Taking a shaky breath, he ran his hands over his face. He’d been too much in George’s company lately. Had come to rely too much upon him.
It was as well that he was meeting Mr. Prentice today. It would do him good to get away for a few hours and meet the man who had professed interest in purchasing Blackfriars.
At the very least, it might give him some much-needed perspective on his life and the limited options available to him.
30
GEORGE
“Do you think we should send Tom for the doctor?” George asked Mrs. Ford when he returned to the kitchen after helping Martin to bed. It had taken a while to get him all the way to his bedchamber from the dining room, his gait noticeably slower and heavier.
Mrs. Ford was sitting at the scrubbed kitchen table, grinding spices. At George’s question, she looked up. “The doctor said he would have days like this. And that when he did, he was to rest.”
George sighed, settling into the chair opposite her. “I don’t suppose there’s anything else he would advise if he did come around.”
Mrs. Ford shook her head. “I don’t think so. I understand your worry, but all we can do is keep an eye on him.” Reaching across the table, she patted George’s forearm. “I’ll check on him in a couple of hours.” She smiled then. “Now, did you want any more breakfast, or shall I let Tom clear up the dining room?”
“I’ve had plenty,” George said. “But Mr. Caldwell might not be finished yet.”
“Oh, he’s already gone,” Mrs. Ford said, returning her attention to her task.
“Gone? Where did he go?” George felt his face warm as soon as the words were out, but Mrs. Ford didn’t seem to find his questions surprising.
“A good ten minutes ago, while you were with Mr. Martin. He left with Mr. Norris. They’re off to Balmouth to meet some gentlemen. He said he’d be back by teatime.”
He was off to meet Prentice, George realised. Would Theo really rather sell Blackfriars off and put everyone’s positions at risk than let George help him?
It seemed so.
George rubbed at his chest, as though to ease the ache there. Just yesterday, he’d have dismissed such an idea out of hand. He’d come to believe that he and Theo had developed a friendship that would last beyond these last weeks they’d spent together, even after their physical liaison was over. But now he had to wonder.
Perhaps Theo’s reaction was more understandable than George was giving him credit for. Perhaps he had worked out the truth that, until last night, George had been trying so very hard to ignore.
That George was head over heels in love with Theo Caldwell.
He didn’t think Theo would welcome that.
After their argument last night, though, George couldn’t ignore it any longer. His distress at Theo’s careless words of rejection had been too painful, too raw, to mistake for anything else. Not to mention the agony of realising that Theo not only expected their time together to end, he expected that end to arrive imminently.
“Are you all right, Mr. Asquith?”
George blinked, realising that Mrs. Ford was looking at him, her expression mildly concerned.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said, levering himself up from the table. “Just thinking about what I’ve got to do today—starting with reading my post. Is it still in the dining room?”
“I expect so,” she said. “Tom can bring it to you once he’s cleared up.”
“No need,” he said. “I’ll fetch it myself. I’m going to walk over to Morgan’s shortly, and I want to read my letters before I go.”
Nodding, the housekeeper returned to her accounts.
After collecting his post, George returned to his bedchamber. He opened up Ollie’s letter again first, rereading the lines he'd quickly scanned before. It was all, he realised, rather familiar.
“I’m concerned to hear you’re spending so much time with Theo Caldwell of all people. Do you not recall how poorly he treated you at school? You are too good, and I hate to see your gentle nature taken advantage of.”
George felt oddly depressed reading that. Over the last year, with the benefit of some distance, he had come to see his long friendship with Ollie in a different light. Ollie always had been quick to tell him about the people who apparently disliked him. Almost everyone, it seemed, other than Ollie, who seemed to spend all his hours away from George defending him to those who slandered him. Especially Theo.
The worst part was that George had believed every word.
