Page 43 of An Arranged Marriage with a Mad Marquess
Chapter Fourteen
Dinner was decidedly tense.
Patrina had spent most of the afternoon wandering around the house, worrying about Neil. Nobody seemed to find it necessary to tell her anything that was going on. The physician came, although Patrina did not see him. When it was time to sit down to dinner, she was not surprised at all to find that Neil was not there.
They ate in silence for a few moments, before the quiet got too much for Patrina and she felt the need to speak up.
“Is Harry not joining us?” she asked.
The atmosphere grew more tense.
“The steward?” Thomasin said, with a taut laugh. “Why should he join us.”
Patrina frowned. “Forgive me, but I thought he was Neil’s cousin. He generally joins us.”
“That’s enough, Patrina,” Emma said suddenly, making Patrina flinch. “When Neil is here, he can decide whether Harry joins us or not. For now, Thomasin is right – it isnotappropriate to have a steward sitting at table with us. Let us leave the subject for now.”
The silence simmered. Patrina curled her fingers around her fork, knuckles standing out white. Nobody looked at her, and Emma had begun to eat again, jaw tensed. Patrina swallowed hard, anger bubbling up.
How dare she? How dare they?
“Iam not sure it is appropriate for you to speak to me that way, Lady Tidemore,” Patrina heard herself saying. Emma’s head snapped up, glaring at her. Cynthia sucked in a breath.
“Well, I…” Emma began, but Patrina interrupted her.
“How often must I remind you all thatIam Lady Morendale? You all sit at my table. In the absence of my husband, you think you can overlook me and speak to me how you like?”
Emma rested her elbow on the table, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Must we do this now?” she said, an edge in her voice. “My son is… my son is dying, Patrina. He is dying, and you want to begin throwing your weight around?”
“No, I want to be taken seriously. Not pushed out of rooms where important decisions have to be made. Not made to feel like an errant child at my own table. I want tohelp, not be ushered away like an inconvenience.”
Emma shook her head. “Not now, Patrina. Please.”
She clenched her jaw. Pushing the subject now would only make things worse. Patrina glanced around, seeing that Cynthia stared miserably down at her plate, food barely touched. Emma’s expression was twisted in pain. Thomasin seemed to be trying to pretend to be somewhere else.
Clayton, on the other hand, was watching Patrina, his expression unreadable.
“I shall leave this conversation here,” Patrina said at last, rising to her feet and tossing down her napkin, “but it is not finished, Lady Tidemore. Not yet. I intend to have a real effect on my husband’s life, and if that means arguing for better medical care, I shall do it.”
She didn’t wait for a response, instead turned on her heel and marched out of the room.
Patrina was seething. She went to one of the smaller parlours, one where she felt she would not be disturbed, and paced up and down, trying to calm herself.
It is not fair. It isnotfair.
She wasn’t entirely sure how to manage this issue. Neil had seemed glad enough to let herbeLady Morendale properly, but with him gone, could she really stand up to his mother and overbearing relatives?
What if I’m wrong? What if Mr. Blackburn’s drops and tincturesarekeeping Neil healthy and fit, and my suggestion that he tries something new is the death of him?
She shuddered.
I’m treading on thin ice.
The door creaked, and Patrina flinched. She turned, expecting to see Emma, or at least Cynthia.
Instead, Thomasin stood in the doorway, hands neatly clasped before her.
