Prudence Pursued (8 page)

Turning back to Judith, James added, “Mrs. Leyes, I am certain your niece will be a great comfort in easing Mrs. Trimmer’s anxieties and those of her young charges, for Miss Pentyre is not at all squeamish.”

He said it in such a way as though it was high praise, but his eyes twinkled at her, causing Prudence to have mixed feelings about the uncertain compliment. She also noticed how, when addressing her aunt, James was not as bold and brash as he usually was when speaking with her. He appeared to be on his best behavior. Prudence had a sudden and horrid suspicion he was testing her mettle in some way.

With a nervous smile, Judith took a comforting snort of her vinaigrette. At last she said, “Of course, Prudence may accompany you on your mission of mercy, Sir James.”

She gave him a nod.

“You need have no apprehensions, Mrs. Leyes. I will look after Miss Pentyre as though she were my own sister.”

Prudence accepted this pronouncement with hollow enthusiasm.

“With Miss Pentyre's able assistance, I will be able to complete the task in half the time,” he added. Turning to Prudence, he said, “I’m sure your good father would approve, when informed about it. He is a stanch support of the Jennerian procedure, I know.”

“Yes, he is,” Prudence said stiffly. Again, she felt a prick of suspicion. But why? “What time shall you call for me tomorrow?”

A time was set and the arrangements made. Despite her misgivings, Prudence discovered she was eagerly anticipating the next day’s outing. She remained excited the rest of the afternoon and throughout the quiet evening, as she entertained her fretful and feverish cousin by reading aloud from one of the many romantic novels Margaret had borrowed from the circulating library.

Why she should simmer with excitement, Prudence could not say. She had helped with hundreds of vaccinations before. This would be no different. It could not be James’s company Prudence sought, for she didn’t like him above half. But if pressed, she would admit he was far more interesting than Benedict Younghughes or most any other gentleman of her acquaintance. Surely it was nothing more than eagerness to be useful again after more than a week of rusticating in her aunt’s house. She was happy to go out of duty, if nothing else. So she made up her mind to ignore the excitement his invitation had aroused in her. After all, James would have asked Margaret to accompany them too, no doubt, were she not indisposed.

When he arrived the next day at the scheduled time, Prudence was ready. She had already changed her outfit twice, wanting to look her best and yet not wanting to appear as though she’d gone out of her way to do so. Carrying a candy tin in one hand, Prudence allowed James to lead her to the street, where she was surprised and rather amused to see he planned to convey them to the school in his mother’s infamous blue barouche.

“My darling parent insisted,” he said with a grin.

“It will be an experience,” Prudence assured him, a smile hovering at the corner of her lips.

She was a little astonished to see he’d removed his eye patch. There was a raw scar across his eyelid and the uppermost part of his cheek where a sword had swiped him.

“Is it too repulsive?” he asked nonchalantly. “Shall I don the patch again?”

“I see no reason to do so,” she responded as calmly as he. Prudence forced herself to regard the scar closely without wincing. “It is healing. Does it still hurt?”

“Not any more,” James admitted, with a shrug. Then he added, “I feared the young females at the school would be even more apprehensive of the Jenner procedure if I showed up looking like a one-eyed buccaneer.”

As he prepared to hand her into the conveyance, she held out the tin for him to hold until she had settled herself inside.

“What is this?” he asked, passing it back to her.

“Treacle candy. Aunt Judith’s cook prepared it.”

“I did not know you had a sweet tooth, Miss Pentyre,” he replied.

“It is not for me, Sir James,” she said, but did not illuminate him further.

She had just settled herself comfortably against the cushions, smoothing her skirts and resting the candy tin next to her on the seat, when she glanced out the window and noticed Benedict Younghughes approaching her aunt’s house on foot—intent on paying a morning call, she guessed. Quickly ducking back, Prudence retreated into the shadowy recesses of the carriage, so she could not be seen by passersby on the street.

James, having apparently noticed both Younghughes’s approach and Prudence’s reaction, gave orders to the driver and then climbed nimbly into the carriage. He regarded Prudence with a grin.

“Puddingheart!” he declared.

Prudence bit back a laugh and sat watching him with mixture of good humor and annoyance.

