Mistress Agnes

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  the workshop.'

  With another kiss, she got off him and put her skirts back where they belonged. Then they sat on the same bench together, Dennis in the middle and the others flanking him. Dennis still felt very comfortable, but a bit tired after the fright of the afternoon. He could feel someone closing the buttons of his trousers, and his shirt was smoothed over his shoulders. Strong arms guided him to a nice snug position on a broad chest, and on his other side his hair was stroked gently. Harley didn't hate him, and he was going to live happily ever after with these loving new friends.

  Dick's stomach rumbled, they never got that lunch in their haste to get away, but Dennis never heard.

  Maria was glad to have Dick back, they were late and she had been worried for him. It was only when Dick told the others what had happened today that she realized he had had the most fearful and exciting day of his life. Imagine Dick fighting, and Dennis nearly being taken by the army.

  That night in bed Dick told her about the escapade in the carriage, and Maria couldn't fault him, she could imagine them being eager to love when they had escaped great danger, and she had more or less given permission to do it, she'd had her share of Dennis after all. They kissed and snuggled, and Dick was very eager to make love with her as well, and told her even more about what had happened that day.

  'I'm so proud of you, Dick, you protected those you felt responsible for, and you did not lose control, you merely held the man until he could be bound.

  Are you sure your hand is all right, though? That sounds like quite a blow, doesn't it hurt very much?'

  'It does hurt a lot, Maria, and you could see for yourself that it was all black and blue. But isn't that normal when you've taken such a hit?'

  'I suppose so, but still I worry a little that something might be broken.'

  For the pain did not seem to get better, but worse, and Dick was sparing his left hand without being aware of it himself. He would not thank her for interfering with his life, but still she was going to give Dennis a hint that all might not be well with Dick, so he could keep an eye on his friend.

  But of course Dennis was still asleep by the time she had to leave for work, it would have to wait until that evening. Dick's hand was still black and blue, and a bit swollen, and Maria didn't want him to use it that day.

  'Dick, tell Guy you're unable to work today. He'll understand, truly! Look at

  your hand, it's all swollen and discoloured, I do think it's broken. Will you see a doctor, please?'

  He did not tell her he would, and she dared not become too insistent, she was not his mother, nor his mistress, she was just very concerned. Instead of nagging him she decided to show him how much she loved him, and she held his other hand and nuzzled and kissed him all the way to the outcrop. It was the right thing to do, for instead of very uncomfortable he now looked intensely happy, and before she knew it she was lifted on his shoulder and taken to the outcrop itself.

  'We have plenty of time, Maria, let's have some fun first.'

  And they loved each other as tenderly as ever, but Maria could not call it

  'fun'. Dick was obviously sparing his hand, and he had to be in pain, there was something in his eyes that shouldn't be there. But he was very clear about not wanting her interference and he had been patronized way too often in his life. He was an adult and she was going to respect him.

  So despite her misgivings, she let him go back to the manor without trying to order him to do something about his hand. She'd go home after lunch and work on her own projects from there, she'd talk to Dennis then, Dick would listen to him. And if he didn't, she could ask Mrs Beauchamp to order him, something Maria could do, but wouldn't. She could not take Dick's dignity away from him.

  'Dear Dick, my love, please be careful. I can see you are in pain, please don't go to work as if nothing is wrong. I love you, and I don't want you to hurt.'

  He embraced her, and she kissed him, feeling proud of him. Well, she should tell him that, too, he wasn't used to being a hero.

  'I'm so very proud of you, my love. Wait until I tell my parents what you did, they'll be proud, too. And of course I'll be silent as the grave about the lieutenant recognizing Dennis.'

  It was hard to let him go, but she had to. She waved at him until the path he was on made a turn and she could no longer see him. Then she went towards her parents' house for a morning of hemming and stitching.

  Her mother did not receive her with the usual 'good morning', but rather asked incredulously, 'Is it true?'

  Surprised, and still a bit worried over Dick, Maria asked absently, 'Is what true, mother?'

