wasn’t quite the deliverance you’d anticipated.
Though he’d never really fit in with his fellow army officers, still there had been the bond that comes from shared danger and privation and the knowledge that one is doing something important. As he sat in the darkened library, Tony had never felt more lonely.
His knee ached and his grumbling stomach reminded him of the dinner he’d not eaten at his club. Neither the beauties in Covent Garden’s Green Room nor the green baize tables of Pall Mall beckoned.
With a sigh, he limped to the shelves to find his favorite volume of Cicero. He could wait until morning for a meal; Betsy had doubtless already retired for the night, and he’d been hungry before.
Tomorrow he’d ride into the City to the solicitor’s office and finally discover just how low the Nelthorpe fortunes had fallen.
S HORTLY AFTER DAWN the following morning, the lure of Betsy’s fresh hot coffee and perhaps a bit of last night’s stew lured Tony down what still seemed an endless number of stairs to the kitchen. After leaning against the door while he caught his breath, he hobbled in and called a good morning to the rotund woman standing before the stove. “Ah, that coffee smells like the elixir of the gods!”
“Master, ye be up early this morn!” the cook said.
“Army habits are hard to break, I suppose.”
“No need for ye to clamber down all them stairs. If’n you was to have rung, I’da sent up your coffee.”
“But then I wouldn’t be able to try to charm you out of some toast to accompany it—or perhaps something from last night’s supper?”
“It ain’t fittin’ fer ye to be eatin’ here, not with ye a man grown, but no sense ye takin’ that leg up two flights of stairs. Sit ye at the table and I’ll have ye some kidneys, eggs and bacon ready in a trice.”
Once, Tony might have thought himself too important to take his porridge in the servants’ kitchen, but after reaching the Peninsula he’d eaten in much humbler venues. Gratefully he took the seat indicated. “What would I do without you to watch over me?”
“Haven’t I been doing so, ever since you sneaked down here begging more of my gingerbread when you wasn’t but a lad?” She sniffed, her brows creasing in disapproval. “Seein’s how them what shoulda watched ye seldom did. Besides, I’ll never be forgettin’ what you did for my da, may he rest in peace!”
Uncomfortable, Tony opened his lips to make some light remark, but the cook cut him off with a wave. “Nay, don’t go on about bein’ too castaway to remember all the blunt ye gave me for his medicines. For all yer seemin’ careless ways, ye’re not like him. ” Her face darkening,she jerked her chin toward the ceiling. “Ye may tell me I oughtn’t be sayin’ it, but say it I will! I woudda left last winter with the others and took Carstairs with me, too, save fer knowin’ sooner or later ye’d be comin’ home.”
As disturbed as he was touched by her confidence, Tony searched rather desperately for some teasing remark to defuse it. Don’t be looking at me as if I were some sort of savior, he wanted to shout.
“I…I’m afraid your confidence may be misplaced,” he said instead.
“Stood up to him last night, Baines said.” Betsy nodded approvingly. “’Tis the first step, Master Tony.”
“I shall certainly try to put things right, Betsy.”
She nodded again. “Well, here’s yer breakfast now, so tuck into it! Bye-the-bye, if’n ye is to need aught at any hour, ye just ring, and me or Sadie will see to it. Can’t be healing that leg on an empty stomach.”
He should know by now, Tony thought ruefully, that there was nothing one’s servants didn’t learn. He might have attempted a reproving reply, but at that moment Betsy placed in front of him a plate heaped high with such a delicious-smelling assortment of bacon, eggs, sausage and kidneys that his mouth was fully occupied watering in anticipation of that
Though he’d never really fit in with his fellow army officers, still there had been the bond that comes from shared danger and privation and the knowledge that one is doing something important. As he sat in the darkened library, Tony had never felt more lonely.
His knee ached and his grumbling stomach reminded him of the dinner he’d not eaten at his club. Neither the beauties in Covent Garden’s Green Room nor the green baize tables of Pall Mall beckoned.
With a sigh, he limped to the shelves to find his favorite volume of Cicero. He could wait until morning for a meal; Betsy had doubtless already retired for the night, and he’d been hungry before.
Tomorrow he’d ride into the City to the solicitor’s office and finally discover just how low the Nelthorpe fortunes had fallen.
S HORTLY AFTER DAWN the following morning, the lure of Betsy’s fresh hot coffee and perhaps a bit of last night’s stew lured Tony down what still seemed an endless number of stairs to the kitchen. After leaning against the door while he caught his breath, he hobbled in and called a good morning to the rotund woman standing before the stove. “Ah, that coffee smells like the elixir of the gods!”
“Master, ye be up early this morn!” the cook said.
“Army habits are hard to break, I suppose.”
“No need for ye to clamber down all them stairs. If’n you was to have rung, I’da sent up your coffee.”
“But then I wouldn’t be able to try to charm you out of some toast to accompany it—or perhaps something from last night’s supper?”
“It ain’t fittin’ fer ye to be eatin’ here, not with ye a man grown, but no sense ye takin’ that leg up two flights of stairs. Sit ye at the table and I’ll have ye some kidneys, eggs and bacon ready in a trice.”
Once, Tony might have thought himself too important to take his porridge in the servants’ kitchen, but after reaching the Peninsula he’d eaten in much humbler venues. Gratefully he took the seat indicated. “What would I do without you to watch over me?”
“Haven’t I been doing so, ever since you sneaked down here begging more of my gingerbread when you wasn’t but a lad?” She sniffed, her brows creasing in disapproval. “Seein’s how them what shoulda watched ye seldom did. Besides, I’ll never be forgettin’ what you did for my da, may he rest in peace!”
Uncomfortable, Tony opened his lips to make some light remark, but the cook cut him off with a wave. “Nay, don’t go on about bein’ too castaway to remember all the blunt ye gave me for his medicines. For all yer seemin’ careless ways, ye’re not like him. ” Her face darkening,she jerked her chin toward the ceiling. “Ye may tell me I oughtn’t be sayin’ it, but say it I will! I woudda left last winter with the others and took Carstairs with me, too, save fer knowin’ sooner or later ye’d be comin’ home.”
As disturbed as he was touched by her confidence, Tony searched rather desperately for some teasing remark to defuse it. Don’t be looking at me as if I were some sort of savior, he wanted to shout.
“I…I’m afraid your confidence may be misplaced,” he said instead.
“Stood up to him last night, Baines said.” Betsy nodded approvingly. “’Tis the first step, Master Tony.”
“I shall certainly try to put things right, Betsy.”
She nodded again. “Well, here’s yer breakfast now, so tuck into it! Bye-the-bye, if’n ye is to need aught at any hour, ye just ring, and me or Sadie will see to it. Can’t be healing that leg on an empty stomach.”
He should know by now, Tony thought ruefully, that there was nothing one’s servants didn’t learn. He might have attempted a reproving reply, but at that moment Betsy placed in front of him a plate heaped high with such a delicious-smelling assortment of bacon, eggs, sausage and kidneys that his mouth was fully occupied watering in anticipation of that
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