Devoted to You

Petal quietly left.

“What is it?” Jerry asked as he took a look at the worry frown on his brother’s face.

He gathered up the plates Aidan had just emptied, and put them onto the tray before he resumed his seat. As he did, so he studied the room, half expecting a dragon, or his mother, to appear.

He realised then what had happened. “She has been here, hasn’t she?”

They both knew who ‘she’ was.

Aidan nodded.

“That damned nurse is connected to a Lord Atterton, but she won’t remove her. She says she has paid her up until the end of next month. The woman is causing trouble with the staff and has terrible delusions of grandeur.”

“Who? The dowager or the nurse?” Jerry countered.

“Both,” Aidan snorted. “Edwards is the only one who dares to argue with the staff.”

“If she is one of the Atterton clan it is little wonder that she hates being below stairs,” Jerry murmured with a frown.

“How do I get rid of her?” Aidan asked with a sigh. “I wish I could pack her things up and march her out of the house. If I do, the dowager will just bring her back, and Edwards will be incorrigible, especially with mother’s support. She will give the servants a difficult time, and it will then be next to impossible to get her out of the house without offending her relatives. Given who she is connected to, I can hardly toss her out on her ear now anyway. She has to go to Abbeygate, but mother won’t hear of it.”

“Mother is quite prepared to take advantage of your current incapacity, and her status, to pressure you into accommodating her,” Jerry replied.

“What do I do?”

For the first time in his life, Aidan was stymied to come up with an adequate plan of action, and it was something he was completely unused to. Usually a man of action, he was familiar with being able to get up and go where he wanted, when he wanted, with nary a word of caution or momentary doubt. Now, he seemed to be riddled with doubts, problems, and worries, and was helpless to do much at all to physically deal with them.

“It is a pity you cannot just announce yourself engaged, or something.”

“If mother got even a slight hint that I was interested in getting married, she would be relentless in pushing forward someone she considered I needed to marry. You know that, Jerry,” Aidan reported.

Jerry frowned as he studied the carpet. Just the thought of marriage left him feeling as though he wanted to tug at his collar. He swiftly turned his attention away from the lingering darkness of the past and turned his attention back to

his brother and his problems.

“She would demand to know who my betrothed is, what their connections were, and would only pick the union apart until she achieved a break-up.”

Jerry nodded. “She would push you to marry someone who embraces life amongst the ton, and would insist on your taking them there.”

“It’s perfect for the dowager.”

“But not so perfect for you.”

“This accident gave me the perfect opportunity to turn my back on the lot without too much in the way of protest from the dowager. I just didn’t think I would be backing myself into a proverbial corner. I adamantly refuse to concede to her demands. I don’t know why she just doesn’t stand me up at the horse market and sell me to the highest bidder.”

Jerry snorted and threw his brother a teasing look. “I don’t think you would get much.”

Aidan smiled in spite of his ill humour. At that moment, Petal re-entered the room.

“Sorry. I just came to collect the trays,” she murmured quietly.

Aidan nodded. “It’s alright Petal. Has the dragon gone?”

“The dragon?” She frowned and stared at him in confusion.

“The dowager. Has she cleared the building?”

“Yes, she has gone,” Petal replied, picking up the tray and studying the plates as she did so. Aidan had eaten more than she thought he would, and it was immensely reassuring.