Page 27 of The Duke and the Enigmatic Governess
She recognized the book on the side table and smiled to herself, imagining the duke reading the next few chapters. One of the heroines was desperately ill with a fever, which sounded very much like a putrid sore throat. Would she recover and true love win through?
Suddenly, she heard the contralto tone of a familiar voice in the distance.
It can’t be. Franny? Has the fever returned?
“I’m Mrs. Francine Weston, I’ve come to visit my friend. I received a letter saying she was here and very ill.”
Audrey heard the voice of Mrs. Driscoll as she suggested the visitor might return later in the day.
“Absolutely not. I received a letter from the Duke of Clairville telling me she was here, and I insist on seeing her now.” Audrey heard Franny’s reply and couldn’t help but smile.
The door opened and Rosie entered, looking flustered. “I’m sorry, miss, but Mrs. Driscoll sent me. There’s a lady arrived to see you, an erm… very forceful lady, who insists on seeing you immediately.”
“It’s all right, Rosie, I recognized the voice. tell Mrs. Driscoll I know Mrs. Weston and you can show her in.”
Nurse Walters entered the room. “Ask the lady to wait in the drawing room, please. Miss Banks needs to have her tea and breakfast broth before she sees any visitors. I’m not allowing anything that might cause a relapse.”
“But …” protested Audrey. “It is quite all right. I know her well.”
“I haven’t nursed you back to health to have some busy body of a lady come into this room fussing and shouting, which…” and she held up her hand as Audrey tried to speak before continuing, “which is what she is doing at this moment. I do not like her attitude toward Mrs. Driscoll. It lacks courtesy. She can wait till you are ready to receive her, miss.”
Audrey gave in, already feeling weary, and allowed Nurse Walters to bring her broth beside the fire. Audrey had to admit it did make her feel better. She allowed Rosie to brush and dress her hair, recognizing that she was still a long way from being back to full strength.
A knock on the door and Mrs. Driscoll entered, dressed formally in a dark gray dress and lace cap, every inch the competent housekeeper again. “Mrs. Francine Weston,” she announced, handing Audrey a visitors’ card.
“Thank you, Mrs. Driscoll, I’ll be glad to see her,” said Audrey. “Would it be possible for you to bring us some tea, please?”
Mrs. Driscoll looked urgently at Audrey and whispered to her under her breath, “She is calling you by another name. She claims you are a lady and a close acquaintance. I would have sent her away, but she is waving a letter the duke sent. Are you sure you are well enough to see her?”
“Thank you. I do know her, and I’ll explain everything once she has gone.” Audrey told Mrs. Driscoll
“Very well, miss. I’ll show her in.”
A whirlwind of color, a jeweled turban, followed by the strong scent of the perfume of lemon and lily of the valley, swept into the room. Audrey found herself enfolded in an embrace.
After looking around the room, Franny turned to Rosie and Nurse Walters, and told them they could leave.
Audrey gasped at the expression on Nurse Walters’ face. This looked like at the very least a skirmish, if not all-out war.
Nurse Walters looked determined to stand her ground in her own sickroom. “I will stay with my patient, My Lady,” she declared. “I’ll sit in the corner with my tatting,” and sat down in a chair near the hearth.
After a moment, deciding whether she could evict Nurse Walters, Franny nodded at Nurse Walters, who had already begun her tatting. Audrey smiled and thought her fierce friend Mrs. Francine Weston had possibly found her match in Nurse Walters. Sitting, seething in the corner, with the clack, clack of her tatting, there was no dislodging Nurse Walters from her post.
“Well, of all the ….” said Franny, before thinking better of it, and turning instead to her friend, looking her up and down and tutting with disapproval.
“Aud, what on earth has happened to you? You’ve lost weight, you must be light as a feather, and your skin, your pallor is gaunt. His Grace, the Duke of Clairville sent a letter asking me to visit.”
All Audrey could do was nod and sit back in her chair, so the firm back could support her weakened body and give her strength.
“He told me of a young lady in his household and what had happened to bring her here. He gave a description and, as soon as I read it, I knew it had to be you, my dear.”
Audrey nodded again.
“He went on to tell me that this young lady was seriously ill, and he was attempting to trace her family.”
Franny paused and took a breath, “Did that housekeeper say she was bringing tea?”
Audrey nodded before finally speaking. “The household is at sixes and sevens with the quarantine just ended, and the little girl, Miss Sasha, needing a lot of care and attention. While I’ve been ill, Mrs. Driscoll, the housekeeper, and Rosie the maid have undertaken that role, and very competently too.”
