by Danice Allen
“I think she’ll be all right in a moment, miss,” Dudley muttered, his expression grim. He looked up, spied a young boy in the crowd of curious onlookers, and said, “You there, lad. Fetch this girl a drink of water and I’ll pay you a penny.”
“Aye, sir,” said the boy, rushing off to do his bidding.
“You know her, Dudley. You called her Tessy,” said Beth. “Who is she?”
Chapter Twelve
Dudley had never imagined that during a family visit to the rusticated shire of Cornwall he would find himself faced with so many damnable dilemmas. Encountering Beth at just the same moment as Tess seemed too unlikely a coincidence. The blackest sort of foul luck was the only explanation for it. Now Beth was demanding to know who Tess was.
“Well, Dudley?” Beth prompted. “I did not press for an introduction before, though I thought it ill-mannered of you not to offer one. And so unlike you, Dudley. But now I must know who this poor child is. Are you … very good friends?”
Dudley was alarmed by the implication of Beth’s words. “No, miss. I hardly know her,” he said truthfully, wishing he could speak the truth in saying he knew nothing of her at all.
“But you do know her a little,” Beth said impatiently. “You know her name. And she asked you about someone. Whom did she ask about?”
Dudley hated telling lies. He was an honest man, but he was a practical man as well. He knew that sometimes the consequences of truth-telling were worse than those of lying. “She’s acquainted with one of the servants at Pencarrow.”
“Oh? Which one?”
“I don’t know which one, miss.”
“But she knew you were staying at Pencarrow. How did she come to know that, I wonder?”
“In a small village the manservant of a visiting peer is always taken note of, so to speak.”
“Even by a girl like this? Dudley, I confess myself befuddled. She speaks like someone of the serving or working class, and yet she’s dressed so very well. Do you think she’s a merchant’s daughter?”
Lord, how could he even begin to explain Tess’s expensive toggery to a delicate female like Beth? Wouldn’t things come to daggers drawn if he told her how Tess earned her blunt, and with whom she earned it? “Perhaps she’s independent,” Dudley muttered.
“Aye, she’s independen’ awright,” said a sneering male voice from behind Dudley. “If bein’ kept by a flash cove kin be called independen’.”
“Be off with you,” Dudley growled, twisting around to glare at the man. “All of you, leave. We aren’t in need of any further assistance, thank you.” The small group dispersed.
Dudley turned back to find Beth staring at him with wide eyes. “Oh, dear, you’re not telling me that this sweet-looking girl is some man’s mistress, are you? Why, she looks to be younger than I am.”
“I’m not telling you anything, miss,” said Dudley, taking refuge in a stiff, disapproving tone. “I don’t like speaking of indelicate matters with females of your gentle upbringing.”
“Posh!” Beth said scornfully. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. The important thing is to help her. I thought she’d revive before now.”
“I thought so, too,” Dudley admitted worriedly. “Do you have any sal volatile in your reticule, Miss Tavistock?”
“Perhaps I do,” Beth said, setting down the fan to rummage through her bag again. “I never know what I have in here. My abigail keeps it tidy for me, and I’ve never used salts in my life. I’m a very unnatural female, for I never swoon. Oh, here it is.” She pulled out a small vial of milky liquid.
“With your permission, miss, I’ll administer it. I’ve revived swooning ladies before.”
“How so, Dudley?”
“My mother was a midwife,” he explained, uncorking the vial and waving the bottle beneath Tessy’s nose. In a matter of seconds Tessy came to, choking and gasping from the pungent smell of the restorative. “Ah, success. But where’s that lad with the water?” Dudley craned his neck and looked up and down the street. Now people slowed down as they passed, but they did not stop to ogle. Perhaps on such a hot day, prostrate ladies on the main thoroughfare of town were not so uncommon a sight.
Tessy moaned and lifted the back of her hand to her forehead. She stared up at Dudley and Beth in a dazed way; then she clutched her stomach and turned on her side. Dudley’s eyes were riveted to Tessy’s arm clasped protectively about her middle. He knew then, as surely as he knew his own name, that Tessy was with child.
