Chapter Two
The commotion was not unexpected, but still, Pippa hung back out of the way while O’Malley carried Millie and her babe down the long hallway leading to the kitchen. She only waited a heartbeat before following behind him, asking, “Will there be a fainting couch or settee where Millie can lie down?”
Pippa tried to hide her worry for her dear friend, but couldn’t.
So many things could go wrong after Millie had to leave right after birthing her son for fear of being held against her will, while her babe was taken from her.
The midwife had warned of the possibility of Millie hemorrhaging if she were not allowed sufficient time to recover.
O’Malley frowned at her, but did not have a chance to answer.
An older woman in a black bombazine gown, a watch pinned to her breast, and a chatelaine with keys suspended from her waist motioned her forward.
“I’m Mrs. Chauncey, the baron’s housekeeper.
” She nodded to the woman who rushed toward them, wearing a dark-blue gown with a crisp white apron over it.
“Mrs. Green is the baron’s cook. We will take good care of your friend. ”
Pippa knew she looked a sight, but neither woman seemed to notice. Taking it as a sign that they would indeed help Millie and her babe, she replied, “My friend is Mrs. Millicent Haybrook Trentchester. I’m Miss Phillipa Stanhope.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Chauncey,” Millie said. “And you, Mrs. Green.”
O’Malley didn’t seem to be bothered that he was in the middle of a four-way conversation between two of the baron’s staff, Millie, and Pippa. When the introductions had been made, he asked, “Where shall I take Mrs. Trentchester?”
“There’s a fire in the small sitting room,” the housekeeper replied. “I believe her ladyship is resting there.”
“Oh, but I do not want to be a bother,” Millie insisted. “Isn’t there a small room where I can rest for a little while?”
Fear for her friend and her infant son tightened Pippa’s throat, but she forced it aside to say, “Millie and her newborn son Roarke need to warm up. It’s all my fault—I didn’t see the rock or the rut in the road. And then I couldn’t fix our broken carriage wheel.”
The housekeeper and the cook nodded. Neither one questioned that she had been driving the carriage, nor the fact that she was dressed like a coachman.
“Not to worry, dear,” Mrs. Chauncey said.
“Come with us. You can wash your face and hands. Then we’ll see to it you have something warm to eat and a nice pot of tea, and you’ll sit in front of the fire. ”
“Oh, but I can’t leave Millie!”
“If you wouldn’t mind setting me down, Mr. O’Malley, I’m quite certain that I’d be comfortable on one of the wooden chairs along the wall while I wait for Pippa,” Millie said.
His voice was surprisingly gentle when he replied, “I’d only have to be picking yerself and yer babe back up. Ye’re in no condition to be walking anywhere right now.”
Millie fell silent, and Pippa sensed her friend was becoming anxious. She washed quickly, using a round of herb-scented soap and the warm water in the alcove where a pitcher and bowl were kept for just that purpose. “I’ll hurry, Millie. I need you and Roarke to be comfortable.”
The baron’s housekeeper handed Pippa the linen drying cloth. “Have you two been friends long?”
Pippa nodded, but it was Millie who answered, “Since before we could walk and talk.”
Mrs. Green poured hot water into the teapot and nodded. “Friends made early are oft times friends for life.”
Pippa smiled at Millie. “I would do anything for Millie and her babe.”
“I’m so sorry that you have had to… We would not have had to leave if—”
Pippa shook her head. “Flaherty said we’d be safe here.”
Mrs. Green pursed her lips, glancing from Millie to Pippa and back. “It would seem there is quite a tale to tell about how you two came to be traveling on your own so soon after Mrs. Trentchester gave birth.”
“Not now,” the housekeeper said. “Time enough before for that over a bracing cup of tea—with a goodly portion of cream and sugar in it for the new mother.”
A dark-haired, beautiful woman wearing an exquisite silk gown rushed in through the opposite archway. “I heard the men signaling to one another, Mrs. Chauncey. What has happened—” She paused, noticing the woman in O’Malley’s arms. “Oh my! Who have you brought us, O’Malley?”
Pippa knew at once this was the baroness. Relief tempered with worry had her belly churning. “Mr. Flaherty stopped to help us,” she explained.
Millie added, “He insisted on bringing us here. I hope we will not be an imposition. We have a bit of coin, if there is an inn nearby—”
“Flaherty found you?” the lovely woman interrupted, then tilted her head to one side and studied Millie and Pippa. “You will of course need to stay with us until we know the whole of your situation, and why Flaherty felt it best to bring you to the safety of our home.”
