wrong with your sleeping in the master suite.”
“Kind of you to say-so,” he said, shoving his meat aside.
Cook entered with a plate of plum cake, I knew it for a family treat. She even sent Norman a box of it occasionally. In fact, he had received some the day he died, but I had no desire to bring up that subject, so didn’t mention it. I was perturbed at Homer’s interpretation of my innocent question and wanted to straighten out my feelings, but he had soon switched to another matter.
“Dr. Nevans will be here to attend you this afternoon. I hope you have not made other plans. After he has left, the solicitor will want to talk with us both. He is to be here at four.” There was a dictatorial tone in all this that annoyed me.
“I have not made other plans, but in future I would like to be consulted on appointments being made for me. I don’t believe I’ll finish this tea after all. What time is the doctor coming?”
“At two-thirty. Plenty of time.”
“I will be in my room. I had planned to take a nap, but by all means have me notified.”
I bowed my head curtly and left, my bosom heaving with vexation. It was not the appointments that annoyed me, but that imputation of having gone to claim the mistress’s room for my own while Sir Homer’s belongings still occupied the master suite. Not that he had any more right to take those important chambers than I! And he hadn’t answered my question about Millie’s story either.
Chapter 8
Dr. Nevans wasa harmless enough man. He was of middle years, with a mild manner. The delicate questions he had to ask me discomposed him. I held that to account for his diffident air, one almost of disapproval. In the end, it was his professional opinion that I was with child. He outlined a diet and regime for me; plenty of milk and beef, walking but no riding or overly strenuous lifting, plenty of rest and sleep.
“I’m sure everything will be all right. This is not the time for you to be too concerned. Worry won’t do you or the child any good.”
“I am not particularly worried,” I informed him. “Naturally I would much prefer that my husband were still alive, but widows have borne up under childbirth before.”
He frowned faintly. Ought I to have made more fuss, more protestations of feminine fright and sorrow?
“Yes, well I shall do everything in my power. I will stop in to see you from time to time. In the meanwhile, don’t fancy yourself an invalid. You can do the normal things except riding, but do them in moderation.”
As I was not an immoderate person, and did not ride at all, I foresaw no change in my activities till my increasing size incapacitated me somewhat. The doctor went on to Thal’s room, and I looked at my watch to see how much time remained till the solicitor’s arrival.
With an hour to be passed, I sat on the edge of the bed. Some lethargy invaded my very bones. I was suddenly exhausted. Perhaps the doctor was right, and an increasing woman needed more rest. Before I knew it I was lying down and fast asleep. I was still sleeping when a servant came to tell me Mr. Rupert awaited me in Sir Homer’s study. I felt tired still when I arose to prepare myself, tired and cranky.
Sir Homer sat behind the desk in a wood-paneled office, quite a handsome room, with the solicitor across from him. They both arose to greet me and show me to the other chair. Mr. Rupert was one of those skeletal men, the shape of his bones apparent through tightly drawn skin, with only enough flesh to cover them. The law had drawn off all his humor and joy. He was as dry and dull as a law book.
“An unusual case we are faced with, but by no means unique,” he informed us. “There is nothing new under the sun, or very little. I shall spend the next days looking into precedents, but my trained opinion is that the estate is in escrow till the birth of Lady Blythe’s child, at which time it will revert to yourself if the child is female, Sir Homer, and to
“Kind of you to say-so,” he said, shoving his meat aside.
Cook entered with a plate of plum cake, I knew it for a family treat. She even sent Norman a box of it occasionally. In fact, he had received some the day he died, but I had no desire to bring up that subject, so didn’t mention it. I was perturbed at Homer’s interpretation of my innocent question and wanted to straighten out my feelings, but he had soon switched to another matter.
“Dr. Nevans will be here to attend you this afternoon. I hope you have not made other plans. After he has left, the solicitor will want to talk with us both. He is to be here at four.” There was a dictatorial tone in all this that annoyed me.
“I have not made other plans, but in future I would like to be consulted on appointments being made for me. I don’t believe I’ll finish this tea after all. What time is the doctor coming?”
“At two-thirty. Plenty of time.”
“I will be in my room. I had planned to take a nap, but by all means have me notified.”
I bowed my head curtly and left, my bosom heaving with vexation. It was not the appointments that annoyed me, but that imputation of having gone to claim the mistress’s room for my own while Sir Homer’s belongings still occupied the master suite. Not that he had any more right to take those important chambers than I! And he hadn’t answered my question about Millie’s story either.
Chapter 8
Dr. Nevans wasa harmless enough man. He was of middle years, with a mild manner. The delicate questions he had to ask me discomposed him. I held that to account for his diffident air, one almost of disapproval. In the end, it was his professional opinion that I was with child. He outlined a diet and regime for me; plenty of milk and beef, walking but no riding or overly strenuous lifting, plenty of rest and sleep.
“I’m sure everything will be all right. This is not the time for you to be too concerned. Worry won’t do you or the child any good.”
“I am not particularly worried,” I informed him. “Naturally I would much prefer that my husband were still alive, but widows have borne up under childbirth before.”
He frowned faintly. Ought I to have made more fuss, more protestations of feminine fright and sorrow?
“Yes, well I shall do everything in my power. I will stop in to see you from time to time. In the meanwhile, don’t fancy yourself an invalid. You can do the normal things except riding, but do them in moderation.”
As I was not an immoderate person, and did not ride at all, I foresaw no change in my activities till my increasing size incapacitated me somewhat. The doctor went on to Thal’s room, and I looked at my watch to see how much time remained till the solicitor’s arrival.
With an hour to be passed, I sat on the edge of the bed. Some lethargy invaded my very bones. I was suddenly exhausted. Perhaps the doctor was right, and an increasing woman needed more rest. Before I knew it I was lying down and fast asleep. I was still sleeping when a servant came to tell me Mr. Rupert awaited me in Sir Homer’s study. I felt tired still when I arose to prepare myself, tired and cranky.
Sir Homer sat behind the desk in a wood-paneled office, quite a handsome room, with the solicitor across from him. They both arose to greet me and show me to the other chair. Mr. Rupert was one of those skeletal men, the shape of his bones apparent through tightly drawn skin, with only enough flesh to cover them. The law had drawn off all his humor and joy. He was as dry and dull as a law book.
“An unusual case we are faced with, but by no means unique,” he informed us. “There is nothing new under the sun, or very little. I shall spend the next days looking into precedents, but my trained opinion is that the estate is in escrow till the birth of Lady Blythe’s child, at which time it will revert to yourself if the child is female, Sir Homer, and to
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