Page 49 of The Lost Lord
“Are you delusional, Richard?” Miriam laughed again, this time with amazement. Richard’s hands fisted at his sides.
“You and Lizzie both only wanted my status as a nobleman and freedom from the men in your lives. You, from Livingston; Lizzie, from Arthur.”
Miriam’s mouth flattened into a thin line.
“Even knowing this, I thought you saw something within me worth loving. I clung to that ray of hope so desperately that I did everything within my power to protect you from your friend’s schemes. I placed our financial power in your hands. I made arrangements to take you as far away from her as I could. I gave you a means of dissolving our union, should you wish to do so.”
“By filing for an annulment,” Miriam choked. Were those tears shimmering in her eyes? Richard wished for tangible proof that she understood why he’d married her.
“I did not marry you because Lizzie forced me to, Miriam. I married you because I wanted to. Give me a chance, and I will prove to you that no other man could ever love you as much as I do.” Tenderly Richard raised his hand to brush a small spot of dampness from her soft cheek.
“Ahem. Am I interrupting? The Countess will join us for a late luncheon and then retire for the afternoon.”
“Brother.” Richard pulled away. “The decision is yours, Miriam,” he whispered. “You must make it soon.”
They silently joined Harper and Edward in the dining room.
“I must beg you to pardon the lack of flavor in the food. I have been nauseous for every single day of the past eight months,” she explained. “The mere smell of food is enough to send me into a queasy fit. The midwife assures me that morning sickness subsides after three or four months, but with twins I find I can scarcely eat anything other than bread and potatoes.”
“And ices. Her ladyship does love pistachio ice cream.” The earl’s voice was peculiar, a low rumble. He had quickly changed his shirt and shrugged into a jacket, but he was not wearing a cravat. Miriam tried not to stare at the sight of the thick scar visible at the base of his throat. Miriam recalled what Richard had told her about his brother being hauled out of the jungle by the neck and winced. What an injury that must have been.
“Only when formed to look like vegetables. I have to pretend I am eating something with nutrition.” Harper winked across the table at him.
They were joking, Richard realized. It was such an easy thing to miss. The earl and his countess were so easy with one another, and with their son. Despondent envy curled through him.
“What are you doing in London in the middle of the summer?” Richard asked. “Ordinarily everyone who can afford it flees for the countryside.”
“We are here for several reasons, the most important of which was to greet you and Miriam. We were so very surprised and pleased to receive your letter, Richard. The progress you have made in America is impressive. I can see the changes in you, and they are very much for the better. Am I to understand you and Miriam have already wed?”
“Legally, yes,” Miriam interjected. Richard’s head jerked up as he stared at the woman who had just declared herself his wife. Beside her, Mrs. Kent poked at her luncheon of boiled eggs and rolls as if nothing shocking at all. Miriam lifted her chin defiantly. “We had planned to have a second ceremony here in England, when the time is right.”
He smiled faintly. Miriam returned her attention to the food. A pink stain colored her cheek.
“That can be arranged,” Edward observed.
“We are waiting for our ship to arrive. TheThetis,” Miriam informed the Earl. “Then, we shall celebrate our union.”
She was giving him a chance. Richard didn’t know whether to kiss her or run to the docks in search of the ship that by rights ought to be only a few days behind them.
“The second reason we’ve remained in London is that I wanted to be close to the doctor Edward has found. The doctor did not want me to travel to the country in the spring, fearing that I might lose the babies. Twins are risky, so we are taking every precaution. In the country, one can wait for quite a while before a midwife or doctor arrives. I have a midwife, who is here in residence with us, working under the supervision of London’s best surgeon.”
“A surgeon? That seems an unusual choice,” Richard observed. He continued to cast glances at Miriam, but she avoided his gaze.
“When I was living with the tribe in Brazil, I witness a healer save two women’s lives by making an incision in the abdomen to remove a baby. After the operation the wound was stitched shut with a paste to prevent infections. Both women and their babes survived the operations,” Edward said. “We found a surgeon who has studied the procedure to great extent under James Miranda Stuart Barry in South Africa. He is willing to perform the procedure if it should become necessary to save Harper’s life.”
The besotted look his brother and sister-in-law exchanged again stirred pangs of jealousy. Why did his and Miriam’s path have to be so much more difficult?
“There is also your pet project keeping us here.”
The countess blushed. “Yes, my Home for Troubled Girls.”
“What do you mean, home for troubled girls?” Miriam asked.
“Before I married, I was apprenticed to a psychiatric doctor and the owner of a prestigious asylum. This is how I met Edward, actually. When the facility closed, some of my former patients were sent to sub-standard asylums. If you have ever had occasion to visit the average asylum, you will know how dreadful such places can be.”
“Miriam and I tend to avoid such places,” Richard interjected with a warm look at her. Miriam lowered her gaze. He had not won reconciliation yet.
“I decided that there was a need for an asylum suitable to protect women from the kinds of abuses that can occur when they are confined to care,” Harper continued. “I set about forming a committee to raise funds It was shocking to me how much women were willing to contribute, merely to be in good graces with the new countess.” She made a face. “Mind you, these were many of the same people who refused to speak to me when I was introduced as the granddaughter of a baroness.”
