Her skin went crimson. She could deny it, but her body would not let her get away with the lie.
“Mother!”
She ducked her head.
“He is married, with two young sons! You cannot possibly . . . ”
“It was a long time ago. The year your father died. I’ve not seen him for several years.”
“Until recently,” he stated, knowing he was guessing correctly.
“Yes. I walked to the mews a few days after arriving. He was there. We talked.”
“Talked?”
“Yes, we talked. That day.”
“And the following days? Is this where Calista fits in? Did she see the two of you . . .” he waved his hand, as if to continue his train of thought.
“We weren’t . . .” she waved her hand as well. “I was sitting in his lap, under a tree in the old orchard, we were just kissing. That is all.”
“Just kissing!” he exploded. He saw her shamed look and closed his eyes. They were silent for several moments.
“So, let me see if I have this right. Calista saw you, then after she was dismissed from my household, you offered her a position in yours, which incidentally, is funded by me as well.”
“She made me feel uncomfortable.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“Not in so many words, but there was this look.”
“So despite being fully aware of the difficulties she had caused, you acknowledged the hold she had over you, and hired her back?”
“Yes. I am sorry.”
“I am sorry as well. I wish you had come to me.”
“You can see that I would have had great difficulty with that.”
“Why? Did you not think I wouldn’t understand? Did you not think I would appreciate how lonely you were after father had passed?”
“I didn’t think you would approve.”
“Well, you were right. I would not have, at the time.”
There was silence again.
Timidly, she asked, “And now?”
“And now . . . now, I would understand better. But I could never approve any attachment you had to a married man.”
“I know. I will be leaving Sefton after the holiday. Sean and I have said our goodbyes. He is an honorable man and I am an honorable woman. We just became close at a vulnerable time for each of us. He’d just lost his wife and soon-to-be-born child. She was barely four months along. Your father was six months in the grave when he sent word to the manor that I needed to make some decisions regarding the carrier pigeons, so I went see him. I became fascinated with the birds. Then I became fascinated with him.”
He took her hand and squeezed it. He understood all too well how easy it was to allow someone to take over your thoughts, to let them comfort and dull the raging pangs of grief, to accept them as kindred spirits as all the raw emotions seeped into shared conversations . . . to allow your heart to swell as fascination bloomed. It was hard to visualize his mother being tender and tempting. He had only known her as proper, taciturn—concerned more with appearances and decorum than with flirtation and feelings of empathy. He hadn’t known her when she’d been a young girl, or ever thought of her as a woman with sexual needs. He’d thought of her only as his mother.
“What happened to father’s prized messengers? As far as I know they are not here now, and haven’t been for years.”
“One by one, we sent them out to your father’s friends and asked them to take them over. When they were all parceled out, I moved back to the city, to the townhouse. And he asked the matchmaker in Merseyside to find him a new wife.”
Again, there was a prolonged silence between them. He cleared his throat. “Calista was trying to cause harm to Catherine, and by their connection, possibly Jonathan. In doing so, she has likely harmed Sadie, one of the upstairs maids.”
“What?”
“I believe she was attempting to poison Catherine.”
“That’s hardly plausible. What reason would she have for that?”
“I think she is jealous of Catherine. According to the servants, Calista has had some odd thoughts about her and me. She is deluded of course; I’ve never really noticed her, don’t even remotely consider her attractive. It’s turns out that she has been putting something in Catherine’s buttermilk. But the funny thing is, like you, Catherine abhors the stuff. So Sadie has been the unsuspecting recipient of Calista’s foul deeds, and now I am afraid of what might have been done to her.”
“Well, we must send for the doctor, and we must find Calista and determine what she has done!”
“Yes, I have already sent for the doctor and I have Gaylord trying to find Calista.” Thorne looked his mother steadily in the eye, “When I sack her this time, I will expect her to remain sacked.”
“I’m all for that. Now that you are in on my shameful secret, there’s no harm she can cause me. I can only be thought a foolish old woman.”
“You were not foolish Mother, just vulnerable. What of Mr. McDougal? You truly aren’t planning on seeing him again?”
“It was just handholding and kisses this time. His wife will have to flay him with her tongue, and he will have to bring her flowers if we are found out. But these things happen during marriages.”
That took him aback some. His father and mother had always seemed so perfectly matched. “Did it happen during yours?” he asked.
“Your father kept me happy.”
“And did you keep him happy?”
“For the most part. He had a dalliance or two.” She did not elaborate; instead, she changed the subject. “You’d better go see to the doctor.”
“Yes.” He said, his lips grim. The thought that his father had been unfaithful did not sit well with him.
She grabbed his arm as he passed by, “I know Annaliese had her problems, but you were happy for the most part, weren’t you?”
