Carla Kelly - Marriage of Mercy

‘So he will be soon! Patience, my dear.’

She couldn’t help her audible sigh of relief to see furniture in the dower house. On closer inspection, it was much as Mr Selway had feared: Lord Thomson had emptied out the manor’s attics. As she gazed at the mismatched chairs in the breakfast room and the rump-sprung sofa in the sitting room, Grace couldn’t say she was surprised.

While Rob Inman swayed at the foot of the stairs, holding on to the railing, Grace hurried upstairs. Beds had been returned to all four bedchambers, complemented by bureaus with drawers missing and a leg gone and propped nearly level with a chunk of wood.

She glanced in the smallest chamber she had designated for herself, surprised to see a small fire in the grate and shabby curtains returned to the window. She heard a noise across the narrow hall and peeked into the chamber she had thought to reserve for Captain Duncan.

She didn’t recognise the man, but he must have been one of the old retainers who did odd jobs around the manor. Dressed in a nondescript pair of trousers and a smock, he shook out a patched coverlet for the bed.

Grace cleared her throat. ‘And you are …?’

‘Emery’s my name,’ he told her, as though she should have known. ‘You don’t remember me? I rake the ground after the sheep have grazed.’

‘Emery?’ she said. ‘I don’t recall …’ She blushed and stopped herself. ‘And now I am being foolish. You must remember, I’ve only been coming to Quarle for the last few months, when Lord Thomson could no longer walk to Quimby.’

‘Aye, miss, and I work on the grounds. That explains it.’ He indicated the partly made bed. ‘I thought to have this all ready, Miss Curtis.’ He peered beyond her into the hall. ‘Did the prison release Captain Duncan?’

‘Yes, indeed. He’s downstairs and he’s so tired. I thought I would have to hurry up here and make the beds. It appears you have beat me to the effort.’

Emery bowed, which made Grace smile. ‘Gracie, I think I am destined to be your butler.’

‘Emery, Lord Thomson would never allow us a butler, even if you are just a gardener,’ she said quietly.

Emery spread out the coverlet. ‘True. He turned me off the estate. Considering that I have no place to go, I thought I would appoint myself butler.’ He tucked in a neat corner. ‘It’s about t’only job I haven’t held here, so why not, says I?’

He seemed to be imperturbably ignoring her, which amused her. ‘Emery, there can’t possibly be any provisions for a butler in Lord Thomson’s will,’ she told him.

‘Then I will fit right in, Miss Curtis. I have very few needs and I’ve always wanted to buttle. How about I lend you a hand with Captain Duncan?’

Grace nodded, relieved to find so willing an ally, where she had expected none. ‘Yes, by all means, lend a hand.’

Rob Inman seemed determined to make his own way up the stairs, pausing once or twice with Emery hovering by his elbow, and Mr Selway watching his progress from behind, ready to catch him if he stumbled.

With an exasperated groan, he stopped at the top of the stairs. ‘Honestly,’ was all he said and his gaze seemed to take them all in. He did not object, though, when Emery took him by the arm and steered him slowly into his chamber. He looked back at her, a quizzical expression on his face. ‘Miss, I’m being abducted. Granted, it’s happening at glacial speed,’ he declared, which struck her as the funniest thing she had heard in weeks.

Grace laughed out loud, which brought a fleeting smile to his face. ‘Thank the Almighty,’ he said. ‘Glad to know you have a sense of humour. We might need it.’

Emery seemed determined to be of service, which touched Grace. He helped Inman off with his shoes, shaking his head. ‘Lad, it’s been a rough time, eh? No stockings and no shoelaces, and not much leather.’

‘I think the rats were as hungry as we were,’ Inman said. He yawned and looked at Grace. ‘Pardon me, miss, but I’m lousy and fleabitten and not worth an “Ave”. Just give me a sheet and I’ll sleep on the floor.’

Grace shook her head. ‘You’ll sleep on the bed, Captain. Tomorrow’s soon enough for delousing. You won’t object if I cut your hair?’

‘Shorter the better,’ he said after another yawn. He lay down and turned toward the wall, as Emery hitched the coverlet higher and rested his hand briefly on the parolee’s shoulder. ‘Goodnight, all you nursemaids.’

The three of them left the room. Mr Selway spoke first on the landing. ‘Our Captain Duncan seems not to mind taking charge. I think we’ve been told what to do.’

They went down and sat belowstairs while Emery took some food from a basket. ‘Mrs Clyde had me bring over this basket. She said it’s no trouble to prepare a little more for the dower house.’

‘It won’t be until Lord Thomson gets wind of his staff’s philanthropy,’ the solicitor said. He bit into a beef sandwich. ‘Grace. Emery. I do have some modest discretionary funds for the maintenance of Captain Duncan here in the dower house. I was going to hire a cook, but if you will do the honours, Grace, then we can stretch the budget to include our new friend Emery.’

‘I certainly can cook,’ she replied, on firm ground now. ‘And bake. I think that must be why Lord Thomson wanted me here in the first place. I can think of no other reason.’

Mr Selway smiled. ‘Actually, Grace, before he died, he told me he hoped you and the captain would fall in love and marry.’

Grace laughed and then sobered as she remembered the scene in the prison, the one Mr Selway had not witnessed. The captain is dead , she thought with a sudden pang, as the two men chuckled and then conversed with each other. And here is Rob Inman . She had to smile again, thinking of Lord Thomson with real fondness. ‘He was a funny old stick, to get such a notion,’ she told her companions. ‘Pigs will probably fly first, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘I suppose stranger things have happened, Grace,’ Mr Selway teased. He took another sandwich out of the basket and wrapped it in a napkin. ‘I’m going to that closet off the sitting room that I have dubbed the dower-house bookroom—my, aren’t I grandiose?—to make a careful scrutiny of Captain Duncan’s parole and Lord Thomson’s whimsical will.’ He stood up, nodding to Emery. ‘If Grace agrees, I believe you will be a welcome addition to our staff.’

She nodded. ‘Our staff? What an exaggeration! Mind, Emery, this position only lasts until the war ends and the captain returns to America.’

Emery winked elaborately. ‘If you’re man and wife by then, I can be your butler in the United States. I don’t much fancy the workhouse.’

Mr Selway laughed and left the kitchen. Her eyes merry, Grace finished her sandwich while the old man swept up the crumbs from the table and carefully deposited them in the basket.

‘Mrs Clyde said she’ll give us a pot of porridge with lots of sugar and cream,’ Emery told her.

‘After the captain has been deloused and shaved, I’ll go to the greengrocer’s in Quimby,’ Grace said. ‘He is so thin. I can certainly feed him back to health.’ She shook her head. ‘As for the other matter, we’ll let Captain Duncan decide whom he marries.’

‘Aye, Gracie.’ Emery yawned elaborately. ‘Now, if we can’t think of anything else to rescue, I’ll find my bed.’ He stood up and stretched, then walked to the door off the servants’ dining room.

‘I only wish we could pay you more than the barest pittance.’

‘‘Tis enough. This will be interesting.’

I don’t doubt that for a moment , Grace thought as she climbed the stairs. She opened the door quietly to Rob Inman’s room, listening to his even breathing. She closed the door softly behind her.