Devoted to You

“You did well,” Jerry remarked to her.

Petal jumped when she realised he was talking to her. “Pardon?”

“That is the most I have seen him eat in nearly a month.”

“He needs to get his strength back,” she replied with a gentle smile.

“Excuse me, I am here, you know,” Aidan protested without heat.

“I will be back in a while to put more wood on the fire,” Petal replied, feeling inordinately proud of her accomplishments this afternoon. Especially when she watched Aidan yawn widely, and eye the bed longingly.

“I will help him get back to bed,” Jerry assured her.

“Where is Edwards?” Aidan called after her when she was half-way across the room.

“Downstairs arguing with Mrs Kempton again,” Petal reported casually as though there was nothing untoward with the behaviour. In fact, it had happened so often that practically all the downstairs servants barely even listened anymore. Mrs Kempton always won, and Edwards always seemed to get a little more discontent with life amongst the servants. Still, she didn’t give up.

“What is she causing trouble about this time?”

“She is insisting on being moved up to one of the guest rooms again,” Petal replied ruefully. “Mrs Kempton insists that she is staff here and has to remain below stairs as you told her, but Edwards refuses to accept this. It has been an ongoing battle from day one, and neither woman appears to surrender.”

Aidan laughed at the glint of humour in Petal’s eyes. Jerry’s ears pricked up at the warm look they shared before Petal turned to go. There was nothing overly suggestive in their behaviour; it was just highly unusual for an upstairs maid to be so familiar with her employer.

“She is causing trouble again,” Aidan murmured with a shake of his head. He was relieved that he couldn’t get up and couldn’t get drawn into the shenanigans downstairs.

Coward, a small voice chided him. You need to make your mark on the house and let everyone know that you are the boss, and you know it.

Still, now that he had a pleasantly full stomach, and had spent the better part of the afternoon gazing over the beautiful gardens. In just a few short hours his life had improved tenfold, and it had all been because of one rather a quirky lady: Petal.

“I will have a word with them,” Jerry sighed.

“Edwards has to stay down there. The only staff who are allowed up here are Petal and Rollo.”

“But Edwards is the nurse. She has to come up here sometimes,” Jerry protested.

Aidan shook his head. “I don’t need a nurse. I can get myself to and from the bed with Petal’s help. Edwards keeps trying to give me Laudanum. I don’t want the damned stuff, but I swear she is lacing my drinks or something. Before she left, the dowager muttered something about telling Edwards to increase the medication. I am not taking any Laudanum, because I absolutely refuse to risk being drugged into some sort of compromising situation.”

“Calm yourself,” Jerry soothed. “I really don’t think things will go that far.”

“Don’t you?” Aidan replied smoothly. “Then why did the dowager bring that companion of hers into the bedchamber? Miss Hornsby proceeded to walk around the place as though planning to redecorate.”

Jerry contemplated what he would do in Aidan’s situation.

“I think that for the time being, the only people allowed in this room are Petal and Rollo. You are right about that. The footmen, if they need to fill your bath, and Mrs Kempton, if she has any household issues she needs clarification on. Meantime, we need to get Edwards to do something useless somewhere else. I will find something for her to do, with strict instructions she is to remain out of this room. If she does have to come up here, then Rollo has to accompany her.”

“She won’t like that,” Petal murmured.

“I don’t care what she likes,” Jerry replied, surprised the maid had so much to say about it. However, having witnessed what had happened this afternoon, she had done far more for his brother than the nurse ever had. Usually, all Edwards did was take up position in the seat in the corner of the room, and glare at everyone who dared enter. She had done nothing to get Aidan up and moving about, or eating properly. It made even him question why the woman was in the house.

Petal, meantime, seemed to be a co-conspirator, and he couldn’t quite be certain whether that was a good idea or not. Still, Aidan appeared to like her. In fact, Aidan seemed to relax imperceptibly in her company. He frowned as he looked at the way they kept glancing at each other. He would swear they were having a silent conversation, but it was absurd to even contemplate that was possible.

There was something in those telling gazes that warned of a deeper connection than that of employer and employee. Unable to understand what was going on, Jerry warned himself that he had to visit more often.

“Now that we can move on from the dowager’s rather rude interruption,” Aidan began. “Leave clearing up for a moment. Petal, I want you to read the rest of this chapter to me.”

“Let me settle you back into bed first,” Jerry offered. “Then, if you fall asleep, you won’t do yourself a mischief.”

Petal followed the men toward the bed, pleased that Aidan did seem a little stronger.