“For the most part. Not for the best part. You know we had difficulty in the physical sense. I was steadfastly faithful, when at times it was very tempting to stray. I miss her immensely, but I think I am beginning to have feelings for Catherine. You should know that I am thoroughly charmed by her. She mucks up my insides by nothing more than a sidelong glance. And I am beguiled by her as she listens to me, truly listens to me, engaged to my every word, attuned to my every nuance. It’s as if my unvoiced feelings are transferring to her effortlessly. ”
“You are not telling me anything I do not already know,” she murmured. She touched his hand, softly stroking her fingers over his knuckles. “Your heart is fragile now, keep it protected. You’re a man and a widower, so it’s your prerogative to dally. But don’t sign on for anything until you see what London has to offer. There are many young debutantes who would make you an excellent wife. Come to the city and escort me to some balls before you do anything foolish.”
He kissed her cheek, and whispered, “I fear it may already be too late.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Thorne found Calista in his study where Gaylord, the butler, had settled her while he went to his rooms to change his clothes. She was admiring a small wooden statue of a horse, holding it in her hand and caressing its long tattered tail with a dainty finger as he entered the room. He eyed his most prized childhood toy with covetousness and sent her a pointed look. She hurriedly replaced it on the shelf.
Normally he would have closed the door, but he didn’t want any repercussions from this meeting. He wanted everything aboveboard. It was a surety that Calista cared naught for her reputation. He had asked the doctor who was just finishing examining Sadie to join them and was expecting him momentarily.
“Let’s be direct shall we?” he said as he strolled farther into the room, his hands thrust into his pockets. “Exactly what did you put in the buttermilk?”
“What makes you thi
nk I put anything in it?” she countered, a surly expression marring whatever beauty she thought she possessed.
“If you don’t answer me truthfully, I will send for the magistrate and allow him to handle questioning you. By now, you should have discovered that Sadie is the one we are all concerned about, not Catherine. In your haste to dispatch Catherine, you neglected to note that she does not drink buttermilk. It seems it doesn’t agree with her. However, Sadie appears to have a fondness for it, and so she has been your unwitting victim. I just want to save some time and find out what can be done for Sadie. What did you poison her with?”
“I didn’t poison her! I didn’t want to kill anyone. I just wanted Catherine’s milk to dry up so she wouldn’t be able to feed Jonathan anymore.”
Relief showed in his eyes and his jaw and lips softened at the news that Sadie had not been adversely affected. But now a brow lifted in puzzlement, “And what was your aim in that?”
“Well, I figured once you had no need of her, she would be dispatched. And then I would come to the rescue and take over Jonathan’s feeding.”
“And just how would you have managed that?”
“There is something new for feeding babies—evaporated milk formulas. You feed it to them from a bottle with a rubber nipple. It is the new thing in America. The formula is ordered and brought to houses in cases. I can easily feed Jonathan, all the babies are taking to it remarkably well. When Catherine is gone, I can take care of him and feed him the formula in bottles. I even have the address where you can send for it.”
“I am not interested in trying any new formula. Catherine is doing a splendid job feeding Jonathan with her own unique formula, and I’m very pleased with the results, he is growing at a very good rate. I see no need to change things.”
“She is a stupid sow, I don’t know what you see in her,” she sneered.
His brow lifted and he stared at her. But he wasn’t about to challenge this ridiculous woman’s opinion of Catherine. Catherine was clearly no sow. And of course, she was not stupid. It was more than obvious now that Calista was desperate for his attentions—unreasonably so.
“What did you put in the buttermilk to dry up Catherine’s milk?”
“It was my own special mixture. I spoke to several of the village women. As they all offered different advice, I just mixed everything they suggested together. I had no idea that Catherine wasn’t even drinking it!” she said in disgust. “At least now I know why it wasn’t working.”
“Yes, the irony is that Sadie had no milk that needed to be dried up. So what did your special mixture consist of?”
“Oil of flax, oil of linseed, crushed legumes, and some pulverized fenugeek. I was just about to double the amount of flax seed because it wasn’t working.”
“So . . . nothing that will cause Sadie any harm?”
“No. I told you, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I just wanted Catherine to go away.”
“You wanted her gone so you could be the one feeding Jonathan?”
“I wanted her gone, because I wanted you!” She got a wild glint in her eyes and her smile became like that of a madwoman. With avid gestures, she began a tirade of pleading, “Together we can take care of Jonathan. I can become your new wife. And let me assure you, I will take care of your manly needs—all the ones Lady Annaliese ignored. Let me show you how eager I will be in your bed. I know how to take good care of you. And I will make an excellent countess, a wonderful replacement for your dead wife. My mother has always said that I deserve to be a countess, and in a grand house such as this! Ooh la, she will be so proud!” She looked up and all around, her eyes sparkling with glee.
