Kent's Orphans: The Prisoner Part 6

She turned. His forehead was pressed into the bedpost as he struggled to stay on his feet, and his face was drawn with pain. Concern tore through her, instantly dousing both her ardor and her fear. All through the night she had tended this man, constantly worrying that he might suddenly succ.u.mb to his injuries. He was still extremely ill and weak. There might well have been blood leaking into the inner depths of his body as he stood there.

How could she even consider making him leave in such a state-especially when he seemed to be doing so out of concern for her?

"Please get back into bed, Lord Redmond."

Haydon regarded her warily. "So you can call Constable Drummond back and have him drag me out of here?"

"Because you look as though you are about to faint and I don't think I can lift you by myself."

"I cannot stay here."

"You're right, you cannot. But neither can you leave here in your current state. At this point you can barely stand, so I hardly think you're well enough to manage on your own. Which leaves us with the only logical choice, getting you back into bed."

He shook his head. "If the police come here-"

"There is no reason to think that the police will return," Genevieve pointed out. "Constable Drummond wanted to speak with Jack, and he learned nothing from that conversation except that Jack despises everyone and has no desire to help the authorities. Since there was nothing to be found in the coach house, and there are many other places that need to be searched, I suspect the police will be too busy to come back here."

Haydon leaned heavily against the bedpost, forcing his breath to come in small, measured gulps. His skull felt as if it were about to split open with pain, nausea was churning his stomach into a vortex, and every breath put almost excruciating pressure on his bruised and broken ribs. If he somehow managed to hobble out the door of this house, he had no idea how he would even make it down the street, much less where he would go with the entire town now looking for him.

The idea of simply sinking into a soft mattress and closing his eyes was extremely appealing.

"Please, Lord Redmond." Genevieve stepped forward, peeled back the rumpled blankets of the bed, then smoothed down the sheets with quick, expert strokes. When the linens were arranged to her satisfaction, she regarded him solemnly. "You will be safe here. I promise."

"How do I know you're not just going to bring Constable Drummond back here to arrest me as I sleep?"

"I give you my word that I will not."

He made no move to lie down. "Why should you want to help me?"

She could not blame him for not trusting her. None of her children had trusted her when they first came into her care, except for Jamie, of course, who had been a mere infant. Trust, Genevieve had learned, was a delicate, elusive thing that could neither be summoned nor given simply because someone demanded it.

"You helped Jack, and Jack is now a part of my family," she explained. "Consider it a debt of grat.i.tude."

He shook his head, unconvinced. "Anyone would have done what I did."

"You're wrong." Her voice was taut. "To most people around here, Jack is nothing more than a common thief and a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, who deserves every agonizing stroke of his thirty-six lashes, and all the hunger and misery he can endure in prison. Many even wish that he would just disappear altogether. There isn't another man in all of Inveraray who would dream of fighting on his behalf-especially a t.i.tled gentleman like yourself." She stared at him a long moment, studying the rugged beauty of his battered body, and the lines of exhaustion etched into his face. "But you chose to risk yourself to help him," she continued quietly. "And because of that, Lord Redmond, I am choosing to help you."

"You are placing yourself in danger by doing so," he reminded her.

"I know."

Her eyes were wide and velvety, and her pale cheeks were charmingly flushed. The mouth that a few moments earlier had been set in a flat, disapproving line was now imploringly curved. Her loveliness reached out to him like a gentle caress, drawing him nearer to her.

"I will only stay long enough to regain my strength," he finally relented.

"Of course."

He moved slowly toward her, awkwardly holding the swath of plaid around his hips. Genevieve reached out and placed her hand upon his arm, thinking only to steady him as he lowered himself onto the bed. The heat of his flesh seeped into her palm, making her feel flushed once more. The moment he was lying down she relinquished her hold.

"You must rest a while," she instructed, careful not to so much as graze his skin as she briskly arranged the blankets over him. "I will have Eunice prepare a tray for you."

"I am not hungry."

"Even so, you must eat."

Haydon closed his eyes. "Perhaps later."

His brow was lined with weariness and pain and his jaw was clenched. Genevieve turned away and drew the curtains. It would be easier for him to rest if the room was darkened. After she left him she would go downstairs and have Eunice prepare some broth and toasted bread for him, she decided. He might not want to eat, but the lack of nourishment would only make him weaker than- "I would never hurt you."

She turned and stared at him in surprise.

"Not you, nor any of your children," he continued, regarding her seriously. "I give you my word, Miss MacPhail." Without waiting for her response, he closed his eyes once more.

