A Simple Lady (16 page)

“Good day,” he said, smiling as pleasantly as possible in the face of such somber glowers. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

The countess wasted no time on pleasantries. “We’ve just come from a visit with our poor daughter in London and were horrified by her condition. We hurried here to demand that you return Elizabeth to the country before the poor child’s wits are completely overset. Not that they are not already, of course.” She looked about the room, selected a settee, and lowered her frame into it with a weary sigh. The earl sat beside her.

Smiling stiffly, Kenrick struggled to subdue the fury that had surged through him at his guests’ entrance. He still strongly suspected his in-laws of attempting to dupe him when they arranged his marriage to Elizabeth. Their present assertions about Elizabeth’s disordered intellect only fed his suspicions. Still, he realized no good would come of flinging accusations at them, so he contented himself by merely regarding them with raised eyebrows. “Forgive me, but I was under the impression that as my wife, Elizabeth is now
my
responsibility.”

“Not when you subject her to so much excitement that her mind becomes disturbed,” the earl said, slamming his fist onto the silk-covered arm of the settee. “The countess and I have discussed Elizabeth’s condition and very much fear that you have tried to force so much information into her poor intellect that she has lost all ability to reason.”

“Nonsense,” Kenrick replied. “Elizabeth’s mind is no more disordered than my own and probably much more capable of absorbing information. What occurred in London that has caused you so much concern?”

The earl and countess began simultaneous accounts of their visit with Elizabeth, each talking so loudly that Kenrick could distinguish only bits of a sentence here and there. After five minutes, he had concluded that his in-laws were enraged because Elizabeth had incorrectly identified an ancient Greek as a Roman—or was it a Roman as a Greek? Suppressing a moan, he strode to the sideboard where he poured himself a generous measure of brandy. He had wanted a drink before his in-laws arrived. That desire had now quadrupled.

“Then,” the Countess of Ravingate continued, “Elizabeth shouted at me! She has always been simpleminded, I will admit, but prior to your taking her to London, she was also a respectful and an agreeable child.”

Kenrick took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, suppressing a strong desire to tell his in-laws that if Elizabeth had succumbed to temptation and shouted at them, her action was surely a sign of sanity and not the opposite.

Instead, he ventured a defense of Elizabeth’s supposed ignorance. “I have found that most people possess only a rudimentary understanding of both the ancient Greeks and the Romans. Surely, just because Elizabeth incorrectly identified one of them—”

“You do not understand,” the earl interrupted brusquely. “It was not her lack of knowledge that upset us. It was her certainty that she was correct and her ensuing behavior in asserting her convictions. At one point, sir, she was shouting out her erroneous opinion while down on her hands and knees with her head stuck under a chair.”

Kenrick nearly choked on his brandy. Such behavior, he was forced to admit to himself, was far from normal. He sat down quickly, concern for Elizabeth slamming into his consciousness. She had seemed to be adjusting well to life in London when he left. Of course, she had been upset by that unfortunate experience in Agatha Hibber’s house, but her actions that day had been perfectly understandable. Such stories were common among novices to city life, and Elizabeth had seemed only to lack town bronze, not common sense. Had he erred in allowing her to stay in town with his mother? Had he unknowingly contributed to some mental defect that was even now gaining greater control over Elizabeth’s faculties?

“I will return to London immediately,” he said, standing and starting toward the doorway. “And I promise you both that I will do my best to insure Elizabeth’s well being and her happiness.” He left his in-laws sitting alone in the library while he hurried to begin making preparations for a return to London.

Kenrick breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled his phaeton to a stop in front of Kenrick House and tossed the reins to a groom. Not once during his frantic trip had he tried to analyze why his concern for his wife ran so deep. He only knew that seeing Elizabeth and assuring himself that her mind was still whole were essential to his own sanity.

Having jumped down from his perch, Kenrick was hurrying toward the front door when it was opened from within to allow for the departure of two guests. The marquess stopped short. What in the devil, he wondered, unconsciously frowning, had Gerald and that silly friend of his, Peregrine Dutton, been doing at Kenrick House?

