Tenacious Trents 02 - A Perfect Gentleman (23 page)

Mr. Trent stood. “Of course. I’ll see that
they are protected.”

“Thank you.” He nodded and turned to Grace.
“I will return shortly. If anything should happen in the meantime,
send Perkins with a message. I would rather my brother remained to
watch out for your welfare.”

It was sweet of him to be concerned but Grace
knew she would be safe. “I will.”

With a nod Vicar Trent turned and left the
room. She could hear his footsteps as he walked toward the front
door and outside.

“How are you holding up, Miss Cooper.”

She offered Mr. Trent a slight smile.
“Better, now that Father drank tea. But, I will not fully be
relieved until he is awake and communicating.”

Mr. Trent helped her gather the salves and
bandages and took them from her and placed them in the cabinet just
as the front door flung open with enough force to bang against the
wall. Mr. Trent reached inside his coat and pulled out a gun.
Grace’s heart raced.

“Grace, where are you?” Audrey’s voice
called.

“I am in the kitchen.” She moved toward the
front of the house as Mr. Trent put the gun back into his pocket
and followed her. “And, please, keep your voice down.”

Audrey met her in the dining room. “Oh, you
do look horrible. I didn’t want to believe mother, but she was so
convincing.”

“Believe her about what?”

Audrey stiffened and narrowed her eyes,
looking past Grace’s shoulder. With a none-too-gentle shove, she
moved Grace to the side and marched up to Mr. Trent and lifted her
arm, hand straight and poised as if to smack him across the
face.

“Audrey, what are you doing?” Grace cried out
as Mr. Trent grabbed her wrist with the swiftness of a cobra strike
to keep her friend from hitting him.

“Haven’t you already done enough damage?” She
yelled at Mr. Trent, ignoring Grace.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Mr. Trent
drawled, not relinquishing hold of her wrist.

“You know very well what I am referring to,”
Audrey practically spit. “You’ve caused the ruin of one young lady
and I will not stand by while you ruin my dearest friend.”

Grace stepped forward, ready to intervene.
She had no idea what her friend was talking about. “Audrey, what
has gotten into you?”

Audrey looked over her shoulder at Grace
before jerking her arm out of Mr. Trent’s grasp. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Grace took a step back. “There is
certainly something.”

Audrey tucked a stray curl behind her ear
then straightened her gown. “I was afraid this would happen when
he
came to town.”

“He? Mr. Trent?”

“Yes, Mother said he was here all night and
it is no secret what a lothario he is.”

“Lothario?” Grace looked past her friend to
Mr. Trent who simply shrugged his shoulders. “Mr. Trent was not
here last night. In fact he arrived barely an hour ago.”

Audrey tilted her head. “But Mother said that
Trent had been here all night and the two of you looked as if you
had been …” Her face bloomed a deep red and Audrey bit her
bottom lip.

“It wasn’t me,” Mr. Trent answered.

“It was Vicar Trent,” Grace confirmed
“Despite how it may have appeared, I can assure you that I’ve done
nothing to be ashamed of. We are speaking of Vicar Trent, after
all. He would never consider the matters that your mother seems to
be accusing him of, especially where I am concerned.”

Both Audrey and Mr. Trent looked at her as if
she had lost her mind. Was everyone at the brink of madness around
here?

“I apologize,” Audrey offered.

“You should also apologize to Mr. Trent.” She
had almost slapped the man for no good reason.

Audrey straightened and narrowed her eyes.
She didn’t appear as if she was going to make the offer.

“He has done nothing wrong,” Grace
insisted.

“Perhaps not to you or here,” Audrey mumbled
and turned. “I apologize for reacting in such a hasty manner, and
without the facts.”

Mr. Trent rolled back on his heels and
crossed his arms over his chest. “You do seem to make fast
judgments, without knowing the complete truth.”

“I know enough.” Audrey pivoted, putting her
back to Mr. Trent once again. She studied Grace from head to foot.
“You do really look a fright.”

Grace brought her hand up and tried to smooth
her hair. “I should go change and repair my appearance.”

“I’ll put together something for you to eat
in the meantime,” Audrey grinned at her.

“We have nothing to cook with.” Actually,
that wasn’t the truth. The pantry should be full. She just didn’t
know what to do with all the ingredients.

Audrey reached down and picked up a basket.
“Our Cook sent this along. She knows as well as I that you can
barely make tea.”

Heat stole into Grace’s cheeks. “How would
she know we needed food?”

“As soon as Mrs. Thomas announced she would
not return and that someone had tried to kill your father, we knew
a basket should be prepared before the two of you starved. Mother
was supposed to have given it to you earlier.”

A chuckle rose from within in. “Thank
you.”

“Now go.” Audrey began shooing her toward the
stairs. “When you come back down there will be a meal.” She paused
and tilted her head. “I am assuming you have not eaten yet
today.”

“Does a cup of tea qualify?”

“No,” Mr. Trent answered.

“You should go into the parlor and wait for
your brother.” Audrey tilted her chin, nose in the air and marched
past Mr. Trent.

Grace turned to drag herself up the stairs,
exhaustion seeping into her bones. .

