to howl as he must have done earlier. That he’d also set himself to the humbling woman’s task of presenting the new mother as decently as possible spoke much of his character, and for the first time in forever, she admired a man not of her family.
“We have no choice,” she said unhappily to the waiting men. “We must at least take the babe to where he can be fed. The mother needs warmth and rest, someone to pry broth into her, and her wounds tended and watched for infection. Can we find enough cover to put over her to take her down in the cart? I can wrap the babe in my cloak.” Hating to part mother from child, Aurelia lifted the naked babe and looked about for swaddling beyond the expensive shawl.
As if they’d only been waiting for a woman’s approval, the men surged into action. Mr. Brown called for the grooms. Will raised the unconscious woman from the old mattress, wrapping her in the discarded shawl and blanket as he did so. The others carried the mattress outside, while a groom gathered up what must have been Will’s saddle and horse blanket.
Clucking angrily, Addy tore up a man’s ragged shirt to wrap around the infant. “You should not have to see this,” the maid scolded. “You should have sent me.”
“I didn’t even want you to come with me,” Aurelia said. “It’s not what you’re paid to do, and you lack the authority to tell others what to do. I’m the useless one showered in riches who ought to have some purpose.”
“Your father, your brother, the damned vicar—any of them could have married so there’d be other women to do this,” Will said angrily, still holding the lifeless mother. “Any woman in the village could have helped here, if any had cared.”
“Your mother used to be the one to travel back to these places when she heard a woman needed help,” Aurelia said, understanding his anger. “Now, everyone must rely on my father and brother, who simply lack the time to do everything, as does the vicar. We all have limits.”
The babe was too silent as they swaddled him. Aurelia held him under her fur-lined cloak. It was damp outside, but she was still dry. If it did not rain harder, the babe should be warm.
The men shouted that the cart was ready, and Will effortlessly carried the patient outside, even though she appeared to be far larger than Aurelia.
“Do you think this is Rose’s mother?” she asked, following Will out and watching as he lifted the patient up to the cart. Addy settled her in with all the blankets the men could find.
“I fear so,” he said grimly. “Should we take them to Lady Pascoe?”
Unaccustomed to thinking of her cousin by her new name, Aurelia took a second to follow his thoughts. He’d said we. Did he mean for her to go too? Bridey was only a few hours away. . .
“In the morning,” she decided. “Let’s take them to the inn tonight, try to get some food into them, and see if they rally at all in the morning.”
A little piece of pride lodged in her heart when he nodded acquiescence, as if she had said something worth listening to. As if she weren’t an addlepated worthless piece of pretty glass.
“I’ll have one of girls at the inn help,” he said, crashing her back to reality. “If you don’t mind my borrowing the cart and one of your men, you can ride back on his horse.”
“Addy doesn’t ride,” Aurelia said in a tone of dryness to hide her hurt at being thus dismissed, again. “She can stay and help, if the inn has room for her.”
Of course she couldn’t stay at the inn. What had she been thinking?
Cursing, she climbed up in the wagon with the babe in her arms and waited for everyone else to do what must be done, as always.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Will wearily sipped from his coffee mug and paced the inn’s hall.
He had sent Ajax home with the duke’s daughter and her retinue last night. It had been inexcusable of him to call on the duke’s household to aid a woman they didn’t know, but at the time, it had seemed his only hope. And miraculously, Lady Aurelia had responded—whether to his howl or his message, he couldn’t say. He had understood that she wasn’t as addled as she seemed, but now, in the clear light of morning, he knew that both of them had been out of line.
He’d refrain from howling from here on.
He wasn’t certain how he’d become the one in charge of transporting the patient to his uncle’s medically-trained wife, either, but it was evident there was no one else to take charge. He couldn’t expect Lady Aurelia to come down out of her castle to do so.
He bred and trained dogs. He delivered puppies. He knew damn all about women and human babies. He waited as the maids prepared the patients for travel, wondering how he’d been roped into this. His rescues normally ended with the happy family taking the victim home and leaving him to travel to his next task.
Lady Aurelia’s maid, thank all that was holy, had remained at the inn. While Will paced, Mrs. Addison emerged from the sick room holding the wailing infant. “He’s starving, poor thing. He’s all but eaten the pap we’ve given him. You’ll need someone to ride with you to keep him fed since his mother can’t.”
“He’ll survive?” Will asked gruffly, hesitant to even look at the squalling bundle. His half-brothers had been producing infants at a prodigious rate lately, but he preferred avoiding the creatures.
“I don’t know how Mrs. Crockett did it, but she must have delivered him alone and kept him warm for as long as she was able.” Mrs. Addison bounced the crying bundle almost angrily. “Is anyone looking for her husband?”
“I could. It’s what I do.” Will tossed back the rest of his coffee. “But he’ll be long gone. Unless the duke orders him found, we’re better off trying to save the woman. I’ll see who I can find to go with me to Alder.”
He could practically feel the lady’s maid vibrate with some unspoken suggestion. Normally, he went his own way without aid of others, but the duke’s daughter had inexplicably come last night and brought this woman with her. He owed them respect and more. He lifted an eyebrow and waited.
“The child, Rose, should go with her. It might help bring Mrs. Crockett around if she knows Rose is safe.” Mrs. Addison looked worried.
“The girl is afraid of me,” Will reminded her. “She’s likely to flee again.”
“I hate to suggest this. . .” She frowned and sought words.
Impatiently, Will tapped his mug against the wall. “Just spit it out. I need to look for a woman willing to spend hours in this weather holding a screaming infant. If you know someone who can manage the child, I’ll listen.”
“Lady Aurelia,” the maid said hurriedly.
“Absolutely not,” Will responded. He removed his shoulders from the wall and started for the stairs. Maybe Butler would know of an old woman w
illing to go with him in return for coin.
“Wait! Listen,” the maid called after him.
And because he’d just decided the maid was deserving of respect, Will glowered and waited.
“It’s painful for my lady to go where there are too many people,” Mrs. Addison said hurriedly. “But she’s fine on her own. She’s good with Rose. The duke has kept my lady wrapped up like a porcelain figurine so that even she believes she’s no more than a pretty ornament. But she is so much more. . .”
“There we agree,” he said. “She’s a duke’s damned daughter. She doesn’t go visiting in farm carts, caring for bairns not her own. Or even her own, for all that matters.”
“The duke has a landau. It will keep Mrs. Crockett and the children covered better than a cart. It’s large enough for me and Lady Aurelia to travel inside. It will be more comfortable for the patients.”
A landau and four horses—for a woman no one knew. Will narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
The babe cried hungrily. The maid looked uneasy. “My lady will waste away if she never learns to set out on her own. The duke trusts you. She’ll be safe in our company. She simply needs to go into the world and discover it’s not all frightening.”
“She’s been to London,” he scoffed. “There is nothing more frightening than that place.”
“Twice. It was not successful. She refuses to return. The duke has threatened to return with a man of his choosing for her husband, if she will not choose one. That will make my lady miserable.” Her expression turned stubborn. “You said yourself Alder is only a few hours away, and Lady Pascoe is her cousin. They’ll be happy to visit.”
“Last time I was at Alder Abbey, the place was Bedlam. Pascoe has his twins there.” And Bridey was setting up a midwife’s school and stirring trouble with the locals, along with another of the Malcolm cousins. It had been all female madness and mayhem. But if the lady was also some sort of Malcolm. . .
No Perfect Magic Page 6