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Chapter 10
Louisa’s mouth hung open for so long at the shock of seeing the brothers at her doorstep that eventually, Isaac had to start speaking first. “Good afternoon, Miss Louisa,” he said very respectfully. “We heard this morning of your father’s attack, and so we brought over some items that we thought might be helpful to you in this difficult time.”
Isaac gestured to the carriage behind him, and Louisa saw that it was filled to the brim with food, both pre-prepared and fresh. She nearly had to pinch herself when she saw it, for she could not believe that that much beautiful food was for her and her family to eat.
“That ... that is for us?” she asked.
“I wish that we could have brought more,” Isaac said, running his fingers through his hair thoughtfully, “but this was the largest carriage that we owned. Will that food suffice for a week? We shall come and drop more off at that time, but if you think that you might need more …”
“Oh goodness, no, this will be more than we could eat in a month, thank you Isa – I mean, Mr Quince.” Louisa caught Gregory’s eye after she very nearly addressed his brother by his first name, and he looked amused.
“Our pleasure,” Isaac responded. “We do not wish to keep you from tending to him, but we did want to check and see how he was doing.”
Louisa was almost certain that Gregory did not care one bit about how her father was doing, and it was likely that the Duchess had sent him along with Isaac to ensure that he was not seen returning to the Pelham household by himself once again. “He’s ... not doing as well as we’d hoped, but he is doing surprisingly well for having had a major apoplectic fit only three days ago.”
Both brothers’ eyes widened. “He’s suffering from apoplexy?” Gregory asked, suddenly genuinely interested in what was happening to her father.
“Yes, thankfully, I was in the room when it happened, but he still has his entire left side paralyzed, and his right side is struggling to recuperate as well,” Louisa responded.
“Has Doctor Abbot been to see him yet?” Isaac asked urgently.
“No, he’s only been seen to by our local doctor ...” Louisa thought back on the interaction she’d had with the deplorable doctor this morning, and that memory urged her to finish her thought. “But now that you mention it, we are looking for someone new to come see him.”
“You must call upon him,” Gregory urged her, “for he is the very best at dealing with cases of apoplexy. He was the one who aided our father when he had his attack, and we credit him with the length of life that our father was able to have.”
Louisa had to turn that sentence over in her mind a few times before it truly registered with her what Gregory had said. “Your father suffered an apoplectic attack as well? I had no idea.”
Isaac nodded solemnly. “It was a truly awful experience for all of us, but I agree, it is thanks to Dr Abbott that Father recovered as well as he did. Every other doctor who came to see him told us that he would remain bedridden for the rest of his sure to be short life, but not Dr Abbott. He worked with him as much as he could to ensure that Father had every possible advantage given to him in his recovery.”
“That is excellent news. I had begun to worry that there would be no medical professionals who would be willing to assist Papa in his state. Especially ...” Louisa was about to mention the family’s state of affairs, but she knew that she did not need to. The Quince family had evidently heard a great deal of the gossip that had circulated about the Pelham family, and it was only through Louisa’s positive association with Isaac that they had begun to see through the town’s lies.
Gregory looked from his brother to Louisa. “Perhaps I shall go and unload the carriage,” he said, making his way towards where the overburdened thing sat. “But do not feel pressured to assist me, brother, for I believe that I could do with the exercise.”
Louisa nearly laughed out loud at the blatantly obvious way in which Gregory was trying to give her and Issac a moment alone together, while still remaining present as the ‘chaperone’, of sorts. However, she truthfully did not care how obvious he was being, for it was very kind of him to understand why Isaac had wanted to come and facilitate the couple’s ability to communicate.
Right at that moment, however, Sophie returned from the market with a basket full of fresh goods. When she got close enough to the house to see the massive mountain of food loaded onto the carriage, she put her basket on the ground defiantly and said, “Jeanie Mack! Why in heaven’s name did you have me running all the way into town to collect these measly fruits and vegetables when you had two fine young gentlemen delivering that great mass of food to you this afternoon! You make me feel rather redundant; you know that, Louisa?”
“Yes, but you see,” Gregory said with an armful of carrots, potatoes, and turnips as he passed her on his way into the house, “if Miss Louisa hadn’t sent you into town to fetch those things, then we never would have thought to come. It’s like a watched pot – it never boils until you’ve walked away from it for a moment to admire the day out the window.”
Sophie put her hands on her hips and gave Gregory a once over. Louisa could see the gears in her head working as hard as they could to recognize who this stranger was. She was probably noticing how similar he looked to Isaac, and yet how different they were.
“And who do you think you are, talkin’ to me like that?” Sophie asked frankly, strutting up in front of Gregory. “Might you be Mr Quince’s serving man? I’d thank you not to try and convince me that my afternoon’s work is not a consolation prize for the family I serve.”
Louisa had always known that Sophie had a sharp tongue in front of the family but had never known her to speak this ... candidly in front of a family like the Quinces. She didn’t want to admonish the young woman, as she not only thought of Sophie as an equal but also a friend, and yet she knew she had to stop her putting her foot any further into her mouth.
However, when Louisa opened her mouth to speak, Gregory went ahead and did it for her. He put the armful of produce that he had on top of Sophie’s basket filled with goods and said, “Mr Quince’s serving man? Well, I’m honoured that you’d think that my family would encourage one of our serving men to dress in such fine attire, but I hate to disappoint you. I am Gregory, Isaac’s older brother, and the Duke of Grenfell.”
Sophie was so shocked by this revelation that Louisa was worried that her jaw might fall right off its hinges. Her eyes were very nearly bugging out of her skull, but when she realized what an unsightly facial expression she was making, she collected herself. “Your Grace,” she said, removing her maid’s cap and curtseying to him, “I am mightily embarrassed, please forgive me. I’ve been walking in the hot sun for most of the afternoon, and I let my temper get ahead of me. I should have recognized you immediately, and I am so sorry that I …”
“Do stop apologizing,” Gregory said suddenly, in a tone that Louisa was surprised to find incredibly sexy. There was a certain gruff brashness to it that she found irresistible, and she thought that Sophie might, too. “I liked you better when you talked to me like nothing more than a serving man.”
Gregory took a step towards Sophie and looked her up and down. Louisa could hardly believe what was happening.Is ... is he admiring her?Louisa wondered, positively astonished.
But even more surprisingly, Sophie took all of this in stride. She let him look her over, and then she puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Good. Then I shall keep treating you like one. Follow me,” she ordered.
When Sophie strode inside the house with her produce basket under her arm, Gregory followed her as though he was an obedient schoolboy heading after his Head Mistress. Then, remembering that he had nothing in his arms, he returned to the carriage to get an even fuller armload than before and then bolted inside the house after Sophie.
When the two of them had disappeared indoors, there was silence for a good thirty seconds between Louisa and Isaac. Then, at the exact same time, they slowly turned their heads to look at each other. “Did ... did he just ...” Louisa asked Isaac, who moved his head up and down.
