“Your color is beginning to return,” Pearl said.
“I should be going,” Nelle said as she rose to her feet. Thankfully, she no longer felt dizzy or faint. “I don’t want my aunt to think I’ve gone missing.” Although she was fairly sure Aunt Corinne hadn’t given her a second thought for hours.
Pearl pressed a small package into her hands. “These are the tea leaves I prepared in your tea. If you feel faint again, they will help to restore you. Stay out of the heat during the hotter times of day.”
Nelle tucked the package into her handbag and thanked Pearl. Then Nelle walked out into the warmth again, but this time she wasn’t in desperate need of refreshment. She did have a bit of a walk ahead of her, though, so she readjusted her hat.
She walked past the row of shops then along the road, which wound through a series of quaint homes—what Nelle had imagined was the country when she was a young girl. That was until she'd visited her aunt’s lofty estate and realized that country folk could be even more judgmental than city folk.
When she heard a man’s voice call out her name, Nelle was so surprised she came to a dead halt. She turned, hardly daring to believe it could be Mathew—again. But there he was, coming through the gate of one of the homes, carrying, of all things, a basket.
“Mathew,” she said before she could remember her manners and call him Mr. Janson. He strode toward her, the out-of-place basket on his arm.
“We meet again.” When he noticed her curious look, he added, “My mother is ill today and had an urgent delivery to make to Mrs. Leery.”
“Oh?” Nelle prodded, holding back a smile.
“She has several sick children, and my mother wanted to send her some goodies.”
“Your sick mother is taking care of other sick people?” Nelle said. “She is very generous.”
Mathew tilted his head, studying her. His eyes were definitely not brown, she decided, nor blue, but more of a gray—the color of early morning mist.
“I suspect my mother would love others to think of her as generous,” he said with a sardonic smile. “But I’ve learned over time that she has a hidden motive for everything.”
Nelle had only met Mrs. Janson a handful of times. She’d seemed a bit stiff, like Nelle’s aunt, yet every bit the well-bred lady.
“I suppose many of us have hidden motives when we are generous,” Nelle said, “although we may not admit it.”
Mathew gave her a thoughtful nod. “You may be right. Although, I’m not entirely sure how ill my mother really is. She seems to have frequent phantom illnesses.” His face reddened slightly. “Sorry about speaking of such personal things. I’m not sure what’s come over me.”
Nelle didn’t know what had come over her either. Apparently, she couldn’t stop staring at Mathew or wondering how one man’s gray eyes could be so captivating.
When Nelle was about fourteen, she’d had a friend who’d endured phantom illnesses too. The girl was forever ill and forever requesting that Nelle would come to visit. A couple of years later, Nelle remembered now, the girl’s family had moved farther down the coast. Nelle always wondered what had become of her.
“I’ve learned,” Nelle finally said, “that while a complaint might seem trite to someone else, it’s often a true illness to the person suffering from it.” Nelle thought of one period of time, when her young friend had seemed to have nothing physically wrong with her, yet her excessive worry over one thing or another rendered her quite incapable of keeping a social schedule like the other young ladies in the city.
“You are quite different from your cousin,” Mathew suddenly said.
His gaze seemed more intense than Nelle would have liked, and she was starting to feel quite warm again. “How so?” she asked.
His smile was brief, and then he said, “I wouldn’t want to start any rumors.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Nelle said as she shook her head. “You are very concerned with appearances.”
Mathew laughed. “I suppose I have some of my mother in me after all.”
Nelle smiled in response then found his gaze seeming way too intent on her again. What would Alice think? She would be returning home in a couple of days, and Nelle couldn’t be caught enjoying the company of her love interest.
“Speaking of appearances, are you planning on walking back to your aunt’s place?” he asked.
“I am,” Nelle said, feeling a bit breathless at his inquiry.
He gave a slight nod. “Were you able to get your business finished in town?”
“I…started the process,” Nelle said vaguely.
