CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The journey to Wiltshire was tense. They’d set off from the inn at dawn, after Mrs. Simmons tried to extract an early morning departure fee from them. They’d decided to keep Anna in her night clothes, since they were less constricting than her gown. The spots had indeed spread all over her body and while she tried not to scratch, it was difficult for her. Which meant it was difficult for James and Irene to see her in such distress. She was still feverish, though James hoped it would break now that the spots were out.
James held her on the journey, hoping he would impart some comfort to her. He and Irene spoke little, hoping the silence would help Anna sleep.
It was almost dusk when the carriage finally began the journey up the Ridgeway drive, diverting to the dower house. Anna’s breathing was labored and she was burning up with fever. She now lay heavily upon her father.
Finally, they pulled up to the house. They were not yet at a standstill when Irene opened the door and jumped out, no doubt surprising his family, who’d come outside to greet them.
As James made his way out of the carriage carrying Anna, Irene approached his family with great urgency. “Anna has the chicken pox and a high fever. If any of you have not had the disease, I suggest you go to another part of the house. She’s having trouble breathing. I believe steam would help her breathing, along with cold towels to bring down the fever.”
After an instant of stunned silence, everyone moved at once.
“Bring her to the kitchen,” said Mrs. Stemple, the cook. She was a pretty, young woman with fair hair and blue eyes. “I’ll put pots of water to boil.”
“I’ll place a cot in the kitchen,” said Mr. Stemple, the butler, with scars down the right side of his face and body. He raced into the house after his wife.
“Rose, did Letty have chicken pox?” asked Colin, the Earl of Ridgeway, as he ran to his brother.
Rose answered, even as she pulled Letty close to her. The younger girl was in tears. “Yes,” said Rose. “We’ve all had them. Letty please be a dear and run up to your room to see if there might be an especially soft blanket that would comfort Anna.”
“But…” Letty started going to Anna, but was stopped by her sister.
“Please, Letty. Anna will need as much comfort as possible.”
Letty hesitated only a moment before running back into the house.
Colin reached for Anna, then stopped in shock when he reached her. The expression on his face chilled James, though his brother quickly schooled his features. “Those spots must be making her miserable,” he said, as he tried to take her from James.
James shook his head. “I can’t let go,” he said, his voice cracking. Not even to Colin, the person he trusted most in the world. Somehow, James felt that if something broke the bond between him and Anna, she would become more ill.
And die.
“Has she eaten?” asked Ava, the Countess of Ridgeway, with light brown hair and eyes.
James was beyond answering. He couldn’t remember the last time any of them had eaten.
“Not much,” said Irene. “I tried to give her some toast and tea this morning to no avail. And she ate very little last night.”
Ava nodded. “We’ll try again.”
“I’ll get cloths to bathe her in cold water,” said Rose.
Both the ladies rushed into the house.
James followed, carrying Anna. Home was a relief, but it did little to stem the tide of terror growing in his heart.
The dower house was small for a country home and given the family’s finances, it was sparsely furnished. There were eight bedchambers upstairs and the entry level had a sitting room, a dining room and a library, with the kitchen and senior servants’ quarters in the back. He and Colin had used the house as a refuge when they were growing up. They’d often retreated there when avoiding their father or after a particularly brutal beating. James was surprised how comforting the house was to him now in his hour of need.
Ava and Rose had done an excellent job making it feel like home. But James knew it was not the house which was welcoming, but its occupants. He didn’t have to face this crisis alone. He was with his family.
He slipped through the doors to the kitchen, with Irene right behind him. The room was already buzzing with activity. Maude had pots of water on the stove and was stoking the fire to bring them to a boil. Stemple was bringing in the cot from his wife’s former bedroom.
“Place it in the corner, if you please, Stemple,” said Ava as she came out of the pantry holding the tea tin.
Colin helped Stemple place the cot far enough away from the stove that there was no chance Anna would be burned, but close enough that the steam could reach her.
James lay Anna on the cot gently, then smoothed hair from her forehead. It was wet and clinging to it. He had to fight a wave of nausea to see his daughter so lifeless and still.
He became aware of Irene standing next to him. “She’s home, James,” she whispered. “She’s surrounded by love.”
*
Irene had never been so scared in her life. With each mile in the carriage, Anna had worsened. She was now wheezing with the effort to breathe. The little girl was so helpless and Irene prayed that she would not succumb to the fever.
“Here, Miss.” Mr. Stemple was holding a pillow and looking at her kindly.
“Thank you,” she said, as she gently placed it under Anna’s head. She looked up to see everyone watching her with some curiosity. The earl looked very much like James, though with shorter hair and more traditional clothing. Similarly, their sister Rose had the dark hair and eyes of her two brothers.
Rose helped the countess make tea, as Mrs. Stemple sliced bread. Irene had to marvel at how differently this house was run compared to her own. She could not picture either her grandmother or father pitching in to help the servants, regardless of the crisis. She was not certain if either of them could locate the kitchen.
Given James’s understandable pre-occupation with Anna, Irene could not depend on him to introduce her. “I am Irene Wallace,” she said to the room at large. “Lord James and my brother knew each other in America and I am helping with a matter pertaining to his land.”
