In Good Company (27 page)

M
illie was quickly coming to the conclusion that being tethered to a rope while trying to dodge waves that seemed intent on drowning her was probably not the best way to go about the tricky business of learning how to swim.

Pushing sopping strands of hair out of her eyes, she watched as Lucetta swam gracefully toward her, her body rising fluidly over a swell, before she dove under the water, surfacing a second later right in front of Millie.

“You just have to keep your feet kicking at all times, and then move your arms in a clockwise motion, turning your head every now and again to get a breath of air,” Lucetta said.

“Every time I turn my head to breathe, I get a mouthful of salty water. Honestly, the last time I tried the whole breathing thing, I swear a small fish darted into my mouth.”

“You love fish.”

“Well, yes, when it’s grilled, baked, or fried, but not when it’s still swimming.”

“I don’t think you’re kicking your feet enough,” Elizabeth said as she waded away from the bathing machine, a
machine
that had turned out to be little more than a shack on wheels, and a very weathered, gray-looking shack at that.

“And you’re not moving your arms right,” Thaddeus called from his perch on the steps of the bathing machine, Rose nodding in agreement from right beside him. He held out an apple that already had bite marks in it. “Want a piece of apple? I bet it tastes better than that fish you just swallowed.”

“I didn’t swallow the fish,” Millie said before she grinned and shook her head. “And I didn’t know the two of you snuck food into the bathing machine.”

“It’s not much of a machine, Miss Millie. It’s just a big box on wheels and doesn’t even have a motor, which was a little disappointing to find out,” Rose said. “I was hoping we could drive the machine around the beach, like a boat, but . . . the peacocks sure do seem to find it a good place to roost.”

Millie grabbed hold of the rope that kept her attached to the bathing machine and pulled herself right up next to it. Getting a grip on the wooden railing she’d been told was to help timid bathers lower themselves into the water, she heaved herself up and then moved through the narrow doorway. Her gaze swept over three peacocks that were sitting calmly on the benches that lined the little room, one of them actually sleeping. Turning, she arched a brow at Rose. “How in the world did you get those in here without me seeing you do it?”

“They’ve been here the whole time, but were hiding, er, I mean resting, underneath our towels.” Rose blinked far-too-adorable eyes Millie’s way. “And I only brought three of them, just the ones that seemed the saddest about leaving Uncle Everett’s house.”

“The peacocks staying at Abigail’s is only temporary,” Millie reminded her. “Just until after the ball.”

Rose shook her head. “I don’t think Miss Dixon’s going to
let them come back, not when she finds out Miss Abigail agreed to take them in.”

“Abigail only agreed to take them for a few days, mostly because poor Miss Pickenpaugh was having a nervous episode when she heard the peacocks screeching. In Miss Pickenpaugh’s opinion, that screeching was certain to ruin the ball, and quite honestly, she might have had a very valid point.”

“That poor woman needs to search out a different profession, or else she’s going to find herself committed to an asylum,” Lucetta said, tripping over the numerous lengths of rope lying about, one of which was still wrapped around Millie’s middle. Giving the ropes a glare, she lifted her head and sent Rose a smile. “It was very brave of you, though, darling, to agree to allow the peacocks to stay at Abigail’s.”

“I think her bravery might have had something to do with the promise of a puppy, or . . . three,” Millie added.

“Did someone just mention something about puppies?”

Pushing curls yet again out of her eyes, Millie looked to the doorway and found Everett peering in, the striped bathing shirt he was wearing plastered to his chest, the sight of that chest causing her mouth to go just a little dry. “What are you doing here?” was the first thing she could think of to say, although what she really wanted to tell him was to swim right back to shore and leave her alone.

Everett hefted himself out of the water and sat down on the step beside Thaddeus and Rose, squishing the two children together in the process. “I’d had enough of Bailey’s Beach for the day, so thought I’d stop by and see how this bathing machine experiment was working out for everyone.”

“You and Caroline had a fight, didn’t you,” Lucetta said.

Everett frowned. “Why would you assume that?”

Shrugging, Lucetta grabbed a towel off a bench and wiped
her face. “I’m intuitive. And I’m going to hazard a guess and say the reason the two of you got into an argument was because you were foolish enough to tell her that I’ve come to Newport for the rest of the summer.”