Mathew watched her. When she didn’t say anything more, he said, “I have the open carriage, if you’d care to ride home.”
Nelle almost sighed in relief. Her determination to be completely independent had waned ever since she'd fainted in the heat. She followed Mathew’s gaze to the carriage, which was waiting up the road.
“Come,” he said. “You’ve walked plenty today.”
He was right, and Nelle knew her aching feet would certainly prove it once she took off her shoes. It could be weeks before she’d be able to buy a pair of boots, unless she wanted to ask her aunt for a loan. The woman would probably charge her hefty interest.
Since there was no driver waiting with the carriage, it seemed that Mathew had driven it here himself. He handed Nelle up into the seat then walked around the carriage to take his own. Mathew’s broad shoulders easily took up more than their fair share of room. Nelle sat as close to the edge as possible so their shoulders wouldn’t bump together as they rode.
The way this day had turned out was completely unexpected. First, Nelle had been surprised by hearing her aunt’s proclamation, then by getting lost in the forest, then by spending time with Mathew, and finally by meeting Pearl. Nelle realized that, for the first time in days, she hadn’t dwelt wholly upon her parents’ death.
Chapter Nine
Mathew smiled to himself while, concurrently, chastising himself. Nelle had practically shrunk away from him in the carriage. But as they traveled, she relaxed, and soon they were sitting comfortably side by side. It was an odd thing to run into her twice in the same day, and it seemed as if Fate were driving them together. But Mathew couldn’t allow himself to think that way. Fate or close proximity to a neighbor with a daughter a few years younger than himself had also pushed him in the direction of Alice.
Who was not Nelle. Thus, the chastisement.
But Mathew found himself laughing and smiling more in the space of one day with Nelle than he had in, perhaps, the last few months with Alice. How Mathew had ended up nearly engaged to a woman like Alice, he couldn’t be sure. During their courtship, it all felt so natural—predictable, perhaps—but an inevitable sequence of events nonetheless.
The available gentry were few and far between in Waterbury. And with his mother and Alice’s mother being near neighbors and tolerable friends, the union was agreeable on all sides. Mathew’s family owned some of Alice’s family’s old farmland. Both women were widows, and both women were eager to more firmly establish their families.
And now here was Nelle, sitting beside him, making him feel as if he’d awakened from a long nap and discovered the sun shining and the flowers blooming.
They’d been riding in silence for a few moments, but there wasn’t anything awkward about the quiet, which surprised Mathew. He glanced over at Nelle but could only see her hat and the profile of her lower face, which led his gaze to her elegant neck and pale linen bodice…
He snapped his eyes back to the road. Not that his two geldings couldn’t travel from town to home and back again practically blindfolded. But it wasn’t prudent for Mathew to gaze too long at Nelle. So Mathew tried to think about something else.
He would agree with Nelle that his mother was a genteel woman, but she was a far cry from the particular refinement of Nelle’s mother. One couldn’t compare a woman living in the country to a woman who was pampered in the city. Nelle’s soft skin and
smooth complexion were a testament to that—not that Mathew was allowing himself to notice. Nelle did remind him, though, of a china doll in a shop’s window display…sweet inside and out, not exactly blending in with the practical countryside.
Why was he letting his thoughts stray so far? He was just giving the young woman a ride back to her aunt’s home. Alice would return in a few days, and then his freedom as he knew it would be over—at least any social freedom.
Mathew tried again to think about something else. His experimental corn crops were doing well in their infancy. He'd spent the early evenings in his fields after spending each day running the brass fittings company in town. For his father had had the foresight to start his company over ten years ago, when Mathew was first entering Harvard.
Brass had been rising in value over the past few years, and not only was Mathew turning over a healthy profit but he was also adding new products to the factory’s offerings. As his father had done, before his death, Mathew held a tight rein on his employees, especially after hiring a new manager a few months back, Mr. Bradley.
