Page 43 of The Ones Left Behind
“Do you mean it?”
“I have never been one for false flattery, you know that.”
“This is such a relief. Does it mean you do not require spirits now?”
“Not as much,” he conceded.
“That is something, is it not? I can bring the herbs to you. I have some prepared in the still-room. I thought Hornsby knew that,” she said, standing up again.
Matthias followed her and smiled. Perhaps the servants were trying to help more than he knew. Heaven knew, he needed any excuse to speak with Kitty.
“By the way, I have invited some guests. I expect them to arrive any day now.”
She spun back around and looked horrified. “How many?”
“I am not certain. Perhaps four?”
“My lord, I need to make certain rooms are prepared for them.” She did not hide the exasperation from her voice. Matthias bit back a smile.
“Kitty, these are not guests you need to worry about. In fact, you are well acquainted with some of them.”
He could see the concern on her face. “Who?” she whispered.
“Why, Waverley and Elliot, and hopefully their wives.”
“You have invited a duke and duchess and have but now thought to tell me?”
Her steps lengthened as she hurried back to the house and Matthias could not keep up. She stopped as if she remembered her initial errand. “The herbs are on the shelf in the store room,” she called before rushing away.
“I have once more lost any ground I may have gained,” he muttered to himself in frustration.
* * *
Kitty hurried backto the house, her mind in a whirl with everything that needed to be done. Had Matthias deliberately put her in a position to fail? She hated to think so, but was it not just like a gentleman not to consider what would need to be done to ensure rooms were prepared and adequate meals were sent to the table for so many people?
She began in the kitchen with the cook, almost breathless by the time she entered that door.
“Good day, Mrs. Gordon,” Cook greeted her.
“His lordship has just informed me we are to have several distinguished guests, perhaps as soon as today.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. A Duke and Duchess, I hear, and the distinguished Captain Elliot and his bride. I have prepared several of the master’s favourites for the occasion.”
“You were aware of this visit?” Kitty asked with disbelief.
“Indeed. His lordship told me a sennight ago so I had time to send to London for provisions if necessary.”
Matthias hobbled in through the door just as Kitty heard this revelation. She felt a twinge of guilt at having left him behind, but that was swiftly erased by his omitting to inform her of the impending house party. His sin was decidedly greater than hers. She marched over to the still-room and took the cordial and herbs he needed from a shelf. He followed her inside and the room suddenly felt too small, as she imagined one of the large Tower animals must feel, locked in a cage. Quickly, she moved to place the jars in his hands but he grasped hers instead, enclosing them in his larger ones.
She was so surprised, for a moment she forgot she was angry.
“I did not mean to distress you, Kitty.”
“But you undermine my position by going behind my back.”
She could see the indecision on his face. “I assure you, that is not what I was doing. I thought you would be pleased to see our old acquaintances. I wish you to be my guest, not my housekeeper, while they are here.”
“No,” she said emphatically. “Why pretend I am something I am not? They will know eventually, anyway.”
