18. Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

C harles finished eating his dinner and got up to put the plate in the sink. Ruby had already made the tea and the pot was sitting on the table with a jug of milk ready to be poured.

"I wrote to Dr. French today and gave him this address. I claimed that the earl wished me to deal with any medical matters relating to my mother's care. If he checks with my father, there might be hell to pay, but he might not. I'm still waiting for him to show his hand."

Ruby didn't appear to have heard him. He cleared his throat.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, that's excellent news." She poured the tea.

"Hardly that." He paused, but she still wasn't attending to him. "One might almost think you weren't listening to me."

"I'm sorry. Nora's been teething all day and refused to have anyone care for her but me."

"Well, you are her mother."

"I am aware of that." Ruby glared at him. "I take my responsibilities very seriously, indeed."

He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't suggesting otherwise. I meant that of course she'd want to be with the person she loves the most."

She grimaced. "And now I need to apologize again."

"There's no need. I'm not exactly a pleasure to be with when I come home in a bad mood."

She tried to smile, but he sensed it was forced. He was trying hard to be conciliatory but it still didn't come easily to him.

"If you want to go to bed early, I'll do the dishes and stoke the fires," he offered.

She took a deep breath. "Sidney came to the house this morning."

He went cold. "He came here ? How did he get the address?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea."

"What did he want?"

The question came out more harshly than he'd intended, but he was desperately trying to read her face and work out if she was pleased by this unexpected development or as horrified as he was.

"He wanted to see Nora."

"And did you allow that? Did you welcome him into our house?"

"Of course, I didn't." She raised her chin. "I asked him to leave."

"I assume he didn't like that." Charles paused. "Did he threaten you?"

"That's not Sidney's way. He usually gets what he wants using his charm." Ruby sighed. "I offered to meet him tomorrow at nine at the railway station."

He wanted to ask why she needed to see him at all, but he wasn't stupid. Sidney was Nora's father and that complicated matters.

"If he just wants to see Nora, I could take her for you," he offered.

"You'd do that?"

"Yes, of course." He frowned.

"It's very good of you, but I need to see him myself. If I don't, I fear he'll keep coming back, and I couldn't bear it."

"We could both go."

She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. "I think I have to do this alone, Charles."

He eased his hand free. "No. You're choosing to do it alone."

"If I need your help, I promise I will ask for it."

He studied her face, the strength in it, the purpose in her eyes, and sighed. Loving someone was far more complicated than he'd anticipated, and this was one of those times when his instincts went against his logic.

He tried for honesty. "I'm… worried about you seeing him alone."

"I'll be in a very public place. If he attempts anything underhanded, I'm fairly certain someone would stop him."

"What if he tries to take Nora?"

She sat up straight. "I will fight to the death rather than allow that to happen." He smiled and she frowned. "What is so amusing?"

"You are my warrior queen wife. I'd wager you'd win if he tried anything."

"Thank you." She smiled back at him. "I appreciate your confidence in me. I haven't even decided if I will take Nora with me. She isn't well."

"You can make that decision in the morning," Charles said. "Now, why don't you go to bed. I'll check that Nora is well and lock up."

Ruby rose to her feet and came to stand next to him, her fingers curving around the back of his neck. "Thank you," she said simply.

"For what?"

"Trying so hard to be good about all this." She leaned in and gently kissed him on the forehead. "When all your instincts tell you to take charge and make things right for me."

"You already know me too well." He grimaced.

"Which is why I am appreciating your restraint." She kissed him again, this time on his mouth. "Don't take too long coming to bed, will you?"

"I'll be as quick as I can," he promised with some alacrity.

She patted his cheek, went out into the hall, and climbed the stairs. He knew she'd check on Nora herself, but he'd also take a look just to make sure that Bridget had everything necessary for a teething baby.

A curious sense of peace came over him as he continued to sit at the table. All his senses were telling him that Ruby had no intention of leaving with Sidney, which was surprisingly gratifying. He couldn't imagine life without her now. She not only understood him but supported him without question. And she trusted him…

He finished his tea and stood up. The least he could do was trust her in return.

* * *

Ruby dressed in her most severe gown and braided her hair tightly to her head. She didn't want Sidney suggesting she had become too comfortable in her life and had forgotten the struggles of the working class. Nora had woken up in a far better mood, and Ruby decided she would take her to see Sidney after all. Her fingers shook as she attempted to button up the back of Nora's dress.

Bridget tried to help her. "Where are we off to this morning, ma'am?"

"I have to take Nora to meet someone at the railway station." Ruby smiled at the nursemaid. "You don't need to accompany me."