Genevieve remained where she was, watching as he drifted into a deep, uneasy sleep.

And then she hurried from the room, knowing well that despite Lord Redmond's feverish a.s.surances, his very presence had already placed her and the children in grave danger.

Chapter Four.

BY THE TOES OF SAINT ANDREW, THERE'S NAE worse task in the world than gutting a stinkin' slippery fish," complained Oliver, wrinkling his nose with distaste.

"If ye'd gripe less and gut more, the job would be nigh done by now," chided Eunice. She scooped a slippery pile of gla.s.sy-eyed fish heads into a bucket of cold water, then plunged her arms in up to her elbows and briskly began to rinse the bobbing faces clean.

"Ye can scarce expect a man to nae complain when he's been forced into doin' a woman's work," Oliver retorted, sawing fiercely at a hapless haddock's head. "I'm sure ye'd have somethin' to say if I told ye to go out back and chop a pile of wood, or lay the fires, or clean the silver."

"Ye've not chopped a piece of wood in three days-not since ye discovered 'twas the only ch.o.r.e Jack would do without twisting his face into a black knot," Doreen pointed out, as she vigorously sc.r.a.ped the skin off a carrot. "Ye've got Jamie and Simon fightin' over which of them can have the fun of layin' the fire next, and just yesterday ye convinced the la.s.sies that if they set to work polishin' the few silver pieces Miss Genevieve has left, they would no doubt conjure up one of them magic genies Annabelle was reading about in one of her fairy tales. I've never seen the silver gleam so bright." She gave him a look of mock disapproval.

"I was just tryin' to let the wee ones have a little fun," Oliver protested innocently.

"Ye were tryin' to get them to do your work," Eunice countered. "Now, I've nae objection to ye teaching the children to do ch.o.r.es, but seeing as there's little for ye to do today and I'm up to my ears in fish heads and sheep's pluck, I see no reason why ye canna help Doreen and me put three meals on the table and take some food up to his lordship besides. Sweet Saint Columba, I've never known a man to eat as much as he does," she marveled, tossing the shimmering fish heads into an enormous pot on the stove. "Been here just three days and already he's finished off two pots of broth, four loaves of bread, a dozen bannocks, three pans of tatties with onions, and an entire boiled haggis." She doused the heads with a jug of fresh water.

"'Tis a good sign that he's hungry," Doreen remarked, attacking another carrot. "It means that he's farin' better."

"If he eats like this when he's feelin' poorly, I scarce want to think about what he'll eat when he's well." Eunice dropped a few sprigs of parsley into the soup pot and covered it, then checked the pot in which a sheep's lungs, heart, liver, and windpipe were simmering. Satisfied that everything was faring well, she went to the table and continued rolling out the oatcakes she planned to cook on the flat, cast-iron griddle heating over the fire. "Between his lordship and Jack, there will be nothing left in the larder by week's end."

"Now, Eunice, ye know 'tis just because they're newly released from prison," said Oliver. "We've all felt what it is to have hunger gnawing at our bellies in that foul place. I can still remember when Miss Genevieve first brought me here." His mouth curved in an affectionate smile. "She sat me down at this very table and served me a dish of your fine rabbit stew with dumplings. Upon my soul, I thought I had died and entered the gates of heaven." He scooped the purple-and-gray guts out of another fish.

"And so ye had," said Eunice, banging her rolling pin against a mound of dough. "There's few who could ever resist one of my stews. Lord Dunbar always used to say 'twas my cooking that made the dinner parties he and his wife were so fond of giving among the most sought after invitation in all of Inveraray."

"Aye, I'm sure it was." Doreen's voice was edged with anger. "A pity he couldn't see his way to payin' ye a decent wage for all yer years of hard work."

"Well, he's the one sufferin' for it now," remarked Eunice, pummeling her dough into a thin sheet. "Miss Genevieve told me she'd heard that Lord Dunbar had dismissed yet another cook, apparently for serving a tainted chicken that made every one of his fancy guests violently ill. Poor Lady Barclay didn't even make it out the door before spewin' up the rotten meal all over Lord Dunbar's shiny new shoes."

The three burst into laughter.

"Forgive me for interrupting."

Startled, they looked up to see Haydon standing in the doorway, naked except for the plaid from his bed.

It was a combination of restlessness and boredom that had finally roused him. His fever gone and his body healing, he had started to find the confines of Genevieve's pleasant, tidily arranged chamber almost as stifling as his prison cell. It was with some effort that he managed to hoist himself off the soft mattress and onto his aching legs, but once his initial dizziness had waned, he found that he did not feel so weak after all.

