The Aristocrat's Lady (Love Inspired Historical) (15 page)

“When my lord, God rest ’is soul, ’eard all the estate problems, Miss Nicky did all the work. She took baskets to the sick and ’ungry. Miss Nicky decided to meet with the owner of the parish living. She even took to learning doctoring so she could fix some of their ills. She believed Providence meant ’er to be a servant to other folks.

“Lady B let Miss Nicky do it all because it was easier than fighting it. Lady B’s upbringing was as a highborn lady in London. She tried to turn Miss Nick into one of them frippery misses. But seeing as ’ow Lady B ’ad given up town ways, she knew she’d ’ave a ’ard time convincing Miss Nick. It wasn’t all ’er fault. Miss Nicky
was stubborn and wouldn’t think or say anything bad ’bout ’er father. She just went ’bout making what ’e said ’appen.”

Toby looked past the earl as he spoke, remembering each detail. “She even started a school for the littlest ones that wasn’t old enough to work the fields yet. She taught it ’erself.”

Devlin remembered Nicole telling him her parents had worked for schools for the children, but she never told him she was the one who had made it happen. He turned back to Toby’s words.

“…but guess who got all the credit? The Earl, that’s who. I don’t ’ave nothing to say against the man. All I want is for someone to know the truth ’bout Miss Nicky after all these years.”

Devlin was surprised at much of this. He thought he knew Nicole well enough to know she would care for others and would work hard at helping them, but he had envisioned a different picture of her father from what she had told him.

This was crazy! He was back to believing in the “saintly” Nicole after one sad story from a servant who worshipped the ground she walked on! No, he must remember the lying woman he now knew she was. He knew if he kept listening he would regret his harshness to her, and he was not ready to give up his injured heart.

“I am sorry, Toby. I have heard enough and I have to go. I can see your loyalty to your mistress, and commend you for it. But I neither care nor have the time to listen to any more.”

Toby rose to his full six feet four inches and stared at
Lord Devlin. “I told you that neither of us would leave ’ere until I said my piece, and I meant it. I realize you probably wanna darken my daylights, and if it makes you feel better to go a round of fisticuffs, I’m willing. But I’m still saying my piece. I also realize you could call your lads to throw me out on my duff, but if I ’ave to remind you that I saved your ’ide on the trip to the opry to get you to listen to me, I will. If you don’t owe this time to Lady Nick, then
I’m
calling in your IOU.”

Devlin clenched his teeth in anger. “Knowing your mistress, I should not be surprised you would stoop to blackmail.” As Toby started toward him with fists raised, Lord Devlin held up his hand and said, “No, do not hit me again, just get on with it and leave me be.”

“You don’t even deserve to ’ear the truth, but I promised myself she wouldn’t leave London with anyone thinking ’er a liar, so I’m gonna finish.

“After taking all the responsibility for making the tenants useful, Miss Nicky’s Pa died. I can try to explain ’til I’m blue in the face what ’er father meant to ’er, but unless you knew that child, then you wouldn’t understand. Lady B was weeping and fainting, always ending up laid down on ’er bed. Miss Chelsea was jest a little mite and ’er world was falling apart. So Miss Nicky jest ’eld it all together for the family and the servants. This seventeen-year-old girl was as devastated by ’er Pa’s death as anyone could be. But she couldn’t go grieve, she couldn’t lie down on the bed crying, she jest ’andled it all. The new earl didn’t waste no time taking ’is rightful place at the ’all, so Lady Nick had to move part and parcel to the dowager house.”

By now Toby was angry and did nothing to conceal it. “You know the one time I saw ’er crack, your lordship? I found ’er and Solomon after they ’ad been missing a couple of ’ours. She was on the terrace setting in the dark. I could tell she’d been crying and she says to me, ‘Toby, will it ever be the same, will it ever be ’ome? Can it be ’ome without ’im?’ That was it, the only time. The rest of the time she was too busy
making
it ’ome to worry ’bout it.” Toby took out his handkerchief and wiped it across his nose, then quickly put it away.

Devlin could see the whole picture in his mind, Nicole as a very young lady with all the responsibility of the world on her shoulders. Toby had heard her crying for the past that she would never have back. It did not help that it brought back the same feelings he had often had as a boy when the sadness and loneliness of his world came upon him. But Toby had not finished. “…she
made
everything right. She worked with Beaufort’s estate manager to begin gettin’ the ’ouse in shape. You know what she found? The man had been robbing the estate and her Pa blind. She booted ’im out and began managing ’er own self. She set workmen to make the ’ouse cheerful for her mother. Then she began to work with the parish vicar more.