Now that he was made aware of the condition, and with the way the gown lay close against her without a shawl to disguise her shape, his keen eyes could detect the thickness through her middle in variance with the slenderness of her arms and the trim ankles peeking out at the bottom of the flounced dress. An untrained eye would not immediately have recognized that Tessy was breeding. She carried the child low and flat. But he’d seen other women built the same way. They were usually small through the pelvis, too, and had the devil of a time delivering a babe. Some of them died.
“Here’s your water, sir!” said the boy, panting from his run up the hilly road. “Had to go a mite farther than I figured. Where’s my coin?”
“In a minute. First we’ll quench the lady’s thirst, if you don’t mind.” Dudley gently raised Tessy’s head and helped her to a drink of water from the rough tin cup while Beth continued to look worried as she plied the fan energetically through the torpid air.
When Tessy had regained a little color in her cheeks, Dudley dug into a breeches pocket, pulled out a penny, and flipped it to the boy. The boy caught it neatly, held it up to the morning sun to admire its glint, and finally tested its metal between his teeth. Satisfied, he said, “Thank ye, sir,” and swaggered away as if he owned the town.
Though Tessy had been revived physically, her embarrassment and emotional discomfort became more and more acute. When Beth had first joined them, Dudley could see that Tessy recognized her. He was sure she was horrified to be receiving such kind and sympathetic treatment from a woman who was, in essence, her rival. They both shared the same man, though in vastly different ways and with vastly different expectations. Judging by the way things were developing between his master and Beth, however, Dudley expected things to get a lot more complicated. And with this babe coming into the picture …
“Are you all right, Tessy?” Beth asked.
Tessy gasped when she heard her name on Beth’s lips. She turned to Dudley, a mute question in her frightened gaze.
“Tessy, this is Miss Tavistock of Brookmoor Manor,” he said evenly, trying to convey assurances with a speaking look. “You may have seen her about town before. She, however, doesn’t know you and, in fact, has been chastising me for not introducing you earlier. I told her you were acquainted with a servant at Pencarrow and that you had heard I was staying there as valet to Lord Roth. That’s why you stopped me, wasn’t it, to send a greeting to your acquaintance? But I must confess, I’ve quite forgotten who it is you know. Is it Jem? Or perhaps it’s Henry?”
Fortunately Tessy was not a thimble-wit and quickly followed Dudley’s lead. “It’s Jem I know, sir. He’s acquainted with my family.” Then she raised her eyes briefly to Beth’s. “Thank you, miss, for your kindness. But please don’t let me keep you from your business any longer. I’m just a little overcome by the heat.” Then before Beth could reply, she turned to Dudley. “Will you help me up, please, sir?”
Dudley pulled Tessy to her feet, lending her time to regain her balance with a firm hand at her elbow. Tessy swayed a little and bit her lip, giving the distinct impression that she was not yet recovered from her fainting spell.
Beth apparently shared Dudley’s opinion in this, for she cried, “Look at you! You’re still weak and unsteady. You must allow us to escort you home.”
“I’ll see her home, miss,” Dudley quickly interjected. “I’m sure the young lady would not wish to inconvenience you further,” he added pointedly. This time he was trying to relay an unspoken message to Beth. Ba
lancing between the two women, trying to keep the most painful facts secret, he felt as if he were walking a tightrope at Astley’s Circus.
“Very well, then, I’ll say good morning, Tessy,” said Beth, comprehending Dudley’s hint, though she seemed reluctant to go. Dudley supposed that Beth was concerned about Tessy because she was fragile-looking, because she was unwell at the moment, and because she imagined Tessy to be at the mercy of some dastardly man. She probably felt for Tessy in that intrinsic, empathetic way one woman feels for another, especially when a man is involved. She would have felt all the more empathetic had she known Tessy was breeding. Yet how would Beth react if she knew Zach had fathered the child?
“Thank you again, miss,” said Tessy over her shoulder is Dudley walked alongside her, supporting her light frame with little effort by tucking her arm inside the crook of his elbow.