Encouraged, he went to the wardrobe in search of his clothes. Upon discovering nothing beyond a few modest gowns and some carefully folded mounds of feminine undergarments, he decided that the plaid from the bed would have to suffice. He draped it clumsily around his waist and then, not quite knowing what to do with the extra fabric, tossed it carelessly over his shoulder, thinking it would serve until something better could be found.

"Your pardon, ladies," he said, seeing by their wide-eyed stare that he had shocked them with his state of undress. "I'm afraid I was unable to find my clothes."

"That's because we burned them, laddie," Oliver informed him cheerfully. "Miss Genevieve didna want to risk having anyone find a prison uniform lyin' about."

Haydon vaguely remembered Genevieve making some mention of this. His senses were suddenly overwhelmed by the spicy sweet fragrances wafting through the kitchen air. He looked longingly at the pots simmering on the stove. It had been over two hours since he finished the bread and broth Genevieve had brought up to him, and he was extremely hungry. "Is that meat cooking?"

"It's sheep's pluck," Eunice replied, "but it's not cooked yet. I'll be mincing it fine and making haggis from it once it's boiled and cooled. It'll be ready by dinnertime."

"What about the other pot?" Haggis was fine and well, but Haydon was looking for something a little more substantial.

"Steer far from that one, laddie," warned Oliver, chuckling, "unless ye can stomach the sight of a lot o' beady little eyes starin' up at ye."

Haydon's stomach lurched. Just what the h.e.l.l had been in all the soup he had consumed since coming here? "You're cooking eyes?"

"It's fish heads," Eunice said, casting Oliver a disgruntled look. "I'm making ye a lovely fish soup. I thought 'twould make a nice change."

"That's very thoughtful of you." Haydon was almost certain that if he faced one more bowl of broth he would retch. "Do you happen to have some roasted beef, or perhaps some glazed chicken?" His mouth began to water in antic.i.p.ation.

"I'm afraid not," Eunice said, shaking her head. "It's Thursday."

Haydon was perplexed. "Thursday?"

"No meat left on Thursday," explained Doreen. "Except, of course, the pluck."

"I see," said Haydon, although in fact he did not.

"Tonight we'll be havin' fried haddock and haggis with tatties and peas," Eunice elaborated, sensing his confusion. "Then tomorrow night it'll be my fish soup. On Sat.u.r.day I'll be seein' if I can't find a nice piece of cheap beef to cook in the pot with parsnips, cabbage, and potatoes. Sunday I'll have made stew and dumplings with whatever is left, and on Monday I'll have turned that stew into a rich soup. By Tuesday I'll be shopping for a piece of meat again, and maybe I'll find some neck cutlets of lamb or perhaps an oxtail that the butcher is willing to part with for a fair price. Whatever it is, it'll have to be made to feed ten people-eleven, includin' yourself-over three days. And that's why there's no meat left on Thursday night-we always finish whatever I started cooking on Tuesday by today's luncheon."

Haydon was utterly unfamiliar with the workings of his own staff and kitchen, and quite accustomed to being served a selection of freshly prepared fish and meat dishes three times a day. The idea of having to buy cheap cuts of meat and then stretch one meal into another was completely foreign to him.

Eunice took pity as she saw disappointment clouding his handsome face. "But that doesn't mean ye'll be going hungry, milord-there'll be fresh oatcakes in just a few minutes, and I've some sweet b.u.t.ter and sharp cheese to go with it. That should tide ye over nicely 'til dinnertime."

"Why don't ye sit down on that chair while ye're waitin', lad," suggested Oliver, who had just finished decapitating his last victim. "Ye look like ye're nigh ready to fall down anyway."

Haydon adjusted his plaid as he seated himself. Cheese and oatcakes would have to do, he supposed, until the haggis and haddock were ready. "Where is Miss MacPhail?"

"Taken the children to see the paintings," said Doreen. "She likes to take them to an art gallery once a week."

"The la.s.s thinks it's good for them to see art." Oliver furrowed his white brows in bafflement as he rinsed his fish corpses in a tub. "Says it helps them to see the world around them, or some such blather."

"I don't know why they need to look at paintings for that," said Eunice, greasing the surface of the griddle with a piece of suet wrapped in muslin. She slapped her oatcakes onto the griddle's glossy surface. "All they need do is open their eyes. They'd be better off here, learnin' how to make a decent clootie dumpling, or helping me to wash the linens."

