Graham grunted again and refused to look at her. Until her hand came to his forehead. Graham jerked away, but she hushed him and forced her touch on him once more.
“What are you doing, madam?” he demanded.
“I would think it obvious,” she replied.
“You are overstepping your duties, Mrs. Russell. You are the housekeeper, not my nursemaid.” He leaned away from her, but Mrs. Russell changed tactics and came at him from a different angle.
“After all the time I spent nursing you back from the brink of death yesterday,” she said, “it would be a shame for the fever to return.”
“You were there?”
“I already said as much.”
Hazy recollections came to Graham, and the oddest of memories came into his mind. Her face watching over him. Broken bits of a comforting song.
“I was not on the brink of death,” he grumbled but stopped fighting. The woman was too persistent for a man to mount much of a resistance.
“Hmmm,” she said with a raised eyebrow and then leaned back when she found what she was hunting for. “Your temperature is what it should be.”
“Is that your expert opinion?” he asked, reaching for the spoon once more.
“Allow me,” she said, but Graham growled at her.
“I can feed myself and require no further help. You are excused.”
Graham shifted the spoon to his good hand and ignored the housekeeper as she gave a disgruntled curtsy and retreated.
*
The devil take stubborn men. Tabby could not abide swearing, but the phrase came to mind without thought as she had heard the words from Joshua and his set on many an occasion. Regardless, they fit her mood to perfection. She had only been offering a bit of help, and the man behaved as though she was unraveling the very fabric of morality.
Pride. That word made Tabby seethe. She had seen pride do enough damage in her life, and she would not allow it any more control. Employer or not, Tabby would not be browbeaten.
Mrs. Bunting was rolling out dough on the kitchen table as Tabby entered. The woman took one look at her and offered up a tray of sweet biscuits. “You look as though you could use one of these.”
“That man is insufferable,” she said, taking the treat and biting into the bit of heaven. It was a mix of honey, cinnamon, and a dozen other things Tabby could not identify. Another blessing of this new life. Mrs. Bunting was not a fancy cook, but the simple fare she made was better than any elegant meal Tabby had ever tasted.
“He’s a good man,” said Mrs. Bunting, returning to her baking. “He’s just been in a bit of a foul mood of late.”
“Forgive me, but I do not find such assurances reassuring. It is never a good sign that others must vouch for a man’s character because his behavior has demonstrated the opposite,” said Tabby, taking another bite. “I have yet to hear a kind word from him.”
“Captain Ashbrook has been visiting Avebury Park every shore leave since his sister became Mrs. Kingsley,” she said, working the rolling pin. “He can be a bit gruff at times, as is often the case with those naval men, but he’s uncommonly kind and generous.”
“That man is a bit more than gruff.”
“He’s hurting,” said Mrs. Bunting.
“That comes with being injured,” said Tabby.
“Not just that,” she replied, retrieving a circular cutter and pressing it into the dough. “In one quick moment, he lost his entire life and livelihood. That’d be enough to bring any of us low.”
Tabby munched on the biscuit and tried not to think of how similar her situation was to the captain’s. “That does not excuse his behavior. One cannot sit around moaning about things one cannot change.”
Mrs. Bunting nodded and gave Tabby a considering smile. “True, but it should allow him a bit of leeway, don’t you think?”
If it were not for the wink that accompanied that statement, Tabby would feel thoroughly ashamed and set in her place. She still felt a bit of both, but Mrs. Bunting handed her another treat, and that helped soothe her feelings.
***
That afternoon Graham awoke to a hand on his forehead. Again. At least this time, he did not jerk away like a startled pup, but he found himself no more happy with the interruption than he had the last few times it had happened.
“It is time for your medicine,” said Mrs. Russell.
“I do not want any more of that foul stuff,” said Graham.
“That may be, but Dr. Clarke ordered that you take it for one more day.” Mrs. Russell stood at his bedside, uncorking a bottle.
“No,” said Graham.
Mrs. Russell ignored him and filled a spoon with the medicine.
