CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Audsley found Emma in the dining room conferring with Mrs. Deakins. He stood in the doorway for a moment, admiring how well his wife had adapted to a completely new way of life. Audsley liked Deakins and his wife and suspected they had eased Emma’s way into the household. Mrs. Deakins saw him, then curtsied. “Do you need something, my lord?”
“Just my wife if you have finished with her.” He was beginning to think he needed Emma as much as he wanted her. He wasn’t certain how he would have reacted to his mother’s collapse if Emma hadn’t been by his side. A moment later, he and Emma were in the sitting room.
Emma took his hand as they sat on the settee. “I sent a message to your mother’s home, telling them she wasn’t feeling well and asking her maid to come with enough clothes for at least a week.”
“Do you really think she’ll be here that long?” He didn’t want to be heartless, but he also wasn’t convinced this wasn’t just a ploy for attention. His mother had always been a very dramatic woman.
“She could be here a lot longer than that, but I don’t think she would appreciate my saying that when we don’t know her condition. We shall see how she progresses, but I do think she’ll feel better once her maid is here and she has a change of clothes. She didn’t seem to like my dressing gown very much, I can tell you that.”
“I wasn’t aware you had a dressing gown.”
“That’s because you keep pulling it off me. It’s a good thing I’m not an especially modest woman, since you’ve seen me unclothed so often.”
“Modesty in a wife is highly overrated. It was very kind of you to be so good to her after she was abominably rude to you.”
Emma curled up next to her husband. “She is your mother and our babe’s grandmother. I must make the best of it for both your sakes.”
“Illness or no, I’ll not allow her to be rude to you.”
“I wish you good fortune with that,” said Emma, barely able to keep her eyes open. “I’ve heard being with child can be a tiring business in the early months. I believe I’m experiencing that.”
“I’ll get you to bed.”
“I should be here when your mother’s servants arrive.”
“I can see to them. Never forget, Emma, that my first obligations are to you and our child. Everything else can wait.”
“Thank you, Audsley,” she said as he helped her up.
“For what?”
“For taking your duties seriously.”
“I always do,” he said to his sleepy wife. Especially when he loved his wife and child so very much.
* * *
Emma awoke the next morning to a ray of light streaming through the heavy drapes, letting her know she’d slept quite late. Her husband was no longer in bed, which was just as well since she barely reached the basin before being sick. As much as she loved her baby, this was a very unpleasant part of being with child, and one which was occurring with greater frequency.
A part of her wished to go back to bed, but she had duties awaiting her. And while she was certain a proper countess would simply summon the staff to her bedside to get their orders, Emma wanted to at least check on things in person before, perhaps, crawling into bed later on. Her first order of the day was to dress with the assistance of the shy maid Mrs. Deakins had found for her. Gladys was Mrs. Deakins’s niece, who’d been in service for six years, but had been forced to leave her last position when the master of the house had made advances. Emma was happy to be able to give the young woman a place of refuge.
It was also wonderful to have someone else care for her clothes. There were some parts of being a countess which were positively to Emma’s liking. Making love with the earl was one of them. Not having to darn socks was another.
That was another thing on Emma’s list of things to do – acquiring gowns which wouldn’t embarrass Audsley. He hadn’t said anything other than she should see a modiste with some haste, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t want her to be seen about town in her old gowns, including the ones Carter had bought her when she became his sister-in-law. For some reason, Audsley objected even more to those than the old ones Emma had worn before Grace’s marriage. Of course, this was further complicated by the fact she was increasing and soon even the new gowns wouldn’t fit.
Perhaps she should go back to bed.
But just then, there was a timid knock at the door, which could only come from Gladys – Audsley didn’t knock and no one else came to their bedchamber. “Come in Gladys,” said Emma, before she rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth.
“Good morning, my lady,” said Gladys, bobbing a curtsey. “Which gown would you like to wear today?”
“Is my church gown clean?” If Emma was going to face Amelia today, she wanted to do it in her best gown.
“Are you going to church?” asked Gladys with a slight look of panic, as if she’d mixed up the days.
“The dowager is in residence and I want to look my best.”
“Her maid arrived late last night with five trunks,” said Gladys as she filled the washing pitchers with warm water from the bath.
“Five!” said Emma with more than a little alarm. “Did she mention how long the dowager would be staying?”
“No one dared ask, my lady. I’ve heard the dowager’s servants can be frightful when they put their minds to it.”
So could the dowager. But Emma didn’t think she should share that thought with Gladys. “Do you know if the dowager has been out of bed this morning?”
“I don’t believe so, my lady. Her maid Sophie said her ladyship rarely rises before ten and that we was to make sure no one disturbs her.”
“What time is it now?”
“Half-ten, my lady. His lordship was worried about you and slipped in here a few times to check on you. He also said…” Here Gladys blushed so much her face matched her red hair. It was a trait which Emma was in full sympathy with. While her hair was darker now than it was, it was a red-haired woman’s lament to rarely be able to hide her embarrassment.
“Did he tell you I am with child?” she asked, hoping to spare her maid the embarrassment of asking.
Gladys nodded. “I’m very happy for you and his lordship. He thought I should know since I tend to your clothes.”
“I’m glad he told you and thank you for your good wishes. You were bound to find out sooner rather than later since I have been unwell.”
“If you’d like, I can ask my aunt – Mrs. Deakins – if she’ll make some of her special tea for ladies in your condition. Babies are wonderful, but they can certainly be a bother both before and after they get there.”