Nelle lifted her hand suddenly to hold onto her hat as a breeze kicked up. The motion drew Mathew’s attention to her again. He realized she didn’t have any parcels.
“Did you not go shopping in town?” he asked.
“I—I met with a solicitor to have some funds transferred over,” she said in a halting voice.
He was about to apologize for intruding, when she added, “My aunt, you see, is keeping an accounting of all my expenses so that I can pay her back when I come into my trust on my birthday. So I thought it would be easier if I was able to secure a stipend, and then I wouldn’t have to bother her for small things.”
Mathew nodded, understanding Nelle’s desire to have her own stipend, but he was surprised at her aunt’s particularity. Nelle looked at him, square in the face. And Mathew found himself gazing into her very blue eyes, which were shaded by the brim of her hat.
“I know nothing about business affairs and was quite surprised by the lengthiness of it all,” she said matter-of-factly. “When the solicitor told me I wouldn’t even get a response for at least three weeks, I realized I had overestimated my abilities to become independent.” Her shoulders slumped a little as she looked away.
Mathew had the sudden desire to wrap his arm around Nelle’s shoulders and pull her tightly against him. “Was it Mr. Everett with whom you spoke?” he asked instead.
“Why yes,” Nelle said. “I don’t supposed there are a lot of solicitors in town.”
“No,” Mathew confirmed. Mr. Everett had taken advantage of Nelle—that Mathew knew. For a telegram sent with the right wording could have produced results in less than a day…not three weeks. A plan began to grow in his mind, but he would need to do it before Alice returned. “I could speak to Mr. Everett if you’d like.”
“Oh, I couldn’t ask that of you,” Nelle said immediately, glancing up at him. “You have your own business, and your mother’s ill.”
Mathew slowed the carriage, for around the next bend in the road, they’d been in full view of her aunt’s estate.
“It would be no trouble,” he said, wondering if it were possible to avoid getting lost in the depths of Nelle’s blue eyes. “If I have time to deliver baskets for my mother, I could certainly spend a few minutes speaking with Mr. Everett.”
Nelle was gazing at him, her expression unreadable. The breeze kicked up again, tugging at her hat. As she raised her hand to keep it in place, tendrils of her hair blew across her face. Before Mathew could think better of it, he lifted his hand to her cheek and carefully moved the hair from her face, lightly touching her skin.
As he did so, he froze, and she froze. He had no idea what she was thinking then, but he knew he should drop his hand, take up the reins again, and get her back home as quickly as possible. Instead, he held her gaze, and his heart skipped ahead a few beats.
When she said, “Mathew?” he felt as if he were waking up from the most relaxing sleep. His body felt heavy, yet buoyant at the same time.
“Mathew,” she said again. “I wouldn’t want you to compromise anything…with Alice.”
That name was like having a cold glass of water tossed in his face. He dropped his hand and drew away. Nelle was absolutely right.
“I apologize,” he said in a quiet voice. Then he urged the horses onward.
The short distance was traveled in silence, although Mathew’s thoughts were far from being silent. Why had he felt so compelled to touch Nelle? It was like he almost forgot himself when he was with her. He’d almost…kissed her. His breath came short as he battled against the unexpected desires coursing through him.
He could not get more involved with her, for driving her home in the carriage had almost undone him. He’d drop her off, he decided, and the next time he saw her—if he saw her at all—would be in the company of Alice, the woman who had declared her feelings for him.
Well, not exactly her amorous feelings, but her commitment, more accurately…or was it her expectation? Regardless, both her family and his family were expecting an engagement announcement this summer—and summer was about to begin.
“Thank you,” Nelle said as they neared the tree-lined lane leading to her aunt’s house. She was looking at him again; he could feel it.
“My pleasure,” he said, but even saying this seemed to have more meaning than as a simple phrase of kindness. He climbed out of the carriage and handed her down, not taking any time to internalize what touching her hand might be doing to his heartrate.
