Tenacious Trents 01 - A Misguided Lord (6 page)

*

Eleanor burst through the
front door of the home her family resided in. An hour ago an urgent
message had come from Leigh.
Benjamin has
spots
. He was only five, and had been ill
for the past four days with a slight fever, cough and had
complained of achiness.

But spots? What if it was small pox?
People died from small pox and she could not loose
Benjamin.

She rushed up the stairs, past her
brothers and sisters and stopped beside Benjamin’s bed. His smile
was weak, but he smiled none-the-less. Eleanor placed a hand
against his brow. Poor Ben was warm, but not hot like one suffered
when extremely ill.

Eleanor didn’t see anything out of the
ordinary, other than a weak little boy with bloodshot eyes. Oh, she
should be staying here and taking care of him. Ben may have
recovered by now had she not be dancing the night away. “I don’t
see any bumps.” She pushed open the curtain to let sunlight in to
the room. Her brother scrunched his eyes closed, winced and turned
his head from the light.

“
I am sorry, dearest.” She
quickly blocked out the light so Ben wasn’t further
disturbed.

“
Look at his stomach and
back,” Leigh instructed from the doorway.

Eleanor pulled down the wool blanket
and lifted his dressing gown. His poor body was covered in a rash.
Is this what small pox looked like? She had never seen a case
before and when someone came down with it back home their mother
had kept them away from the family until they were well
again.

Mrs. Hartley came into the room. “I’ve
sent for the doctor.”

Oh, dear, a
doctor
. He would charge her for the visit.
Did she have the funds? It didn’t matter. She would find them
somehow. Benjamin needed a doctor. “Do you think it is small
pox?”

Mrs. Hartley studied the boy. “Doesn’t
look like it to me.”

“
Then what do you suppose
it is.”

“
Measles.”

Eleanor jumped at the sound of an
older man. When had he come into the room? But there he stood at
the foot of Benjamin’s bed looking at him.

“
Are you sure?” She had
measles as a child, but couldn’t remember anything other than
aching and itching. Eleanor was relieved and distraught at the same
time. Small pox was the more serious of the diseases, or so she
believed. Fewer people seemed to die of Measles, but they still
did.

The doctor stepped around her and went
about examining Ben from the top of his head to his toes. When he
was done he gently ruffled the boy’s head and straightened. “He is
a strong lad.”

That was good, wasn’t it? “Then it
isn’t measles?”

“
No, it is.”

Her heart sank again and her eyes went
to her youngest sibling. “What can I do?”

“
There isn’t much, I am
afraid. Keep the room dark and the boy comfortable. A mixture of a
grain of Dover’s Powder with a bit of syrup each night will help
him sleep comfortably.”

“
And, he will be all
right?” Eleanor needed assurances.

The doctor gently smiled at her. “I
cannot give you that guarantee. But, his fever isn’t too hot and he
seems healthy. I think he has a better chance than most who have
survived the disease.”

Relief shot through her.

“
Call me if he worsens.”
The doctor gathered his belongings.

“
What do I owe you?”
Please, don’t let it be much.

The doctor looked to the older woman
who had been helping with the children. “If Mrs. Hartley would be
so kind as to bake me one of her cakes, that would be payment
enough.”

The woman blushed and looked down. “Of
course I would, Dr. Hubert, and you don’t need to use a sick child
as an excuse to get one.”

Eleanor wanted to laugh with relief.
She didn’t need to pay the doctor out of her precious, quickly
depleting funds and it looked as if Mrs. Hartley had a love
interest. Perhaps Mrs. Hartley would be able to move out of her
brother-in-law’s household soon. But not before they were gone,
hopefully. As selfish as it seemed, Eleanor needed to the woman to
be with the children.

The doctor followed Mrs. Hartley out
of the room and Eleanor turned to Leigh. “Do we have any Dover’s
Powder or syrup?”

Leigh shook her head. “We haven’t
needed it in years. I didn’t think to pack it.”

It is what she feared. “Very well, I
will run to the apothecary. Keep Ben comfortable and the other boys
away from him.” Leigh had also had measles as a child so neither
one of them should contract the disease again. The other boys had
not and she couldn’t risk all of them becoming ill.

Mrs. Hartley just closed the front
door after letting the doctor out when Eleanor came down the
stairs. “I need to go the apothecary.”

“
I’ll stay with the
children.”

“
You don’t have to…”

“
Nonsense. Your grandfather
is going to require you to be home later, as you well
know.”

Eleanor’s heart squeezed. How could
she go about in society while her brother lay in bed above-stairs
with the measles? “I can’t. Not with—”

“—
You can and you will,”
Mrs. Hartley interrupted. “First, he won’t give you a choice. And
second—” she opened the door, nearly pushing Eleanor outside, “—you
need to find a husband so you can be with those children all the
time.”

Mrs. Hartley was right. She hated
being away from them, especially now. But, she wouldn’t find a
husband and security for all of them if she remained by the bedside
of a sick child. It was unfair that she had to make the choice, but
there really wasn’t one. “I’ll be back shortly.”

*

Clayton tooled the phaeton through
traffic, wishing he had his carriage, but he had allowed Jordan to
borrow it this morning. He had too much on his mind and wished he
had a driver so he could think about what needed to be done next.
An hour ago the solicitor had left after having confirmed that
Adele and Julia had resided in Paris, though they spent much of the
time traveling all over the continent. What they were doing and who
they were visiting were unknown. When the former Earl of Bentley
had written on Lady Julia’s eighteenth birthday, requesting the
girl return home, mother and daughter had disappeared.

What did his father think to
accomplish by bringing Julia home? Acknowledging her existence
would garner too much attention and far too many questions. What if
society learned Adele never died? Did his father wish to ruin Rose
and Madeline’s life because he wanted a daughter back he had not
seen in sixteen years?

