Captain Harraway wasas sick as a dog the day after the contest, and it was Waterford’s fault, for surely the captain’s reaction would not have been so bad had he consumed only his own portion and not part of Waterford’s?
Jake had been warned that the aftermath of eating so many bird peppers might be stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, and even the runs, and the captain had them all—so much so, that Jake called a physician.
The doctor just confirmed the diagnosis and prescribed lots of fluids. “Weak tea will be best, Captain Harraway. And no alcohol. With your humors so out of balance, your stomach will not be able to take it.”
Weak tea it was, then, though the captain grizzled, and by the early afternoon he was feeling better, and demanding food. “Something bland,” the doctor had counseled. Jake ordered poached eggs on toast, which the kitchen served with a warm posset of milk and ale, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.
The captain muttered about steak. Still his gut must still have been tender, for he didn’t send Jake back to the kitchen with new orders but ate and drank what he had been given.
Not long after he had finished, a message arrived from Mrs. Dove-Lyon.
“I am commanded to present myself at the Lyon’s Den at one o’clock tomorrow afternoon,” he told Jake. “It seems that my bride is coming from the country to look me over.” He grimaced. “I hope she is at least marginally attractive.”
“I hope she is good natured,” Jake retorted. “We are, after all, going to have tolive with her.”
“If she likes the country,” the captain commented, “perhaps she will want to live in Ealing, at Carr Abbas, and we could visit.”
He paused, waiting for Jake to comment. Jake busied himself putting the crockery and cutlery from his master’s meal onto the tray, not making eye contact. If the lady was worth her salt, she’d not tolerate such an arrangement for a moment.
But then, if he knew the captain—and he did—the man wasn’t seriously suggesting it. If he’d made up his mind to marry, he would treat his wife well. The man didn’t have it in him to behave otherwise.
As if he had heard Jake’s thoughts, Captain Harraway sighed. “I suppose if I become a married man, I shall have to behave like one,” he acknowledged. “Perhaps both the lady and I should both move to Carr Abbas. Will that please you, Jake? Mind you, she might be rusticating against her will. Perhaps she dreams of Town life and will insist on us living in London. What will you say about that?”
Jake had thought of that and a dozen other nightmare scenarios. “I’ll say that is what you get for buying a pig in a poke, Captain, with all due respect.”
“Which is to say,” noted the captain, “I am due no respect at all.” He sighed again. “But you’ve been telling me I have to change, Jake, and now, whether it pleases the pair of us or not, change is upon us.”
He could say that again. Jake could only hope it wouldn’t turn out to be as bad as he feared. He would have to wait for tomorrow to find out.
Chapter Six
Jake didn’t gowith the captain to the Lyon’s Den for the meeting with the potential Mrs. Harraway. Apart from possibly catching a glimpse of his future mistress, there was nothing for him to do. At one o’clock in the afternoon, his friend Skippy would be asleep, after a busy night’s work protecting the ladies of the second floor as they pursued their business interests.
He stayed in their apartment, doing a bit of mending, and cleaning the captain’s boots, so he was an eager audience for a description of the lady who might soon be ordering his life.
First, the captain digressed to say Waterford had been disqualified because of his cheating, which was what Jake had thought. He had been given a lifetime ban from the Lyon’s Den, which served him right.
Then Captain Harraway went into rhapsodies about his betrothed. According to him, the matchmaker couldn’t have made a better choice. The captain bubbled over with enthusiasm for Lady Ellen Miller. She was pretty. She was sweet natured. She was a lady in every particular.
“She is no taller than my shoulder, Jake,” the captain said. “Aslightly built lady with light blue eyes and fair hair. And a complexion like a rose petal in the softest of pinks. Softly spoken, and very agreeable. You’ll be pleased to know that she likes living in the country. She had a Season in Town, but she found it noisy and unpleasant. We’ll move to Uncle Jeremiah’s estate, of course. Our children will love it.”
He’d known the lady for five minutes and was already planning a family with her. The man was truly besotted. He was staring into nothing with a smile on his face as he continued reporting on his meeting with this Lady Ellen.
“The poor lady has no family,” he said. “I gather her mother was unkind to her, though she is too sweet-natured to say as much. Just that Lady Miller must have thought more of her than she realized, for she left her a small competence in her will. Just enough for Lady Ellen to live on while she sought a husband.”
How strange that the lady was an Ellen Miller.LadyEllen Miller, though. Not Miss, like the Ellen Miller he had once known. Jake supposed that neither name was particularly unusual. He did his best to listen to Captain Harraway’s praises of the lady while also thinking of the Miller household, and especially of his Kat.
The captain’s wedding would take place in seven days. Clearly, Captain Harraway could hardly wait.
In a carriage on the Uxbridge Road
“You were right,Kat,” said Miss Ellen, when they were in Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s carriage on their way home from the Lyon’s Den.
“Right about what, Miss Ellen?” responded Kat.
“Right about my clothes.I felt so much more confident in the ones Mrs. Dove-Lyon provided after the accident with the bucket.”
Mrs. Dove-Lyon had done well. That shade of blue lent color to Miss Ellen’s face and eyes, and the cut displayed Miss Ellen’s slender figure to perfection. The fabric and trim were of the finest quality, too. Miss Ellen was always pretty, in Kat’s opinion, but looked washed out and even ill in the pastels her mother had chosen, and shapeless in gowns that were a poor fit.
