Chapter Four #2
“It does cause a bit of concern that neither one of you mentioned that bit of information to Flaherty, though I suppose I understand why you have yet to confide in him. It is interesting that Old Ned once worked for Millie’s grandfather.
Our stable master has quite a memory. I am certain he would remember Millie’s mum. ”
Pippa met Millie’s gaze, relieved to see her friend’s eyes were not cloudy with worry.
Lady Phoebe paused to shift on her seat, and Pippa wondered if the weight of the baroness’s babe was uncomfortable. She’d seen Millie move in a similar way as her pregnancy progressed.
“I was curious as to how she knew of him,” the baroness continued. “It is my understanding that he has been master of the stables here at Summerfield Chase for decades.”
Pippa walked back over to the settee where Millie was sitting, cradling her babe in her arms. “Would you like me to hold Roarke for you? I listened to everything the midwife advised and will be very careful to support his head.”
Mille smiled and let her gaze drop to the collar of Pippa’s rough coat. “Mayhap if you weren’t still wearing the coachman’s disguise…”
Lady Phoebe narrowed her eyes. “I knew there was far more to your situation than a broken carriage wheel. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
The knock on the sitting room door put a halt to their conversation as Lady Phoebe answered the summons, and Mrs. Chauncey and two servants entered with an enormous tray of food, and another containing a fresh pot of tea and its accoutrements.
Pippa nearly salivated at the sight of the scones, clotted cream, and raspberry jam.
“The bread and stew smell wonderful,” the baroness proclaimed. “I’m starving.”
Summerfield stood in the open doorway smiling at his wife. “Time to feed our son…again, my love.”
“Our daughter,” Lady Phoebe corrected him.
Her husband chuckled, a wicked gleam in his deep blue eyes. “Mayhap both!”
The baroness’s gasp had Summerfield snorting with laughter.
“You are a rogue!” she scolded him before pausing to lift her hand for him to kiss. “Luckily for you, I happen to like rogues.”
“And you adore me,” he added.
Lady Phoebe smiled.
Pippa strove to hide her reaction to the repartee and tender glances the couple exchanged.
She had been envious of Millie and Roarke’s obvious affection for one another.
Would she ever experience a love like that—for just a brief moment in time?
Pippa had often wondered when—or if—she would meet a man who felt that way about her.
But then came the news of Roarke’s death.
The utter despair her friend suffered had Pippa wondering if she would ever be strong enough to give her heart to someone, only to have to grieve their loss a few years later.
Lost in thought, she let her mind wander until she felt a light touch on her forearm. Pippa glanced up and met the worried expression in the housekeeper’s gaze. “Forgive me, Mrs. Chauncey. I was woolgathering.”
“What you need is a bowl of Mrs. Green’s savory stew and still-warm bread,” the kindly servant suggested.
“Once you’ve finished,” the baroness said, “then it’s off to soak in a hot tub for the both of you.”
“Oh, but we had to leave the small trunk with our belongings with the carriage because…” Pippa’s voice trailed off. She did not want to bring up the subject that would lead to discussing Flaherty. She shivered, remembering his reaction.
“Between Caro, Prudence, and myself,” the baroness said, “I am quite certain we will be able to find something to fit the both of you.”
“Oh, but we couldn’t—” Millie protested, only to fall silent at the pointed look from Lady Phoebe.
Summerfield chuckled. “You’ve just discovered that it is not wise to gainsay my wife. As the youngest in her family, Phoebe was cossetted by two of her older brothers when we married. She is used to getting her own way.”
The baroness’s soft gasp had Pippa watching the interchange between the couple with interest. It was clear theirs was a love match, though sprinkled with just enough differences of opinion to make things interesting.
It made her like the couple even more. “Millie was spoiled terribly by her father, while I—” Pippa began, only to stop at the sound of her friend’s loud snort. She frowned at Millie. “What?”
Millie rolled her eyes, and turned to watch one of the footmen move the mahogany table from beneath the garden window, while the other laid out their meal.
When she turned back, she had schooled her features.
“Your four older brothers taught you how to ride and shoot as well as they did before you were ten years old.”
Pippa lifted her chin. “And your point is?”
“The same as your point, Pippa. The baroness was as fortunate as the both of us were to have grown up in a loving home. My poor Roarke did not have that luxury. His older brother…” Mille closed her mouth and gave a slight shake of her head.
“I’m sorry for dredging up unhappy memories, Millie,” Pippa rasped. “I should have thought before I spoke—please forgive me.”
