“What, do you not trust me?”
“It is not you I don’t trust,” James said pointedly. “He is an excellent businessman, very shrewd—best be on your toes, Mr. Thornbridge.”
“He will probably nose about to find any reason to lower the price or gain other concessions from me. Do not give him any,” Cecilia cautioned. She lowered her hands to her lap as she thought for a moment. Then she picked up her fork again. “Two can play his game,” she said, before she took another bite of her lunch.
David grinned. “Yes, my lady.”
* * *
Cecilia went upto the nursery after lunch and discovered Miss Rangaswamy gently massaging Christopher’s neck and shoulders, while Mrs. Dunstan sat in the corner working on a sewing project.
“What are you doing?” she asked, alarmed.
“Ayurvedic massage,” Rani said. “A healing massage. It is to get his energies flowing through his body. Right now, his muscles are congested. Blood needs to flow to help the healing.”
Cecilia looked at Christopher. “How does it feel, Christopher?” she asked.
His face twisted into a puzzled grimace. “It hurts where she touches and then feels better.”
“I am only doing a gentle touch. I have told Christopher he will need to lie still. He does not like that,” she said, with a loving smile at Christopher.
“And we know how difficult it is for young boys to be still, so I am making a head-and-neck brace,” said Mrs. Dunstan. She held up what looked like part of a corset.
Cecilia cocked her head to the side as she looked at it, then walked toward Mrs. Dunstan to get a closer look. “Is that a corset?”
Mrs. Dunstan laughed. “It was before we started alterations. We got the idea from those impossibly tall shirt collars and cravats that the Dandies wear. They can’t turn their head. We need the same thing for Christopher.”
“How clever! It does look like it will serve,” Cecilia enthused. “Still, he probably won’t like wearing it.”
“No—however, if wearing it means he can get out of bed, I can see that as incentive.”
“We realized he needed something like this if he was going to eat. It is hard to swallow lying flat on one’s back. We have tried to feed him some lunch…it was difficult for him. Hopefully by dinner time I shall have this done, and we can let him sit up to eat.”
“You ever amaze me, Mrs. Dunstan. First with the nursery rooms, then your unstinting help with Miss Rangaswamy, and now this. You are a gem. I am delighted to have you in our employ.”
A deep pink blush suffused Mrs. Dunstan’s cheek. “Thank you, my lady.”
A knock on the open nursery door drew Cecilia’s attention. She turned.
“Excuse me, madam, Sir James said to inform you that Mr. Martin has arrived,” Charwood said from the doorway.
Cecilia noted the glare he cast Mrs. Dunstan and concluded he had heard her complimenting the woman. She didn’t know what had happened to their butler. He had been the absolute perfect butler when she and James married. In the months since then, he seemed to have morphed into a person she did not know. She would need to discuss his behavior with James. Perhaps he could get to the root of the man’s issues.
She took her leave of Christopher, Miss Rangaswamy, and Mrs. Dunstan and followed Charwood downstairs. The butler led her past the parlor to the library. James and Lewis sat at a card table near the windows and rose as she entered the room. On the table were the brandy decanter and their glasses. Strewn across the table were papers and the flyers with penciled notes in the margins. She took one look at their activities and turned to Charwood and requested tea be brought for her.
“It did not take you long with Mr. Peasey,” Cecilia observed as she crossed the room and took a seat at the table.
“No, my lady,” Lewis said, as he sat down opposite her. He ran his hand through his blond hair as he shook his head, his expression grim. Both he and James had removed their jackets and rolled up their shirtsleeves. “I didn’t really expect it to. Two junior officers will follow him. We are hoping he will seek whoever sold Christopher to him as an apprentice.”
“Didn’t he question the shade of Christopher’s skin? Wouldn’t that have provided a hint that this was not a poor child?”
“He said he thought Christopher was Romany. He didn’t question his good fortune to be offered the child, as his size was ideal and his understanding superior to most small children of his age.”
“I should think so. Just hearing him speak should raise questions.”
“One would think so. He claims his desperation for help overruled questions.”
“I can’t believe Christopher was eager and willing to be his apprentice, either. I would think he would object and try to tell him who he was.”