“You deserve to be punished. You deserve to be dismissed. You deserve to be sent to the magistrate, is what you deserve. I am not, nor have I ever been, interested in you as anything more than a servant in my employ. You are daft to think otherwise, and your mother was wrong to put such foolish notions in your head. Only in fairy tales do men of rank marry so far beneath them.”
As his words sank in, her incongruous smile became a frown and tears flooded her eyes before running down her cheeks. She started sobbing and her hands went up to cover her reddened face.
With a huge sigh of impatience, he handed her his handkerchief and then looked up just as the doctor walked in.
Thorne took him aside and filled him in on what had been put into the buttermilk, and the insane reasoning behind Calista’s rash actions.
“All healthy ingredients actually,” he said, “certainly nothing that would harm Sadie. Had Catherine drank it regularly though, in time it would have noticeably diminished her milk production. She would have found it difficult to satisfy your son. I imagine Calista’s concoction would have worked as well as wrapping the breasts in wet cabbage leaves, which is currently the most popular method in the village.”
“Thank God Catherine did not care for the buttermilk. So all is well?”
“Yes, everyone is just fine. Sadie will suffer no consequences whatsoever.”
“Cabbage leaves, really? Women actually do that?”
“Aye. The tenant women always find the things that work. No idea why it does. Assures the cabbage crop, though,” he said with a loud snigger.
“Thank you, doctor. Thank you for coming so quickly. Please help yourself to some port before you leave for home.” He gestured to a decanter on a tray by his desk and watched the old man’s eyes light with pleasure. Then Thorne turned back to Calista. He met her baleful expression with a stern grimace. He let out a long sigh and briefly closed his eyes to her pitiful sorrow. He stepped closer and looked down into her mottled face.
“I have no choice but to insist you to leave my employ immediately. I will have a footman accompany you to town, and he will make sure you are left well beyond the gates this time. If there is any place else you’d rather be taken—back to your mother for instance—please let me know so I can arrange it.”
Calista dried her eyes with his handkerchief and forced her shoulders back. Her lips trembled as she spoke, her voice wavering, “I assure you that her ladyship will not want me to leave,” she met his eyes and gave him an all-knowing leer.
“Oh, I assure you, that she will. And so will Mr. McDougal,” he said, returning his own meaningful look. Then he added, “But if you insist on pressing the matter, I will have to forego the coin I was going to settle on you and simply have you escorted off the premises now.”
Her eyes went wide. “N-no, no,” she stammered. “I’ll not press the matter further. Where will I go? What will I do?”
“I will give you enough to live on for a few months until you can find employment. Unfortunately, I cannot send you with a recommendation and that will make it difficult for you.”
She sent him an imploring look; one she must have fancied made her look particularly fetching. When he didn’t react, she simpered, “You could. I did not hurt anyone after all.”
“But you could have, and you intended to do so. Your considerations for my son were lacking to such a degree that I cannot in good conscience endorse you for another household.” He handed her a card and said, “This is the manager of my factory in South Hawse. Apply there and I will put in a word for you. In time, you could do very well there.”
“Work in a factory?” she said, aghast at the insult.
“You’ll make more money working there and have time off to socialize, make friends, possibly find a suitable husband.” He handed her a bag of coins and looked to the doorway for Gaylord so she could be ushered away to collect her things.
“You will regret letting me go. I have skills men want,” she said with what was clearly an unpracticed attempt at being saucy.
“Then it is possible you will find a man who will treat you as a countess. But it is my experience that offering those types of favors gets you treated as much less.”
The doctor snorted as he filled his third glass full of the excellent full-bodied port. “That I could slay dragons, and manage my way around trolls under bridges. And you?”
The earl smiled and helped himself to a glass of the deep burgundy wine, “That I could find a beautiful woman sleeping in the woods just waiting for my kiss.”
“You’d be hard pressed to find one more beautiful than your nursemaid.” It would have been hard to mistake his meaning.
The earl nodded. “Well, I am so glad Calista did not think of poisoning an apple then. I might have had to kiss Catherine to awaken her.”
The doctor lifted his glass to toast with the earl’s and they both laughed uproariously at the ludicrous thought that that would have been a hardship.
Chapter Twenty-two
The following evening, Jonathan was sleeping in his bassinette when the earl knocked lightly on the connecting door and then stepped through to the other side. He stopped to kiss his son on the forehead, then made his way into Catherine’s sitting room in time to see her shove the book she was reading under the cushion of the chair she was sitting in.
He quirked his brow, making a mental note to discover the book that had put such a beautiful blush on Catherine’s cheeks. He suspected it was his new leather bound copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. He had noticed it was no longer tucked in place on the bookshelf in his study. It had just recently been published and was creating all kinds of controversy among the more literary minded and scholarly types in the cities. There were even rumors of it being banned.
Catherine was wearing her hair in a thick braid that had been brought over her shoulder, it was in the very same way he often visualized her in the pre dawn dreams he was now having of her nearly every morning.
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