Carla Kelly (18 page)

The doctor bade
her bend her leg at the knee, commanded her to wiggle her toes, and
then turned her ankle this way and that, as Omega drew her lips
into a thin line and clung like death to Matthew. The doctor
desisted finally, looked at her over the tops of his spectacles. “I
am finished. Miss Chartley, I recommend that you turn loose of the
viscount before you quite curtail all circulation in his
fingers.”

Matthew covered
her fingers with his other hand
,
too. “She’s all right. But tell us,
please.”

The doctor shook
his head. “I still cannot see that you have broken your ankle, Miss
Chartley. I believe the application of cold cloths will eventually
do the trick. I hold that sprains are worse than fractures.” He
cleared his throat. “I trust you have changed your plans about
quitting this place immediately?”

“
She
has,” replied Matthew for her. “I’ll make sure that she does not
exert herself in any way.”

“
You
will be doing her a great favor, my lord. Miss Chartley, I will
place this wire frame over your ankle. It will keep the blankets
from weighing too heavily on it. I can do little else until the
swelling goes down. I expect you will see a change in the next
day.”

He shook some
powders into the glass of water beside the bed. “Drink this like a
good girl. That’s capital, my dear. I will bid you both good
day.”

The doctor took
up his bag, pausing only to peer at Matthew’s face. “My lord, your
eye ...”

Matthew managed
the smallest of smiles. “It was a mere accident.”

“
I
heard how it happened. News gets about fast in Byford.” The doctor
allowed himself a chuckle. “Lord protect us from our friends,
eh?”

“
Indeed, sir. Good day to you.”

“
I can
communicate with a London surgeon, if you wish,” said Matthew after
the doctor had gone. His fingers were still laced through
hers.

“
No.
No.” Omega scooted herself down lower in the bed, but she did not
release her hold on him. The medicine was already making her
drowsy. “No. I think all that I need is time.”

Gently Matthew
let go of her hand. “Omega, I did not think that after last night
you would ever want me about.”

She sighed. The
bed was warm and soft, and Matthew smelled wonderfully of lemon
cologne. The pain in her ankle felt farther and farther away, as if
someone were stretching her out to a great length. “I think ... I
think I am tired of groping my way through muddles alone,” she
said, and then shook her head. “I suppose I am not making a great
deal of sense right now, but, Matthew, can we not be
friends?”

He was silent so
long that she feared she had said the wrong thing. He chose his
words carefully. “Of course we can be friends. And when you’re
feeling more the thing, we have a matter to discuss that has given
me considerable food for thought since last night’s conversation. I
want to try it out on you.”

She could not
understand what he was saying, but little was making sense to her.
Her eyes were closing when the children came into the room
again.

“
Ah,
Jamie,” said Matthew, getting to his feet. “I particularly wish you
to remain right here with Omega until I return. If she needs
someone to hold her hand, you have been appointed,
nephew.”

“
Yes,
sir,” said Jamie. He leaned toward Matthew. “Is she
 
... is she ...?”

“
Half-dead?” Matthew chuckled. “No, just medicinally foxed, a
little bit to let. Angela and I are leaving now to visit the fair.
It probably would be best if you did not show yourself about Byford
just yet. We must discover if Mr. Platter is lurking
about.”

Jamie nodded. “I
will not leave the room. Only, sir, there is one thing.”

“
Yes,
Jamie?”

“
Could
you get a bottle of lavender scent?”

Matthew stared at
him. “Jamie, I don’t perfectly understand. Are you partial to
lavender scent?”

“
Oh,
Uncle, it is not for me, but Omega!” His expression was earnest.
“She smelled of lavender when I first met her, and do you know, it
reminds me of my mother.”

Matthew looked
down at Omega. “Yes, I seem to remember Diantha and her lavender.”
He touched Jamie’s shoulder, his eyes remembering. “And Omega and
hers.” He recalled himself. “Nephew, Angela and I will find the
biggest bottle to be had and Miss Chartley can dribble it all over
herself if she chooses.”