“Your name didn’t come up at all today.”

For some odd reason, Lucetta laughed. “How delightful. Although . . . well, now I’m a tad stymied—which means
bewildered
, Millie, if you didn’t know—about why you and Caroline argued.” She set aside the towel, lifted a bare foot up on the bench, and began wringing water out of a pant leg.

“Did my footman, Davis, make those pants for you?” Everett asked slowly.

Lucetta continued wringing out her pants. “Of course, and he made the pants Millie’s wearing as well.”

Millie suddenly found herself the recipient of Everett’s attention, attention that seemed to be lingering on her . . . limbs. To her relief, Lucetta regained his notice when she began speaking again.

“I just have to add that Davis is one of the most charming footmen I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Do you know that, even though he admitted he can’t swim a lick, he’s sitting out on the beach, keeping an eye on us?” She dropped her foot and smiled. “Bless his heart, I don’t know how much help he’d be if one of us did start to drown, but it’s very considerate of him to want to try.”

“Yes, bless Davis’s all-too-charming heart,” Everett mumbled. “But . . . what happened to Abigail and my mother?”

“They’re taking a stroll with Reverend Gilmore,” Elizabeth said as she climbed over Thaddeus and crawled her way into the bathing machine. “Grandmother Dorothy got a little emotional right after I called her
Grandmother
for the first time, so Miss Abigail thought it would be a good idea for them to go on a
walk with Reverend Gilmore in order to allow Grandmother Dorothy time to collect herself.”

“You’re calling my mother Grandmother Dorothy now?”

Looking up from the rope she’d been trying to get untied from her waist, Elizabeth smiled. “It seemed a little silly to keep calling her Mrs. Mulberry.”

“That was very thoughtful of you, Elizabeth.”

“Thank you, Uncle Everett, and I hope you’ll remember how thoughtful I can be when you hear about the . . . puppies.”

Everett immediately arched a brow Millie’s way, but before she could summon up a suitable explanation, Thaddeus stood up on the step he’d been sitting on and turned eyes that were rather wide and filled with hope on Everett.

“Miss Lucetta brought three puppies with her all the way from New York, but they’re up in Miss Abigail’s cottage sleeping right now because they were exhausted from the boat ride.” He gulped in a big breath of air. “She said two of them are girls, and one’s a boy, and . . . we can keep them if you’re still keen to get a dog.”

“I’m pretty sure I mentioned one dog, Thaddeus, not three.”

“But the two sister puppies will be awful sad if we take their brother away.” Thaddeus’s lower lip began to tremble.

Reaching out, Everett ruffled Thaddeus’s hair, right before he turned accusing eyes on Lucetta. “You just
happened
to bring three puppies with you to Newport?”

Lucetta wagged a finger Everett’s way. “Now, now, there’s no need to sound so suspicious, Everett. If you must know, I only acquired the puppies yesterday, and couldn’t very well leave them behind.”

“They’re Buford’s,” Millie added.

Everett blinked. “Oliver’s dog?”

Millie nodded. “Buford apparently took up with a lady friend, and that lady friend’s owners weren’t exactly happy about it.”

“How do they know for sure Buford was responsible, for . . . well . . . you know?” Everett asked.

“When you see the puppies, you’ll have no doubts,” Lucetta said. “Their paws are like dinner plates, and they’re only a few months old. Plus, they’re a little . . . motley looking.”

“But how did you end up with them?”

“Oliver’s butler, Mr. Blodgett, brought them around to me.” Lucetta pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “He was getting ready to go on holiday, and since Oliver hasn’t returned from England yet, he knew the pups might come to a bad end if he didn’t take them. But, again, he was going out of the city, so he moseyed on over to Abigail’s and left them with me, since he remembered how well Buford took to me.”

“I really think we should take all three of them, Uncle Everett,” Thaddeus said earnestly. “Even though we’ll be outnumbered again since two of them are girls.”

“I suppose we really can’t separate them if they’re siblings, now, can we,” Everett said slowly before he gave a rather resigned shake of his head. “Puppies can be a lot of work though.”

A chorus of how happy they’d be to work hard with the puppies immediately commenced, and before Millie could step in and save Everett from certain mayhem, he was nodding his head and smiling.

