Chapter Fourteen
Returning to Milton House was a whirlwind. Jane and the driver carried Samuel through the front door, only to be met with a dozen or so maids, clerks, and the like, frantic to see their boss wet and nearly naked thanks to Jane forcing him to remove most of his wet clothes in the carriage.
Hot water was brought up to his room, where several maids frantically filled a bath.
Jane was forced to leave when he undressed, but after changing her own clothes, she returned to find him tucked into bed with Dr. Hall and Grace Sharpe standing at the foot of his bed, quietly discussing their diagnosis.
Jane knocked on the doorframe before entering. Grace turned and smiled to see her.
“Jane, there you are,” she said as she moved over to allow her some room. “Well, it seems fate once again forces our paths to meet.”
“You don’t believe in fate,” Dr. Hall murmured.
“Some people do, and it’s nice to connect with one’s patients,” she said, without giving him any attention. She leaned toward Jane. “May we talk in private?”
“Er, of course.” Jane followed her out of the room. Once the door shut, they waited for the bevy of maids to disperse before they continued. “Is everything all right with Mr. Milton?”
“Hm? Oh yes, of course. He’s got a bit of a fever, but I doubt with his constitution that he will be impeded for long.
” She glanced around before adding, “Although, I’d like you to keep an eye on him in case his fever turns.
Again, I have full faith in his recovery, as Mr. Milton isn’t often sick, but fevers like this could turn severe.
The man jumped into a freezing river, after all. ”
“Of course. I’ll look after him.”
“Good. Then I suppose we will see you at the ball?”
“Oh, yes.”
Grace smiled.
“Very good,” she said as she opened the bedroom door. “Dr. Hall, are you ready?”
“Yes,” he said, coming into the hallway.
He bowed his head. “An advisory. I gave him a healthy dose of laudanum just now, but I won’t be leaving any with him.
He has a slight fever, but I’m hoping the medicine will knock him out and that he can sleep through the worst of it.
He might not be quite himself over the next twenty minutes or so as it settles in. ”
“Thank you, doctor.”
He nodded. “Good day to you, Miss Atherton.”
“Good day,” Jane said as they left. Glancing behind her, she saw Samuel, lying in bed in an open collared shirt, with his wet hair brushed back, leaning against a mountain of white pillows.
She had never seen him more tempting, and all but floated back into his room, as if she were a moth and he were a flame. “An eventful day.”
“I’ll say.” He adjusted himself. “I hope I didn’t frighten you.”
“No. Well, you did, but I don’t think my fear was nearly as much as yours or that poor boy.” She shivered. “I can’t imagine being submerged in frozen water for a moment, let alone minutes.”
He shrugged.
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“It was exceedingly brave.”
“No, it wasn’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“Yes, it was.”
“No, it really wasn’t.” When she frowned, he seemed eager to explain. “I don’t want it to be seen as brave. I want it to be seen as the status quo.”
“How’s that?”
“If everyone in the city decided to help one another, in any situation, it would be a grand place. Hell, it would be the best place, better than it already is. I want others to see what I’m doing and expect it. I want them to expect it from each other too. Kindness shouldn’t be the exception.”
“Leading by example,” she said slowly. “You know, Mr. Milton, I think I was wrong to believe that you were a good man. I actually think you might be a great man.”
He laughed at that, and though she didn’t particularly care for his self-deprecating chuckle, she basked in it.
“Do great men go around kissing their employees?” Jane’s cheeks warmed and he appeared instantly regretful. “I’m sorry—”
“No. It’s fine. Actually, I was wondering about the same thing. I’ve wondered if it’s a habit of yours… Kiss ladies…”
“It most certainly is not.” He tried to sit up, but she came over and held her hand to his shoulder, which instantly stopped him.
“Please, don’t overexert yourself. Dr. Grace said you were to rest.”
“Is that what she said? Huh. Dr. Hall told me I should have stayed underwater.”
Jane’s eyes rounded.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing. Just a little friendly banter between old rivals, although it was hardly a rivalry.”
Jane looked at the door, then back at him.
“Do you mean Dr. Grace?”
He nodded.
“I do.”
“Is this about when you asked her to marry you?” she asked as she sat in a chair next to his bed.
“Yes. I met Miss Sharpe at the opera last year, and at the bizarre advice of Lady Belle, I thought to pursue her. Of course, she was already involved with Dr. Hall, though it was something of a secret. Still, I did at the behest of that old woman, and wouldn’t you know? I was rejected. Soundly.”
