Connie (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 3) (25 page)

She snorted, glared at Dulcie and then stamped away through the scullery.

“You must excuse Polly,” Drummond said, running his hands through his hair. “We are all rather fraught at the moment, and so anxious for Jess.”

“There is no improvement in her condition?”

“Far from it. Up until a day or so ago, she was able to get up and help a little — podding peas and so forth, chores that could be done while sitting. But now she keeps to her bed constantly and it is as much as she can do to drink a little water. Mr Torrington can find no cause for her malady, and no remedy to help.”

“It is very likely a consequence of her stay in London,” Dulcie said, not much interested in Jess’s illness. “Too much gaiety is very debilitating.”

“Hardly so,” he said, his face darkening. “She may have been out enjoying herself every evening, but she slept late, ate the best food and had nothing at all to concern her. But she was completely taken in by this man she met there, this Jeffrey Middleton, who is
not
a gentleman, in my estimation. Her disappointment, combined with all the work she has to do here, is enough to account for her illness.”

“Polly does most of the work, I imagine,” Dulcie said. “What does Jess have to do, apart from a bit of cooking?”

“A bit of—!” He reddened and turned away from her, and when he turned back to her his words were clipped and angry. “I assure you, when she is well Jess works from first light to dusk. She takes care of the chickens, milks the goat and helps Polly with the laundry, for we cannot even afford to send it to Mrs Greenwood, and that is
not
what she is accustomed to. It is no wonder my poor sister has become exhausted and allowed this debilitation to overtake her. If only we could afford better food for her, and someone to take care of her. I fear for her life, truly I do, Miss Dulcie.”

“I am sure she will recover soon enough,” Dulcie said, not at all deterred. “We had a housemaid once who took to her bed like that, and could not be got to do the work she was paid to do. Papa beat her and she recovered quick enough after that.”

“Are you suggesting that Jess is malingering?” There was no mistaking the anger in his voice now. “How dare you!”

Dulcie raised her chin defiantly. “I do not like your tone, Mr Drummond. It is my opinion that a lot of these vapours are mere figments of the imagination, and that with a sufficiently strong inducement, the person may discover themselves to be quite well after all.”

“Quite well? Are you mad? I suggest that Jess is in mortal danger and the only sympathy you can offer is to suggest that her illness is all in her head?”

“That or laziness,” she said with a shrug. “She has got very grand, after mingling with the cream of London society, and now she does not like the little bit of work she has to do.”

“Jess works harder than anyone I know!” he answered hotly.

“Pfft! A little bit of cooking, and folding sheets once a week — that is nothing at all.”

“I should like to see
you
do everything Jess does!”

“It would be easy! Anyone could do it.”

“Very well, then, if you think it so easy,
you
come here and do all Jess’s chores, and she may go to the Hall in your place and be cosseted and properly fed.”

“Now you are being silly, and you are shouting at me, as well. I am leaving at once. You are very rude, Mr Drummond.”

“Not as rude as you are, young lady, and at least I am not spoilt and ignorant, like you.”

“I am
not
spoilt or ignorant. You just do not like to hear the truth!” she cried.

“Truth? You will have to demonstrate it. If you really believe that every task Jess carries out is easy, then prove it to me. Come here and do everything that Jess does — or did — while she can go to the Hall to recruit her strength. Do that for a month, or until Jess is recovered, and I will believe all you say, but I will wager you would not last a day.”

“Of course I would!”

“Prove it!”

Her chin lifted. “Very well, then, I will!”

END OF SAMPLE CHAPTER OF
DULCIE

Dulcie: The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 4
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