Matthew stood in his office, staring down at
this desk and half completed sermon. It needed to be finished and
memorized by Sunday but how could he do that if he was with Miss
Cooper. He should stay home, write more and then go visit to see
how she fared. But, he couldn’t do that either. Someone had tried
to murder Mr. Cooper and he should not leave her alone. What if the
assailant came back to make sure Mr. Cooper died and decided to
harm Miss Cooper as well? It didn’t matter that Jordan was there,
Matthew knew he should be with her. Besides, if Miss Cooper needed
comfort from the strain of her father’s injuries, he wanted to be
the one to hold her and not Jordan.

The thought of Grace in Jordan’s arms, her
head on his shoulder while his hands pressed against her back urged
Matthew to hurry. He gathered up the sermon, more foolscap, quills,
bottle of ink, Bible and a few referenced books that he shoved into
a satchel. He could just as easily work on his sermon at the Cooper
household as he could in the vicarage and then he would be there in
the event Grace needed him and Jordan would be free to do what he
wished, away from the Cooper home.

Instead of going directly to the Cooper
household however, Matthew stopped off in town to visit a few shops
where he purchased bread, biscuits and other foods that would serve
the family until a cook could be found. After the way Mrs. Thomas
left yesterday he was certain she would not wish to return, no
matter how much he offered and Matthew knew Grace was not in a
position to pay further wages. When the crisis had passed, he would
see about finding a new cook for Grace, if she did not hire
someone.

It didn’t take long for Jordan to answer the
door after Matt’s brisk knock. He entered and carried the basket
into the kitchen where he placed it on the table. There was already
food warming on the stove.

“Good afternoon, Vicar Trent?” He turned to
find Miss Montgomery enter the kitchen. “I can see you brought food
as well.”

He didn’t bother to respond to the obvious.
“It was kind of you to assist the family.”

“Grace is my dearest friend.” Miss Montgomery
moved about the table putting items away. “I think I should warn
you.”

Matthew stopped putting bread in the pantry
and looked at Miss Montgomery.

“My mother has spread a few rumors.”

Matthew clenched his jaw and fought the urge
not to yell. It wasn’t Miss Montgomery who was set on causing
problems but her mother.

“She never specified which Trent, however,
and I assumed it was your brother who had stayed the night
here.”

“Why would you assume it was he?”

Her face colored slightly. “After Mother’s
description and knowing your brother’s reputation, I assumed.”

“You assumed incorrectly.” He didn’t mean to
sound harsh but if the citizens in this community began thinking
Jordan had been here, Grace would be ruined and the only thing to
salvage her reputation would be for her and Jordan to marry. He
would be turning cold in his grave before he allowed that to
happen.

Miss Montgomery gazed at the floor. “I
apologized.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I am sorry. I am sure you have.”

She looked back up at him. “I think I should
also leave, now that you are here to watch over Grace, and go into
town so those who heard mother’s gossip, and believe the worst,
know the truth.”

“Thank you.” At least Miss Montgomery was
more reasonable than her mother and hopefully the parishioners
thought so as well.

“I am sure hardly any damage could be caused
since it was you who was here instead.”

“Her father was on the brink of death and I
was only offering my support in the event…”

Miss Montgomery began to laugh, which further
insulted him.

“I can assure you, Vicar Trent, those in the
community will understand. However, there are a handful that are as
narrow-minded as my mother and it won’t matter a whit what your
vocation happens to be.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“Unfortunately it is true, so I must run
along before mother causes much more trouble.”

“Come with me.” Matthew startled at the sound
of his brother’s voice and followed him out the kitchen door and
around the corner of the house. They stopped just short of the
windows to the parlor and Jordan pointed inside.

“Miss Cooper hasn’t been down yet.”

Matthew leaned forward to gaze inside.
Misters Draker, Thorn and Richards stood by the open doors leading
to the terrace.

“I didn’t want to spend any more time than
necessary with them and thought to save you the same fate.”

“All three men are parishioners, Jordan. I
really shouldn’t avoid them,” Matthew gave a half-hearted
argument.

Jordan studied him for a moment. “Will you
answer a question, honestly for me?”

Matthew had a sinking suspicion he was not
going to like what Jordan asked. “I will.”

“Are you remaining a Vicar because it is
expected of you, what father said you had to be, or because it is
what you really wish to do?”

Matthew opened his mouth but he didn’t have
an answer on the tip of his tongue.

“We should do what we want, not what has been
dictated to us,” Jordan continued. “You certainly can afford to do
as you wish. It isn’t as if you need the income.”

Jordan spoke the truth but what else would he
become?

“Only Clay doesn’t have a choice, being the
heir. But, he married on his own terms and has chosen to live life
as he wished and not how father would have dictated. Had he, he
would be in a miserable marriage raising children as miserable as
we were.”

“Were we all that unhappy?”

Jordan simply studied him. “Not as much as
you and Clay. At least I was let free of my studies, but there is
little fun when you are stuck on an estate with an overbearing
father and only one brother instead of three to play with.”

“You were able to play.”

Jordan’s smile was sad. “More so than
you.”

Matthew recalled the days of staring out the
library window, Bible open on his lap, watching Jordan and John run
about the lawn and climbing trees. He had longed to be with them
more than anything, but it wasn’t allowed any more than it was for
Clay, who worked endless hours with his tutor in another corner of
the library until he was sent off to school. There were several
times Matthew had suffered the pangs of jealousy, at having been
born third and not given a choice, instead of second where he was
free.