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At that, there was a spark in his mother's dark eyes and she shook her head. "My trip was wonderfully peaceful and your grandmother was extremely welcoming. She even gave me an old family ring to give to your brother for Miss Walker as a wedding gift."
At that, Gabriel struggled to stop his mouth from falling open. It was no wonder his mother had been away for so long. When she had left, he had half expected her back within two days, but with every one that passed, he had grown more and more suspicious that things were actually going well. Even so, he had not expected that they would have gone that well.
"Have you seen him?" Gabriel asked, and his mother shook her head.
"I was told you are the worse of the two with whatever illness it is that you both have and so I came to see you first," she explained, looking at him doubtfully as though she wasn't pleased with the state of him.
"Perhaps you ought to stay away from us both until we are well," Gabriel suggested, already feeling uneasy that she had drawn so close to the bed.
"I will not!" his mother exclaimed, shaking her head as though she thought the suggestion was entirely ludicrous. "I have never shied away from either of you when you were ill, and I am not about to begin doing so now."
Knowing that there was no point in trying to change her mind, he gestured toward a nearby armchair and said, "Then if you insist on staying, why don't you sit and tell me more about your trip?"
He would be relieved of something to think of other than the constant cramping in his stomach. Though it eased off here and there, it always came back twice as painful, and he was beginning to wonder where it might end. He was even scared to think about it with just how bad he had begun to feel.
"Very well, but then I must go and check on your brother," she said with a smile and sat down in the chair he had gestured to. She took a moment to correct her skirts into a more comfortable position before she continued on how she had spent a lovely time talking, eating, drinking, and meeting many of their family members, even attending small events that their grandmother had arranged in her honour.
"I do so wish we hadn't allowed cousin Barnaby to talk you both out of coming with me," she finished with a deep sigh and Gabriel had to admit that after hearing all the wonderful things she had said, he wished so to. After all, if they had been in the countryside with her, then he would not have been able to make such a fool of himself here in London with Miss Pritchard.
A small voice whispered in the back of his mind,but then the intimate moment in the carriage would not have happened.He forced the thought away, determined that he should forget about such things entirely. It wasn't difficult to forget when the cramping overwhelmed his stomach again.
"When was the last time you ate?" his mother asked after several moments, seeming to notice the uncomfortable expression on his face.
"Not since last night," Gabriel admitted. "Though it was only soup."
"Soup is better than nothing. Especially when ill," his mother advised, just as she would have done when he was a child.
As if their conversation had summoned them, there was a gentle rapping of knuckles upon the door. Gabriel opened his mouth to call out, but his mother beat him to it. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal the maid. She wandered into the room, pausing only to give a curtsey before she approached the end of the bed with a tray in hand. "Forgive the interruption, my lord, but I was asked to bring your food up to you."
Gabriel groaned inwardly at the thought of eating. He was about to wave the woman away - Debbie, he thought her name was - when his mother gestured to the table at the end of the bed and said, "Please, put it down. I shall give it to him."
Without protest, the younger woman nodded and set the tray down, curtseying respectfully as she stepped back. Gabriel noticed the way she kept her head down and her eyes averted as she did so. In fact, the entire time she was in there, she made no eye contact with either of them.
She is an odd duck,Gabriel thought, feeling as though he was beginning to sound like his mother. Whether she was odd or not, the maid had been quiet, courteous, and efficient in her work. Though Gabriel had to admit, he did get an odd sense about her. He quickly forced it away.
"Thank you,Debbie," he said pointedly, watching her face for any reaction that he might have gotten the name wrong.
"You're welcome, my lord," the plain Jane responded, bowing her head again.
"Thank you. You may leave us," his mother said, gesturing the maid from the room. There was a flush to the maid's cheeks as she left, though Gabriel couldn't have said why.
His mother plucked the cover from atop the bowl of soup and Gabriel watched her give it a sniff. "Smells like tomato and basil. Barely."
Gabriel scoffed at that. As an Italian woman, his mother had always assured him that the English had no idea how to season food. He wondered whether she had mentioned it while visiting his grandmother, though he highly doubted it.
The older woman picked up the spoon from the tray and swirled the soup several times before she picked up a little, blew it and pressed the very edge to her lips just as she would have tested it back in the day before offering it to him.
Licking the red liquid from her lips, she gave an approving nod and then placed the spoon in the bowl to carry the tray around to him. Though he didn't really feel up to eating it, his mother would never allow him to go without trying and so he sat with the tray on his lap and ate as much as he could.
By the time that he had finished to the point that there were only a few mouthfuls left, his stomach was hurting more than ever and his hands and feet felt like blocks of ice.
Shivering but trying to hide the fact, he suggested to his mother, "Perhaps you ought to go and see Jonathan now so that I can rest?"
"As long as you are sure?" his mother responded, looking doubtful with a raised eyebrow. Gabriel nodded immediately. He would be relieved when his mother left. The last thing he wanted was to vomit in front of her. She wouldn't leave his side if he did.
Chapter 23