  'The baker's help said your man single-handedly subdued three brigands yesterday, deserters from the army camp, who had robbed all those farms.

  His sister is seeing a man from a village up there, she came home last night all excited and told him Dick Parsons was a hero. Of course I had to tell him I didn't know any details.'

  Mother seemed rather disappointed over that. But she'd soon know more than anyone in the village, and that would make up for it really nicely.

  'He did not get all three of them, Mrs Beauchamp and a local huntsman each shot one, but Dick did take one out all by himself, and he told me an army lieutenant sent to retrieve the deserters said it was incredible he should have done so: a civilian, even one as strong as Dick, was no match for a trained soldier. And he did it barehanded.

  Did they really call him a hero?'

  'They did. Is he all right?'

  It was sweet of her mother to ask, and Maria did not hide her worry.

  'I don't think he is, mother, his hand was hit pretty hard and I'm afraid something may be broken. It's obvious he hurts, but I don't want to nag him to go to the doctor. We both took care of ourselves very well before we got married.'

  'I suppose that is because you got married at a later age. But Maria, men do need a woman to care for them, they can be so reckless with their health. I suppose Dick thinks he can stand a little pain, being a hero and all, but it's not just the pain: what if it heals wrong? Maybe you'd better go back there and see that he gets medical attention. Though I expect plenty of callers today, to find out what happened, and it will be a real boost to Dick's reputation when you tell them he was praised by an army lieutenant.'

  That was true, and if they wanted a chance to buy a little cottage it was so important Dick's reputation improved. People would want a hero to live in their village, it would give them status and make them feel safe. But did Maria want to move out of the manor now? Dick had told her of Mrs Beauchamp's offer, that Maria could have the workshop if Charles moved back to London. Maria had visited that lovely space by now, she had taken Mrs Beauchamp's advice and asked Charles how much it would set her back for him to paint a few of her own creations. His paintings and other works were beautiful, and the space was just perfect. He had also mentioned a price for the drawings she needed that was very affordable, and seeing the quality of his work she hoped he wouldn't move out too soon, not before she finished her collection.

  All right, and she had to admit it: folks gossiped a lot about the sexual

  escapades that they thought were going on at the manor, and no doubt Maria would now be included in the gossip. But people did not know that the things going on there were so much fun! Maria had liked making love to Dick ánd Dennis very much, and she hoped to do that again, and try some other things besides. In a village she'd have to be the perfect housewife, and experimenting would be out of the question. Besides having to keep her curtains spotless and her kitchen floor scrubbed. Maybe sticking around at the manor wasn't such a bad idea, it was a nice place, with good people, who let others be.

  'You are right, mother. I guess I'll stick around a little longer, everyone at the manor likes Dick, they'll look out for him.'

  And everyone did, when Dick reached out for a dish with clotted cream John noticed his discoloured hand and said, 'That looks pretty awful, Dick, you should ask Guy to have the doctor over to chec
k it out.'

  Cook added his voice to John's, 'That must hurt more than a little, Dick, I'll not have you work when you're hurt like that. I'll do the dishes and the pitchers. You go see Guy about a doctor.'

  But Dick did not go up to Guy's office, he was in terrible pain but he did not want to sit around doing nothing all by himself. Everybody was working and he wanted to work, too. But not in the stables, or in the kitchen, where Cook and John would see him, so he went through the house to empty the privies, which he could do with one hand, and when that was done he cleared the only fireplace that was used outside the kitchen, under the large vat in which water was heated for use in the scullery and to do the laundry. When the hearth was clean, he filled the vat and stoked a new fire, stoking fires always made him happy, and this time was no exception.

  While the water heated up for the laundry, Dick was planning to haul a few loads of hay, but by now his hand was so painful that he decided to postpone that job, it was in the stables anyway and if John saw him he'd be angry at Dick. So he sat in the old haystack for half an hour until the pain in his hand was bearable once more. The water would soon be hot enough, so he went to the scullery to sort the laundry before he washed it. A hot bath would be just what his hand needed, and the clothes would get clean at the same time, such a beautiful solution!