“Trying to avoid being seen by old Shortshanks, were you?” he inquired.

“His name is Younghughes—Benedict Younghughes,” Prudence corrected him. “I simply did not want to have to speak with him and delay our journey.”

James nodded his head knowingly. “I understand. He does prosy on and on about his collection of old bones.”

“Fossils,” Prudence amended.

“Yes, fossils,” he replied. After a moment’s pause, he added, “I feel sorry for poor Youngblood, I must confess it.”

“Younghughes!” Prudence insisted. “Why do you feel sorry for him?”

“I know what it is like to be avoided.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I sometimes think Margaret avoids me when I seek her out.” Then changing the subject quickly, James asked, “You do not care for him, do you? The poor man has no chin! And he’s a great bore besides.”

Arching a brow, Prudence said, “He does not approve of you either. He thinks you are dangerous.”

“Indeed? I am intrigued.”

“He told me you gnash your teeth at him, and he cautioned me to keep my eye upon you,” Prudence said.

James laughed heartily. Prudence did the same, noting what a delightful laugh he had. The man seemed quick to find humor in the ridiculous, and she liked that about him.

“But you have not answered my question, Miss Pentyre. You do not care for him in particular, do you?”

“Of course not,” Prudence declared with a huff. “We are merely acquaintances. I confess to being interested in geology and fossils, to some extent. Mr. Younghughes finds in me an interested audience, that is all.”

“
You
may think it is all,” James told her, “but I can assure you Younghughes does not. I noticed the way he stared at you in the Pump Room the other day. He positively beams with good will in your presence. I’ve got eyes in my head. He’s taken a fancy to you.”

Prudence felt herself blush. When she said nothing, he asked, “Has he lured you to his home like a spider tempting a fly, hoping to show you his collection of old bones?”

“No, he has not,” Prudence said, indignant that James should think she could be lured anywhere. “Occasionally in the past, he has shown me a specimen or two he has brought with him — to the Pump Room or to my aunt’s home.”

“Oh, that’s rich!” James chuckled. “He’s scuttling about town with rocks in his pockets.” He gave a bark of laughter. “The poor man must have pebbles for brains. What a way to woo a lady!”

Prudence snapped back, “You would recommend tiger teeth earbobs perhaps?”

“Touché,” James said, laughing.

His boyish grin left Prudence slightly breathless. James accepted the barb so good-naturedly Prudence allowed herself to smile back at him. The gleam of admiration she saw in his eyes did much to soothe her ruffled feathers too. Not that she needed or even wanted his admiration. Why should she?

“Regardless of what you may think, I know the man has taken a fancy to you,” James insisted.

“Pooh,” she said, bristling again. Even though she feared Mr. Younghughes did indeed feel a special attraction to her, Prudence did not return the sentiment nor did she want to be teased about it.

“There, I’ve done it again, and we’re not yet out of Bath,” James said, clasping his knee with one hand. “I’ve got your bristles up.”

“Then don’t speak nonsense to me,” Prudence insisted. “Tell me about Lady Richards’s charity school instead.”

“If
you
will first tell me why Margaret seems so wary. Does she not believe my offer is sincere? Has she expressed any wishes I might fulfill?”

“She told me she wished she had a rich grandmother,” Prudence replied primly.

When his eyebrows arched high, she briefly explained about the tidy sum left to her by her father’s mother upon her death and Margaret’s comment about these circumstances.

“That’s neither here nor there. I cannot provide Margaret with a rich grandmother,” he lamented. “But I have always tried to be quite honest with her.”

“Perhaps therein lies the problem,” Prudence ventured. “I don’t know, but she seems horrified by your tales of headhunters and sword-wielding pirates and the ravenous jungle.”

“But not you?”

“No,” Prudence admitted, holding up her chin. “I do not scare so easily. Besides, I think you exaggerate a great deal.”

Giving her a half smile, James said, “You see, this is exactly why I asked you to accompany me today. You’re not the least bit squeamish. I believe you must be a great one for holding your head in a crisis.”

“I would like to think so,” Prudence admitted, “but to tell the truth, I’ve not been truly tested. One lives a rather sheltered life in a country parsonage.”