“That was when she caught Ben Thatcher poaching on the estate. The man ’ad come back from the war without ’is left arm and ’e couldn’t find work. She sat ’im down and talked to ’im about ’is family and ’is skills, and ended up asking ’im if ’e would ’elp ’r manage the small property that came with the dowa
ger house. And between the two of them, it became a ’ome.”

So that was how she knew all about the soldiers coming home maimed and with no work prospects, Devlin thought. And that was why she fought against criminal punishment for those men. By George! She had
lived
his speech!

Toby’s voice became jeering as he went on. “One day one of the youngsters took sick with some disease Lady Nick couldn’t fix. When the child died she took it personal-like and began advertising for a doctor. Ain’t no small towns got their own doctor and the new earl didn’t want no part of it, but it didn’t matter none to Lady Nick. She would make sure no more lives would be wasted ’cause of it. That’s when Mr. Perry was hired. Doc was a young, strapping man with lots of book learning. He weren’t married either.

“By now Lady Nick was nineteen and, as you well know, pretty as a picture. She ’ad the gift of making each person she was a talkin’ to feel like they were the most ’portant person on earth. Doc Perry did the only natural thing, ’e asked ’er to marry ’im. They got engaged and she was ’appier than I seen ’er in a long time. I think she saw a way to go on with the life she ’ad with ’er Pa.” So there
was
a man at home. Well, of course there was, he thought, his jaw clenching. She
was
all those things Toby described, when she wanted to be. The pang of jealousy that hit him in the chest knocked him for a loop. Was that the broken engagement she had spoken of? He must not think of her with another man.

But what did it matter anyway? He had no interest in her now. He wondered if the doctor had been killed in the accident. Perhaps that was her reason for saying she would never marry. What in the world was taking the man so long to get on with the story?

“Lady Nick was taking a step down to marry Doc Perry. Fact is, even though we all thought ’im too starched up, we knew if she married ’im she’d still be close to home and we was that selfish. She believed marrying Doc Perry was God’s plan for ’er life. I believe ’e was…well, I guess it ain’t my business to tell what I thought.”

Toby sounded as if he was choosing his words carefully. “Then
it
’appened. We were in the stables when someone came a-yelling that a tenant cottage was on fire. We all hurried to get there, but Lady Nick was on Solomon and beat us all to it. Missus Brown was a-crying outside the burning building. She screamed that ’er tyke Jenny were still inside. The smoke was so thick she couldn’t get to ’er. Lady Nick put a blanket under a pump, put it over ’er ’ead and runs into that building. I was jest getting there. I can remember thinking that she was the stupidest…and bravest girl I ever laid eyes on.

“We all tried to run in after ’er but the smoke was too thick. Some of us waited at the doorway opening, and some of us went to see if we could get in another way. We saw ’er ’eading back toward us with Jenny in ’er arms. Lady Nick ’ad wrapped the little girl in the wet blanket, leaving nothing to cover ’erself. All at once we ’eard a beam in the ceiling split. I will never forget
that cracking sound as long as I live. The fiery pile fell atop Miss Nicky and knocked ’er down. We didn’t care ’bout no smoke after that, we jest ran in and grabbed them both.”

Tears were streaming down Toby’s face in his agitation, and Devlin could not have moved an inch if his own house had been on fire.

“Since Jenny ’ad been wrapped in the blanket, she came through all right, but one of the beams ’it Missy on the ’ead. I carried ’er over to a tree jest as Doc Perry came. She wasn’t moving. The Doc said she was jest unconscious and ’e used them smelly salts to bring ’er around. She kept a-coughing and coughing but wanted to know if little Jenny was safe. When we told her she was, tears ran down her face and she thanked God as she lay there on the ground.

“We was all wondering if she was all right. When Doc said nothing was broken or burned too bad, we praised the angels for keeping our lady safe. But when the Doc asked ’er ’ow she felt, she whispered, as quiet as a mouse, ‘I cannot see.’

“The rest of the story is mostly too ’ard to imagine lessen you were there. According to the Doc, since she wasn’t burned and since she come ’round pretty easy, the ’eat from the fire must ’ave swelled something in ’er eyes. Doc said ’e didn’t know if it could be cured or not. Why in the world ’ad we brought the man as doctor if ’e couldn’t ’elp our girl?”

Toby was staring off into the distance; reliving it in his mind. The sadness he felt was palpable.

