Chapter Seven
Verina was sitting with Tia, both women working on embroidery. Verina had packed a tablecloth when she left home, a project she had been working on for months now. She thought by the time Mama arrived in December that it would finally be finished. Tia worked on a sampler for Hugo’s office.
Since Justina refused to pick up a needle, she had volunteered to go to the kitchens to check with Cook regarding the food they would be taking with them to the tenants’ cottages.
They would be leaving in half an hour, and Justina had said she would see the wagon loaded.
Tables had already been brought to the area for the wives to begin setting out food as their men worked on the new roofs for several cottages.
Though she didn’t want to think about him, all Verina could picture was the Duke of Reddington, his coat and waistcoat discarded, his sleeves rolled up, revealing muscular forearms. She couldn’t help herself.
Despite his inappropriate remark after their ride, all she had thought about was the duke.
Why, she couldn’t say. She had felt out of sorts ever since that day.
Even Justina had asked what was wrong with her.
“Ouch!” she said, pricking the pad of her finger with her needle. Quickly, she pulled her hand away from the tablecloth, not wishing to have drops of blood stain it. She sucked on her finger a moment, trying to draw the blood from the small puncture.
“You must be woolgathering,” her cousin said. “I find sometimes I do that when I pick up my needle. The motion of moving up and down tends to lull me. And I—”
Tia gasped, dropping her sampler, her hands flying to her mouth.
Her eyes grew round, and Verina knew her cousin was about to be sick.
Quickly, she leapt to her feet, dashing to retrieve a vase.
Ripping the flowers from it, she hurried back to where Tia sat and held it close to her.
Tia placed her hands over Verina’s and yanked the open end of the vase to her mouth, spewing into it.
Then she released Verina and sat back, her head falling to the back of the settee.
Worry filled her. “You became sick so suddenly, Tia. Shall I send for the doctor?”
Lifting her head, Tia shook it. She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed her mouth. “No. There is no need to do so. I am not truly ill.”
Verina set the vase on the ground, the putrid smell rising from it, making her feel a little queasy. “I do not understand.”
“I did not myself. Until this morning. It struck me that my courses had ceased.” Tia paused. “I am with child, Verina.”
“Oh!”
Tia dabbed her lips again. “Lia—and Ariadne—had already told me some of the signs. A sudden nausea can be part of it. Why, Ariadne was so ill when she carried Penelope that she had chamber pots placed in every room. And even on the landings of the staircase!”
“Why do you become sick?” she asked, fascinated now since she knew nothing about how a woman came to be with child, other than it had something to do with lying with your husband.
Mama had addressed the topic with her a few months ago, telling Verina that before she made her come-out, they would have a long talk about men, women, and the making of babes.
Her cousin shrugged. “I am not certain why. Maybe it is because the babe is something new inside me, and my body is having to get used to it being there, growing and taking up room. Ariadne told me most women have bouts of nausea during the first few months they are increasing. Sometimes, you feel ill. Sometimes, you actually lose anything you have eaten. She said it is worse in the mornings upon arising. Now, I understand why I have been so tired and out of sorts.”
“Have you told Hugo yet?”
“No, I was waiting to be certain, but after what happened just now, I know I must be increasing. Lia, too, has told me about being ill. She also said her breasts grew tender early on, and mine have grown the same way these past two days.” Tia smiled. “Hugo is going to be so pleased.”
She placed her hand over her cousin’s. “He will be. I think the two of you are going to be wonderful parents.” She paused. “Do you wish for a son—or daughter?”
“I could not say. This is all so new to me. Getting used to the idea that I carry a babe within me is . . . hard to think about. Of course, Lia is due to give birth in mid-November.” Tia paused. “Shall I share a secret with you?”
“Please do so,” Verina encouraged. “I will keep it.”
“Lia thinks she is carrying twins,” Tia confided.
“It makes sense since we are twins, and they are said to run within families. Lia told me that she has grown quite large, much larger than usual. The midwife also believes that she is carrying two babes. If that is the case, she may deliver earlier. I pray for her health and the babes each night.”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you both had twins?”
“I will think about that later.” Sadness filled Tia’s face. “Oh, I wish I could be with Lia at this time. I know Rupert is with her every step of the way, but we have always done everything together.”
