I didnt ask you to come here, the General said reasonably. Nobody did. You came because you hoped there was money in it for you. Its the only reason the two of you ever set foot in this house, and I told you last time not to return. Youre damned nervy, thats all I can say, to come strutting back in here. You are a conniving bit o muslin, Leona, and I thank God youre not my blood relative. I wish I could say the same about that piece of trash youre married to. He broke off his harangue long enough to shoot Lord Vesey a malevolent glare. Now get out, both of you. I dont want to see your faces again.
Perhaps we had best go back to our rooms, Lord Vesey suggested to his wife, looking a shade paler than he had a few moments before.
Your rooms? Youre staying here? The Generals face reddened alarmingly.
Why, yes, of course, Leona replied. Where else would we stay?
I told you you were not welcome in this house, the General snapped, struggling weakly to sit up.
Please, General, calm yourself, the doctor said, hurrying around the bed to put his hands on the old mans shoulders and push him back down flat on the bed. You will bring on another apopolexy if you dont watch out.
The devil take it! General Streathern glared at the doctor, but he didnt have the strength to defy him. I want them out of my house, do you understand?
But, General, the vicar protested. Lord Vesey is your nephew. And Lady Vesey
He broke off abruptly as the General fixed him with a glare.
This is my house, General Streathern said coldly, and I am in charge of who does and does not stay here. Dont tell me who I can have in my house, Babcock.
No, of course not, General, the vicar said, forcing a smile. I did not mean to be presumptuous. It is justthey traveled so far, and where are they to stay?
Let em stay with you, if you like them so much.
Reverend Babcock chuckled indulgently, a sound that seemed to irritate the irascible old man even more.
Theres an inn in Lapham, he said, naming the local village. Let them stay there if theyre so bloody-minded they have to remain. But I refuse to let them torture me with their whinings and cryings and making my servants unhappy. Nothing worse than having the maids weeping all over the place because hes backing them into corners and taking liberties or shes screeching at them like a harpy and slapping them. If a man cannot have peace when hes been at deaths door for a week, then I dont know what the worlds coming to.
Of course you can have peace, the doctor told him soothingly, sending an expressive look in the direction of Lord and Lady Vesey. My lord
Yes, yes, of course. Lord Vesey gave a smile that looked more like the death rictus of a corpse. Anything to make the General feel better. Lady Vesey and I will take our leave right away.
He took his wifes hand, and they started from the room. The General turned his head toward Jessica. Jessica. Make sure they leave.
Of course, General, Jessica told him with a smile. I shall be happy to. She faced the others remaining in the room. Gabriela, Vicar, why dont we let the General talk to the doctor now?
The clergyman was obviously eager to leave the sickroomwhether because he feared the General or was hoping to find Lady Vesey, Jessica wasnt sure. Gabriela fairly skipped down the hall, keeping up a constant stream of chatter directed at Jessica.
Oh, Miss Jessie, isnt it wonderful? I was so sure that Gramps was going to die! I should have known that he was tougher than some old apoplexy.
Jessica smiled at the young girl. At fourteen, Gabriela was already promising to turn into a beauty. Though her figure was still as slender and flat as a boys, there was a litheness to her walk that promised a future grace, and her skin was fresh and creamy, her face lively and well put together, with large, dancing gray eyes and a tip-tilted nose.
Jessica was glad to see her charge so happy, but deep inside she could not keep from having a few doubts herself. The General might have awakened and seemed his old self. He might regain his full strength. But Jessica had noticed, even if Gabriela had not, that the left side of the old mans face had not moved much when he talked, and his left hand had not curled around Gabrielas in response to her taking it in hers. He had been unconscious for some time, and if nothing else, he was bound to be far weaker than normal. He was an old man, and the old were always susceptible to fevers and coughs, especially when they were weakened by illness.
She worried about the General, not only because she was fond of the him, but also because his sudden illness had brought home to her how vulnerable Gabriela was. Underage, orphaned, she might very well be left to the mercies of such people as the Veseys. Jessica had taken care of Gabriela, been her companion, teacher and confidante since the girl was eight, and she loved her as if she were her own sister. But in the eyes of the world, hers was only a paid position, and if the General died, whoever became Gabrielas guardian could terminate Jessicas employment, and she would have no recourse. She had worried over the matter ever since the General fell ill.
Gabriela went upstairs with the promise that she would work on the studies she had neglected during her great-uncles illness, and Jessica turned into the kitchen to find the butler, Pierson, and inform him of the Generals miraculous recovery and his subsequent banishment of the Veseys. Nothing, she knew, could make the servants happier than those two events.
As she expected, the butler beamed when she told him what had taken place in the Generals bedchamber upstairs and assured her that he would assign two maids, not one, to packing up the Veseys baggage and would personally escort them to their carriage.
Jessica returned to the nursery upstairs, where her and Gabrielas bedrooms lay, separated by the schoolroom. As she passed the Veseys room, she heard the sound of something breaking, followed by Leonas high-pitched, angry voice and Lord Veseys lower-pitched but no less furious one. Jessica smiled to herself and continued on her way.
The doctor left, and not long after that, Lord and Lady Vesey also quit the house. Humphrey, the Generals valet, stayed by the old mans side throughout the rest of the day and that night, relievedafter great resistancefor a few hours at a stretch when Jessica or the butler or the housekeeper took over his role of nursemaid.
The General slept much of that time, waking up now and then to complain of feeling hungry and devouring first a bowl of consommé, then gruel and, finally, demanding soup with some substance to it. With each irascible command or gripe, the spirits of the household lightened. The General was becoming more and more normal.
Jessica visited the old man with her charge every morning and evening, and she could see visible improvement in him each time. She was very happy, not only for Gabrielas sake, but because she was fond of the General. When the scandal broke and her father was cashiered out of the army, most of their acquaintances and friends, even the man she had thought loved her, had turned away from her, but General Streathern had not. He had come to pay his condolences after her fathers death, a courtesy few other of his military friends had seen fit to exercise.
Her fathers death had left Jessica penniless. She had refused to seek the help of her fathers family, who had scorned him after the scandal. For a time she had stayed with her dead mothers brother, but it had been an untenable situation. He had five daughters of his own, all coming up to marriageable age and making their debuts. The last thing they needed was another young female about the place, and Jessica, whose father had raised her to be strong-minded and independent, was accustomed to running a household, not living meekly in one. She and her aunt did not get along, and she had soon seen that she could not live with them, either. There had followed a series of positions as governess or companion, but she was generally considered too young or too attractive or too tainted by scandal to be hired, and when she was, she often found herself leaving because of the unwelcome advances of a male of the house.