“
Matthew, don’t be nonsensical,” Omega said. She wanted to say
something else, but her words were slurred.

Matthew leaned
closer. “My dear Miss Chartley, you are the one making absolutely
no sense. Do be quiet and go to sleep. In less than a month you
will have an entire class of eager pupils looking to you for
guidance and syntax. Now, just hush, hurry up and heal. Come,
Angela.”

Angela skipped
out of the room and the door closed quietly behind them. Omega made
a great effort and turned her head toward Jamie. “Hugh?” she asked,
reduced to one-syllable sentences.

“
Oh,
it is famous, Omega!” declared Jamie as he settled himself into the
chair. “He is out in my uncle’s stables, just sitting in one of the
stalls, memorizing a horse! I cannot imagine what he is about, but
he told me that perhaps he ought to learn something about horses.
Do you think he expects to continue his masquerade?”

Omega thought of
a number of things in reply, but none of them reached as far as her
mouth. She closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the doctor’s
sleeping powder.

When she woke,
the shadows had changed places in the room, but Jamie was still
sitting beside her. Hugh was there
,
too, sitting on the blanket chest at the foot of
the bed. She looked about her with a feeling of deep comfort, and
less pain. She wagged her ankle experimentally. The sharp pain
seemed more dull; it was still there in abundance, but the edge was
gone.

“
Are
you feeling in better spirits?” Hugh asked.

She nodded. “A
little.” She looked at him. “Did Jamie tell me something about
horses? Something about memorizing horses?”

Hugh laughed.
“You have hit on it. Lord Byford told me that as long as I am about
Byford, I should continue my masquerade. And he seems to think I
will not quit the place until you are gone.” He paused to reflect.
“He could be right.”

He stood up. “I
think he is a bit smitten with Angela
,
too, if you want the truth. And even your guardian
angel here. Come, Jamie, Tildy told us to scatter when Omega woke
up.”

Tildy entered the
bedroom with sheets draped over her arm and summoned Hugh back.
“Please, miss, could Hugh pick you up while I change your
sheets?”

Omega nodded and
held up her arms for Hugh, who picked her up carefully, wincing
when she winced, and sat with her in the chair. Tildy was just
tucking in the blankets again when Angela bounded up the stairs,
followed by Matthew.

Why she felt shy
as she rested against Hugh’s chest, Omega couldn’t have said.
Something in Matthew’s face made her blush. Whatever it was she saw
there was quickly gone. Matthew motioned to Angela, and when she
came close, whispered in her ear. The girl glanced at Omega,
covered her mouth with her hand to stop the laughter that bubbled
in her, and darted down the hall.

“
What
is it all about?” Omega asked Matthew when he seemed not disposed
to offer any information outright.

He shrugged. “You
will have to wait until she returns. Jamie, we have purchased a
large bottle of scent which will probably keep Miss Chartley
reeking of lavender until she is in her dotage.”

“
Matthew!” declared Omega in her best teacher’s voice. “You are
an outrage at times, you know.”

His returning
smile was genuine. “You used to say that. My dear, it is nice to
hear it again. And now, Hugh, if your arm is tired, I will relieve
you of Miss Chartley.”

Hugh shook his
head. “I carried far heavier burdens over the Pyrenees Mountains,
my lord.”

“
That
strikes me as a dubious compliment,” said Omega. “But really, Hugh,
I do not wish to tax you.”

He shook his
head. “It is a small matter, and look, Tildy is
finished.”

He set her
carefully down in bed again. Tildy straightened the covers as
Angela pranced into the room again.

“
Angela!” exclaimed Omega, and clapped her hands. “How
magnificent you look!”

Angela stepped
forward, her hands on her hips like a Gypsy dancer, and twirled
around at the side of the bed. Her dress was deep blue Egyptian
cotton, with a row of bone-white buttons that marched in file down
the front from neck to ankle. It was simple and serviceable. The
light that shone in Angela’s eyes told Omega that it was much
more.

