Chapter Twelve #2
“It’s no joke, Mother, and I would advise you to think carefully about what you say or do next. Maeve is my wife, and I care for her very much. You will show her the respect she deserves or else.”
Eliza’s eyes narrowed. “Or else what?”
“I’ll take my wife and my friends, the duke and duchess, and we will spend our summer—as well as the rest of our lives—elsewhere.”
“Don’t make idle threats. The duke and duchess aren’t going to want to summer anywhere but here.”
“They will summer wherever I am, Mother, and whether or not I’m here will depend entirely on you.”
Before his mother could form a response, his father spoke up. “I’d like to lie down if that’s all right.”
“Of course, Father.” Aubrey signaled to the footmen, who again came to his father’s aid. Aubrey would’ve helped his father himself, but he didn’t want to leave Maeve alone with his mother.
As the footmen helped his father up the stairs, Aubrey’s sisters and their children arrived in a noisy, happy gaggle of words and laughter that seemed to die when they realized they were walking into something.
Aubrey ventured a glance at Maeve, and noted her face was pale and her lips set with displeasure.
He hated that she’d had to witness such ugliness.
Hopefully, his mother had heard what he’d said and would take him seriously.
Aubrey had no doubt that Derek, Catherine and the others would take their lead from him, and if he said they needed to relocate, they would.
They couldn’t care less about hobnobbing with society.
They were coming to see him, and Aubrey was thankful for that.
His mother was looking forward to enjoying the stature that would come with hosting the duke and duchess and wouldn’t want to have to explain to the other hostesses why her illustrious guests were no longer planning to come to Newport.
The humiliation would be greater than her mortification over her new Irish daughter-in-law—or so he hoped.
Aubrey was putting great faith in his friendship with Derek and Catherine.
Their pending visit gave him cachet within his own family, and with the social doyennes who could make or break the Season.
If the duke and duchess were to snub the Nelson family, that would be a disaster for his mother and sisters—and his mother knew it.
He took hold of Maeve’s hand, which was freezing, and gave it a squeeze.
“Maeve, I’d like you to meet my sisters—Adele, Audrey, Alora and Aurora.
Alora and Aurora are twins, as you can probably tell.
And these are my nieces and nephews—Margaret, Augusta, Jane, Samuel, James and Sally.
” The children ranged from the oldest at eleven to the youngest at three, and living as they did in close proximity in New York, were nearly constant companions.
They too looked forward to the summers in Newport when they lived under the same roof for a couple of months. “This is my wife, Maeve.”
“You got married, Uncle Aubrey?” Augusta asked. At nine, she had strawberry-blond hair and big blue eyes.
“I did. Come say hello to your new aunt Maeve.”
Augusta led the other children over to greet Maeve. “You’re very pretty.”
“Thank you.” Maeve hugged each of the children in turn. “You are as well.”
“You talk funny,” James said.
“James,” Aubrey said sternly. “That’s not polite. Maeve is from Ireland, and that’s why she speaks differently than you and I do.”
“I’m sorry,” James said.
Maeve patted James on the top of his dark-haired head. “No apology needed. I do talk funny compared to you.”
James, who was seven, giggled.
“James has no right to say anyone talks funny,” Margaret said. “He says a lot of words wrong.”
Aubrey embraced his eleven-year-old niece. “Spoken like an older sister.”
“It’s true,” Margaret said.
James made a spitting noise at his sister.
“That’s enough, children.” A team of governesses materialized to usher the children upstairs to unpack.
“Can we play croquet on the lawn, Uncle Aubrey?” Samuel asked on the way up the stairs.
“Absolutely. We’ll set up the game after lunch.”
“They’re delightful,” Maeve said.
“They’re a handful, but we love them.” At times, he wondered how many children he would’ve had by now had Annabelle lived. His children would’ve grown up among the others. Now he had another chance for a family of his own, and he couldn’t be more excited by the prospect of children with Maeve.
“Aubrey, may I have a word in private, please?” Eliza asked.