"Then I'll get on with sorting Nora's clothes out. She's outgrown some of them, so I can set them aside for when she becomes a big sister." Bridget winked at Ruby.

Ruby smiled and glanced at the nursery clock. She had quarter of an hour before she was due to meet Sidney, and the walk to the station would barely take five minutes. She hadn't seen Charles at breakfast. He'd gone out at dawn to visit one of his patients and hadn't yet returned.

Nora cooed and patted her cheek, and Ruby smiled at her daughter. Nora looked nothing like the thin, sick wraith who'd arrived at Caroline's. She was now "blonde and bonny" as Bridget often said.

"I'll help you get the perambulator into the yard, ma'am," Bridget said. "It's hard work for one."

"Thank you." Ruby set a new knitted cap on Nora's head and lifted her child into her arms. She'd already donned her outdoor things and was ready to leave.

She now had ten minutes before she was due to meet Sidney. Her hope of Charles appearing had become minimal. She'd told him she didn't need his help, and it appeared he had taken her at her word. Suddenly, she wished he was here to send her off with some strong words of advice and was cross with herself for being so contrary. His good opinion had become far too important to her to ignore.

She carried Nora carefully down two flights of stairs and out into the stable yard, which was mercifully free of patients as word had gone out that the doctor wasn't there. Bridget was rearranging the pillows and drew back the blankets so Nora could be placed in a cocoon of warmth.

"Be a good girl for your mam, Nora, no crying now!" Bridget blew the baby a kiss, grinned at Ruby. "I'll see you later, ma'am."

"Thank you, Bridget. I have my key, so please remember to lock the door behind you."

"Yes, Mrs. Nash." Bridget turned back to the kitchen door.

Ruby spent an unnecessary few minutes fussing with the blankets and retying the ribbons under Nora's chin before putting on her gloves and heading out onto the street. The pavement had recently been finished, for which she was grateful. It led directly to the imposing frontage of the Millcastle railway station, which Mr. Hepworth had built with his navvies. There was a hackney cab rank out the front, a very smart hotel on the left, and the parish church where she'd been married took up the right-hand corner with the graveyard hard up against the new lines of the track.

As it was a weekday, the majority of the town were still at work, and the station was relatively quiet. Ruby went into the ticket office where a line had formed at the window. She saw Sidney sitting on one of the benches looking at his pocket watch. He glanced up and rose to his feet with a quick smile.

"Punctual as ever. Good morning, Ruby." He smiled at Nora who was regarding him with great suspicion. "Good Lord, she's grown."

Ruby wheeled the perambulator into the farthest corner from the door, and Sidney followed her over.

"There's a waiting room," he said. "Would that be quieter?"

"I think this is fine." She fussed with Nora's blankets. "It will calm down once everyone has bought a ticket for the train and gone through the gate."

"Have you been on the train?" Sidney asked as he sat on the bench beside the pram.

"Not yet."

"I have. It's quite terrifying, especially in the tunnels. I prefer the mail coach." He looked directly at Ruby. "May I hold my daughter?"

"Yes, of course," Ruby said. "But don't be surprised if she is a little shy with you."

Sidney grimaced. "I'm aware that I am a stranger to her. Is your husband good with her?"

"He treats her as he would his own child," Ruby said as she carefully handed Nora over to her father.

"That's… good." Sidney contemplated his daughter. "She looks like me."

"Yes."

"Except for her eyes, which are brown like yours." He offered Nora his finger. She grabbed hold of it with alacrity and brought it to her mouth, making Sidney wince.

"She's teething," Ruby said.

"So, I see." He made no effort to stop her gnawing on his knuckle. "I probably deserve to be savaged."

"Where are you headed after Millcastle?" Ruby asked rather pointedly, having no time for guile or any need for it.

"Liverpool, I think. I've been asked to speak at the shipyards." He kept his attention on Nora.

"This is hardly on your way," Ruby said.

"I know."

"Then what made you come?"

He sighed. "When I returned to Leeds and heard you'd left, and in such bad circumstances, I felt… guilty."

"How did you expect me to survive with no wage coming into the home?" Ruby asked.

"I suppose I took you at your word when you assured me that you would be all right."

"You were very keen to leave us, Sidney. I merely gave you the opportunity to do so without a fight."

"Mayhap you should have fought with me."

"I was exhausted. I had nothing left to give," Ruby said simply. "When Nora became ill, I had to bury my pride and find someone to help me. I had just enough money to get close to Millcastle, and I knew that Caroline would take us in."

"She can well afford to do so." Sidney sneered. "Living as she does off the notorious Captain Grafton."

"They saved our lives, Sidney." Ruby made him hold her gaze. "You should be grateful."

