Page 102 of Miss Ashbury and the Anatomy of Mending a Heart

“There were at least a dozen biscuits in the hamper, Bertie, and I didn’t get one.”

“Travelling makes me peckish. ’Tisn’t my fault. I’d already taken a grand tour of the countryside that morning, trying to find you. First the marquess—who was in high dudgeons when I rang the bell. How was I to know his wife was napping? How was I to know her condition? Such things are private for a reason.”

Vera bit back a smile.

“The fellow fed me straight to Canterbury. I had no idea what I was in for, otherwise I would have demanded biscuits from the marquess before I left. Then Canterbury and his wife. Mercy, those fellows are being led around by the nose by their ladies. So tetchy.”

Vera rolled her eyes. “Tell me, brother, what did you get for your wife last Christmas?”

Bertrand frowned. “Now that’s different.”

“What was it again? A new ballroom, I believe?”

“It only made sense. Ambrose Place didn’t have one, and Agatha loves to dance. Besides, we had the room and the funds, and really it’s none of your business what I get my wife for Christmas, anyway.” He punctuated the end of his good-natured rant with a poke to her side.

“Vera, darling. Is that you?” her mother murmured.

They stood and Vera took her wrinkled hand, leaning close. “Yes, Mother. I’ve come to see you.”

“You look beautiful, my girl. Just lovely. Hair just like mine, you know. Before it went grey.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

The words were uncharacteristic of Lady Ashbury. No doubt they were brought on by whatever illness was claiming her, mind first. Still, Vera was affected all the same. She’d always wanted to hear such words from her mother; it hardly mattered what had brought them forth.

Her mother patted her hand listlessly. “My darling girl. I love you so much. I wish you to be with me, always.”

A tear snaked down Vera’s face. “I’m here. I’ll stay with you.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “I’m just going to take a little nap.”

“I’ll be here when you wake, Mother.”

Vera was there every time her mother woke, for the next four days. And when Lady Ashbury finally slipped into the deepest sleep of all, her three children were gathered at her bedside, and her husband held her hand.

CHAPTER 34- STEPHEN

Stephen slouched on the leather sofa in the parlor. His elbow was cocked, his head resting on his hand. At his feet, Miss Beets chewed happily on a massive, smoked bone he’d procured from the local butcher.

One of the only good things about his mother’s penchant for collecting strange animals was that many rooms on the first floor lacked rugs. Even still, some poor servant was going to have to mop up the small puddle of drool collecting from Beets’s current delight. A tidy dog, she was not.

Funny—Canterbury hadn’t warned him about the great quantities of drool that mastiffs produced. And the consistency of it. Someone really ought to perform a study of the stuff. Surely there was some use for a viscous material that, when wet, could hardly be wiped away. And it dried to the consistency of cement.

Don’t be daft, Vera had said.

She’d said it fondly, hadn’t she? At the outset, Stephen was sure of it. Her eyes had been warm and full of something that made him press on. Her expression had kindled hope within his chest. If only her brother hadn’t interrupted at that precise moment.

But as days of her absence passed, Stephen’s confidence wavered. His memory reformed, turning her fondness into contempt.

“Don’t be daft” was hardly a comforting response to that all-important question.

“Yes” was the gold standard, but Stephen would have gladly accepted a “certainly” or a “sure,” or even a “maybe” or an “I must consider it further.”

But she’d left him with “don’t be daft.”

Stephen sighed. His mother stiffened across the room where she was sorting books, but didn’t turn. The tomes on animal husbandry and care were going with her. He’d asked her to make a list—he didn’t like the idea of depleting Bertforth House’s library; he was going to send for replacements from London.

“Well, I asked her,” Stephen finally said.