“I like the way you say just what you are thinking,” he went on.

Not always
, she thought guiltily.

“Margaret is reticent. It’s rather like pulling teeth to get her to share her thoughts and feelings with me. She does so only with the most reluctance,” he went on.

“I think she does not want to encourage your attentions,” Prudence explained.

“I suppose I should resent your saying so,” James sighed. “I still have a sneaking suspicion I have a rival for Margaret’s affections.”

“If so, I cannot say whom it might be,” Prudence admitted. “I have pried, but even Clarissa Paige—Margaret’s closest friend—has not given any indication that Meg’s affections are engaged elsewhere.”

“Perhaps we should look to Harry Paige for the answer,” James suggested.

Prudence was taken aback. “What? You think Margaret would confide in Harry when she would not do so with his sister?”

“No, pea-goose! Perhaps Harry Paige
is
the one Margaret has a secret attachment to,” James said with a crooked smile.

“I don’t believe it is possible,” Prudence told him, frowning. “Would not Clarissa be aware of it?”

“Not if Margaret has remained as close as a clam and Harry too.”

“But it doesn’t make sense,” Prudence insisted. “If Harry felt any regard for Margaret, what has prevented him from saying so? He and Clarissa have been Margaret’s close friends for many years. She often stays with them when she is in London. There is nothing preventing Harry Paige from declaring himself. I am sure my aunt would welcome the match. He is from a good family and has a respectable income. My aunt wants Margaret to be happy. She is not a tyrant. She would not discourage a match between them.”

Prudence frowned, aware that James was her watching her closely. “I’m sure you must be mistaken, Sir James,” she ventured again. “There can be nothing of a romantic nature between Margaret and Harry Paige.”

James said nothing and for a long while, they maintained an awkward silence. Then Prudence changed the topic of conversation to Borneo. By the time they reached the school, she and James were both in good spirits and feeling excessively cordial toward one another. Mrs. Trimmer, the school’s headmistress, greeted them warmly, expressing her heartfelt gratitude for Sir James being willing to help with the vaccinations of the students. She appeared delighted to see he had brought an able assistant with him too. If Mrs. Trimmer thought it odd or unseemly that Miss Prudence Pentyre was an unmarried lady, she gave no indication of it. Prudence did wonder briefly if this was simply due to Mrs. Trimmer’s good manners or the more demoralizing notion: the headmistress considered Prudence too old and too plain to tempt an unmarried gentleman into any indiscretion.

There were approximately two dozen students from the ages of eight to fourteen assembled in one of the classrooms. The girls were neatly attired in matching blue frocks and white pinafores. When the pupils stared at James’s scar, he chatted with each in turn to put them at ease. Then one of the junior staff members presented him with the quill containing the cowpox lymph and a collection of lancets.

“Now, which one of you will be the young lady brave enough to go first?” he queried.

The girls hesitated. Prudence removed the lid from the candy tin and announced, “There is treacle candy for each of you after you have been vaccinated.”

This seemed to do the trick. One by one the students stepped forward to undergo the procedure. Prudence spoke soothingly to them in turn and held their arms while James made slanting incisions upon their skin with lancets wet with cowpox lymph. As he did so, he reminded Mrs. Trimmer that in a few days time, the students would come down with a mild fever followed by an outbreak of blisters, which would soon dry up. Then the scabs would fall off.

Afterwards, when one little girl pointed to James’s scar and asked about it, he replied without embarrassment or bravado, explaining how he’d been wounded in a battle with Malay pirates. “Do you know where Malaysia is located on the map?”

The little girl shook her head.

This led to an impromptu geography lesson for the students. Mrs. Trimmer beamed her approval, and Prudence, listening to James’s interesting presentation, realized what a good teacher he would be. And no doubt a good father, in time. She made up her mind to mention it to Margaret. She wished Margaret could see him now at this moment, surrounded by the eager, attentive children. He took the time to patiently answer their questions about the animals he’d encountered in his travels and intrigued them with his description of a rare and lovely orchid, which gave off an aroma of rotting meat and how other orchids smelled of warm chocolate.

“You mean like the chocolate we drink in the morning with breakfast?” one girl asked, incredulously.