Chapter 21

CHAPTER21

Jacob dropped down out of the horse’s saddle and turned to face the house before him. The Duke of Elbridge’s manor was a grand one indeed, rather imposing in its age and height as it dominated the landscape of parkland and woodland around it. Facing the house, Jacob adjusted the tight collar and cravat around his throat.

The weather had turned dark and drizzly. The rain fell from the sky persistently, running off Jacob’s top hat and down the shoulders of his tailcoat, though he made no effort to run out of the rain and shield himself from that dampness. Puddles grew around him on the gravel driveway and rain ran off the steps that led to the front door, like a waterfall.

“Sir? Sir?” One of the stable boys ran forward. Clearly not knowing who Jacob was, he addressed him formally and offered to take the reins. “Please, sir, hurry inside. I will take care of your horse.”

“Thank you.” Jacob nodded with appreciation to the boy, but still moved slowly toward the house with no sense of haste in his steps. He climbed the front steps and knocked slowly on the door, waiting in the rain for it to be answered.

The butler soon appeared and opened it wide, his eyes growing wide when he saw Jacob.

“Your Grace?” he exclaimed. “Goodness, come in out of the rain. Is there something I can get for you? Tea, perhaps? Something to warm you through.”

“Thank you. That is kind.” Jacob stepped inside and looked forlornly down at the puddles he had made. “I am sorry for…”

“Think nothing of it, Your Grace. Come, this way.” The butler kindly beckoned him toward the nearest room. “We have a fire going in this room. I shall leave you there whilst I summon the Duke and the Duchess.”

“Thank you.” Jacob followed the butler into a pleasantly decorated parlor. It was warm, with duck-egg blue cushions and white furnishings, mixed with mahogany tables and sideboards around the space.

He chose a wooden chair so he would not damage the cushions and sat close to the fire, shrugging off his tailcoat as he tried to warm up. He didn’t have to wait long for the Duke of Elbridge to appear.

He came striding through the door first, his lips parted in fear.

“What’s happened? Is there something wrong?” He reached for Jacob. “Is it Emily?”

“What? No.” Jacob shook his head as he stood to bow, realizing how much fear it must have caused his brother-in-law to come riding to the estate in such an estate, willing to face the rain. “Forgive me for appearing like this, but there is something I wished to talk to you and your wife about.”

“She is coming.” The Duke of Elbridge took Jacob’s shoulder and steered him back closer to the fire. “You’re soaked. You’ll make yourself sick riding in weather like this.”

“Oh, I’m well enough.” The words felt wrong on his tongue as Jacob halted by the mantelpiece. Over the fire was a great mirror, and flickering his eyes toward it, he once again saw the bloodshot state of his eyes.

I look worse than I did this morning.

He brushed his hair back from his forehead, noting how pale his skin was and the shadows under his eyes.

“What has happened?” a familiar voice called from the doorway.

Jacob turned to see the Duchess of Elbridge had arrived, but she was not alone. In her arms was her son, and beside her was Lady Bridget. Jacob bowed to them each in turn, deciding that it was right both of Emily’s sisters were here for such a conversation. At least then perhaps he could impress upon them all the seriousness of this discussion.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Emily is perfectly well, I just needed to speak to you all.”

“Then sit, rest.” The Duke of Elbridge gestured to the chair Jacob had temporarily vacated. “Tea is on its way.”

When the tea arrived, he found a cup pushed into his hands by the Duchess, who insisted that he drank it quickly in order to warm him through. He was restless, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and turning the cup repeatedly around in its saucer.

The Duchess and Lady Bridget sat nearby on a rococo settee, with the boy now resting in Lady Bridget’s arms, sleeping peacefully. The Duke pulled up another chair to sit beside Jacob instead, with his arms folded and his eyes narrowed.

“What is it then, Your Grace? To come all this way in this weather, you must have something serious to say.”

“I have something to plead, from you all.” He looked around the room before his eyes settled once more on the Duke. “You remember once before I asked you to take care of Emily? You vowed to look out for her if she needed any assistance.”

“That I did. It is a promise I intend to keep.” The Duke of Elbridge slowly nodded and took the teacup that his wife proffered. “I take my wedding vows seriously, as I do my loyalty to the family.”

“Why would she need taking care of?” the Duchess asked, her voice sharp with interest.

Jacob looked briefly toward the Duchess, noting she had a similar curious expression to Emily, with a small line appearing deep within her brow. They shared the same astuteness, that familiar perceptiveness.

“If something were ever to happen to me…” Jacob halted and shifted once more, turning the cup in its saucer with his knee bobbing up and down. “I need to know she would have you all beside her.”

