Page 14 of Deceiving an Earl
But what to say and how to say it?
How to even start the letter? Did he call her Ellen? Too informal? Too presumptuous?
Lady Fieldhurst? Definitely too formal. They had a past, no matter how hard each of them tried to forget it.
My lady, he finally wrote.
I hope all is well with young Fieldhurst and that he has recovered from his revelries. If there is anything you need of me, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Here he hesitated again. Lord Armbruster? Again, too formal and Oliver was too presumptuous. So he signed it:
A
Before he could think twice he folded the paper, put it in an envelope, sealed it, and called for a footman.
“Please purchase a small bouquet of flowers,” he said. “Nothing too extravagant, but something small and…pretty.” Good Lord, he sounded like a ninny. The footman looked confused. “A small bouquet of poppies. Deliver them to Lady Fieldhurst.”
The footman’s confusion cleared, and he trotted off, but Oliver remained unsettled, wondering if he had done the right thing. Maybe he should have left well enough alone, acted like last night had not even happened. Maybe Ellen would read too much into his words.
He pulled Ashland’s ledgers toward him and began to sort through them, forcing Ellen, and poppies, and drunken lads out of his mind.
…
“I cannot persuade the headmaster to take you back,” Ellen said at luncheon the next day.
It was the first she had seen of Philip since Oliver had carried him home. Her son had spent the entire day in his closed bedchambers, refusing her entrance.
He was shoveling food into his mouth and did not answer her.
“What am I to do with you, Philip? You must go to school.”
“Why? I’m almost finished and they haven’t taught me shite.”
“Philip!” Ellen wanted to cover her ears. She had not taught her son to talk like that.
“Well, they haven’t. I have an earldom to oversee, Mother. School interferes.”
“Your father’s steward is overseeing everything until you are deemed ready to take over. Your behavior last night and your behavior at school has not convinced me you are ready.”
He balled up his napkin and threw it on the table. Ellen nodded to the lone footman in the room to leave, and he quietly slipped out. If Philip wasn’t careful he would be the talk of the servants—if he wasn’t already.
“And who is overseeing the steward? How do we even know he’s doing an adequate job of it? For all we know he is fleecing us. Stealing from us.”
“Philip, that is enough!” She was appalled by what was coming out of his mouth. “The man has been employed by this family for years and has always done an exemplary job. I cannot believe you would question such a thing.”
Philip put his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, Mother, but you have no idea how frustrating it is to be stuck with those…children…at Eton, knowing that I should be home taking the reins of the Fieldhurst earldom. It is my right and my duty. Staying in school is teaching me nothing.”
“It seems to me that it has taught you much.” She was referring to the latest incident that had gotten him kicked out and he knew it, because he looked away, his cheeks turning red.
“You will not take the reins of anything, except your good behavior, until I say you will,” she said.
“Begging your pardon, but that is not up to you.” He scooted his chair back, stood, and left the room.
Ellen pushed her plate away, no longer hungry. Indeed, she was feeling quite sick and quite angry at her deceased husband for leaving her in this mess.
At her desk she pulled Oliver’s note toward her and read it for the hundredth time. The small bouquet of poppies was also sitting on her desk in a small crystal vase. He was the last person she would have expected to reach out a helping hand and offer kind words.