"Grateful to a man who tried to bribe me to leave you alone?" Sidney demanded. "He said he would always take care of you, and that if I ever as much as damaged a hair on your head, he'd come after me."

Ruby looked at him for a long moment as several things suddenly became clear.

"What?" Sidney raised his eyebrows.

"That's why you left, isn't it? Because you knew that whatever happened Francis would take us in. And now you have the gall to castigate him for doing so." Ruby shook her head "Did you take his money as well, Sidney? Is that how you are able to travel so freely around the country?"

"I did not take his filthy money," Sidney said. "I am funded by working men." He set his jaw. "I did not come here to rake over the past. I wanted to see if you and my daughter were all right."

"And you have seen that we are both thriving," Ruby said. "Who gave you my address?"

Sidney grimaced. "That's the other reason why I'm here."

"Did you seek out Francis first to ask for money? Or did someone up at Grafton Hall mistakenly give you my address? I know my sister and her husband would not do so."

Sidney handed Nora back to Ruby, and she resettled her into the perambulator.

"For the last time, I have taken no bribes from Francis Grafton for myself or my cause, and I never will," Sidney said. "I was contacted by another individual on behalf of a gentleman of means."

"Who?" Ruby asked.

"A gentleman who offered to fund my cause if I was willing to make things difficult for you."

A horrible suspicion entered Ruby's head and would not be shaken. She remained silent and waited to see what Sidney would say next.

"Are you acquainted with the Earl of Nash, Ruby?"

Ruby straightened and turned toward the station exit. "Come with me. You need to speak to my husband."

* * *

Charles ate his fish-paste sandwich and looked around the unusually quiet kitchen. Bridget was upstairs in the nursery, Eliza had the morning off, and Mrs. Jenkins had gone shopping. He had a private patient to visit at three in the afternoon, but until then, his time was his own. He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was almost nine thirty, and Ruby hadn't returned from her meeting with Sidney.

He stopped chewing and set down his sandwich. Should he go and look for her? It had taken every ounce of self-control he possessed to leave the house at dawn and let Ruby deal with Sidney alone. Had he made a terrible mistake? Had Ruby realized she still loved Sidney and left with him, or had Sidney done something unspeakable?

He rose to his feet and was just about to head for the door when he heard voices in the stable yard. Leaving the remains of his meal on the table, he went to open the backdoor and found Ruby with the perambulator and an unfamiliar man.

"Charles," Ruby said. "You have to speak to Sidney."

"Why would I want to do that?" Charles asked, his gaze on the other man. He looked vaguely familiar. "Unless you wish me to tell him to leave you alone, or else."

The man had the audacity to smile. "Ruby is quite capable of telling me that herself, Dr. Nash. There is another matter she insisted I speak to you about."

"Then I suppose you'd better come in."

Charles helped Ruby bring the perambulator inside and parked it in the hall. She immediately took Nora in her arms and started up the stairs.

"I'll be down in a moment. Why don't you make us all some tea, Charles?"

Charles eyed Sidney and gestured toward the kitchen. "Come along, then."

"Thank you, Dr. Nash."

Charles filled the kettle and set it on the range to boil before turning back to Sidney, who had remained standing just inside the door, his leisurely gaze taking in the kitchen. He wore the rough clothes of a navvy, a handkerchief knotted carelessly at his throat, and a flat cap.

"Sit down."

Sidney took off his cap to reveal hair the same blonde as Nora's and sat at the table. Charles spooned tea into the pot and set out three cups along with the pitcher of milk.

"You're not working class," Charles said. "You've done an excellent job trying to conceal your accent, but I can still hear it. In fact, I feel as if I've met you before."

"If you're the Earl of Nash's son, we might have met at school," Sidney said.

Charles paused in his task to stare intently at Sidney's face. "Yes, Harrow or Eton. What's your last name?"

"Fellows."

"Knew your older brother, George," Charles said. "He was a fine cricket player."

"I would assume he still is."

"Don't you see your family?" Charles asked as the kettle came to the boil. After warming the pot and rinsing it he set the tea to brew. "I should imagine your choice of career was considered even more radical than my own."

Sidney shrugged. "I'm the fourth son of an impoverished baronet. I only attended Eton because my godmother paid my fees."

"Does Ruby know?"

"About what?"

"Your privileged roots."

"I can't say it ever came up."

"I bet it didn't. How can you appeal to the common man when your father's a member of the aristocracy?"

"Only a minor member. I have no expectations of inheriting the title from him.

"Still. I'll wager your ardent followers don't know that either. Do you work hard to conceal your upper-class drawl when you orate?" Sidney's smile had gone. "Bit of a shocker, eh?"

