Always True to Her (Emerson Book 2) (16 page)

“They believe me to be visiting a friend in the
country. They would not approve of my current trip, were they to learn of it.
They were not as….receptive as they perhaps should have been when James told
them his story.”

“But you believed him.”

“Not at first. ‘Struth, I do not know what I
believe. I cannot countenance that my brother is a thief but neither can I
imagine that James is a liar. I do hope a way can be found for him to pursue
his dream of becoming a farmer.”

“Are you fond of farmers?” asked Ava.

“I am fond of fathers taking care of their
families. If that is the course James wishes to pursue, then I wish him good
fortune and happiness.”

“What of you? What course do you see for yourself?”

“I always presumed I would marry one day. More than
likely to a man chosen by my grandmother, with my father’s approval.”

“Has that presumption changed?”

Irene looked at James’s sister-in-law, who seemed
wholly engrossed in washing a plate well past the point it was ever dirty.

“I believe,” said Irene carefully, “that love is quite
important, as is evident between James and Anna, and among the rest of you. I
am not certain I could now accept the type of marriage my grandmother would
sanction.”

“You have the right of it. Love, in any of its
forms, is something to be cherished. It is why I would gladly do every chore
on this estate, if it meant being with Colin. I would follow him anywhere.
Though honesty compels me to admit that if his novel makes him a rich man I
shan’t complain. What about you, Irene? What would you give up for love?”

It was a question Irene had been asking herself over
the past few days. She wasn’t sure she had an answer. Or at least an answer
that didn’t frighten her. “It is hard to say, since the question is purely an
academic one. But I do have obligations. My father is not well and it would
be difficult, if not impossible to leave him, especially since I do not know
when Cedric will return.”

If the answer disappointed the countess she did not
show it. Instead, she smiled. “I am certain your father and grandmother
appreciate your dedication.”

Irene was not sure that was the case at all. But
instead, she reached for the next dish and continued drying. “Family is an odd
thing, Ava. One never knows what they’ll think.”

“Or where you’ll find one.”

Anna was sleeping well when James and Irene left her
in Letty and Rose’s care. Stemple had collected enough wood to keep the stove
burning all night, and the pots of water only needed to be refreshed from time
to time.

With Rose shooing them from the kitchen and James
thoroughly exhausted, he ushered Irene up the servants’ hallway to the
housekeeper’s suite.

“This is a lovely room,” Irene said, trying to hide
her nerves.

“I believe Ava cleaned this entire house during the
time she should have been on her wedding trip. And Mrs. Stemple put fresh
sheets on the bed this evening.” James watched as Irene’s face flooded with
color at the mention of the bed. “Are you certain you do not wish to have your
own bedchamber? Or to send me off somewhere else? I do not exactly understand
what my family is about by forcing us to be in here together, but if you are
uncomfortable, we will make new arrangements.”

Despite his words, James knew perfectly well what
his family was about. They had somehow gotten it into their heads that he and
Irene should marry. Which was preposterous, of course, because…. No reason
immediately popped into his head, but he was incredibly tired and quite certain
that any number of them would make themselves known after a few hours’ rest.
“I shall leave as you change into your nightclothes. If you need assistance, I
can send Ava or Maude in to you.”

“My nightclothes?” Irene all but squeaked.

“Surely you do not wish to sleep fully clothed for
yet another night do you? I do not believe that bed would accommodate you, me
and your petticoats.”

“We’re going to share the bed?”

“We have once before.”

“But Anna was between us.”

“My dear Irene, you are safe with me.”

“Because you’re too tired for…dalliance?”

“I am never too tired for that. No, you are safe
with me because I am a gentleman, it is not your wish to ‘dally’ and this is my
brother’s house. Now, pray change into your nightclothes, while I do the same
in my chamber upstairs. I shall return in a quarter of an hour. If you have
not accomplished your task in that time, I cannot be responsible for any
resultant embarrassment.”

He bowed, then took his leave. He tried without
much success to ignore thoughts of Irene disrobing in the chamber they would
share. As he prepared to change into his nightclothes in his bedchamber, he
took a look at the threadbare flannel nightshirt that had served him well
during his years in America. If he truly wanted to dissuade Irene from any
attachment to him, he could simply parade around in that a bit. Then he picked
up his dressing gown which was also rather shapeless and faded.