She saw the earl and countess exchange a confused look.
Irene continued. “It may seem odd to you, given that my brother and Lord James seem to be at odds. But we were on our way to Portsmouth to look into the matter when Anna became ill.”
“You are most welcome here, of course,” said the earl. “Please forgive us for not greeting you properly.” He then introduced her to everyone. “Can you tell us what happened?”
Irene recounted Anna’s progression with the illness. She could tell that everyone understood the gravity of the situation.
Mrs. Stemple curtsied to Irene. “Poor Anna will want to scratch those spots something fierce when she awakens. There’s a salve my mother used to make when one of my sisters came down with chicken pox. I’d like to make some, if someone can please watch the pots to keep them boiling.”
“Thank you, Maude. It shall be done,” said Lord Ridgeway. “James, you look like hell. Perhaps you would like to refresh yourself as we tend to Anna.”
“I’m not leaving here, even for a moment,” said James. He looked wild, like a wounded animal.
“Perhaps you could hold her hand and speak to her,” said Irene, hoping to calm him.
James took Anna’s hand. “I don’t think she can hear me,” he whispered, his voice trembling.
“Try speaking to her in the Algonquin language.”
He nodded, then began to speak to Anna in her native tongue. He spoke haltingly at first, as if he hadn’t done so in a long time. But then the words came faster, flowed better. Though Irene did not speak a word of Anna’s language, she understood exactly what James was saying to his daughter. He was telling her he loved her.
Anna seemed to awaken for a brief moment. She squeezed his hand and said “Nohsh.” Then she was still once again,
though she seemed more at peace.
“What did she say?” asked Irene.
“Father,” said James, who had to gulp back a sob.
As did Irene herself.
The room was silent, save for the sound of boiling water.
“I have prepared some tea,” said the countess. “It is warm, not hot. But I believe it would be a good time to try to get some down her. When was the last time you ate, Miss Wallace?”
“I am not important.”
“You most certainly are,” said the countess. “I would like both you and James to eat.”
“I told you. I’m not leaving Anna’s side,” said James.
The countess was kind but firm. “And I would never ask you to. You can stay by her side. But I must insist that you and Miss Wallace eat something. You’ll be no good to Anna if you’re too weak to care for her.”
The Countess of Ridgeway had chosen her words well. For James accepted the plate that Mrs. Stemple had prepared. Then he turned his attention to Irene. “You must eat something, as well. You’ve been tiring yourself out caring for Anna. You look terrible.”
“James!” said the Earl of Ridgeway, with half a smile. “Pray forgive my brother, Miss Wallace. I believe he lost his manners in the wilds of America.”
Irene accepted her plate, but immediately set it aside. “It is unfair to blame America, my lord. Your brother probably didn’t have that many manners to begin with.”
That made Lord Ridgeway laugh aloud. “I daresay you’ll do, Miss Wallace.”
“Colin,” said his countess as she went to the doorway to where his youngest sister, Letty, was standing holding a blanket. Silent tears were streaming down her face.
“Excuse us,” Colin said to Irene. “Ava and I should speak to Letty. Rose, do let us know if we are needed.”
Then he left and Irene went back to the task of bathing Anna, all the while saying a silent prayer as she did so.
*
Colin hugged his eight-year-old sister, Letty, then led her and his wife to the sitting room. “Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he said, as he sat next to her on the settee.
“But what if….what if Anna dies?” Letty asked, then sobbed in earnest.
Colin pulled her to him as he looked at Ava. They’d not been married long, but she had come to be the anchor in his life.
“Letty,” said Ava, as she rubbed the girl’s back. “You love Anna very much, don’t you?”
Letty nodded, even as she continued crying softly. Colin handed her his handkerchief.
Ava continued. “I believe love is a very powerful emotion. It cannot solve all our problems. And sometimes the loss we feel is all the greater because of how much we loved.”
“You mean, like when your papa died?” Letty asked her.
Colin was surprised by the comment. He still thought of Letty as a little girl. But perhaps she had a deeper understanding of the world than he thought.
“Yes, poppet,” said Ava softly. “Like when Papa died. I could not save him, but I know that I made his life better while he was sick just by being there. He knew he was loved and I believe that was a comfort. I am certainly not saying that anything dire will happen to Anna. And I pray that it does not. But I know she will feel better knowing how much you love her. And when she wakes up, I’m afraid she’s going to want to scratch those dratted spots, so it will be up to you to distract her.”
Letty sat up. Colin’s first instinct was to keep her clutched against him. But he let her go and watched as she dried her eyes.
“How will I distract her?”
“You could tell her what you’ve been doing since she went to London. Perhaps you could read to her. She’s still too sick to speak much. But I daresay your brother James could use some good cheer, as well. Perhaps you could even sing to them tonight.”
Letty nodded slowly. “And Miss Wallace, too?”
“And Miss Wallace, too.”
Letty stood. “I will look through our music to see what would suit.”
“That is an excellent idea,” said Ava.
“Here’s your handkerchief, Colin,” said Letty, as she held out the cloth that had once been starched and ironed and was now rather waterlogged.