“Hello, Kenrick,” Dutton called, a wide smile lighting his round and slightly vacuous face. “Been calling on your wife and mother. They aren’t expecting you back today. Said they didn’t know when you would return from the country, so stands to reason they aren’t expecting you today. Wasn’t expecting me either because I haven’t ever called on them before, but Gerald wanted me to bear him company, and a fellow can’t say no to a friend.”

“Hello, Perry,” Kenrick said, bowing slightly to the young man he knew to be a bit dull-witted but harmless.

Gerald, unlike his friend, was not smiling, nor was his expression particularly welcoming.

“Well, stands to reason,” Dutton continued, happily unaware of any restraint on the part of the cousins. “Can’t turn a friend down when he asks a simple favor. ‘Come with me to see the nodcock,’ he said, and so here I am. Even brought a box of candy for the little dummy.”

“Nodcock? Dummy?” Kenrick repeated, his eyes suddenly burning with a fury so intense that Dutton gasped and took two stumbling steps backwards. When Kenrick spoke again, it was through clenched teeth. “You may either retract those words, sir, or name your seconds.”

Dutton had begun to tremble, his hands splayed in front of him, when Gerald leisurely stepped forward.

“Kindly refrain from jumping to conclusions, Kenrick,” he said, a half smile lifting the corners of his lips. “Perry is not referring to Elizabeth.”

“Good God, n-n-no,” Dutton stammered, his eyes clouding with confusion. “Not Lady Kenrick! Fine woman. No dummy. No nodcock neither. Meant the boy, of course.”

“Boy? What boy?” Kenrick demanded. His gaze had not softened appreciably.

“The dummy,” Dutton explained, cocking his head to one side as though waiting for his words to penetrate Kenrick’s limited abilities for comprehension.

Kenrick sighed and turned to Gerald. “What boy?” he asked again, more calmly.

Gerald’s eyes were bright with suppressed mirth. “A little chap Elizabeth picked up off the street and brought home with her in order to save him from Bedlam or drowning. The lad cannot talk, but Elizabeth is convinced he can hear and understand what is being said to him. I see no signs of such capabilities but was careful not to discourage Elizabeth by saying so. She seems determined to help the child.”

Kenrick quickly looked away, having no desire for Gerald to see in his eyes his confusion and apprehension. Unwelcome visions of his wife forced their way into his consciousness—visions of Elizabeth on her hands and knees shouting at her parents, Elizabeth picking children up off the streets, Elizabeth believing herself capable of aiding a feeble-minded boy. “Please excuse me, gentlemen,” he said abruptly, brushing past Gerald and Dutton and bounding up the steps to his front door.

Kenrick found Elizabeth alone in the drawing room with an open copy of
The Quarterly Review
on her lap. Her obvious surprise when he hurried into the room was quickly supplanted by a warm smile. “Welcome home, my lord. We had not expected you so soon. How is Mr. Smithfield?”

“Recovering,” Kenrick answered tersely. “How are
you?”

Elizabeth frowned, as though surprised that his tone was unusually intense, but she answered him with a calm smile. “I am well, thank you. Are you thirsty? Shall I ring for refreshments?”

Ignoring her questions, Kenrick walked immediately to Elizabeth’s side and knelt beside her chair. “Are you really all right?” he asked, looking directly into her eyes.

Elizabeth blinked at him in surprise. “Of course. Why do you ask in that particular tone of voice?”

“Your parents came to see me at Oak Groves.”

“Oh dear,” Elizabeth murmured, her eyes opening wide. “What did they say about me?”

“If you do not mind, I would prefer that you tell me in your own words what happened when your parents visited you here.”

Five minutes later Kenrick had fallen back into a chair and was gasping for breath, so hard had he been laughing. Even Elizabeth was beginning to see the humor in her parents’ misconceptions, and a slight smile touched her face as she neared the end of her story. “Apollo, of course, was frightened and would not come to me when I called him. Mother was standing in a chair screeching, Larkman was dashing about frantically with a glass of brandy in his hand, and I was on my hands and knees groping under the chair while yelling ‘Apollo! Apollo!’ at the top of my lungs. It would have been miraculous had the little fellow not been frightened.”