“Very well, we can take them, but . . . this is it now. I don’t want to see any other creatures being brought home.”

Squeals of delight sounded around the bathing machine, and then Everett eased off the steps and back into the ocean. “Anyone want to go for a swim with me?”

“Can I swim without this rope?” Elizabeth asked.

“Certainly, but let me help you, since it seems to be knotted well.”

Millie watched as Everett got Elizabeth untied and then held out his arms, which Elizabeth immediately jumped into. The young girl’s laughter rang out again and again as she and Everett dove through the waves, going deeper into the ocean than Millie would have dared.

“I know you’re incredibly annoyed with the gentleman, Millie,” Lucetta said quietly. “But I can’t help but like him.”

“He’s still a snob.”

“He’s changing, and I think he just hasn’t discovered exactly who he is yet. You can’t really blame him for that though, given the lifestyle he leads and the people he surrounds himself with.”

“He’ll always be surrounded by those people, especially since it seems he and Caroline are planning on making a special announcement at the ball, which is only three days from now.”

“There’s still plenty of time for him to come to his senses about that.”

Sending Lucetta what she hoped was a look of disbelief, Millie turned her attention back to Elizabeth, watching the young girl enjoy time with Everett. When Elizabeth apparently got tired, she and Everett swam for shore, Everett slowing his strokes toward the end so that Elizabeth made it to shore first.

“I beat you!” Elizabeth shouted.

Shading her eyes with her hand against the glare of the sun, Millie saw Abigail, Reverend Gilmore, and Dorothy hurrying over to meet Elizabeth, Dorothy draping a towel around Elizabeth’s shoulders.

“He let her win,” Lucetta whispered in Millie’s ear. “Very considerate of him, don’t you think?”

Pretending she hadn’t heard Lucetta, Millie sat down beside a peacock, keeping an eye on Thaddeus and Rose, who both
seemed content to sit on the steps of the bathing machine for the moment. Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to find a sense of peace, but all hope of finding that disappeared when Everett swam back up to them.

“Who wants to go out with me next?”

With Millie’s help, Thaddeus was out of his rope and into Everett’s arms in no time at all. With a shout of laughter, Everett carried him away, dipping Thaddeus into the waves and then sweeping him up into the air as Thaddeus shrieked in clear delight.

Turning away from Everett because the mere sight of him kept making her forget she’d vowed to loathe the man forever, Millie smiled at Rose. “Should we get you out of your rope so you can swim after your brother’s done?”

Rose yawned. “I’m really sleepy, Miss Millie. Could I go back to shore?”

“I’ll take her,” Lucetta offered, helping Rose out of her tether and then wading back to shore with the little girl securely held in her arms a moment later.

Having nothing else to do, Millie sat down on the steps of the bathing machine, her attention, to her dismay, returning again and again to Everett. Pretending an interest in a bird that was flying overhead when Everett finally carried Thaddeus back her way, she found herself hoping he’d think the color she knew was now staining her cheeks was a direct result of being out in the sun.

“Where’d Rose go?” he asked. “I thought I’d take her out next.”

“She got tired.”

Everett tilted his head. “I never thought I’d see that day come, but . . . I guess it’s your turn then. I’ll be right back after I get Thaddeus to shore.”

Without bothering to see if she was in agreement with what could only be considered a deranged idea, Everett headed for shore. She stared after him for a good, long moment, before she realized he would be coming back. Grabbing hold of the rope that was still firmly tied around her middle, she tried to get undone, but her fingers suddenly seemed to turn into all thumbs. Before she could get the knot untied, Everett was standing right in front of her.

“Don’t tell me the master of knot tying and untying is having difficulties,” he said with a grin.

She didn’t like it when he grinned. Not one . . . little . . . bit. He was far too handsome, his eyes took to twinkling in a very intriguing way, and . . .

“I’m not having difficulties,” she finally said. “I just didn’t realize the water would make this so tricky.”

“Allow me to help you with that.”

The second Everett took hold of the rope that was wrapped around her middle and pulled her closer to him, all thoughts of loathing the man disappeared, immediately replaced with a shock of something that Millie could only liken to what the theater’s faulty electric lights must have felt like right before they exploded. Given that Everett snatched his hand back only a second later, she got the distinct impression he might have felt exactly the same shock.