The girl executed
one more twirl and flopped against the bed. “Oh, think, Omega, this
one is almost new! I was going to ask the woman at the booth if it
belonged to someone who had died, but Lord Byford told me that
would be rag-mannered. See, it has not been cut down.” She leaned
closer and Omega took her hands. “And do you know, Lord Byford
bought me another one, a green one! And that is not all. I have two
petticoats on, Omega. And other things ...”

Angela flashed
her magnificent smile at Matthew, who had pulled up a stool next to
the chair Hugh sat in. “Lord Byford, I’ve never had
those
other things before.”

“
Angela, spare my blushes,” he murmured. When Angela stood up
again, he winked at Omega.

“
Angela, you are a lucky girl,” Hugh said.

She was serious
then, touching the folds of the dress, gathering them to her,
stroking the fabric as if it were a living thing. “The lady said
the dresses were taken apart at the seams, washed, and sewn
together again. I did not have to check for lice!
Mira,
Hugh, I never suspected England would be like this.”

“
Nor
did I,” the ex-soldier said softly, the same wonder in his voice as
in Angela’s.

“
Miss
Chartley, there is a cloak
,
too, and a bonnet, and even shoes, which
no
one
has ever worn before. But I will save those,” Angela added.
“The shoes are too beautiful to wear.”

“
Don’t
be a goose, Angela,” said Matthew. “If you save the shoes, you will
outgrow them and they will never fit you.”

Tears stood in
Angela’s eyes then, as if suddenly the excitement was too much. She
burst into noisy sobs. Jamie snorted and made a face, muttering
something about Angela not being any more fun now that she had
dresses.

Omega yearned to
pull Angela close to her, but before she could act, Matthew
gathered Angela to him and set her on his lap. She sobbed into his
jacket while she rested her head on his chest and he toyed with her
black curls.

“
Angela, between you and Omega, I’ll not have a single coat
without watermarks. Hush, child.” He looked over her head to Hugh.
“Every soldier deserves some reward, and this is yours, Angela. I
only wish they were new clothes.” He winked at Omega. “However do
parents manage without a seamstress on permanent duty? This
abominable brat will grow too fast.”

Angela cried a
moment more, and then her tears vanished as quickly as they had
come. She pulled herself away from Matthew, looked at him for a
tiny moment, and then kissed his cheek before hopping off his lap
and hurrying from the room.

It was Matthew’s
turn to struggle within himself for a moment. Omega had the good
grace to look away and invite Jamie to open his parcel, which he
did, sitting cross-legged at the foot of her bed.

“
Omega, this is famous!” he exclaimed. “I have never had
clothes like these! A person could really
do
something in
these clothes!” He pulled out ordinary working clothes from the
brown paper, shaking out the shirt of heavy cotton and pants of
nankeen. “I could climb trees in these,” he declared, and spoke to
Omega confidentially. “Lord Rotherford used to tell me that I must
always set a good example for the lower orders.”

“
There
is scarcely anything more tiring than being a paragon,” said
Matthew, his voice controlled again. “I expect to see you in a tree
before nightfall. Only please, I beg, do not break your arm. I am
certain the doctor already thinks we are raving
lunatics.”

Omega noted with
some gratification his use of the word “we.” Almost as if he were a
part of this, she thought, noting how happy he seemed at that
moment and how young it made him look, how like the man she’d
fallen in love with years ago.

“
And
what, pray, are you smiling at, Miss Chartley?” Matthew
asked.

She said nothing,
but succeeded in annoying herself by blushing fiery red. Hugh
laughed and got to his feet. “I always leave the room when women
blush like that,” he said as he went to the door, motioning Jamie
to follow.

Matthew had the
diplomacy not to say anything else right away. In her confusion,
Omega wished he would follow Hugh, but he moved from the stool to
the chair and pushed the door closed with his foot.