He sighed. There was nothing to it but to present
himself as he was.

But then he remembered Colin’s silk dressing gown.
Given the family’s finances, it was several years old, but well-tended. Surely
his brother would not mind if he borrowed it for a night or two.

After changing into his flannel nightshirt and
purloining Colin’s dressing gown, James checked on Anna once again. She was
covered in salve, but mercifully sleeping. Then he knocked on the door to the
housekeeper’s suite.

A delightfully proper Irene answered his knock, then
ushered him inside. She was wearing a nightrail of finest silk, with delicate
embroidery about the collar. Her dressing gown was cinched tight. Her
beautiful fair hair was in a long braid to her waist. She had a nightcap in
her hand.

“You cannot use a nightcap,” said James, as he took
the offending item and tossed it onto the table.

“Whyever not?” she asked.

“It would frighten Anna.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Somehow, I do not think
so.”

“You do not know her as I do. Besides, your hair is
too beautiful to cover.”

“It is the nightcap that helps preserve its
appearance. I fear my hair will be a rat’s nest in the morning if I do not
wear it.”

“And I am sure it will be the most delightful rat’s
nest ever produced. Shall we?”

He motioned for her to proceed him into the
bedchamber. She hesitated for a moment, then did so. “I turned down the bed,”
she said.

She had not yet taken a good look at him. But once
they were in the inner chamber and she was too embarrassed to look at the bed,
she turned to him and her gaze immediately fixated on the small v-shaped
opening at his throat and collarbone. Her eyes grew round and her jaw eased
downward.

It was the best compliment he’d received in an age,
even if it was completely silent.

Perhaps realizing she’d been staring, she dragged
her eyes away and turned to the bed. “I did not know which side you take when
you usually share a bed with a lady.”

“What makes you think I make a habit of it?”

“Please, Lord James, do not try to gull me. I am
quite certain this is far from the first time you have been in a bedchamber
with a female.”

“True. But it is the first time I have done so with
nothing but sleep on my mind.” Mostly nothing but sleep. He was worried sick
about his daughter, but he would have to be dead not to have sensual thoughts
about Irene. “You may choose your side, Irene.”

“Miss Wallace. In such intimate quarters, I believe
we should observe the proprieties as much as possible.”

“If we were to observe the proprieties as much as
possible we would not be sharing a bed.” When she flashed him a panicked look,
he quickly added, “In the most innocent of ways, of course. Now, pick a side,
Miss Wallace, and do not worry overly much since I am certain to fall asleep
the moment my head hits the pillow.”

She studied the bed, considering the matter for a
prolonged period of time.

“Why don’t you take the right, Miss Wallace?”

“Very good, sir. My right or yours?”

She was very, very nervous.

“Why don’t you take the one over there?” he said,
gently sending her to the right. He got to his side of the bed and took off
Colin’s dressing gown.

“You’re not undressing, are you?” she asked from the
other side of the bed, facing the wall.

“Only my dressing gown.”

“But nothing else, correct?”

“Yes, Miss Wallace. Everything else stays on.”

She blew out the candle on her side, even as he sat
on the bed that would sleep only one comfortably. The two of them would be
pressed against each other. He looked over to see that she had crawled into
bed and was now lying on her side facing away from him, hugging the very edge
of the bed.

He shook his head, blew out the candle and lay back
on the sagging mattress. The momentum slammed the back of her into his side.

“Excuse me!” she said, as she immediately scrambled
for the edge of the bed again.

James knew he was taking up well more than his share
of the bed, so he carefully turned on his side so he was facing her back. Surprisingly,
he realized that despite the intimacy – or perhaps because of the comfort he
felt with this woman – he was about to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and
began to let the worries of the day wash over him when he sensed Irene inching
away from him. Then she started falling. James reached out and caught her
just in time.

He pulled her to him.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Not ‘doing.’ ‘Did.’ As in I just saved you from
falling to the floor. If we are to share this bed, we will have to sleep this
way. Now, I suggest we both go to sleep, for we’ll need to watch over Anna in
a mere four hours.”

Then he kissed the back of her head.

And fell into a deep sleep.