“They certainly can,” said Emma with a smile. “And yes, please, I would love to have some of Mrs. Deakins’s tea.”
Half an hour and a delicious cup of tea later – served by a beaming Mrs. Deakins who didn’t seem all that surprised by the joyful news – Emma knocked on the dowager’s door.
“What do you want!” came an irritable voice from inside the room.
“It is Emma and I wanted to see how you are feeling. May I come in?”
“If you must.”
It wasn’t the warmest invitation, but Emma reminded herself that the dowager wasn’t feeling well. So, she pasted on a smile, then entered the room to find Amelia dressed in a beautiful pink silk dressing gown and sitting up in bed sipping chocolate. The dowager looked Emma up and down. “You should burn that gown. I thought the one you were wearing last night was dreadful enough. This one is even worse.”
Emma refused to be drawn into an argument with the woman. At least her hair looked good, thanks to Gladys’s efforts.
“Your hair is atrocious.”
“My maid did an excellent job styling it.” Emma wouldn’t allow the dowager to disparage Gladys’s hard work.
“It’s not the style which is abhorrent, but the color! Red is so garish.”
“Your son doesn’t seem to mind.”
Amelia did her version of a ladylike snort of derision. “He is a man and all men are weak when it comes to women. But you’d be doing us all a favor if you took to wearing wigs. When are you going to change into a better gown? That one hurts my eyes.”
“My lady, this is the best gown I have.”
“Surely, you jest.”
“Surely, I do not. Audsley said I should get new gowns in London, but I have not yet had the chance to do so.”
“It is something you should attend to right away.”
“I was hoping you might give me some guidance in that regard.” While Emma disliked having to depend on Amelia for anything, it was true that she did need some help when it came to her clothes. The one lady she would have felt comfortable asking, Audsley’s cousin Lady Endicott, was still in Scotland.
Amelia looked torn as she weighed her reply. It appeared she was flattered to be asked but did not truly wish to be of assistance. “Perhaps I can do so when I am feeling better. Where is my son?”
“I am not certain, my lady. I only now rose from bed and came here as soon as I was dressed.”
“You cannot be a proper countess if you lounge about in bed all day.”
“I imagine that is true,” said Emma, not mentioning the fact the dowager was known to spend the better part of the morning in her bedchamber. “If you have everything you need, I will leave you now so that I can eat.” Just the thought of food made Emma’s stomach roil, but Arabella had told her it was especially important to eat in the early months whenever possible.
“I would be careful about going to fat if I were you. Nothing drives a man to his mistress faster than an unsightly wife.”
“I will keep that in mind,” said Emma, as she made her way to the door. She also wondered how long their guest would be staying. It already seemed much too long.
Emma walked through the halls of her new home in search of her husband. She’d stayed there a few months earlier, so she knew her way around, but it was very different now that she was the mistress of the place. She felt like a bit of an imposter every time she walked near a servant.
She found Audsley in the library. He rose upon seeing her, a look of concern on his face. “Are you unwell? You were sleeping so soundly when I left our bed this morning I didn’t want to wake you. But now your color is a bit odd.”
Our bed. She liked the sound of that. “I’m a bit green is what you mean. I was unwell this morning but am told that is perfectly normal, if entirely unpleasant. Then I went to see your mother.”
“I imagine that was almost as unpleasant.”
“It ranked a close second, but she doesn’t feel well and cannot be expected to be completely well-mannered.” Though Emma already knew healthy Amelia wasn’t any more pleasant to be around than the unwell version.
“You are kinder than she deserves,” said Audsley, as he carefully folded Emma into his arms and kissed her forehead.
“I asked her advice on getting a modiste. She said she would think about it.”
“Order whatever you need.”
“Even that poses a problem. I knew what Emma Moore needed, but have little idea of what the Countess of Audsley is expected to have.”
“Perhaps my mother can tell you what you need, though if she is difficult, you could simply ask the modiste.”
“That proves you have had too much money for far too long. You cannot ask a shopkeeper for suggestions on what to buy. You might as well simply hand over your purse. No, I will ask your mother when she is doing better, except for certain articles of clothes.”
“And what would those be?” asked Audsley, as he rubbed her back, bringing his hand down toward her bottom.
“Undergarments. Grace has some red silky things which are intriguing. She said Carter likes them and I thought you might like me to get something similar.”
He gently bit her earlobe. “I would prefer it if you didn’t mention another man when discussing undergarments, but, yes, I believe red silky things – as you put it – would do quite nicely. As would black, white, or any other color. But do keep in mind that I find you irresistible wearing nothing at all.”
She moved her hand onto him, finding him hard. “You haven’t given me any direction about how much I should spend on such things. What if I spend all my pin money?”
He growled his approval, as he moved his hand under her skirt. “You could bankrupt the estate and I would have no objections. But this does remind me of something. Your pin money is yours to spend on whatever you’d like, but I buy your clothing.”
Emma moaned as he nuzzled her neck and his hand slid up her thigh. “But you give me a ridiculously large amount for pin money, while providing all my living expenses. I cannot begin to imagine what I would spend it…oh, Audsley…”
All other talk was suspended as they spent half an hour together in his chair before remembering they had a perfectly good bed upstairs. Emma wouldn’t go back down to breakfast for another hour after that.
There were definitely advantages to being the Countess of Audsley.