Page 28 of The Moonstone Major
“Major Brennan,” one of his aides called out, his footsteps clomping on the stairs. “Where shall we set up the maps?”
“I’ll take care of it, Sergeant Ames. Just leave everything in the study for now.”
A pretty blush stained Chloe’s cheeks as his aide strode in.
“Oh, forgive me,” the man said, now flustered. “I did not realize you had company.”
Fionn introduced the sergeant to her. “This is Lady Chloe’s home. She and her sisters own it. Lady Chloe, take whatever you need from here.”
She shook her head. “I only came for one last nostalgic look at the house before you occupy it. Well, I was late in attending to it. But I’m here now, and isn’t the view beautiful, Sergeant Ames?”
His sergeant nodded. “Indeed, my lady.”
“Well, if you are done,” Fionn said gently, “I’ll escort you back to Westgate Hall.”
She looked so pained, it tugged at his heart.
“I’ll see myself back. It is a much shorter walk if I go along the beach. The tide is only now starting to come in. I ought to be safe enough.”
He held out his arm. “Let me escort you.”
“Afraid I will be washed out to sea?”
“Something like that,” he said, returning her smile with one of his own. “Those waves can be treacherous.”
“I won’t go near them. I can hop over the rocks between the two properties.”
“All the more reason to accompany you. That ankle of yours is hardly healed. You might slip and damage it again.”
She sighed and took his arm. “Very well, I shall play the damsel in distress, since I always enjoy your company. You can tell me about your plans for the hospital you are building by the harbor.”
They paused downstairs, and he showed her some of the architectural drawings.
“How clever,” she remarked. “You’ve arranged the design in a U-shape with a central courtyard and all of it overlooking the water.”
“We’ll have three operating rooms once the hospital is built. We expect to receive an overflow of the more severely wounded soldiers whenever the hospitals in Plymouth and Bournemouth cannot handle them. Moonstone Landing’s port requires very little expansion to accommodate our navy frigates.”
“Have you thought about what to plant in your courtyard? Hen has established a society for the beautification of our local area. Phoebe and I were her first members, of course,” she said with a mirthful chuckle. “Now most of the women in the village have joined. But this is what we do, come up with ideas to improve the aspect of every building, and we can certainly do the same for your hospital.”
He folded his arms across his chest and listened to her go on about her ideas, not only because he loved the lilt of her voice, but because she was coming up with some excellent suggestions.
“Did you know that plants have healing properties? And that various scents can be quite soothing. Lavender and lemon, for example. Would you allow us to present you with ideas for your courtyard plants?”
He had not considered adding anything there, just leaving it as a grassy area with some benches. He was on a tight budget, and the hospital’s interior was where he needed to spend the army funding. The operating rooms, supplies, beds. Trained staff. None of these came cheap, and he could not spare anything for flowers.
He stopped Chloe when she started talking about scented soaps. “Lye soap is army regulation. We are not running a club for London’s elite. No Farthingale scented soaps or oils for us. It is simply not in the budget.”
“But this is something our ladies’ society can provide,” she said with appealing passion. “It won’t cost the army so much as a shilling. What is wrong with allowing us to donate these little extras? Flowers, soaps, and whatever else can make these wounded soldiers a little more comfortable. Extra blankets in winter. A few extra vegetables or meat for their soups.”
Her eyes were now sparkling.
He hated to dampen her enthusiasm, but the army did not operate this way. Every change from their routine had to be approved by his higher-ups. “Come on, let me walk you back to Westgate Hall and we’ll talk about it.”
She sighed. “Don’t you like any of my ideas?”
“I like them all.”
“Then what is the problem?”
