Page 80 of Her Tempting Traitor
Sighing, she glanced over at the huge elephant. “And now, I think I need to tackle it. For Elizabeth’s sake.”
Foralltheir sakes.
“Gas?” blurted Sir Dickie, his tea cup slipping from his slack fingers to dribble across the breakfast table. “What do you mean,gas?”
His wife didn’t look up from her sausage. “She means, sweet pea, that the build-up of?—”
“I know what gas is!” Sir Dickie barked, pinning Gabby with a glare. “I want to know why this chit thinks Elizabeth has it!”
“Everyone has it—” Lady Zilphia began, and at her husband’s frustrated huff, Gabby bit her lip to contain her smile.
“Look, Sir Dickie,” she began, sliding into the breakfast room chair beside her brother, whose lips curled ruefully on one side as he tipped his head toward her. “Elizabeth, I am sorry to say, is not pregnant. Her diet these last months—and likely long before you purchased her—has resulted in chronic indigestion and a terribly bad build-up of gas. I have already instructed her keepers to feed her solely grasses and hay for the next month, and they must make certain they are walking her multiple times a day, and?—”
“You’veinstructed?” their host roared, slamming his palms on the table. “Missy, what in the hell—excuse me, Zilphia—makes you think you are an expert? You weren’t even supposed toseethe damned—excuse me, Zilphia—elephant!”
Gabby folded her hands in front of her, her shoulders ramrod straight. “No, I was not. I had to sneak in to examine her last night.”
“Why in the—” Sir Dickie began, then shook his head, his face reddening. “Doctor Butcombe, your own brother, agrees that Elizabeth is pregnant?—”
“I dinnae ken shite about elephants, pregnant or no’,” Hunter announced cheerfully, placing his hand protectively over Gabby’s and squeezing. “I’m more of the brawn in this twinship, Gabs is the brains.”
She nodded. “He is right.”
“Doctor Butcombe—” Sir Dickie began.
Hunter’s snicker interrupted him. “Christ, that’s the worst alias ever.”
“Itisa horrible name,” murmured Lady Zilphia from her place, her attention on her food. “Unfortunate, certainly.”
“Hunter is not a doctor.” Gabby held Sir Dickie’s apoplectic gaze. “I am. Or rather, I am not permitted to claim the title of veterinarian, but I have trained extensively on two continents, and have all the credentials of a male animal doctor.”
“Yes, but you’re—you’re awoman!”
“Oh, well spotted, sweet pea,” murmured his wife.
Gabby took a deep breath, glad for her brother’s support. “I am. And I am certain you will admit that as a woman, I am just as capable and intelligent as my brother.”
Sir Dickie’s shoulders slumped as he exhaled. His expression turned sheepish. “Aye, you’re right. Of course you’re just as smart—wait, your brother’s a shite doctor. Excuse me, Zilphia.”
“But naeexcuse meto me?” Hunter smirked as he shrugged and planted his elbows on the table. “I gladly admit I ken fook all—excuse me, Zilphia—when it comes to pregnant elephants, and all I ken about animals I’ve learned from Gabby. Do ye ken she used to keep a pet snake up her sleeve when we were young? What was its name?”
“Mary Magdelene, but that is not important.” Gabby sniffed, trying to maintain an air of professionalism, even while being secretly delighted by her brother’s timely distraction. “Iamtrained, and if I had been allowed to examine Elizabeth sooner, I could have told you days ago what her issue is.”
“You’rethe one who decided to lie to me,” Sir Dickie growled, slumping over his sausage and toast.
Gabby nodded her head, awarding the point. “And I made that decision because I have spent a lifetime fighting against the prejudices of men like you, and could not afford to be turned away.”
She heard Hunter suck in a breath at her side, and wondered if he was worried, same as her, if Sir Dickie would askwhyexactly she had to be here at Inverlochy.
But instead their host shook his head bleakly. “You…you reallyarea veterinarian, lassie? And Elizabeth isn’t pregnant? I was duped?”
Gabby released a surreptitious breath, relieved he’d finally accepted the truth, and made her tone sympathetic. “I am sorry, sir. It is possible the man you purchased her from was none the wiser, too. She is a fine animal, in the prime of her life. If you would like a baby elephant in the future, I am certain the stud services of one of the males in the London Zoo could be obtained.”
“I think, if you do not mind,” Lady Zilphia announced suddenly, placing her fork primly beside her plate and lifting her serviette to pat genteelly at her lips, knowing she had all of their attention, “that we have had quite enough pregnant elephants for the time being.”
Her husband’s shoulders slumped. “But my angel?—”
“Allow the poor dear to enjoy her un-upset tummy, sweet pea,” his wife commanded. “Focus on knocking up Suzanne.”
