Page 77 of The No Good Irresistible Viscount Tipton
Surprised he had given Maddy more than a cursory thought, Devona nodded. “I want her to have a choice, too.”
***
Pearl was coming up from the kitchen when Devona ran into her on the stairs, her arms overflowing with soiled bandages, scissors, and a bowl of soapy water.
The servant rushed forward. “I’ve got it.” She grabbed the bowl just before it slipped from Devona’s grasp. “You shouldn’t be tending the doctor yourself. It isn’t respectable.”
“I have no plans to announce the news in theTimes,so let it be our secret.”
“And here I thought marriage would uncurl that wild hair of yours,” Pearl mourned. They continued down to the kitchen.
“Do not fret, Pearl. I have His Lordship’s permission to look after Brogden. It was his instructions I was following.”
“And why would he be trusting you to doctor his patient,” she scoffed.
Devona wrinkled her nose while they walked under the drying herbs. “Since the patient is a physician, where is the harm? Have you seen Maddy?”
Cook angled her head in the direction of the door behind her. “She is out back playing with a kitten.”
Cook was a large woman in her fifties. She had raised eight children on her own, and was confident of her abilities to tell the Tiptons what she would and would not do. Instead of her igniting Rayne’s temper as Devona expected, her husband liked the brisk, straightforward woman. The fact that she could cook was favorable to all.
“Those aren’t for me. I don’t do laundry,” she reminded them. “I was hired for cooking and that’s all I’ll do.” She continued to peel the onion in her hand.
“Nelly has done a fine job laundering,” Devona began.
Cook tossed the onion in a pot and picked up another. “Silly twit.”
Hoping the comment was for the absent Nelly, Devona cleared her throat. “That may be, but these are for you.” She placed the linens on the worktable and pushed them toward her.
The servant eyed the bundle. “You planning to eat these?”
Pearl opened her mouth to silence the uppity cook, but Devona stilled her by touching her arm. This was Devona’s household, and she felt it was her job to maintain domestic tranquility.
“As long as Dr. Brogden is in residence we will need your assistance. And really, they do fall under your duties,” she promised.
Warily, Cook poked them with her knife. “What do you want me to do?”
As she felt she was going to win this domestic battle, Devona’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Cook them, naturally.”
Pearl was still mumbling her discord fifteen minutes later. “You should have allowed Speck to backhand her for such sass. I would have paid him a shilling to watch him do it.”
“Truly, I never noticed this streak of violence in you, Pearl.” Devona decided she would show Maddy how to plan the menu for the week. She glanced back at her sister-in-law. She was dirty from sitting on the ground, playing with the stray kitten. Red welts from its claws marred both her hands and arms.
“Before we start, why do you not go change your dress and wash the filth out of those scratches. You’ll end up under your brother’s medical care if they get infected.”
Maddy appeared properly horrified. “Ah, the real threat. He would probably bleed me just to get rid of me.”
“Madeleina!”
Maddy brushed a kiss to her cheek. “I shall not be long.” She rushed up the stairs to her room.
“I do not think you are the proper guardian for that impertinent child,” Pearl observed, her skepticism clear.
Devona hugged her. “Of course I’m perfect. I know all the tricks.”
“Beg pardon, Lady Tipton,” the approaching footman interrupted.
“Yes?”