“Lia will bring her babe—or babes—to town next Season, won’t she? We have been told that is the family tradition, one which Ariadne has started.”
“Yes, Hugo already knows about it. Since Lia and I are living so far apart, it is impractical to visit one another. Meeting in town each spring, and bringing our children along, will be the ideal way to spend time together, as well as allow our children to get to know one another. Their other cousins, too. Just think of all the fun we would have had if our parents had brought all of us to town for the Season each year.”
“I would have liked that. Especially after Papa and Lucius were gone. Though I had Justina—and Tray would come home from school each June—it was always a bit lonely when Mama was gone for months at a time. She has always looked eagerly to going to town each spring, especially since she is so close with Aunt Alice.”
“Yes, Mama so appreciated when Aunt Agnes came to stay with us after Papa’s death. She had your mother, and Lia and I had you and Justina to help us through that time, as well.”
Verina hugged Tia. “Thank you for sharing your news with me. I will not tell a soul. Not even Justina.”
“I promise you will not have to keep the secret for long. I plan to tell Hugo tonight when we are alone. Then I will share it with Justina. I think I will keep the news to only that small group for a while. I know sometimes things can go wrong in the early months. Lucy told me to wait until I believed I was three months along, and then I should tell all the cousins.”
“That is a sound plan,” she agreed. “In the meantime, you should see the midwife. She might be able to tell you more, especially when your babe might be arriving.”
“That is a good idea, Verina. But I will write to Lia and tell her of my news. Even if things go astray, I want her to know what is happening with me.”
“Do you feel well enough to go and serve food?”
Tia laughed. “Actually, now that I have emptied my belly, I feel as normal.” She paused. “I did not like the smell of the fish last night, though. I may have to avoid fish for the near future. We shall see. This is all a new experience to me.”
Verina chuckled. “I plan to learn what I can from you. While Mama has promised to discuss these matters with me, something tells me I shall learn more about the entire experience from you.” She picked up the vase.
“Let me go and rinse this and replace the flowers which are strewn about. If Justina sees them this way, she will certainly know something is afoot.”
Quickly, she took the vase with her and cleaned it, returning to Tia’s parlor and rearranging the flowers. Less than a minute later, Justina returned, her cheeks pink.
“I have been helping load the food baskets into the wagon. It is time to go. I asked for your spencers and bonnets to be brought downstairs,” Justina told them.
“Is the wagon full?” asked Tia.
“There is room for one of us to sit in the bed. Another can drive the wagon, and the last of us can share the driver’s bench.”
“I think I shall play the lady of luxury and sit in the wagon bed,” Tia volunteered.
“Then I am happy to drive,” Justina said.
They slipped into their spencers and bonnets and cut through the kitchens. A footman helped Tia into the wagon, and another one assisted the Fulton sisters onto the driver’s bench. Justina took up the reins.
“I am glad we rode the estate with Hugo and His Grace,” her sister said. “I have a good idea how to get where we are going because of that.”
The day was chilly, but thankfully, there was no wind.
They reached the area where the tenants resided, and Verina saw the tables already set up.
Some of them bore dishes of food, and women were bringing more from their cottages.
Justina stopped the wagon, and they had abundant help in taking the food they had brought and setting it out.
Verina made certain to assist Tia from the wagon, and her cousin said, “I am not some delicate creature, though my condition is considered delicate. I hope to continue to walk and ride for as long as I can.”
“Let me know if you tire while we are serving the food,” she said. “You mustn’t overexert yourself.”
“I know.” Tia sighed. “Once Hugo finds out, he is going to hover over me like a mother hen does her chicks.” Then she smiled. “And I will enjoy every minute of his attention.”
Now that the food had been situated, Verina’s eyes turned to the work at hand. Her eyes skimmed the rooftops.
And landed upon the Duke of Reddington.
He was much as she had imagined. Though the day was cold, he had removed both coat and waistcoat. His cravat had also been discarded, leaving his throat exposed. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, and even from a distance, she saw his beautiful forearms.
Bloody hell. A man wasn’t supposed to be beautiful. Especially his forearms.