“You remember where I live?” she asked him as they progressed slowly up the hill, leaving Beth behind.
“Indeed, that night is deeply etched upon my memory. I could probably find your cottage blindfolded!”
Tessy smiled but sobered quickly, saying, “She’s very nice, isn’t she?”
“Very nice.”
“I wish she weren’t,” Tessy disclosed wistfully.
“I’m sure you do. Makes it all the harder, doesn’t it?”
There was a long pause. Then Tessy said, “You never had a chance to tell me how Zach is. I know he’s busy. But is he well? Is he happy?”
“You haven’t seen him at all in the last three weeks?”
“No.”
“Perhaps you should wait till he visits you next and ask him these questions yourself.”
Tessy sighed. “His next visit will be a trying one.”
“You’re going to tell him about the child?”
Tessy halted and looked searchingly at Dudley. “Is it so obvious?”
“No. Your shawl and the cut of your dress disguise your condition quite nicely. But not for long. How far along are you?”
“Going on to six months, three weeks, as far as I can tell. But if I’m so well disguised, Dudley, how did you know?”
“As you lay on the walkway, your shape was clearly defined. And the manner in which you held your stomach when you awakened was … telling.”
Tessy suddenly clutched his arm. “Beth … Miss Tavistock doesn’t know, does she?”
“No.”
“Then how is it that you know, Dudley, and nobody else?”
“I’m unique, Tessy,” he said with a sigh and a smile, though the smile was more like a grimace. “Although I am a man, I see things from a remarkably feminine viewpoint.
I think my upbringing, playing helpmate to my mum’s midwifery duties in London, contributed to this affinity I feel for womankind.”
“I wish more men were like you, Dudley,” Tess declared with fervor. “You’d think Zach, of all people, would have guessed by now that I’m breeding. Then I wouldn’t be faced with the daunting prospect of telling him about the babe at a time when he’s least apt to be pleased about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not a fool, Dudley.”
“Far from it, Tessy!”
“I’ve had a feeling for some time that Zach’s going to leave me. Ever since his brother came to Pencarrow, nothing’s been the same.” Tessy looked Dudley straight in the eye. “I’m right, aren’t I? He’s going to leave me.”
“I don’t know what he’ll do, especially now, what with the babe coming and all,” Dudley said evasively. “Which fact, by the by, you won’t need to tell him. Unless Zach’s blind or a complete loggerhead, on his next visit I’m sure he’ll finally realize how the land lies, so to speak.”
“Yes, he’ll know then. And I’ll know, too,” Tessy said as if to herself and with a faraway look in her eye.
Dudley felt a shiver of premonition shimmy down his spine. That look in Tessy’s eyes did not bode well. He was afraid she loved Zach too much for her own good. He didn’t want her to feel desperate if Zach did not meet her expectations. And though Tessy was no fool, her expectations concerning Zach and their relationship together were naive and rose-colored, viewed through the myopic eyes of love.
Dudley stopped and turned to Tessy, took her hands in his and chafed them softly. He looked not at her but rather at heir hands pressed together. “Tessy, I want you to know that if you ever need someone, if you need anything—anything at all—you can always send word to me. I know what it’s like to be alone and needful.” He lifted his eyes and looked into Tessy’s worried face.
“Do you think I’ll be alone and needful, Dudley?” she asked.
Dudley could have kicked himself. He tried again. “No, dear. I’ve known Zach since he was no higher than my boot tops, and he’ll do right by you and the child. Though he may initially be upset, Zach will never let you and the babe want for anything.”
“I had wished for more.” Tessy’s eyes grew misty. “’Tis not the money, the security, I want. I want Zach. And I’m willing to share him with his wife. I still have hope, Dudley, that he’ll love the child enough that we might become his second family.”
Rose-colored vision, indeed, thought Dudley. He shook his head grimly. “Most wives won’t stand for that sort of situation. Nor would you if you were married to Zachary. Especially since you live so near to each other, it would be difficult for Beth to turn a blind eye to the arrangements. And people can be cruel. You wouldn’t want your child to suffer from the sort of vicious gossip people are capable of, would you?”