"Ye say that because ye once lived in a fine house that was full of paintings, Eunice," Doreen countered. "But until Miss Genevieve took me to that gallery, I scarcely knew such pretty things existed. Miss Genevieve wants the children to see that there's more to the world than what they'll find here-like great ships and angels and battles and such."

"Angels indeed," huffed Eunice, watching as her oatcakes began to brown and crisp. "Flyin' about half-naked with their bare bosoms out for all the world to see-it's plain disgraceful, to my way of thinking, and certainly not a fitting sight for children."

"How many children does Miss MacPhail have?" asked Haydon curiously.

"There's six of them now, including Jack," replied Doreen. "Three boys and three girls."

"Are any of them actually hers?" Although Genevieve was unmarried and exuded an aura of s.e.xual innocence, it occurred to Haydon that she could still be the mother of at least one of her brood.

Oliver's eyes crinkled with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Well, lad, if ye'd ask her that question she'd tell ye flat that they are all hers, and make no mistake about it. But if ye're askin' how many of them has she actually borne, the answer is none of them."

"She might as well have borne Jamie," observed Eunice, banging a plate with three golden oatcakes and a wedge of cheese before Haydon. "She's cared for him since he was but hours old."

"Aye, and a fine job she's done of it too," declared Doreen loyally. "If not for her, the poor lad would be dead-and no one would have cared a whit."

Haydon cut himself a chunk of cheese and balanced it on a warm oatcake. "Why is that?"

"Jamie is the b.a.s.t.a.r.d of Miss Genevieve's dead father, Viscount Brynley, and one of his maids," explained Oliver. "No one here cares about a maid's b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"Surely Genevieve's father cared," Haydon protested.

"He was dead long before the bairn arrived," replied Eunice. "I suppose had he lived, he might have made provisions for poor Cora and wee James."

"Or he might have just turned her out with a few quid and told her it wasn't his problem," Doreen countered angrily. "Men can be all pretty words and kisses when they're tryin' to find their way under a la.s.s's skirts, but they start singin' a different tune quick enough the minute they discover they've left somethin' growin' in there."

"A pretty thing, Cora was," reflected Eunice, "with hair like fire and laughing eyes. I was working for Lord Dunbar then, and I used to see her sometimes down at the market. 'Tis no surprise the viscount took her to his bed."

"I expect 'twas a bit of a surprise for Miss Genevieve's stepmother to discover that her maid was carryin' her husband's bairn after he died," mused Doreen. "Tossed Cora out on her ear, she did, with nothing but a swollen belly and the clothes on her back."

"'Twas quite a scandal at the time," said Eunice, laying more cakes on the griddle. "Everyone in Inveraray could talk of nothing else. Of course, no respectable household would take the poor la.s.s in. And so she left. Most folk thought she had family that she could go to, but if she did, they dinna let her stay, for a few weeks later she was back again, round as a melon with no work and no money. And then she stole some apples and a bun, and she was sentenced to two months in jail."

Haydon paused in his eating, appalled. "They put a pregnant girl in jail for stealing some apples?"

"Makes ye wonder about what they call justice, don't it, laddie?" Oliver shook his head in disgust.

"What happened then?"

"Well, Cora knew Miss Genevieve had a soft heart, and so she sent word to her," continued Eunice. "And when Miss Genevieve went, Cora begged her forgiveness, and asked her if she could see it in her heart to take the bairn when it was born."

"How could Genevieve take the child if she was dependent upon her stepmother's charity?" wondered Haydon.

"She couldn't. And that's what she told poor Cora. Miss Genevieve was scarcely eighteen years old at the time, and was betrothed to the Earl of Linton. Her father had arranged the match afore he died, and because he believed her future was secure, he hadn't taken the precaution of leavin' her any money. He did give her this house an' a few paintings and such-perhaps in the hope that they might be pa.s.sed down to his future grandchildren. Miss Genevieve's stepmother got all the money."

"Miss Genevieve told Cora that the minute she got out of jail she would help her to find a position," said Oliver, who was now hacking Doreen's carrots into uneven chunks. "And then Cora would be able to work and look after the bairn herself."

"Don't forget, at that time, Miss Genevieve was young and had scarce notion of what life was like for those not of her station," explained Doreen, anxious to defend her mistress for her ignorance. "Nor had she any ken of how much work a bairn could be. She probably thought it would just sleep all day while Cora did a few easy ch.o.r.es."