“Most assuredly,” Kenrick agreed, wiping tears of laughter from his face. “I am sure I would have shared his terror had I been here. But tell me, has your mother always reacted so strangely to cats?”

“Yes, always,” Elizabeth replied. “My father says such irrational fears are not as uncommon as one might think. He also says there is no known treatment or explanation for them.”

“The mind sometimes causes us to behave in peculiar ways,” Kenrick noted, thinking of Elizabeth’s occasional stutter.

“That is true,” Elizabeth agreed, sobering as she considered the little boy she had installed in the schoolroom on the top floor. “Oh!” she said, suddenly recalling that she had not yet informed her husband of her latest addition to the household. “I must tell you about Billy.”

“Yes, please do,” Kenrick said, leaning back in his chair and waiting with a good deal of curiosity for Elizabeth to tell him about the child she’d plucked off the street and brought into their home.

* * *

Elizabeth had not expected to feel so nervous when faced with telling her husband about Billy. After all, she had done only what she was certain anyone else would have done under the circumstances. Still, her mother-in-law had been less than enthusiastic when first introduced to the ragged and filthy little boy Elizabeth had rescued. He was, unfortunately, not a handsome child. Even after Elizabeth had bathed the little fellow and dressed him in some clothing one of the servants had hastily procured, Billy did not project the image of injured innocence that might have endeared him to adult hearts.

As Elizabeth described the events leading up to her meeting with Billy, she watched Kenrick’s face closely. His eyes narrowed when she told him of Gerald’s arrival soon after her parents’ disastrous visit, and a slight frown touched his forehead when she mentioned her insistence upon being driven to view Bedlam. But a pleased smile brightened his expression when she described Billy’s situation and her own insistence upon bringing him home with her.

“You did just as you ought,” he assured her immediately. “What is he like?”

“He reminds me of a hostile alley cat,” Elizabeth said, frowning in concentration as she tried to give her husband an honest description of the boy she was foisting upon his household. “He is a skinny little thing, almost starved in appearance, but he is strong and independent, too. He never speaks, although he can hear, for I have tested him by making unexpected noises behind his back. He always whirls to find the source of those sounds. I think he also understands what is being said to him, although he rarely follows instructions. Frankly, I believe he is merely trying to assert his independence when he ignores others’ wishes.”

Kenrick could not suppress the smile that lifted the corners of his mouth. “You do not make the little fellow sound very attractive.”

“Well, he isn’t,” Elizabeth replied with brutal honesty. “He has red hair and lots of freckles, and his ears stick out quite abominably.”

Throwing back his head, Kenrick laughed until moisture dewed his eyes. “Billy’s charms obviously lie beneath the surface. What do you intend to do with the little chap?”

Elizabeth tucked her lower lip between her teeth as she considered the question. Several seconds passed before she spoke. “Frankly, I do not know. When I insisted upon bringing Billy home with me, my only thought was to save his life or prevent his being incarcerated in Bedlam. I also hoped, I think, to be able to help him learn to talk. I realize that such efforts are probably doomed to failure, but I must try nonetheless. After all, I know from my own experiences that the mind can affect one’s ability to speak properly. Perhaps if Billy is shown enough kindness, he will find his voice.”

A wave of tenderness such as Kenrick had not known in many years swept through him. He half rose, so strong was his desire to pull Elizabeth into his arms, to crush her softness against him, to kiss her until she melted into his arms.

Then, as a horrifying thought occurred, he dropped back into his chair. What was wrong with him? Surely he was not allowing himself to fall in love with Elizabeth. He had vowed, after Paulina, never to lay himself open to such hurt again. Yet, here he was, feeling the same yearnings he had once felt for Paulina, except the emotions he felt today were much stronger and—truth to tell—much more frightening.

Dare he entrust his happiness, perhaps even his very sanity, to another woman after what Paulina had done to him? Was Elizabeth really kindhearted and trustworthy, or was she the conniving adventuress he had first believed her to be?

Surely, had she really tried, she could have found a way to tell him prior to their marriage that she was not simpleminded. But, whatever the case, he dare not allow himself to fall into a trap a second time. He must not let himself love Elizabeth when there was even a remote possibility that she was using him for her own purposes the way Paulina had done.