  But to Dick's horror, it didn't work that way. Doing the laundry turned out to be a gruesomely hard task, he had never noticed it was such hard labour, usually it felt as if the water did the cleaning, but now he found out how

  tough his job really was.

  The clean, hot water flowed into the laundry tubs easily enough, and adding soap wasn't a problem. Then he put in the laundry, light pieces with light pieces, and dark together in a different tub. But when he started to really wash every separate piece, he nearly cried out in pain, it hurt much worse than when he had been struck in the first place. Which is exactly why he couldn't believe something was really amiss with the hand, the strike with the club hadn't hurt that much, of course he had been so worried for Fury he hadn't paid much attention to anything else. But bruises could hurt pretty badly, he'd just let his other hand do most of the work, and in a few days it would all be fine.

  The washing went reasonably well, slower of course, but everything got as clean as his pride demanded it to be, and now the contents of the tub could be rinsed and wrung dry. Rinsing was pretty painful, but he got it done, and wringing was one of his favourite tasks, to give the fabric a hard time and see the water running out. But as soon as he held up the first piece, clean but dripping, he knew he was in trouble. There was no way he was going to wring anything. Even thinking about it hurt, and he could not do it with just one hand.

  He would have to go and find help.

  When Dennis and Agnes returned from a nice morning ride, John took their horses and asked respectfully, 'Dennis, have you seen Dick?'

  'I haven't John, I was planning to seek him out after our ride. Was he looking for me?'

  It was weird to have John call him Dennis but with the inflection he would use to say 'master'. There was nothing Dennis could do about it, though, and it probably would get worse rather than better, after the marriage. Maybe he should get used to it, no-one seemed to mind except Dennis himself.

  'He was not looking for you, Dennis, but I thought you should know his hand looked really bad this morning and I told him to find Guy about going to see a doctor. I haven't seen him since, but I don't think he has gone to Guy. He looked really stubborn about it.'

  'Where would he be at this time?'

  'In the kitchen, but Cook said he shouldn't work today, that he'd wash up after breakfast himself. And Dick was going to haul some hay for me but he didn't show up, so I hoped he'd taken my advice, though maybe he's just avoiding me. Oh, and I suppose it's laundry day. Dick likes to do his tasks on the right

  day.'

  'I bet he's in the scullery then, avoiding the two of you. I'll go after him straight away, sorry Agnes for leaving you like this, but it sounds serious.'

  'It certainly looked serious, Dennis, his hand was almost black,' John said.

  That was it, Dennis was off to the scullery.

  To find Dick sitting beside a tub of apparently clean laundry, but still dripping wet. Dennis had done his share of washing clothes in the army and he knew instantly how Dick had reached this stage in the process, but also in his dejection. Doing the laundry was really hard, physical work. But the incident almost a week ago had taught Dennis much of Dick's way of thinking and he was not going to rub his friend the wrong way again by suggesting he couldn't handle his tasks. He was going to have Dick admit to himself that he was not up to wringing or other hard labour. Right before Dennis would check out his hand.

  'Dick, there you are!'

  He was not really happy to see Dennis, all the more reason to tread lightly.

  'Fury behaved perfectly this morning when we introduced her to the others, Dick. The mistress was very pleased with her, and of course the dog was fine, too. You chose well, John and yourself.'

  Good, a little sunshine broke through on Dick's face.

  'I'm glad to hear it, Dennis. I think I've been pretty foolish, Dennis. My hand hurts very much, and I can hardly move it anymore. Maria told me it looked bad, and John, and Cook. They all said I needed to see a doctor, but I wouldn't believe it. And now I can't wring the laundry.'

  'May I see it, Dick? I've seen some injuries in my life. It didn't look bad yesterday, but some hurts just don't show up at first.'

  Dick showed him a very large, very discoloured and slightly swollen limb.

  Dennis winced in sympathy when he saw it, it looked awful, that could not be just bruising.

