He appreciated how Mrs. Morrison, despite knowing him for so long and having once been a kind of second mother to him, tried now to treat him with reserve. It made him feel a little lonely, but he also respected that she didn’t try and press her familiarity on him.
“I leave you, Your Grace, to Lady Henrietta. I will be back soon to check on her.”
He nodded at Mrs. Morrison and turned to enter Henrietta’s room.
John opened the door. Before he could process the exact location of his sister, she had her arms flung around his neck.
“John!” she squealed, jumping up and down. “You’re back!”
He accepted her embrace, relief coursing through him that she was so well. Then, realizing that she had just flung herself out of bed despite having been unconscious in a delirium only hours before, he felt dawning horror at her recklessness.
“Back to bed,” he ordered. “You need to rest.”
She made a face but stalked across the room and returned underneath the covers.
“You were just deathly ill,” he chastised, hating how stuffy he sounded, but unable to help himself, “and now you are jumping about. That’s no way to recover.”
He sat down on the chair by her bed that, until this morning, had been used by Mrs. Morrison to nurse her.
“I feelfine. Mrs. Morrison is so hyperbolic. A little delirium and she calls you back over nothing. But I can’t say I’m angry, if it brings you back to Edington. It interrupts the never-ending dullness of my existence.”
She smiled up at him and her happiness at his return almost broke his heart.
“Your life won’t be dull for long.”
“Yes.” Her eyes flashed in a way that made him feel queasy. There was so much she didn’t know. She had no idea about his father’s will. She didn’t know that her enormous dowry, which was to have been her shield against the rumors about her birth, was imperiled. She didn’t even know that many in thetonspeculated that she was illegitimate, having been sequestered in Edington all her life. She was just a girl, excited for her debut. “And I hear you have brought me a new tutor. Forsociety. So I can be the belle of theton.”
Henrietta raised her arms and made a pose of mock elegance, but he could see that her hope was real.
“Yes. Once you’re better, you can start your lessons.”
He would have to talk to Catherine. He hadn’t considered that Catherine would have to give her actual instruction. But now that she was staying at the Hall as Henrietta’s tutor, they would have no choice. He just hoped Catherine wouldn’t be too inconvenienced. Or irritated with him for not having thought of this complication.
“I shall be well by tomorrow and then I can begin,” Henrietta said, beaming. “The beginning of my brilliant career.”
He laughed at her sarcastic imitation of a worldly tone. Yet, beneath the laughter, he felt only panic at her high expectations.
He remembered his vision of Henrietta lying dead in this very bed. He had even envisioned burying her in the family plot right beside their father and mother. The contrast between that image and the high-spirited sprite before him had him choking back emotion.
“Maybe. You need to focus on getting well. I will talk to Miss Aster and see if she would be willing to begin your lessons tomorrow.”
Henrietta gave him a quizzical look. “Not to be an aristocratic arse, but isn’t that what she is here to do? Why wouldn’t she be prepared?”
He sighed. He had forgotten how unrelenting Henrietta could be.
“Of course. But she may need a few days to recover from the journey.”
“I hadn’t thought the journey from London was so arduous.” Her blue eyes—light but warm—gleamed. “But I suppose I wouldn’t know. Since I have hardly ever left Edington. They will probably think I am a raw country girl in society.”
“I’m sure you’ll dazzle.”
She wrinkled her nose at his ironic tone. “On second thought, I’m sure Miss Aster does need a few days to recover, having spent two days traveling withyou, the heart and soul of unpleasantness.”
He tried not to blanch at her focus on he and Miss Aster’s travels together. Instead, he gave her what he hoped was an easy smile. “Exactly.”
“Very well. I will rest so that tomorrow I can start my lessons.”
“Very good,” he said, preparing to stand.