“I feel perfectly fine,” he insisted. “I do not need it.”
Mrs. Russell stared at him with tight lips. She may have the bearing and accent of a fine lady, but she had none of the soft-spoken gentility one would expect. Graham was hard pressed to picture Mrs. Russell as a demure society lady flitting about a ballroom, for she had an air about her that would make even the roughest admirals turn tail and run. But Graham was not one to retreat. Crossing his arms, he met her eyes. He was master here, and it was he who would decide whether or not to take his medicine.
And then she struck, snatching his nose and pinching it tight.
Graham’s eyebrows drew together at the oddity. He leaned away, but his right side screamed at him, and the lady’s fingers were like a vice. The moment he opened his mouth to breathe, Mrs. Russell had the spoon in his mouth and the medicine down his throat before he could do a single thing about it.
“What are you doing, madam!” he sputtered.
“Taking care of you, though you are making it monumentally difficult,” she said, stoppering the bottle.
Graham froze. “Taking care of me? You are the housekeeper.”
“Of course, I am,” she said, gathering the spoon. “I take care of the house, and you are in the house, so I am taking care of you.”
Mrs. Russell tried to hide the truth, but the woman was as successful as a child insisting he had not eaten a biscuit while crumbs littered his shirt.
“I do not need a nursemaid,” he said, crossing his arm and ignoring the fact that his right arm did not wish to bend in that manner.
“The fact that you can hardly sit upright would beg to differ,” said Mrs. Russell. Graham glowered at her, but at least she did not deny the truth any longer. “Or the fact that just yesterday you were so delirious that the footman and I had to haul into bed.”
Graham could not believe her insolence. Mrs. Russell and his sister had been plotting, and Mrs. Russell was acting as though it were his fault. Mina was the one all tied in knots over his treatments. For all her talk of giving him independence and his own space, nothing had changed.
He would not stand for it.
“Women!” He bellowed the word like a curse. “I do not need some deuced woman fluttering about me. I am not an invalid. I am not a child. I may have been ill yesterday, but I am healthy now. So, your services are no longer required.”
Mrs. Russell set down the medicine and crossed her own arms, staring at him. “Are you sacking me?”
Graham matched her gaze and gave her a nod.
“You did not hire me, so you cannot sack me,” she said. “I am here at Mrs. Kingsley’s behest, and I will not go until she tells me to leave—no matter how petulant you become.”
She scooped up the medicine bottle and stormed towards the door, stopping when she reached the threshold to send a parting shot. “Perhaps if men were not so stubborn and pig-headed, women would not need to fret and worry about them. Perhaps if men thought of anyone other than themselves for one moment, they would see that women are only trying to help! Even children will stop fussing after a time, but men go to their graves bellyaching!”
Graham seethed. On his ship, such insubordination would be dealt with quickly and efficiently, yet he was stuck here, unable to do more than bark orders.
“Get me my sister. N
ow!” If Mrs. Russell refused to listen, Graham had no choice but to make Mina do so. He would not be mollycoddled.
Chapter 5
Now she had done it. Tabby paced the entryway, her feet moving as she awaited her executioner. She should have held her tongue. She should have smiled and nodded. She should have done anything except what she did. But Captain Ashbrook was so insufferable and deserved a good tongue lashing for his behavior.
Except that it may cost Tabby her position.
Leaning against the narrow hallway, Tabby covered her face. She had no idea how she would manage; being terminated within twenty-four hours guaranteed she would not find another position in a Bristow household, and they had no funds to move towns.
Tabby stood there, picturing the horrible things to come the moment Mrs. Kingsley arrived. James had surely delivered the message to the main house by now, and Tabby could not imagine Mrs. Kingsley siding against her brother.
Taking a breath, Tabby cleared her mind and sought out the good things that might come from this situation. But there was nothing. At best, she would not have to see Captain Ashbrook again. And perhaps she’d find a position where she could spend her evenings at home with Phillip, though that was unlikely. But neither made up for the fact that any new position would pay far less.