As she bade him good-bye again, he could only nod. Once she had made it to the porch, he climbed back into the carriage. Then, as he turned the horses around, he thought he saw someone move the curtain of a window on the second story of the house. But Mathew traveled away from the house, withstanding the temptation to look back. He’d come to this house many times, but he had never felt so reluctant to leave.
When he arrived at his own home, his mother was waiting for him in the front parlor. Even though it was still warm outside, she had a fire going and a lap quilt across her legs. Her color was high, and her eyes bright.
“There you are, Mathew,” she said, waving him in to sit by her.
Mathew suppressed a sigh. He’d already been regaled this morning with all of her ailments. But he crossed to her and bent to kiss her cheek. She smelled of dried flowers.
“I drove Mrs. Ashton’s niece home from town,” he said, deciding that he might as well report on it now rather than be confronted later. For he knew that his mother was sure to hear of it.
“Nelle Thompson, you mean,” his mother said in a toneless voice.
Mathew didn’t need to ask how she was taking the news. Already her eyes had narrowed and her lips had thinned. He straightened and sat near her, although as far away from the fire as possible.
“Such a tragedy,” his mother tsked. “And at her age—not married. Two tragedies. I can’t imagine any fellow taking her on now. Her inheritance must have been cut in half or even worse.”
“There are more important things in a good marriage,” Mathew said, growing irritated. He’d spent an amazing afternoon with Nelle, and now his mother was sullying those memories.
His mother laughed. “I don’t want to shock you too much, son. But being financially stable will enhance any marriage. That’s why I’m so glad you’ve settled on Alice. The sooner the two of you marry, the sooner we can continue the Janson family line.”
Any illusion Mathew might have still entertained, that he could continue spending time with Nelle, fled at hearing his mother’s comment.
She continued on as if she didn’t need a reply from him, as if he had no say in the matter. “It will be nice to have Alice home again,” she said. “Then you’ll not be forced to give her cousin rides about the country.”
It wasn’t exactly like that, but Mathew didn’t want to start an argument with his mother.
“There’s something odd about that girl—nearly
twenty-one and yet unmarried. And now,” his mother took a dramatic breath, “she’s without both parents. I wonder what will become of her. I can tell you that Corinne is beside herself. She thought she’d be spending the summer planning a wedding for Alice. But now, she’s had her sister die and her niece come to stay with her.”
It seemed to Mathew that Nelle had gotten the more bitter end of this bargain. Mathew rose to his feet, effectively cutting off his mother’s stream of words by saying, “The Leery’s were grateful for the basket. Mrs. Leery said she hopes you’ll feel better soon.”
“Oh.” She waved her hand. “I started feeling better soon after you left, but it was too late to fetch you back.”
Mathew gave her another kiss on the cheek. “I need to get to my accounts,” he said, and he left before his mother could draw out the conversation.
He crossed the front hallway and stepped into the library, where shelves of books were interspersed with paintings of hunting scenes, each handpicked by his father. His father had sat at that cherrywood credenza for hours each day, Mathew remembered, pouring over every expenditure from their crops and reading the newspaper. The walls still held the odor of the cigars he used to smoke.
Mathew didn’t smoke. But sometimes he’d open his father’s cigar box, pick one up, and smell it. As he remembered now how his father’s death had been hard on him and his mother, he thought of Nelle and how she’d lost both her parents at the same time. So much in her life would have changed in such a short period of time. Then he remembered his promise. The more he thought about the solicitor, Mr. Everett, and the man’s stubbornness, the more Mathew wanted to help Nelle. He had to do the honorable thing. If Alice found out, so be it.
Before Mathew could get settled and begin reviewing his accounts, the butler knocked on the library door and opened it.
“Yes, Phillip?” Mathew said.
“Mrs. Janson requests your presence immediately,” Philip said. Although his words had carried a sense of urgency, his tone had not.
“Is she ill again?” Mathew asked, half rising.
Love is Come (Power of the Matchmaker) Page 5