“We would never leave our sister’s side,” the Duchess declared firmly, her voice deepening. Lady Bridget nodded, agreeing with her words.

“Yet what would happen to you?” the Duke asked, his head tilting to the side. “This is strange. You have already asked me to watch out for Emily once, now you come in this state and ask the same thing of me again, yet in a more serious tone. What do you mean by this, Your Grace?”

Jacob was reluctant to answer. He stared down into the fire, knowing he couldn’t say exactly what was on his mind. Such worries had not gone down well and tended to get one of two reactions. He feared a reaction like his mother’s, one with far too much concern and panic, just as he feared a reaction like Seth’s—dismissive.

“It is simply that I fear for what could happen,” Jacob did his best to explain without going into detail. “One never knows what is around the next corner, and I do not like to think that if something were to happen to me that Emily would be left to deal with it alone.”

“She wouldn’t be alone. Ever.” The Duchess smiled a little at the words.

“Thank you.” Jacob took comfort in the Duchess’s resolution. Inhaling deeply, he found a small weight lifted from his shoulders. He took a deep gulp from the tea and sat back in his chair, looking at the flames of the fire once more. “There are things that should be known, I suppose. If something were to happen.”

“What do you mean?” The Duke of Elbridge seemed to have abandoned his tea and focused completely on Jacob’s words.

“I have two estates, the one in London and one in Wiltshire. I can arrange for their details to be drawn up by my steward. I have many tenants as well. The bloodline is limited, so in terms of things being entailed away, the chance is minimal. I fear a lot of the responsibility would be endowed on Emily.”

“Goodness, what is all this talk?” the Duchess said suddenly, sitting forward. “Your Grace, it sounds as if you are preparing for the very worst possible outcome. As if you knew you were to be hit by a horse and cart later today!” Her impassioned voice drew his attention.

With his eyes on her, he compared her once again to Emily.

He found he missed Emily’s green eyes, the eagerness of her conversation, and the excitement of her company. She was hard to turn away from, and he hated himself for doing it. He was so torn, so conflicted in wondering if what he was doing was for the best, that staring at the Duchess was an unnerving reminder of the woman he was ignoring at home.

“Your Grace?” she said, leaning forward, clearly trying to rouse an answer from him.

“It is nothing.” He shook his head and downed what was left in his cup. “If you would excuse me, I should leave you now. I have trespassed on your kindness too long this morning.” He stood and placed the teacup down on the silver tray nearby, moving toward the door.

“Goodness. You are leaving so soon?” the Duchess asked, standing to follow him, yet there was another that chased after him much faster. The Duke of Elbridge trailed him through the corridors, heading to the front door.

“Yes, I must,” Jacob said hurriedly.

“At least wait for the worst of the rain to pass,” the Duke of Elbridge pleaded. “You would not want to make yourself ill.”

There is an irony to such a statement.

Jacob didn’t hesitate to open the front door and stride down the steps, hurrying across the courtyard toward the stable beyond. The Duke of Elbridge followed him, his own being soon sodden by the rain.

“Go back inside, Your Grace. It’s wet out here,” Jacob urged with a wave of his hand.

“I could say precisely the same thing to you, though it seems it would do little good.” The Duke of Elbridge caught his arm just as they entered the stable. Jacob was forced to turn swiftly around, to face the Duke once again. “Tell me the truth now, whilst we are away from my wife and sister-in-law.” His voice dropped to a low hissing whisper, his eyes darting restlessly, betraying his fears. “Your health… are you completely well?”

“That is a question I have never been able to answer clearly,” Jacob muttered and moved to the side of the stable where the stable boy was brushing down his horse. “Thank you.” He gave a coin to the boy for his trouble and pulled himself into the saddle, intent on leaving at once.

“Have you seen a doctor?” the Duke of Elbridge stood in the way, blocking his path so he could not escape. “Do you know what is wrong?”

“It is nothing.” Jacob shook his head, reluctant to elaborate on something that was based purely on his fears rather than any true fact. “Just let it be known that something may be amiss, and if there is, I do not want Emily left alone.”

“She won’t be.” The Duke of Elbridge moved to his side, no longer blocking the way, yet the depth and earnestness of his tone kept Jacob in his place. “Look, Your Grace. Coming in this manner to the house is baffling indeed.” He sighed heavily. “Yet I see what you are so worried about here. If I can put you at ease at all, let it be this. If you were to be struck down by that horse and cart my wife has described tomorrow, I would ensure that Emily was not left alone. Her sisters and I will be there for her, no matter what.”