A hand on the doorknob had Tabby straightening as James stepped through the front door. However, she was greeted not by Mrs. Kingsley but by her husband.
“You must be Mrs. Russell,” said Mr. Kingsley. “My wife was otherwise occupied when James came in search of her, and I thought it best that I manage the situation.”
“Mr. Kingsley,” said Tabby with a curtsey. “I am terribly sorry to inconvenience you, but Captain Ashbrook was quite insistent. Sir.”
“I am certain he was,” said Mr. Kingsley, handing his hat and gloves to James. “Where is the scoundrel?”
***
Graham stared at the ceiling, certain that it had been hours since his nursemaid had left with her tail tucked between her legs, yet Mina had not arrived. This whole situation was intolerable. Insupportable. Beyond the pale. Such a silly ruse. Had Mina truly thought he would not notice that his housekeeper was a nurse in disguise? Apparently, he was not only an invalid but a halfwit as well.
Hearing steps on the stairs, Graham leaned up to see his door open. But it was Simon.
“Good afternoon, Graham,” he said, sitting on a chair that had been left beside the bed. “I understand you are upset about Mrs. Russell.”
“Where is Mina?” asked Graham.
“She is not coming,” said Simon, crossing his arms. “I intercepted James before he found her, and I thought it was time for us to talk.”
From the look on Simon’s face, Graham suspected it would not be a pleasant one. Sitting before him was not the man with whom Graham had become acquainted. Simon was a congenial fellow, a doting husband, and a thoroughly enjoyable gentleman, but none of that was reflected in his expression at that moment. He looked far too disapproving for Graham’s tastes, and since he and Simon had not shared many one-on-one discussions before, it was a tad bit disconcerting.
“You wish to sack Mrs. Russell?” asked Simon.
“I do not need a nursemaid,” said Graham. “I am a grown man and more than capable of caring for myself. I do not need Mina hovering over me.”
Simon nodded. “And that is why your sister and I thought this would be a good arrangement. Mina does have a tendency to overdo it when nursing her loved ones, but you cannot be left alone if you are determined to keep going under the knife.”
Graham began to argue, but Simon raised a hand.
“Mina has begged me to allow her to handle things,” said Simon. “Out of respect for her, I have kept quiet, but I refuse to stand by and watch your behavior in silence any longer.”
“My—?” but Graham fell silent with a sharp look from Simon.
“You’ve been a brute,” said Simon. “Your surliness has been directed at every member of my staff. You have upset the entire household. We all know that you have been dealt a horrible blow, but it has reached a point where you must stop making everyone pay for it. Now.”
Graham stared at Simon. “You cannot be serious. You are blaming me for the row with Mrs. Russell?”
“I am not talking only about Mrs. Russell,” said Simon. “I don’t even know all the circumstances of what has passed between you two. I am speaking of your conduct as a whole. Every day you snip and bark at anyone who comes close to you.”
“Simon—”
“You have reduced your sister to tears on numerous occasions,” said Simon, his voice growing harder. His jaw tightened, and Graham could swear he heard the man’s teeth grinding. “For the first time in months—months, Graham— she has been able to sleep because she knows you are being cared for and she no longer has to fret over every little thing she says or does, for she never knows what might set off your temper.”
Graham wanted to argue, but he knew Mina well enough to know that Simon’s assessment was likely true.
“I gave my word that I would not interfere,” said Simon. “I hate to go back on it, but I cannot watch things unravel any further. I know you love your sister, but almost everything out of your mouth is rude, crude, or both. You are taking your frustrations out on her, and it is not right.”
Graham’s head fell onto the pillow. “You make it sound as though I’ve been the most inexcusable bully.”
There was silence for a moment before Simon replied, “You have.”
His head snapped up. Or tried to. Aches and pains kept him from moving too fast, but Graham got his head upright once more.