  'Can I touch it, too? I'll be very careful.'

  'It's not that bad, Dennis. I mean it hurts, but..owch. I guess it hurts more now than it did before. I should have listened to Maria and the others. What do I do now, Dennis? Who's going to wring those clothes and hang them out to dry?'

  Dennis could kick himself for thinking even Dick could take such a blow and not break something. And Dick was worrying about the laundry.

  'I'll wring those, I'll ask John to help me, it'll be fun in this warm weather.

  And you may watch and give us directions. And after that, we're going to see the village doctor. We'll take Fury and Pixie, so they can get used to each other.'

  No reply came from Dick, and Dennis wondered whether he was up to a walk. He stuck out a hand and felt Dick's forehead, it was warm, but not hot.

  Thank goodness he didn't have a fever, it was bad enough he had been working with what would most likely turn out to be a broken hand.

  Still it was great fun wringing the laundry together with John. Water spattered all three of them, and when the tub with the white stuff was empty, they rinsed and wrung the dark garments as well, until they were all wet through, even Dick. When everything was hanging from the clothesline, Dennis turned to Dick.

  'Can you walk to the village and back Dick? Please be honest, I can't carry you. If you feel feverish or unwell in any way, we'll take the carriage.'

  'I'm not sick, Dennis, except for the pain I feel fine.'

  'But pain can make you feel sick or weak, Dick, please don't suffer for nothing. I'll gladly take the carriage with you.'

  'No, truly, Dennis, if you control Fury I'd love to take a walk, I always like being with you. And I'm afraid I'm good for nothing else.'

  That actually made Dennis a bit angry at Dick.

  'I will accept that you find it hard to not be working when everyone else is, Dick. But even if you were to never work again we'd all love you. You're a good person, not just a useful servant. Come, let's tell the mistress and fetch the dogs and be off. I suppose the doctor can give you something for the pain, even if that doesn't mean you can work again you'll feel better.'

  Agnes was very worried about Dick, she had told Dennis just yesterday she had come to care for him very much, 'There is something so touching a
bout him.'

  And now he was paying for his heroic deed with what must be profound pain.

  'I hope it's not too bad, Dick, but if it is broken, don't worry about your work.

  We'll find a solution, you were hurt protecting my tenants, and you deserve honour and a reward, not pain and bad feelings. Remember Dick, it's not your fault this happened.'

  As they walked towards the stables to fetch the dogs, Dick observed, 'The mistress is so nice these days. Having a baby is making her happy, I think.'

  'You may be right, Dick. About the reason, I mean, I'm sure she is much

  happier than she used to be. I thought maybe she liked me bossy.'

  His cheeky face made Dick laugh, until he turned serious once more.

  'You're right, she must like you bossy, I didn't think of that. I didn't like it at first, I was afraid you wouldn't be my friend anymore, but yesterday I was very happy you took charge. I trust you. I guess the mistress does, too.'

  Fetching Fury was a matter of minutes, and Pixie was always on Dick's heels, except when she was sleeping near him. When the tiny puppy and the large hound met there was a little barking and growling, but nothing bad, Pixie knew better than to try and boss around this hound, and Fury was still young and playful enough to appreciate a companion, no matter how small and nippy.

  When they passed the path to the outcrop, Dick asked, 'Have you ever taken the mistress here, Dennis?'

  Actually, he hadn't.

  'I should do that, shouldn't I? Or would it be shameful if someone caught the lady of the manor there?'

  'I don't know,' Dick admitted, 'I didn't think of that. To me she's just the mistress, but those people yesterday did treat her with a lot of respect. You too, Dennis. You looked just as if you were born a gentleman.'

  'Maybe my father was a gentleman,' Dennis joked, to see if he could cheer Dick up a little.

  Looking at Dennis suspiciously, his friend thought for a moment then started to laugh, 'Oh, I see. You said your mother was a ...well, you know what. Then your father must have been one of her customers. That would have been very bad of him, wouldn't it?'