Chapter 14 #2
“A flower patch?” Maisie sounded excited. She was already sinking to her knees, reaching for the small basket of gloves they had left sitting next to the patch from last time. “Sounds fun. I didn’t know you were so interested in botany, Dorothea.”
Dorothea shrugged as if it were nothing. She knelt next to Maisie, reaching for her tiny garden gloves. “I just like flowers,” was all she said.
“We should see how many we can plant before we’re finished today,” Ava suggested.
Stepmother.
“Why does everything have to be a race with you?” Maisie asked with a sigh. “I’m sure Dorothea would much rather take her time and enjoy herself. Right, Dorothea?”
Dorothea giggled. “A race does sound fun.”
“Ha!” Ava laughed.
Maisie groaned aloud. She glanced up at Catriona, who was still standing by the patch as if frozen in time. “Cat? Are you all right?”
Catriona blinked rapidly, forcing back the tears already pricking her eyes.
She plastered a smile on her face in the hopes that they wouldn’t notice how Dorothea’s words rocked her.
It was the first time Dorothea had ever acknowledge her as part of her family, and she hadn’t expected it to hit her so hard.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said quickly, turning away so they wouldn’t notice how close she was to crying. “I think I might have gotten dust in my eyes.”
“Do you want to go for your bonnet?” Dorothea asked. She was already getting to her feet. “I can come with you.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Catriona assured her, touched. She finally lowered herself to the fresh earth. “I will be fine. A little dirt in my eyes won’t be the death of me.”
Dorothea nodded and immediately went back to digging her trowel into the earth.
Ava and Maisie struck up a ridiculous conversation about who was better at gardening, even though Catriona could not recall either one of them ever attempting the hobby.
And Catriona focused on keeping her tears at bay, filled with a wave of gratitude that, in this moment, she wanted for nothing.
Joseph pushed the ledger away from him as if that would be enough. He was damn near tempted to pick it up and throw it across the room, but he didn’t have the strength. His eyes were burning, his head pounding, and it was only the afternoon.
His solicitor had left no more than ten minutes ago, and he, for some reason, thought it a fitting idea to work on balancing his ledger now that he had some time—as if he had not spent half the day in back to back meetings.
Joseph pressed his fingers against his eyes.
He needed a break. God knew why he thought balancing the ledger at a time like this was a good idea.
This would be a good time to see what Dorothea was up to. He’d made a promise to himself last night that he would make more of an effort to spend time with her, to learn how to balance work and family, and there was no better time than the present.
He stood, and the room swayed around him. Joseph gripped the edges of his desk to keep from falling over. The megrim was worse than he’d thought.
After a few seconds, the dizziness cleared. Joseph slowly left his office but then paused in the hallway, uncertain of where to go. He hadn’t a clue where to find Dorothea right now. Would she be in her nursery? God, he couldn’t think straight.
He might as well check for himself. Joseph turned and began his trek down the hallway, each step a little more difficult than the last. He kept close to the wall, resting his hand against it a few times to help him along.
Laughter met his ears. Joseph paused. The laughter was getting closer.
He leaned against the wall just as Ava rounded the corner, talking loudly about something though Joseph couldn’t quite make the words out. She was walking backwards, and when she turned to see him standing in the hallway, she drew up short.
“Oh dear,” was all he heard her say.
Maisie came next with Dorothea by her side. Maisie’s smile fell the moment she noticed Joseph, and she quickly tucked her hands behind her. But Joseph’s attention was focused on his child. On that broad smile he’d never seen on her face before.
Never. He’d never witness Dorothea smile with such abandon, and he was her father.
Dorothea’s smile dropped the moment she spotted him. And Catriona was next.
“What’s the matter—” She broke off when she saw Joseph looking their way. His heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, but he blamed it on his megrim. And why was it so cold all of a sudden?
“What are you all up to?” he heard himself ask, but he sounded far lower than he’d expected.
Catriona slipped in front and the other three fell in step. It almost looked as if they were hiding behind her.
“Why are you standing in the hallway like that?” she countered with a frown.