Jane frowned.
“Why would Belle suggest you court her then?”
“I was merely a pawn in her game. She wanted Grace and Dr. Hall to be together, seemingly aware of how well they suited. So, it was a setup, but one I was unaware that I was involved in.”
“That wasn’t very nice of Lady Belle. She should have considered your feelings.”
He shook his head.
“Grace was a fine woman, but I was more interested in her brain. I wanted her for my hospital, which I still might. But I wasn’t looking for a wife. I was looking for someone to head my project.”
“Oh. And have you ever wanted to find a wife?” He glanced at her and she swallowed. “I mean, do you see yourself ever getting married in the future?”
When he didn’t answer right away, Jane worried that she had been too familiar with him. He exhaled though, and continued.
“I’ve considered it, as any man has, I suppose. You get to a certain age, but then I realized it was probably a bad idea.”
That caught her attention. She leaned forward.
“A bad idea? How so?”
His dark mustache quirked slightly before he spoke.
“Has anyone ever mentioned to you my poor taste?” Jane’s face froze, and to her surprise, he chuckled. “It’s quite all right. I’m well aware that I’ve garish taste in things. But do you know why?”
“No,” she answered simply, refraining from mentioning that Grace Sharpe had instructed her to ask him about it. “Why do you have such bad taste?”
He smiled warmly at her, and Jane hated how her stomach flipped every time the corners of his eyes crinkled like they were doing just now.
“When I was a lad, maybe fifteen years old? I had the outrageous fortune of finding myself in the Duke of Argyll’s country estate for a weekend party.”
“How ever did you manage to get there?”
“A man I once worked for, Mr. Deem, had been invited for the weekend and had offered to bring me along as his valet. He didn’t have one at the time, but the Duke of Argyll did, and it was expected of his guests, I suppose.
Either way, Mr. Deem brought me along to see how the other side lived. And it was eye opening.”
“How so?”
“Just the sheer opulence of it all. The house, the décor, the clothing, the servants. It was a world that kings moved freely in. A world the likes of me were never meant to be a part of, unless I was a servant. But Mr. Deem was different. He was the second son of a second son and therefore had little chance of keeping his station in the peerage and thus had started his own company. A rather novel idea for the time. He could have simply retired to a smaller estate in the country and been a part of the landed gentry, but he wanted more. For Mr. Deem, an invitation to the Duke of Argyll’s home was the best life could get. ”
“But not for you?”
He glanced at her.
“No. Not for me. What was curious about that visit was that Mr. Deem was so unlike the businessman I knew him to be. He was meek and fawning, while the duke was crass and cruel. And it wasn’t just them.
Everyone in attendance that weekend had been so eager to please the duke, even though he treated everyone poorly. Particularly his wife.”
That stunned Jane.
“He was rude to the duchess? In front of guests?”
“No, it wasn’t so visible between them, but I saw it.
It’s easy to observe when everyone thinks you’re a servant.
” He winked at her and Jane wondered if the medicine was starting to take effect.
“The duchess was a frightening woman, tall and thin, but I remember seeing a tremendous amount of pain in her eyes whenever the duke spoke to a female guest. And he always made sure to look at her right before and afterwards, almost as if he were doing it purposely.”
Jane frowned.
“I wonder what his motivation was.”
“Motivation?” Samuel repeated, humored. “I don’t think there was any reason behind it.”
“Then why would he do such a thing?”
“For the sake of being cruel. Who would or could stop him? He behaved as wickedly as possible because he held all the power in the world…”
But as he trailed off, Jane sensed that he loathed the sentiment.
“Is that why you are so hard on yourself? Because you’re afraid of becoming the Duke of Argyll?”
“Aye,” he said, his Scottish accent thickening as the medicine began to affect him. “I don’t ever want to be like that man. He seemed to feed off of everyone’s fear of him, and I remember being disgusted by it.”
“His poor wife.”
“Aye, his poor wife,” he repeated slowly, as if the words were sticking together. “I should hate it if I ever had a wife that looked at me the way she looked at him.”
He rolled his head to face her. The laudanum Dr. Hall had given him for his fever seemed to be working. She wanted to ask him why he hadn’t married yet, but it didn’t seem right to do so since he was obviously under the influence of medicine.
Still, she likely wouldn’t have a better opportunity to get an honest answer.
“May I ask why you never married?”
He shook his head a few times before answering.
“Work has been my wife these past ten years. I was married the moment I created Milton Enterprises.”