“Of course, Mother.” He released Maeve’s hand. “I’ll find you shortly?”
“We’ll take care of Maeve.” Audrey hooked her arm through Maeve’s. “Don’t worry, Aubrey.”
“Be nice, or else,” he said under his breath to his sister.
She rolled her eyes at him and escorted Maeve toward the back veranda with their other three sisters in tow. Over her shoulder, Maeve glanced at him, looking uncertain. As Aubrey followed his mother into the parlor, he hoped his sisters would be kind to his wife.
The door closed with a loud thud.
“What is the meaning of this, Aubrey?”
“Of what, Mother?”
“You marrying the Irish housekeeper.”
“I love her.” He loved her and would do anything it took to make their marriage succeed.
His mother’s brown eyes flashed with rage. “You love her? You barely know her!”
“I know her better than I have ever known anyone, including Annabelle.”
“How is that possible when you only met her two weeks ago?”
“I can’t explain the how of it. All I can tell you is it’s the truth. She is the woman I have been hoping to find ever since I lost Annabelle, and I won’t stand for anyone, even you, making her feel less simply because she was born in Ireland.”
“She won’t be received here or in New York.”
“Yes, she will. The same people who would shun her will wish to entertain my friends, the duke and duchess. We come as a group. All or nothing.”
“You show astonishing hubris in pretending you speak for the duke and duchess.”
“The duke and duchess are my dear friends, and I have no doubt whatsoever that they will embrace my wife and will follow my lead when it comes to contending with Newport society.”
“How could you do this to me, Aubrey? I’ll be mocked from one end of Bellevue Avenue to the other.”
“I haven’t done anything to you, Mother, except marry the woman I love, the first woman to truly catch my attention in the ten years since I lost Annabelle. I would think you’d be happy for me.”
“You would think wrong. I’m appalled, and if your father was in his right mind, he would be, too. People of our class don’t marry the help, for God’s sake.” Her harsh words were spoken in the crisp British accent that indicated her aristocratic upbringing.
“People of our class also don’t mistreat their help.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“When Maeve arrived here, she found a complete disaster. Last year’s staff left the windows open all winter to invite in the seagulls, rodents and other feral guests.
In your room, we believe they left food to ensure maximum wreckage.
Everything in your room and Father’s had to be burned.
She has worked her fingers to the bone for weeks, at first completely alone, to ensure the house was ready for your arrival.
If not for her extraordinary efforts, you would’ve been arriving to a mess that defied description.
In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like it. ”
“They should be prosecuted,” she said, sputtering with outrage.
“You should be prosecuted for treating them so badly that they would do such a thing. Henceforth, you shall have no authority over the household staff in this house. They will answer to me and only me.”
Her face turned an alarming shade of red. “Who do you think you are?”
“I’m your son, and I’m appalled by your behavior.
” He let that sit for a long moment before he continued.
“In light of Father’s precarious health, I see no need to tell him about what transpired at the end of last Season, unless, of course, you continue to be abusive to the hardworking men and women who depend upon us for their living.
In that case, I would have no compunction whatsoever about telling him what happened and why. ”
Rage rippled from her in waves that Aubrey could feel as much as see.
“You will treat my wife and our staff with courtesy and respect, or I’ll make sure you’re the social pariah of the Season.”
“You would do such a thing to your own mother?”
“Try me, and you’ll find out the lengths I’ll go to in order to ensure my wife is embraced by my family and that the people whose life’s work is to serve us are well treated.”
“You have disappointed me greatly, Aubrey.”
“Likewise, Mother. You should know that I couldn’t care less what you or anyone else thinks of me, my choice of a wife or anything else I do.
I have nothing at all to lose here, whereas you care so greatly what others think and have everything to lose.
I truly hope that you will hear me when I tell you to tread carefully. ”
Feeling as if he’d made his point, Aubrey walked away, eager to find his wife and make sure his sisters weren’t peppering her with questions that she wouldn’t want to answer.