Up close, he noticed the small smudge of dirt on her cheek. Joseph looked at Dorothea and saw that while her face was clean, her dress was a mess. As was the same with Ava and Maisie, and Maisie was still hiding something behind her back.
“It looks as if you four have been rolling around in the garden,” he commented, crossing his arms.
They all exchanged looks, making it obvious that he was right. He should be upset, but he was too tired, too cold, and in too much pain to care much at that moment. Not to mention the fact that he’d never seen Dorothea look so at ease.
“Very well,” he said to Catriona. “I suppose I cannot stop you from doing as you wish. I only ask that you ensure Dorothea is cleaned up before dinner.”
Suddenly, she was standing directly before him, a hand on his arm. Just like last night, her touch sent a thrill through his body. He kept himself incredibly still, suddenly consumed with an urge that he knew he could not give in to.
“Joseph?” Worry filled her green eyes. “You’re hot.”
“Am I? It feels like there might be a draft somewhere.” She disappeared for a second. Or did he close his eyes?
Her hand was against his forehead now, and she pulled away instantly as if burnt. “Joseph, you’re burning up! How long have you been like this?”
He didn’t have the strength to answer her. He knew he closed his eyes this time, trying to lean against the wall since it felt as if his legs would no longer support him. His head came into contact with something else, something warm that smelled like lavender, dirt, and sunlight.
“Ava, tell the butler to send for the physician,” Catriona ordered. Her arms came around him, but Joseph made sure not to put his entire weight on her. “Maisie, help me carry Joseph to his bedchamber.”
“What should I do?” Dorothea’s voice was filled with a mixture of fear and determination. Joseph fought against the overbearing wave of exhaustion to open his eyes and look at her.
“Go to your room, Dorothea,” he murmured weakly. “You don’t need to see this.”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to give orders, Joseph,” Catriona muttered. Another pair of arms came around him, which he assumed was Maisie. Ava must have left, but Joseph hadn’t heard it. “Dorothea?”
“Yes, Stepmother?”
Joseph cracked an eye open. Stepmother?
“Go find one of the maids and ask them to bring a bowl of water and a clean cloth to your father’s bedchamber.”
“Yes, Madam!”
Joseph closed his eyes again to the sound of Dorothea’s footsteps racing away. “You’re overreacting,” he murmured.
“Again,” Catriona said, “you are in no position to be speaking.”
“Where is his bedchamber?” Maisie asked her.
Joseph sensed his wife’s hesitation without having to look. “It is next to yours.”
There was a beat of silence before Catriona said, “Let’s go, Maisie.”
They set off, shifting slowly along while holding Joseph between them.
Had he been in his right mind, not addled by exhaustion, pain, and what he now understood was the onset of a terrible fever, he would have insisted that he could walk on his own.
But trying to keep himself upright even with their assistance was a nearly impossible feat.
By the time they made it to his bedchamber, Ava had already returned with the butler in tow.
If Dorothea returned as well, Joseph didn’t know.
He was just all too happy to finally lay down in his bed.
Catriona’s voice was the only one he could hear.
She gave orders with sharp precision, and everyone fell in line.
Her scent washed over him when she cooled his forehead with the wet cloth.
She was there when the physician arrived, asking him questions about what could have caused his sudden illness and how to administer the medicine being prescribed.
Ava and Maisie had surely left, and the butler went back to his duties.
Dorothea was sent off to dinner and then to bed.
But Catriona was always there. While he dipped in and out consciousness, she was both in his dreams and in reality, a soothing presence.
This was risky territory. After what happened to Hannah, after all he’d been through, this was the last place Catriona should be.
He didn’t know how many times he fell asleep, but every time he woke up to find her sitting by his bed, all Joseph could think was that he could think of no one else he wanted by his side.
Joseph didn’t wake up until well into the night. He truly woke up this time and not the brief moments of consciousness before he slipped back under. This time, he opened his eyes and looked directly at Catriona.
She put the book she had been reading by candlelight aside and leaned closer to him. “Good night,” she murmured.
His face was impassive. He only stared at her, saying nothing.