“Everything’s ready to eat, your ladyship,” the housekeeper announced.
“Thank you, Mrs. Chauncey. It looks delicious.” Lady Phoebe turned to her husband. “Are you joining us, Marcus?”
He walked over to help his wife to her feet, then slipped a hand beneath her elbow to steady her. “I’m afraid I cannot. A pressing matter has arisen, and I need to have a word with the men to prepare.”
Lady Phoebe narrowed her eyes. “For?”
Summerfield chuckled, pressed a kiss to her cheek and helped her to sit at the table. “We shall discuss it later. Enjoy your pre-luncheon meal.”
“Isn’t this luncheon?” Pippa asked.
“We have altered our normal meal schedule to add in the small meals her ladyship needs during the day,” the housekeeper answered. “Mrs. Green is a wonder with tempting even the most sensitive of stomachs.”
Summerfield agreed before telling his wife, “I won’t be long, Phoebe.
You will not argue, and I expect you to graciously accept my escort when I return.
” The baroness’s snort of laughter had Summerfield reminding her, “Dr. Higgins’s orders, my love.
You will rest—for your sake as well as our babe’s. ”
Her audible sigh swirled through the room. “I will rest, Marcus. Now go away and do whatever is so pressing that you cannot spare the time to confide in me.”
Instead of bowing and striding toward the door, the baron moved closer to where his wife sat. He placed a hand to her shoulder, bent, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Where is your reticule?”
Lady Phoebe burst into delighted laughter. “Upstairs in our bedchamber.”
The baron’s expression softened. “And are your ribbon-wrapped hatpins and paperweight inside of it?”
“You are incorrigible, Marcus. You know very well that they are. Now, kiss me and be off with you!”
Summerfield was smiling when he lavishly kissed his wife, bowed, and strode from the room.
With a hand to her heart, the baroness sighed. “Marcus can be so irritating.”
Pippa coughed to cover her snort of laughter. Horrified that the baroness might think ill of her, she was about to apologize, but then Millie started to laugh—hesitant at first, then a wonderfully full belly laugh.
Lady Phoebe’s lips twitched as she tried to contain her smile. “I do not know how I tolerate that man.”
“Fortitude,” Millie replied as she met Pippa’s gaze. “Wouldn’t you agree, Pippa?”
“I suppose it is,” Pippa replied, then asked the baroness, “May I ask you a question, your ladyship?”
“Of course, as long as you do not mind that I may choose not to answer.”
Pippa understood perfectly, and had felt that way on more than one occasion herself. “Why would you have hatpins wrapped in ribbons and a paperweight in your reticule?”
“It was the ransom note.”
“Ransom?” Millie and Pippa said simultaneously.
The baroness finished chewing, blotted her lips, and leaned toward the pair. “I could not very well confide about the note to one of the footmen, or my brother’s men ordered to guard me, now could I?”
Millie shook her head, while Pippa stared at the baroness. Hatpins were terribly sharp and could be used as a weapon if one were in close proximity to one’s attacker. A paperweight hidden in one’s hand when one struck out at someone would add to the impact. “Did you have the coin demanded?”
Lady Phoebe shook her head and sipped from her teacup. “I did not.”
Without missing a beat, Pippa said, “You were so wise to find weapons within reach. Time must have been of the essence.”
“It was.”
“Did you find him?” Millie wanted to know.
By the time the women had finished their meal, they marveled at Lady Phoebe’s strength, determination, and courage.
Millie’s had faltered, but she had been grieving for her husband and worried she would lose their babe.
But now that little Roarke had arrived, she was getting her gumption back—if not her strength.
Pippa was determined that Millie would get the rest she needed to regain her strength after their arduous recent journey.
Baroness Summerfield rose and motioned for the others to follow her over to the grouping of chairs by the settee.
When they were seated, she said, “I have confided in you, and now it is your turn. Tell me who has threatened you to the point where you would risk your babe’s health and your own by running away so soon after giving birth without an escort? ”
Millie hesitated, and Pippa urged, “You need to tell her ladyship. You know your dastard of a brother-in-law won’t give up. Trouble could be heading here even as we speak.”
Pippa waited for her friend to confide their situation.
Millie sighed and told the baroness, “I would never want you or anyone in your household to be harmed because of my actions. But what I am about to tell you must be kept in the strictest confidence. I’m terrified of what the repercussions may be. ”
“You have my word,” Lady Phoebe assured her.