"Do your employers and patients know that you are the son of an earl?" Sidney countered.

"Some of them do." Charles sat back at the table, facing Sidney. "I've got nothing to hide."

"Your father thinks otherwise."

"What in God's name do you have to do with my father?" Charles asked.

Ruby came into the kitchen and obviously heard his last question. "That's why I brought him to speak to you, Charles. I fear your father is attempting to interfere in our affairs again." She took a seat at the end of the table between the two men. "Sidney said he was contacted by a man who had been investigating me for your father."

"The man Miss Evans mentioned seeing at the hall," Charles said. "Go on."

Ruby turned to Sidney. "Yes, please elaborate."

"I was speaking at a rally in Leeds, and I was approached by a Mr. Simms. He had a lot of questions about you, Ruby. At first, I did my best to avoid answering them, but Mr. Simms was persistent. He tried to bribe me, and when that didn't work, he threatened that his employer would have me put in prison."

"That does sound like something my father would do," Charles said as he poured out the tea. He only realized he'd taken Ruby's hand when she squeezed his fingers. "What did he want to know?"

"Whether Ruby and I were married." Sidney looked from Charles to Ruby. "I told him we had never married, because we considered it an outmoded concept that denied women their rights as independent individuals."

Charles barely managed not to roll his eyes as Sidney continued. "Mr. Simms suggested that if I swore on oath that we had been married, his employer would provide all the necessary documentation to back up my claim."

"And what did he offer you in return for doing him such a service?" Charles asked.

"Five thousand pounds."

Charles whistled. "A small fortune. Did you take it?"

"I told Mr. Simms I needed time to think about it and that I wanted the name of his employer. He was reluctant to reveal it, but after a few drinks one night, he blurted out everything I needed to know, including your address, Ruby."

"Why did you say you'd think about his offer if you were insulted by it?" Charles asked. "Why didn't you immediately send him away?"

"Because at the time, I didn't know exactly what was going on. As far as I knew, Ruby was still in Leeds and had nothing to do with the Earl of Nash."

"That's why you went to find me and wrote that letter," Ruby said.

"Yes. Then I knew you'd left Leeds, and I had to assume you'd gone to your sister."

"And what made you decide to turn up here?" Charles asked.

Sidney grimaced. "Because Mr. Simms came to find me, wanting an answer."

"Five thousand pounds is a lot of money." Charles sipped his tea. "I should imagine you could do a great deal to aid your cause with such a sum."

"I have no intention of taking it, Dr. Nash." Sidney glared at him. "I simply wished to understand why the offer was made in the first place."

"How very worthy of you." Charles didn't bother to try and hide the skepticism on his face.

"I am aware of the reasons why you might not like me, Dr. Nash, but I can assure you that I would never betray Ruby or my child."

"Surely you betrayed her by leaving her to fend for herself in Leeds?"

"Charles…" Ruby tried to intervene.

"Or did it not occur to you that with no wage coming in and no ability to earn one, Ruby and Nora would starve to death?"

"I offered her a choice , Dr. Nash. She chose to stay behind," Sidney said calmly. "She is an independent being, capable of making her own decisions."

"She had just had your child. How in God's name did you expect her to survive? On air? On your elevated and totally useless ideology ?"

Sidney said nothing.

"You believed Ruby should follow you adoringly around the country with a newborn at her breast, enduring whatever conditions were thrown at her?" Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Other women do so," Sidney said. "Women work twelve-hour shifts at the mill with their babies strapped to their chests."

"I know what women are capable of. I see it every day in my work," Charles snapped. "But implying in your ‘holier than thou' way that Ruby somehow failed you by not being willing to follow you is ridiculous." He turned to Ruby. "He offered you no choice, my dear."

She raised her chin. "Can we get back to the matter in hand? What can we do about this blackmailing scheme orchestrated by your father?"

There was a lot more Charles wanted to say about the matter, but he'd prefer to say it when Sidney wasn't present.

He took a deep breath, took a slug of tea, and turned back to Sidney. "How long do you have before Mr. Simms demands a final answer?"

"Two days."

"Do you have somewhere to stay in Millcastle?"

Charles didn't miss the swift glance Sidney gave Ruby before he replied. "I can find lodgings if necessary."

"If Ruby doesn't mind, you can stay in our spare room." He looked at his wife and she nodded, if a little stiffly. "I'd like you close at hand."

"Do you have a plan?" Sidney asked.

"The glimmerings of one." Charles rose to his feet. "I need to go and speak to Francis. I promise I'll be back in time for dinner, my dear."