“We don’t know each other well,” said Simon. “With you being at sea, we have not had the opportunity, but you have spent every shore leave at Avebury Park, and I feel like I know your character well enough to know you are a good man. But in the months since you moved here, you have been unbearable.”
Graham opened his mouth, but Simon gave him another silencing hand.
“I know you’ve had a rough time of it,” said Simon. “Otherwise, we would have had this conversation a long time ago. But it has reached a point where you are no longer the man that I respect. You berate everyone around you. You lash out morning, noon, and night. You know as well as I that Mina does not need a direct cut to feel the pain. Simply being upset is enough to hurt her.”
“Perhaps I should leave and stay somewhere else,” said Graham, his eyes falling to the bedcovers.
Simon gave a huff. “Don’t be an imbecile. That would make matters worse. What would have happened if you had been living on your own when that fever struck yesterday?”
“It was not that bad—”
“It was,” said Simon, drawing Graham’s gaze to his own. Simon’s eyes were ferocious. “If Mina and Mrs. Russell had not found you and been so swift in treating you, you would not be here. You pulled out of it quickly, yes, but the direction you were headed would have landed you in an early grave. Do you know what that would do to Mina if that had happened? To your family?”
“So, I am forced to stay here?”
“If you care about your health and your sister’s wellbeing, yes.”
Graham’s eyes traced the damask patterns woven into the linens, his mind churning over the things Simon was saying. It could not possibly be as bad as his brother-in-law was claiming. Graham would be the first to admit that he had not been the perfect houseguest, but it was not as though he intentionally went about destroying the happiness of those around him.
He mulled these thoughts over, and just to prove that Simon had a touch of the clairvoyant he said, “It is easy to justify and rationalize our behavior, Graham. It is so easy to believe that you are not truly hurting or harming others, but I beg you to avoid being as obtuse as I once was.”
Graham sent Simon a questioning look, and the man sighed.
“When Mina and I were first married, I blinded myself to my behavior,” said Simon. “And I am asha
med to think of how I acted then. I convinced myself that I was being the epitome of a perfect husband, but in the end, I hurt the one person I love most in the world. Do not make my mistake.”
That certainly gave Graham a lot to think about, but then Simon went one step further.
“Mina is with child,” he said.
The sudden discovery brought a shift in emotion. Such joyful news. Mina had never admitted it, but Graham knew how much she longed for children with Simon. For five years, he’d been hoping to hear those glad tidings, but the look on Simon’s face was not quite as happy as Graham would have expected.
“This is good news, isn’t it?” asked Graham.
Simon let a smile grow on his face. “Of course. It is everything we have hoped for, but it brings a lot of anxiety with it. After what happened with your mother, Mina is understandably nervous. Once the initial surprise faded, she has been increasingly anxious about what will happen with her and the babe.”
Memories of losing their dear mother and baby sister dimmed the felicity of the moment. Graham could still hear the cries from the night baby Catherine was born and died. First from their mother. Then the weak squawks of the babe. But then they grew silent and it was their own tears that filled the house. Father’s bloodshot eyes as he clutched mother’s limp hand. Mina gathering the boys close to say their final goodbyes. Too many ladies perished bringing their babes into the world for Graham to feel calm at the prospect of his sister facing it. He could only imagine how worried Simon must be, too.
“Mina has enough to fret about,” said Graham. “And I am adding to it.”
Simon nodded. “Until you are on your feet, she needs you nearby or she will worry incessantly about whether or not you are healthy and happy. However, she cannot bear the strain of watching your pain as you convalesce.”
It had been a long time since Graham had eaten such an enormous slice of humble pie. It was difficult to take, and Graham wanted to protest the heaping spoonfuls that Simon was forcing down his throat, but if there was even a chance that what Simon had said was true (and he suspected that far too much of it was), Graham needed to be a better brother. After all Mina had done for him and the heartache she had suffered in her life, she deserved happiness. If staying at Gladwell House and suffering Mrs. Russell’s nursing brought her peace, it was the least he could do.
A True Gentleman (Regency Love Book 2) Page 5