Colin didn’t want to insult his sister. But he also didn’t want to touch the thing. As he pondered the situation, Ava took it from Letty.
“Thank you, Letty. And I very much look forward to hearing you sing tonight,” she said.
Letty gave them a half smile, then left in search of her music.
“Thank you,” Colin said to his wife.
“For retrieving your handkerchief?”
“For that, too,” he said. “But mostly for what you said to her about love.”
“I said naught but the truth, but I am terribly worried about Anna and James. If anything happens to her…”
“I know,” said Colin as he pulled his wife to him and kissed her. He held on to her for a moment, thankful that she was there for him. “I must say I was surprised to meet Miss Wallace.”
“She has already been a tremendous help to Anna and, by extension, to James,” said Ava.
“I did not say otherwise. But it’s not often that one forms a partnership with the sister of one’s enemy.”
“Not to mention falls in love with.”
Colin pulled back to look at her. “Where do you get that idea?”
“Did you not see them together? They were all but finishing each other’s sentences. Miss Wallace is as worried about Anna as she would be about her own daughter.”
“James is not the marrying type.”
Ava pulled her husband back to her. “Neither were you.”
“I only became the marrying type after you cast a spell on me.”
“You mean after I landed you like a fish.”
“That would imply I am slimy and smell bad. No, I prefer my analogy to yours. You were the sorceress and I naught but a poor young man duped by your spell.”
“Now you are implying you’re a young man.”
She was rewarded with a light swat to the backside.
He continued. “I will concede that Miss Wallace has a good temperament and is well-favored….”
“I said nothing of her looks, my lord.”
“Necessitating that I should do so. She is amiable and attractive, but I cannot imagine James marrying her. Or anyone, at least for the nonce. You ladies are always seeing romance where none exists. Next you’ll imagine Rose to be in love, though there’s not a suitable marital candidate in three counties.”
Ava was conspicuously silent. And if Colin had seen her face, he’d wonder just why she smiled at the thought of Rosemary being in love.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Irene and Rosemary bathed Anna in cold water to cool her down, while her father paced. Letty cautiously approached the cot, carrying a blanket.
“Letty, thank you for bringing the blanket,” said Rosemary. “I know Anna will appreciate it. May I introduce you to Miss Wallace? She’s a friend of Anna and James. Miss Wallace, this is our sister Leticia, known as Letty.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady.”
“And for me, as well, Miss Wallace,” said Letty with a proper curtsy. “It looks like she’s sleeping.”
“She is right now,” said Rose. “But your blanket will be a nice surprise for her when she wakes up. Would you like to place it next to her?”
Letty hesitated for a moment, but then placed it next to Anna. Then she ran to James and hugged him. Jasper, the Emersons’ ill-tempered cat, hopped up on the cot, studying Anna.
“Jasper, no!” said Rose, as she tried to shoo him away. “He can be most temperamental,” she explained to Irene.
Jasper ignored Rose, then carefully made his way to the end of the cot, where he curled next to Anna’s feet and began purring.
“He does not look so very fearsome,” said Irene.
“Well, he likes Letty and Anna,” said Rose, “but doesn’t care for the rest of us
. However, it looks like he’s behaving, at least for now.”
“He loves Anna,” said Letty quietly, from James’s side. “We all do.”
Irene had to blink to keep tears from falling. She felt the warmth in this family. She hoped Anna would live so she could grow up in the bosom of it. It was a pity James wanted to return to America, for they would both miss out on a great deal.
“Miss Wallace,” said Rose. “I am sure you must be tired. If you would like to get some rest, I will be happy to continue bathing Anna.”
“Thank you, but I do not think I could.” She looked over to see that James was busy with Letty. “I am worried about your brother. He hardly slept at all last night.”
Rose’s eyes widened and she smiled. “Oh? How do you know this?”
Irene wanted to kick herself. “Oh dear,” she said, blushing.
Rose laughed. “I am so sorry, Miss Wallace, I could not resist. You were saying?”
Irene could not help liking Lady Rose. Indeed, James’s entire family was quite welcoming. “We had taken a room for Anna, but there was none for me. So James – Lord James – insisted that I get some rest while he cared for Anna. I was on one side of the bed and he was on the other. Anna was there the entire time, of course.”
“Of course,” said Rose.
“Of course, what?” asked Ava, as she approached them.
“Miss Wallace was just telling me of the night she spent with James,” said Rose.
“I miss all the good stories,” said Ava.
“But we didn’t spend the night!” said Irene, blushing furiously. “That is to say, we were in the same chamber but…”
James joined them again, with his arm around Letty’s shoulders. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” said Ava. “We were just teasing your Miss Wallace mercilessly.”
“Miss Wallace has already proven herself to be an excellent addition to the household,” said Colin, as he joined his bewildered brother. “Now, how are we going to divide our time caring for Anna? And before you say you don’t plan to move from her side, James, I must remind you that while your love is unending, you are still mortal. It would do her no good if you fell asleep while you are supposed to be tending to her. And you will fall asleep at some point, no matter how determined you are not to.”
Always True to Her (Emerson Book 2) Page 13