With the fire now blazing to her satisfaction, she settled again in one of the big chairs by the hearth to await Jane’s return…anyone’sreturn.
The time stretched interminably.
Where was Jane? What was taking her so long?
Ailis jumped to her feet in relief when she heard the bedroom door click open. “Jane, thank goodness! I was beginning to despair you—”
Her heart stopped beating. Simply stopped, for the dowager duchess stood in the doorway with Jane trembling behind her.
“I knew my sons were hiding something from me,” the formidable woman intoned. “Leave us, Jane.”
The girl was in tears. “I’m so sorry, Miss Temple.” She bobbed a curtsy and dashed away.
Ailis’s heart had yet to resume beating as she gaped at the duke’s imposing mother, who now closed the door and turned toward her. She was not a tall woman, more or less Ailis’s height. She had dark brown eyes like her son, and her hair had obviously once been dark but was now mostly gray.
However, this was no meek old woman.
Ailis curtsied and waited for the dowager’s insults to come spilling out of her mouth.
But the proud woman said nothing and merely approached Ailis, touching her injured shoulder with surprising gentleness. Even that slight pressure was painful, and Ailis winced. “What happened to you, my dear?”
Ailis was amazed by the softness in her tone. “I fell off my horse several days ago while riding home as the blizzard began, and dislocated my shoulder.”
This really was not much of an answer, because it was obvious that falling off one’s horse outdoors in no way explained how she ended up in the duke’s bedchamber.
“And?” the dowager prompted her, motioning to the two chairs by the fireplace where Ailis had been seated only moments ago. “Sit,” she commanded. “Tell me all of it.”
After taking her seat, Ailis properly introduced herself. “I am the vicar’s niece and actively assist him in all church functions. I came to collect donations for the charity Christmas ball from your son. You see, we desperately need these donations to help the destitute families in the parish, especially now that the war has ended and so much of the population is unable to find work.”
The dowager nodded. “It is just as bad in London, perhaps worse because so many of those poor souls are preyed upon by villains and criminals. Some of my friends and I are working with the Home Office to establish houses for our injured soldiers, as well as those for destitute mothers and orphans.”
“How lovely of you, Your Grace,” Ailis said with sincere admiration. “I worry the same for our villagers. This is why this year’s Christmas ball is so important to me. It is a daylong affair with games for the children, and food and dancing for all. I tried several times to explain this to your son, but he gave me such a hard time and…” She cleared her throat, realizing she should not be criticizing the duke. “But rest assured, he is a very kind and generous man.”
The dowager laughed. “My son? Kind?”
Ailis could not help but smile. “Well, he can be difficult. Quite irritating, at times. But he does have a strong sense of duty. It just took me longer than I would have liked to convince him to pay up. Which he has done. Generously, too. But in the time wasted on…I mean, in the time spent discussing the matter on my last visit, I delayed too long and got caught in the midst of the snowstorm.”
The dowager frowned. “Did my son purposely delay you?”
“Oh, no. It was my fault in choosing to pay a call on him when I did. You see, I had finished my morning rounds and could have returned to the vicarage as the skies began to turn gray and threatening. But I thought I had time to squeeze in one last call. His Grace generously gave me tea to warm me up andginger cakes to eat because I must have appeared hungry and bedraggled.”
The dowager smiled. “I did not realize my son was so considerate.”
Ailis tried not to grin, but Jonas’s mother knew how much of a curmudgeon he was and had hit the mark with her comment. “I left as soon as we noticed it had begun to snow hard. But I made it no more than halfway down the drive when my mare slipped on a patch of ice and off I tumbled.”
“Landing on your shoulder and badly injuring yourself,” the dowager said with genuine sympathy.
“Yes. The fall left me stunned and I was in too much pain to even lift myself off the ground that was already covered in snow and ice. The next thing I knew, your son was at my side and comforting me to keep me calm. He carried me into the house and…”
Ailis sighed, for this explanation sounded awful, even though what happened next was completely innocent. “Your Grace, none of the bedchambers other than his were made up at the time. So he put me in here while he fixed my dislocated shoulder. He was brilliant, and I would have been in utter agony had he not known what to do. I also had a mild concussion from the fall, and—”
“Oh, you poor dear!”
“It was not my best day, I will admit. Your son decided it was best that I remain in here, since I would need watching around the clock for those first few days. Mrs. Fitch, or one of the household maids, was with me at all times. Your son was a complete gentleman, I assure you. Nothing…”
Well, hehadkissed her with hot desperation.
She cleared her throat. “No one could have provided better care.” But she groaned inwardly, knowing her face was now aflame, because how could she ever forget his exquisite kisses? “Iwanted to go home, but he refused and insisted on waiting until the snowfall stopped. He would not place his staff in danger, you see.”
