Read Online The Benedict Bastard (A Benedict Hall Novel) by Cate Campbell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cate Campbell
Ads: Link
faded when he closed it again, leaving Margot in a silence broken only by the drip of raindrops from the eaves.
She riffled the pages of the journal, and began to read a piece on infections of the ear, but a moment later she closed it again. Someone opened a window above her head, and Leona’s and Loena’s voices flitted out. Thelma had more or less taken on Dick and Ramona’s rooms, except for the nursery, while the twins did hers and Frank’s, and all three worked on Dickson and Edith’s. Nurse—who had a name, Mary Everson, though no one used it—was fiercely protective of her small territory, handled everything to do with the nursery, and only showed her sharp nose beyond its door for meals, or when she brought Louisa for her regular visit to the family after dinner. It was a system that seemed to be working, and left Hattie free to assist Edith when she needed it.
Margot had ordered Blake to avoid climbing stairs unless it was necessary, but she knew he still climbed the staircase every day to supervise. He also had the gardeners and the handymen under his direction, to say nothing of the serving of meals and his duties as chauffeur, but he seemed to manage all of it effortlessly, almost invisibly. It was a marvel, the way he had returned to full service. Only the lion-headed cane, never far from his hand, betrayed the disability he had suffered.
Margot let her head drop back, and though she had barely been out of bed an hour, her eyelids grew heavy once again. She was more tired than she had realized. She should take more free days, perhaps, but her clinic had a steady stream of patients now, and her hospital duties demanded her almost daily presence. The Women and Infants Clinic filled an entire afternoon every week, and tomorrow she was due to return to the Ryther Child Home with Sarah to examine and vaccinate the rest of the children. There was an asthma case there, and she had to convince Mrs. Ryther to stop using asthma cigarettes and accept a nebulizer for epinephrine treatments. She was reasonably confident she could do it. Government money, it turned out, was a decisive factor for Olive Ryther.
Behind Margot, in the kitchen, Hattie raised her rich, tremulous voice in one of the hymns she loved. Margot allowed her eyes to close, letting the swirl of household activity soothe her. She pulled her cardigan a little tighter, and with a sigh, she drowsed.
She barely heard the series of thumps when they came, muffled as they were by closed doors. She was more aware of the abrupt breaking off of Hattie’s singing, and the sudden cry of alarm. It was Nurse, her usual calm shattered, crying out for help. A heartbeat later, before Margot had even pushed herself up from her chair, she heard Ramona screaming, and shouts of alarm from Hattie and from one of the maids. Piercing all of it was the shrill wailing of a one-year-old.
Margot, acting on instinct, was halfway through the kitchen before she was fully awake, striding toward the hall where the noise was. Preparations for luncheon were underway, with a board full of chopped vegetables on the counter, the scent of something roasting in the oven, and trays of flatware and crystal laid out. Margot hurried past all of it and pushed through the swinging door into the hall.
She found a knot of women around Ramona, who was seated on the bottom stair with a red-faced Louisa shrieking on her lap. Ramona was clutching the baby so hard Margot thought it was no wonder the child was screaming. Nurse’s craggy face was a study in horror, and Hattie was kneeling beside Ramona, tears streaming down her plump cheeks. The twins stood back, pale-faced, their freckles standing out in dotted swiss patterns. Thelma, the third maid, gaped from the top of the stairs. If she made a sound, Margot couldn’t tell. The sheer volume of voices, echoing in the big hall, was confounding.
Ramona caught sight of her. “Oh, Margot! She fell! Louisa fell down the stairs!”
Leona said,
She riffled the pages of the journal, and began to read a piece on infections of the ear, but a moment later she closed it again. Someone opened a window above her head, and Leona’s and Loena’s voices flitted out. Thelma had more or less taken on Dick and Ramona’s rooms, except for the nursery, while the twins did hers and Frank’s, and all three worked on Dickson and Edith’s. Nurse—who had a name, Mary Everson, though no one used it—was fiercely protective of her small territory, handled everything to do with the nursery, and only showed her sharp nose beyond its door for meals, or when she brought Louisa for her regular visit to the family after dinner. It was a system that seemed to be working, and left Hattie free to assist Edith when she needed it.
Margot had ordered Blake to avoid climbing stairs unless it was necessary, but she knew he still climbed the staircase every day to supervise. He also had the gardeners and the handymen under his direction, to say nothing of the serving of meals and his duties as chauffeur, but he seemed to manage all of it effortlessly, almost invisibly. It was a marvel, the way he had returned to full service. Only the lion-headed cane, never far from his hand, betrayed the disability he had suffered.
Margot let her head drop back, and though she had barely been out of bed an hour, her eyelids grew heavy once again. She was more tired than she had realized. She should take more free days, perhaps, but her clinic had a steady stream of patients now, and her hospital duties demanded her almost daily presence. The Women and Infants Clinic filled an entire afternoon every week, and tomorrow she was due to return to the Ryther Child Home with Sarah to examine and vaccinate the rest of the children. There was an asthma case there, and she had to convince Mrs. Ryther to stop using asthma cigarettes and accept a nebulizer for epinephrine treatments. She was reasonably confident she could do it. Government money, it turned out, was a decisive factor for Olive Ryther.
Behind Margot, in the kitchen, Hattie raised her rich, tremulous voice in one of the hymns she loved. Margot allowed her eyes to close, letting the swirl of household activity soothe her. She pulled her cardigan a little tighter, and with a sigh, she drowsed.
She barely heard the series of thumps when they came, muffled as they were by closed doors. She was more aware of the abrupt breaking off of Hattie’s singing, and the sudden cry of alarm. It was Nurse, her usual calm shattered, crying out for help. A heartbeat later, before Margot had even pushed herself up from her chair, she heard Ramona screaming, and shouts of alarm from Hattie and from one of the maids. Piercing all of it was the shrill wailing of a one-year-old.
Margot, acting on instinct, was halfway through the kitchen before she was fully awake, striding toward the hall where the noise was. Preparations for luncheon were underway, with a board full of chopped vegetables on the counter, the scent of something roasting in the oven, and trays of flatware and crystal laid out. Margot hurried past all of it and pushed through the swinging door into the hall.
She found a knot of women around Ramona, who was seated on the bottom stair with a red-faced Louisa shrieking on her lap. Ramona was clutching the baby so hard Margot thought it was no wonder the child was screaming. Nurse’s craggy face was a study in horror, and Hattie was kneeling beside Ramona, tears streaming down her plump cheeks. The twins stood back, pale-faced, their freckles standing out in dotted swiss patterns. Thelma, the third maid, gaped from the top of the stairs. If she made a sound, Margot couldn’t tell. The sheer volume of voices, echoing in the big hall, was confounding.
Ramona caught sight of her. “Oh, Margot! She fell! Louisa fell down the stairs!”
Leona said,
Similar Books