“
He wished to marry her off
to Lord Purlingham. The gentleman was looking for a wife and it
would have been advantageous to be linked to the viscount’s
family.”

Clayton’s stomach turned. Purlingham
was sixty-years-old, if a day. How could his father even think to
marry a girl of eighteen off to a man old enough to be her
grandfather? Had Julia returned, Clay wasn’t so certain he would
have allowed such a match.

Apparently his father had tried to
find his wife and child but had been unsuccessful. Purlingham
married another chit and successfully produced the heir he had been
waiting decades for.

Clay wasn’t about to give up so
easily. Until he knew the whereabouts of Adele, he could not rest
easy. What if one day the woman showed up in London and announced
who she was? That would be a scandal he did not want to face, nor
did he want Madeline or Rose to have to suffer. Decision made, Clay
drove to Bow Street with the intent of hiring a runner to
investigate. Instead of entering the building, he never moved from
the seat of his phaeton. What if he couldn’t trust them? What if
they weren’t discreet? One word said to the wrong person and the
family shame would make its way through society like a fire in a
barn full of hay.

He could only share this with someone
he completely trusted. Someone who had the skills to investigate.
Clay pulled back into drive and drove around without any real
direction trying to come up with a solution and finally settled on
John, his younger brother and spy. And he was also recently of
Paris. Maybe John had connections and could find Adele before
anyone learned the truth.

Traffic was heavy this afternoon and
Clayton pulled up on the reigns, waiting for the carts ahead to
move out of the way.

Glancing around at the many
pedestrians shopping, he saw her. What was Miss Westin doing here?
He looked for the Stanhope carriage, but did not see it parked
anywhere, nor did Miss Westin have a companion with her. At the
moment, she stood outside counting coins before she tossed them
into her reticule. Curiosity pulled at him and Clay drove the
phaeton to the curb, stopping before her.

“
Good day, Miss Westin.” He
tipped his top hat when she looked up.

“
Lord Bentley.” Surprise
lit her worried face and she looked around.

A boy came forward to hold the horses
and Clay jumped down and sauntered over to Miss Westin.

She was far from her grandfather’s
home in Mayfair. Clay read the sign above the door of the shop she
had just exited. An apothecary. “Is someone ill?” That would
explain her worried frown and near agitated state.

“
My brother,” she answered
with haste. “If you will excuse me, I must get back to
him.”

Why was Miss Westin alone and why
hadn’t a servant been sent for the medicine?

“
Let me drive
you?”

“
No, that isn’t necessary.
It is not far.”

Not far?
It would take at least an hour for her to walk
back to Mayfair.

“
Is your carriage close?”
Maybe it was out of sight. The streets were crowded
today.

“
I do not have one,” she
answered. “Really, I must go.”

Clay placed a hand on her elbow when
she turned to walk away. “Let me drive you.”

She stopped and glanced up at him,
biting her lower lip. Why the concern? He had the phaeton and it
was perfectly acceptable to ride about in one unchaperoned. “No, it
is not necessary, but I thank you.”

Clay wouldn’t relinquish her arm. Miss
Westin was disturbed. Was her brother so gravely ill? “I
insist.”

She searched his eyes then sighed.
“Very well.”

Had he been so rude to her in the past
she did not wish to spend any time with him? He knew the answer in
his own mind before he finished the question.

Yes. He had been unfair to her, a
matter he wished to right. Clay assisted her into the seat and
tossed a few coins to the lad who held his horses before settling
in beside her. He pulled the phaeton into traffic toward
Mayfair.

“
No,” Miss Westin objected.
“It is the other direction.”

“
Pardon?”

“
My siblings, they do not
live with my grandparents.” She glanced around. “Turn right at the
next corner.”

Clayton did as she requested. “Why, if
I may be so bold to ask?”

Her jaw hardened for a moment and he
wondered if she were going to answer. “Because they are no blood
relation to them,” she bit out.

“
He does not help support
them?”

A bitter laugh came out. “Why should
he? No, they are my responsibility and nobody else’s.” Tears sprang
to her eyes and she quickly looked away. “I am sorry. It has been a
trying day.”

“
Of course.”

She directed him to stop before a
modest two-story home in the heart of Cheapside, and hopped out of
the Phaeton before he could come around and assist her. That was no
action any lady should take and he was rewarded with a glimpse of
nicely turned ankles and a shapely calf. Clay hurried around and
met her at the stoop. “Thank you for giving me a lift.”

“
Is there anything else I
can do? Summon a doctor perhaps.” Her vulnerability pulled at him.
She was too young to have the responsibility of a family without a
gentleman to see to their needs. For years he had not liked
Stanhope and his miserly ways. All the man cared about was his
position in society and that his peers were not over-burdened. He
gave little thought and no care to anyone he considered beneath
him. Apparently, Miss Westin’s siblings fell into that
category.

A grateful smile formed on her lips.
“A doctor has already seen him, but I thank you for the
offer.”

“
I’ll come in and wait. You
shouldn’t return to Mayfair this late on your own.”

“
That is very kind of you,
Lord Bentley, but it is not wise. Benjamin has the measles and I
would hate for you to become ill.”

Clay tried to remember if he ever had
that illness but could not recall. Miss Westin was right. It was
best that he wait out here.

“
Thank you again for the
assistance.” Turning away from him she entered the humble abode and
closed the door.

He should return home but couldn’t
bring himself to leave. The evening was progressing and if Miss
Westin was determined to walk home tonight, it would be dark before
she was half-way there. London was much too dangerous for an
unaccompanied lady to walk about. His meeting with John would just
have to wait because he wasn’t leaving here without Miss
Westin.