Chapter 9 #2
“I did not say that, Lady Louisa,” Benedict corrected her. “With head injuries, it is best to wait a while before assuming that all is resolved. You would be wise to rest here for an hour within easy reach of the physician before attempting to go home.”
“Lady Louisa is certainly very welcome to remain here and we will take the best care of her,” Mrs. Shaw assured Lady Esher.
“Thank you, Mrs. Shaw,” sighed Lady Louisa, apparently accepting both this offer and Benedict’s advice as he now helped her to stand and move unsteadily to the sofa. “But what about the children, Aunt Beatrice? They can’t stay still so long in here and Mrs. Shaw will have work to do.”
“I need the pot!” Ezra piped up again, now seeing that Louisa was not seriously hurt and remembering his own urgency once more.
Taking this matter into her own hands given the greater crisis, Mrs. Shaw rang a bell and ordered Geraldine to fetch a chamber pot before ushering the boy into a corner.
“Lady Esher, if you take the children home, I shall wait here and escort Lady Louisa back to Rosemere when she is well enough to walk,” Benedict proposed. “I shall also summon the physician immediately if I have any concerns about your niece’s health.”
“That would make sense,” Lady Esher replied thoughtfully. “You seem to know as much of head injuries as Louisa knows of herbs…”
“I know far more than I would like,” Benedict admitted before she could pose a direct question, not wanting to have to explain himself further. “I would take no risks with Lady Louisa’s health, nor allow her to take any.”
“Very well, Your Grace,” agreed Lady Esher. “I shall send Louisa’s maid out with the carriage to join you here at Mrs. Shaw’s and the three of you can return together when you are ready.”
“As you will,” answered Benedict with a small frown, wondering why his hostess did not feel him a reliable escort, “although I assure you that I would not leave your niece’s side for a single moment, Lady Esher.”
“Exactly, young man,” replied the silver-haired lady, her face creasing into its usual good-humor as her fears began to subside. “We may not be in a fashionable district of London up here, but an unmarried young lady ought still to be chaperoned, especially in your company. Don’t you agree?”
Now Benedict relaxed and nodded his understanding. Of course he agreed, and ought to have thought of this himself.
“In my concern for Lady Louisa’s health, I forgot that half of the ton consider me to be a rake,” he replied with bluntness equal to Lady Esher’s own.
Brisk and practical, Mrs. Shaw was already marshaling the two children in the background and readying them for departure, Fanny with a full complement of ribbons for each of her twelve dolls.
“Now, don’t move an inch until you feel well, Louisa,” Lady Esher instructed her niece. “His Grace will be on hand while you are at Mrs. Shaw’s and I shall send Melissa out in the carriage to accompany you home.”
“Thank you, Aunt Beatrice but I should much rather walk,” replied Lady Louisa. “The weather is so lovely and I am so glad to be at Rosemere again.”
“I leave that decision up to His Grace,” her aunt returned, looking to Benedict and then back to the young woman on the sofa. “Do not be rash, my dear. The carriage will be there if you need it.”
“All will be well, I believe,” Benedict told the ladies. “A short rest here is only a precaution. Ezra…”
Seeing that he was about to be parted from Benedict, the little boy had toddled over and clamped his arms about the duke’s leg.
“I want to stay with Uncle Benedict,” he declared.
Benedict sighed and patted the child’s head, knowing that this time, he must not yield to Ezra’s entreaties.
“But you must look after your sister and your great-aunt, Ezra,” he told the boy. “I have to stay here with Lady Louisa for now. Fanny and Lady Esher will have no gentleman to see them home if you do not go with them.”
Ezra blinked at him but loosened his hold enough for Benedict to crouch down beside him. Lady Esher hushed Fanny’s observation that her brother was only a baby compared to her.
“You are a big boy now, Ezra, aren't you?” the duke asked in serious tones and Ezra nodded his head. “One day, you will be a grown-up gentleman like your father or me. Then, you must look after all the ladies in your family. Today, you can practice by escorting Fanny and Aunt Beatrice home.”
“I am big now,” Ezra agreed, standing up as tall as he could and puffing out his little chest.
“Good. Then, hold Fanny’s hand and walk all the way back to Rosemere. If Lady Esher tells me that you did well, you and Fanny shall both dine with us tonight in the dining room instead of the nursery, and tomorrow I shall see about taking you out to ride on a pony.”
He glanced to Lady Esher as he said this and saw her nod acquiescence, presumably having some small and peaceable animals in the stable which would be suitable for young children.