Tessy bowed her head. “No. I don’t wish our child to suffer anything. I wish her to have the best life any girl could ever have. Much better than mine.”
Dudley raised Tessy’s chin with a forefinger and looked into her glistening eyes with a teasing smile. “You think it’s a girl, do you?”
“I know it is,” she said firmly, smiling through her tears. “A golden-haired beauty, just like her father.”
“With a sweet, loving spirit, just like her mother,” Dudley added. They stood there for a moment, just smiling at each other, till all of a sudden Dudley seemed to shake himself before saying briskly, “Now we had best get you home and out of this heat.” He tucked her arm neatly against his side as before and gently urged her forward.
“Did I tell you I have some wonderful herbal remedies we can mix up that will help that dreadful ache in the lower back you pregnant ladies endure? And as for puffy ankles, it’s simply a matter of putting one’s feet up every morning and afternoon for at least an hour.”
“Oh, Dudley, you are unique,” said Tess, laughing.
Beth stared after the couple until they disappeared over the summit of the road. Despite the heat, she was oddly disinclined to move. After the rather dramatic events of the last half hour, choosing a pattern and fabric for a new gown seemed a trivial occupation.
Finally, as she became conscious of people staring at her curiously, she crossed the road and entered the dress shop. She was greeted there by one of Mrs. Turley’s employees, a smartly dressed young woman with an ingratiating smile and a French accent, both of which were false. Once the woman had ascertained Beth’s reasons for being there, she led her to an elegant little table and chair and invited her to look at fashion plates. Beth thanked her, sat down, and tried hard to concentrate on the task before her. But in every sketch that portrayed a fair-haired woman modeling an evening gown, a walking gown, or any sort of gown at all, she saw the girl, Tessy.
Beth knew that women sold themselves for money, for security, sometimes even for love. She had known for many years that such women existed, whether they went by the name of doxy, mistress, or fancy piece. She had never made the acquaintance of women who had earned such labels, but Beth had never supposed that one of them would look like Tessy. Meeting her that morning had changed forever Beth’s heretofore fixed ideas about mistresses. She had always pictured them hard, brassy, buxom, and crude, not delicate with a gentle manner and a sweet c
ountenance, like Tessy.
Beth sighed. She couldn’t even imagine the circumstances that had precipitated Tessy’s decision to accept a man’s protection in exchange for sexual favors. She wondered if this was Tessy’s first liaison with a man or if there had been others. She was so young, yet she had probably dealt with far more of life’s grim realities than Beth ever would.
Beth’s life had been easy and delightful, full of love and laughter, comfort and stability. Her greatest trials had occurred in the last two months, since Alex came to Pencarrow. The mining incident and her realization of her love for Alex had been the most emotionally harrowing experiences she’d dealt with since her father’s death. Since she and Alex had made love, it was agony having to keep him at arm’s length; but the hardest part was yet to come. They still had to tell Zach.
“Mademoiselle? Have you found something you would like us to sew for you?”
Beth’s attention was claimed by the simpering dressmaker’s assistant. Since Beth hadn’t turned the page of the magazine for several minutes while she pondered heavy thoughts, the woman probably thought she had decided on the pattern in front of her and was mentally envisioning it in different fabrics and colors.
Beth looked down at the pattern. The sketch was of a golden-haired woman in a gown the soft ivory of clotted cream with butter-yellow trimmings at the bodice, sleeves, and hem. The pale, delicate colors made her think of the blossoms of honeysuckle, and honeysuckle made her think of Tessy. A hint of a scent had clung to Tessy, and Beth realized now that it was honeysuckle she’d smelled. Beth’s brows furrowed in puzzlement. Hanging on the perimeter of her memory was another connection to honeysuckle, but she couldn’t quite grasp it….
“Mademoiselle? Have you made a decision?”
When Beth looked at the assistant, she saw controlled impatience behind the carmined smile. She stood abruptly.
Suddenly the little shop with all its dainty gilded furniture and calculated elegance seemed oppressive.