“It was the last straw. After losing ’er father and
’aving to leave ’er ’ome, Miss Nick almost gave up. The blindness jest broke ’er spirit. She didn’t ask God why, but she didn’t know if ’e could possibly give ’er enough strength to fight this battle. She stayed to ’er room mostly. She was able to deal with the family, but she was afraid of the outdoors because she knew it wasn’t safe no more.

“She ’ealed quick enough on the outside, but we worried ’bout ’er insides. We were glad she ’ad Doc Perry to get ’er through it, but as time went by, ’e didn’t come round much anymore.” Toby’s jaw clenched. “We knew ’e were busy without Miss Nicky’s ’elp, but hang it all, he shoulda made time for ’er.”

The level of emotion between the two men had run the full gamut. Toby knew he had to get this last part out. “Finally, on top of everything else, Doc broke the engagement. Said ’e was sorry but ’is wife needed to be ’elping ’is doctoring. And if she couldn’t see, then…”

The silence was deafening.

He continued in a deceptively mild voice. “I think I could ’ave killed a man that day. And I think the only thing that stopped me was that she would never ’ave forgiven me. She needed ’im and ’e jest let ’er go. So I ’ad to settle for the ’ate ’e was gonna face from the townsfolk when they ’eard about it.”

Devlin had no words and did not know how long the new silence between them lasted. He sat on the ground and covered his head in his hands, trying to fight the emotion he was feeling. Anger, pain and sadness all merged together as he realized no human could have listened to her story untouched. Nicole was so much
more than he had even imagined. He thought he might break down in front of Toby, and it no longer mattered.

In almost a whisper he asked, “What happened then, Toby?”

“She let ’im go. She told everybody she couldn’t be a burden to such a needed man. She made
’im
the good one, then slowly closed ’er ’eart. She not only lost that worthless doctor, she watched God’s will go with ’im. We all watched as she withered away.

“Then one day little Chelsea snuck into ’er room and laid up there on the bed beside ’er. She seemed so small, but she understood our worry and she did the only thing a child knows to do. She told Missy that she didn’t care that she couldn’t see. She told ’er she would tell ’er ’bout anything she wanted to know about. And as the little girl’s tears fell, she begged Miss Nick not to leave ’er, too.

“Our prayers were answered that day. Lady Nick’s love for other people, especially ’er family, broke through ’er own misery. She started the long climb back. She memorized every piece of furniture in ’er room, then in the whole ’ouse. She wouldn’t leave it ’til she could get anywhere she wanted by counting steps. She didn’t want to disturb anyone else. She said she realized God’s plan for ’er ’ad always been to ’elp those around ’er, jest not married to the Doc. She wouldn’t be a burden to ’im. She even offered to keep ’elping him!

“Outside was ’arder but that’s when
our
agreement started up. Outside she wasn’t safe unless someone was close enough to ’elp ’er. She said we would be partners.” The pride in his voice was unmistakable.

“Riding was the ’ardest because Solomon ’ad to be on a lead. She ’ated that, after all ’er freedom, but she accepted it and slow-like got as involved on the estate as she was before. And after almost two years of the ’ardest work I’ve ever seen any person do, she started to live again.” He stepped away from the fence he had been leaning on and put on his hat. “I’m jest ’bout done, your lordship. Do you want me to finish?”

“Go on, Toby.”

“Lady B was so proud of Miss Nick as she pulled ’erself up by the bootstraps and moved on again. She figgered it was time for them to enjoy a spell in London. Lady Nick pleaded and begged not to go. She didn’t want the staring, the stumbles, the awkward times—any of it. She tried to explain what a trial it would be for ’er. Lady B couldn’t see that, so she made Missy feel guilty. She said that she and Chelsea deserved some time away, but since they couldn’t leave Miss Nick, they wouldn’t be able to go.

“Lady B told ’er ’bout a fancy doctor in London who might be able to ’elp ’er. She ’ated seeing new doctors, but she said yes for Lady B.”

Toby let out a sigh. “Lady B thought she was doing the right thing for Miss Nick, but she jest couldn’t understand how the pain and fear of new places affected Missy. I’m jest a servant…never claimed to ’ave much in my brain box, but even I knew that. When Miss Nick agreed, it was only if they tried to keep ’er blindness a secret. She wanted people to treat ’er normal-like. She promised she would practice until it would be nigh impossible to tell, and she promised to ’ave me with ’er
all the time. To give Lady B credit, she never wanted to go along with that. She knew if it got out it would make things look worse, but it was the only way Lady Nick would agree.