“Thank you. That is all I wished to have. Your earnest promise.”

“You have it.” The Duke of Elbridge offered his hand. Jacob lifted his hand from the reins and took the Duke’s palm, shaking it firmly, then he left, darting out of the stable and into the rain.

It was cold, with trickles running off his hat and down the back of his neck.

* * *

“Mother?”

Catarina sat in the garden room fussing over a set of cards. On the other side of the small table where she sat between palm trees was the healer woman she so relied upon these days. With a surprisingly easy smile, Catarina lifted her head in greeting him.

“Jacob?” She beckoned him further into the room. “Come, come. Tell me how your first few days with your wife have been.” She had returned to the house after staying with friends, mistakenly believing that she had given Jacob some privacy with his wife.

“Well enough,” he said tightly and crossed toward the table. He nodded his head in greeting to the healer woman who hurried to stand and curtsy. She was a rounded woman with a fair face for her age. The patterned gown she wore was cinched at her waist and she covered her shoulders with a thick shawl. A scent of rosemary and thyme wafted off her, hinting at the herbs she used so often in her trade. “Good day, Mistress Mayhew.”

“Good day, Your Grace.” She returned to her seat with Catarina.

“I’d like to ask you something, Mother.” Jacob reached for a chair between the palm trees and dragged it toward their small table of cards. He sat down beside his mother, trying to earn her attention.

She fidgeted constantly with the cards in front of her, then something strange happened. Mistress Mayhew took the cards from her, and to Jacob’s surprise, Catarina didn’t try to take them back again. She quite contently sat back in her chair and didn’t fidget but sat completely still.

Jacob paused, unsure what to say or feel as he observed the transformation. He looked at Mistress Mayhew who offered the smallest of smiles, showing she clearly knew what he had noticed.

It seems the healer is making a difference after all.

“I wish to ask you something,” he said to his mother, trying to begin this conversation again. “Now I am married, Mother, if anything were to happen to me—”

“But it shall not happen, shall it?” she said with sudden vigor, reaching for his hand. She clasped it tight, the ridges of her knuckles turning white. “The Doctor has said you are healthy, has he not?”

Jacob decided not to tell his mother about the bloodshot eyes.

“Yes,” he whispered. “Yet as with my father, one never knows what is around the corner.”

“No one does, sadly,” Mistress Mayhew said from the other side of the table. “Yet one can still live as if the sun will always come up tomorrow.” The rather poetic way she described it caught Jacob’s attention and he struggled to shift his focus back to his mother.

“Well, if the worst was to come around the corner,” he said slowly to his mother, “I wish you to take care of Emily, Mother. I have asked the same of her family, but I remember all too well how…” He broke off, thinking of his mother’s difficulties after his father had passed.

“I know.” She softened her hold on his hand. “It was not easy. Rest assured, my boy. If the worst was to happen, I would be there for Emily.” She smiled sadly. “I know what it feels like to lose the man I love. I would not want her to go through what I did.”

Jacob stiffened in his seat, thinking of the words his mother had used.

A man I love…

Emily had never told him she loved him, and he had no reason to consider that she did. Yet it bothered him now the words had been said and made him dwell on the memory of the way she had gazed at him in pure shock, her lips parting into a round ‘o’ when he had declared one of them should go to the country estate.

“Do not fear,” Catarina said softly. “Emily will be well looked after; I can promise you that.”

“Thank you.” Jacob slowly released his mother’s hand and sat back in his chair. He felt watched and angled his head around to see that Mistress Mayhew was watching him intently.

“Are you quite well, Your Grace?” she whispered. “There is nothing wrong, I hope?”

“Perfectly well, thank you.” He shrugged and leaned forward, ready to stand, but he noticed that she leaned forward too. She stared at his eyes, rather too intensely, and it made him shift in his seat.

She will see they are bloodshot.

“If you would excuse me, I shall leave you to your cards.” He stood from his chair and laid a soft hand on his mother’s shoulder before turning away. In the doorway, he glanced back to notice that Mistress Mayhew still stared at him, with obvious curiosity.

Gladly, Jacob closed the door behind him, shutting out the keenness of that stare. As he walked down the corridor, something that his mother had said still lingered with him, and it was something he could not shift.

Love…

He thought of the pain of thinking of Emily, even the agony of seeing her so upset with him for what he had done. There was only one answer for why it hurt him so much. Despite all his denials, and his refusals to be close to Emily, the truth took him by surprise as if he had been struck by it. It was a feeling he could not escape, the pain too strong, and the clarity of the thought as clear as water.

How is it possible that I have fallen in love with her?