*

Irene could not believe the position she was in.
Literally and figuratively. She wasn’t just sleeping in a bed with a man. She
was in his arms. And it wasn’t just any man. It was James. She could feel
him pressed to her back from her shoulders all the way down to her feet. The
feet were especially troublesome since they were skin to skin, with their legs
entwined.

She could barely breathe from the contact, and it
certainly didn’t help to have his strong arm wrapped about her. He was being
most presumptuous. Though that didn’t explain what her arm was doing pressed
against his arm. She reasoned that it could be there to prevent his hand – the
hand that was perilously close to her breasts – from wandering. But since he
was already sound asleep, she supposed there was little chance of that
happening.

And it was just the slightest bit embarrassing that
he could sleep while they were in that position. Then she chided herself for
not being fair. He’d been awake most of the previous night while she’d slept
for a few hours. It was a wonder he’d been able to rescue her from falling off
the bed, but his swift reflexes had saved her.

Now if only that bulge beneath her bottom would go
away.

*

Irene awoke five hours later to the realization that
she was alone in the bed. It was quite dark outside and she could barely make
out the furniture in the room. But James was gone.

The fiend had left without her.

She quickly donned slippers and her dressing gown,
shivering as she did so. The dower house was certainly not warm.

She hurried out to the kitchen to find James at
Anna’s side. The little girl was awake and they were talking.

“I know the spots itch, my love,” said James. “But please
try not to scratch. Maude’s salve helps, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Anna’s voice was soft but fairly strong, a marked
difference from the previous day.

“I had a dream, Papa. It was about
Nimaamaa
.”

“Your mother? Did it make you sad?”

“Yes, no…I don’t know. I was walking through a
field and the sun was out. Then I saw
Nimaamaa
and my friend Kimi, who
died when we were four. And I was walking to them and they were smiling. I
wanted to play with them. But then
Nimaamaa
touched my cheek and kissed
me and said I couldn’t stay. I had to go back. She said she loved me, but you
loved me, too. And I should be with you now.”

Then Anna began to cry and James pulled her onto his
lap. The tears became sobs. And a little girl who’d lost her mother mourned
in her father’s arms. Irene felt horrible for intruding on such a private
matter. She tried to walk away softly, but tripped over a stool.

James’s eyes found hers, even as Anna continued to
cry. James held out his hand to Irene. She had no choice but to go to him.
To go to both of them.

She quietly made her way across the kitchen, then
placed her hand in his. She sat next to James and together they let Anna cry
herself out. Her sobs were heart wrenching, but they finally subsided to
silent tears.

James held Anna, rubbing her back, whispering words
of comfort.

Irene didn’t know how long they remained like that,
the three of them. She was aware of the shadows cast by the fireplace, the
sound of water at a low boil on the stove. She rose to refresh the water in
the pan, but was stopped by James.

“I’m not going far. I just want to refresh the
lavender water.”

Anna turned her head on her father’s shoulder to
look at Irene.

“Are you feeling better, Anna?” she asked.

“Yes,” she said. Then she reached out to Irene, who
lifted her onto her lap.

The three of them remained like that, no one
speaking a word. It was the most beautiful moment of Irene’s life. And she
wondered if she would ever again experience love like that.

But Anna soon began to itch, so Irene laid her back
in bed, then she and James applied more of Mrs. Stemple’s salve. After a few
moments, she fell asleep again.

“She felt cooler, did she not?” asked James.

“I believe she did. Perhaps the fever has broken.”

They watched her sleep, listening to her soft
breathing. “Did you hear about her dream?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think it meant?”

“I think she knows her mother loved her.”

“I hope Alawa is watching over her, making her
heal. Helping her get on in this life.”

“I like to think she is,” said Irene, as she
squeezed James’s hand.

They remained that way for the rest of their shift
until they were relieved by Colin and Ava.

“How is she?” asked Ava, wearing a heavy dressing
gown over her cotton nightrail.

“The fever seems to have broken,” said James. “She’s
been cool to the touch this entire time, though the spots are bedeviling her.
Mrs. Stemple’s salve works wonders, but must be reapplied when it begins to
dry.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Colin, who studied his
brother with narrowed eyes. “I say….is that my dressing gown?”

“I’m sure it does not signify,” said Ava.