Before Pippa could wonder why the baroness mentioned the word safety, the woman continued, “O’Malley, please carry our guest into the small sitting room. I was just enjoying the warmth of the fire, reading a book, when I heard the men whistling that there was trouble.”
At the sound of a tiny wail, the baroness stopped and placed a hand on O’Malley’s forearm. “Is that a babe?”
Before he could answer, Pippa said, “Mrs. Trentchester’s newborn son.”
“And you are?”
The awkwardness of their situation hit Pippa then.
She looked like a ragamuffin compared to the beautiful woman, dressed befitting her elevated station in a gown the loveliest shade of deep sapphire.
While it did not hide her pregnancy, it was quite fashionable.
Pippa wished she had had something to change into, but there had not been time, and there was nothing she could do about it now.
Her tongue rarely got tied, but the woman’s poise and grace, despite the fact that she was round with child, had Pippa feeling completely unnerved—she was the only woman dressed in a coachman’s garb!
The baroness said, “Forgive me. I have completely forgotten my manners in my rush to see you and your friend made comfortable. You both have obviously suffered quite a shock. Welcome to Summerfield Chase! My name is Phoebe Lippincott Summerfield. My husband Marcus is Baron Summerfield.”
Finding her voice, Pippa replied, “Phillipa Stanhope, though Mrs. Trentchester and I call one another by our childhood names.”
The baroness’s smile was warm and put Pippa at ease. “Let me guess, you’re called Pippa?”
“That’s right,” Pippa replied.
“I don’t believe you shared Mrs. Trentchester’s first name.”
They followed O’Malley into the small sitting room. The warmth enveloped Pippa as soon as she walked across the threshold. “Millicent—Millie for short.”
O’Malley gently lowered Millie and her babe onto the settee, while the housekeeper rushed in behind them with a heavy quilt to wrap around Pippa’s friend.
O’Malley bowed and murmured, “Caro, me wife, and Prudence, Garahan’s wife, are in the nursery with the twins.
I’m sure ye’ll be meeting them shortly, Mrs. Trentchester. You’re safe here.”
“Thank you, Mr. O’Malley.”
He inclined his head and turned to the baroness. “Is there anything else that I can do for ye, yer ladyship?” He turned to Pippa, adding, “I’d like to see how Flaherty is faring.”
Pippa felt the full force of his unspoken censure, but did not speak up. She deserved it.
From the way the baroness looked from O’Malley to her and back again, Pippa knew she would have to explain what happened again.
As if Baroness Summerfield sensed something of import had occurred, she replied, “Of course. Has Marcus been informed of the situation?”
“I’m certain he has been by now,” O’Malley answered.
“Please let me know if there is anything I can do for Flaherty.”
“Aye, yer ladyship.” With a bow, the guard retreated.
The baroness turned toward Pippa and waved a hand toward the empty chair next to the settee. “I am quite certain you’ll be more comfortable if your remain close to your friend.”
Though she would, Pippa said, “I’m afraid I’m wearing a bit more of the road we traveled to sit on anything other than a wooden seat that could easily be cleaned.”
Lady Phoebe sighed and waved Pippa toward the bellpull in the corner of the sitting room.
“Very well. As it is more of a chore to get up once I sit down, would you mind ringing the bellpull for me? I’ll ask one of the footmen to bring in one of the wooden chairs from the kitchen for you. Will you sit then?”
“Of course, your ladyship.” When she’d done as the baroness asked, Pippa walked over to stand beside the settee where Millie was seated. A few moments later, the request for the chair was given and a footman rushed off to fetch one.
Once the young man returned and placed the sturdy wooden seat next to the settee, the baroness asked, “Now then, why does O’Malley need to check on Flaherty? Has he suffered an injury?”
Pippa rushed to reply, “It was an accident! He towered over me, and his frown was so fierce—” She fell silent, unable to force the words past the tightness in her throat.
Guilt for retreating in the face of Flaherty’s anger twisted around the sorrow sweeping up from her toes.
She should have held her ground to defend and protect Millie!
Though she’d vowed to use the blunderbuss on Trentchester if he dared to try to abscond with Millie’s babe, she had never shot anyone before.
Her emotions tangled into a huge knot in her belly until it ached. She wrapped an arm around her stomach to ease the pain, but it didn’t help—she had actually shot the man who was trying to help them.
Millie whispered, “Pippa, tell the baroness what happened, otherwise you’ll keep it inside of you until your stomach rebels.”
“Oh my,” the baroness remarked. “I know what that feels like, having battled nausea upon rising for the first few months.”