Page 13 of Estelle’s Ardent Admirer (The Bookshop Belles #1)

CHAPTER 13

More Bugs!

E stelle took a steadying breath to acknowledge Lord Ferndale and Miss Yates. They were lovely friends, but if they had kept their distance for just a little longer, she might have answered Felix in the affirmative.

That’s where her mind, and her heart, were headed. Cousin Joshua and Phoebe were ghastly to her and her sisters. They seemed to save their strongest poison for her, perhaps because she was the eldest. But Felix had been right. If she married him, Estelle’s position in Hatfield would rise to Felix’s level, which was well above that of her cousins.

They would never be able to speak to her like that again.

But did that mean they’d simply shift their choler to Marie? Lovely, clever and gentle Marie who never had a bad word for anyone and who was so sensitive to the world around her. They could try their luck with Louise, but she’d probably laugh them off. Or pour stinking glue on them. That thought nearly made her giggle.

Or would they target Bernadette?

The thought churned her stomach.

If Estelle merely only had to worry for herself, she might have already said yes, but there seemed no easy way to do that without her decision affecting so many others.

Miss Yates sidled up to Estelle and said, “It was lovely seeing you with young Felix.” Then she dropped her voice lower and said, “I couldn’t find either one of you for the last dance at the assembly. I hope you were not over tired from the dancing?”

Estelle got the message immediately. Their absence was noted, but it most definitely was not for the reason Miss Yates thought. “Miss Yates, there is a delicate matter we must discuss.”

The woman’s face brightened and she suggested, “Love’s first kiss?”

Colour flooded Estelle’s face. Yes, but that wasn’t the issue. The memory of her kiss with Felix flooded Estelle’s system, but she had to brush it away for a far more serious matter. “That’s not why we were absent. You see, Felix had,” she quickly checked over her shoulder to make sure they would not be overheard, and lowered her voice, “ bedbugs .”

Miss Yates gasped and said, “From the Red Lion? Surely not!”

“You are correct, it was not from there. Felix tried to book a room but they were full, so he spent the night at The Swan. That’s where he got the bed bugs. I could not let him infest the Red Lion with them, so we slipped away and I found him a change of clothes from my father’s wardrobe.”

Heat spread over her face at the memories of Felix in his clinging wet shirt in that barrel.

Miss Yates’s eyes turned to the side as she counted in her head.

“You are correct again,” Estelle said, “After he stayed at The Swan, he returned to Ferndale Hall where he slept in his own bed. I’m afraid that bed will most likely have bedbugs.”

Miss Yates patted her chest with anxiety and said, “I cannot even think where to begin resolving such an issue. Do we need to burn the furniture?”

“No, Miss Yates, it is not smallpox, so we don’t have to do that. But you will need to instruct the staff to wash all bedding and bedclothes, and as many other regular clothes as possible. Curtains too, just to be on the safe side.”

“It’s too much!” Miss Yates looked as if someone had asked her to skip all the way to London. Backwards! “It is impossible. You simply must come to Ferndale Hall to help.”

Estelle shook her head doubtfully. “Surely your housekeeper, ma’am…”

“What about Mrs Sykes?” Lord Ferndale, who had been speaking momentarily to someone else, joined the conversation. “She has not been well, I’m afraid, Miss Baxter.”

Miss Yates jumped in, “Which is why I’ve begged Miss Baxter to come and stay with us for a spell to help me with the problem, brother,” Miss Yates said. When Lord Ferndale looked puzzled, she leaned in and said in a loud whisper; “ Bedbugs .”

Lord Ferndale’s eyes bulged. “Dear Lord, no, not at the Hall! Miss Baxter, you simply must take pity on us!”

She could not say no to their desperate entreaties. “I suppose I could pack a bag and come for a day or two,” she said uncertainly.

“Indeed, you absolutely must! Go home now and pack a few things and we shall bring the carriage around and collect you in half-an-hour.” Lord Ferndale nodded in satisfaction. “Felix! Walk Miss Baxter back to the bookshop directly, if you please.”

“Yes, Grandfather,” Mr Yates said, and Estelle cast him a suspicious look, as if they’d somehow planned this.

He did wear a suitably sober expression, so perhaps she was being overly suspicious? As they began walking together back to the bookshop, however, a smile broke out on his lips.

“This is all your fault, don’t look so smug about it,” she accused crossly. “I really can’t just abandon my responsibilities like this!”

“My grandfather’s orders are quite hard to resist,” Felix said, in a distinct non-apology.

Estelle sighed. “You aren’t wrong about that, Mr Yates, and truly I could not say no to Miss Yates, but oh, how I wish you hadn’t stayed that night at The Swan!”

They caught up with her sisters who were just arriving back at the bookshop, and Louise turned to look at Estelle as Marie was unlocking the door.

“Abandon what responsibilities?”

She sighed, aggrieved. She hadn’t realised her voice had carried so much. “Miss Yates needs my help at Ferndale Hall. Their housekeeper is unwell. The bedbugs,” she explained further.

“Of course you must go,” Bernadette said immediately. “Let me make up a big package of herbs for you to take.” She hurried up the stairs first, plucking a satchel from a cupboard under the dresser. “Some of that tonic for Lord Ferndale’s cough too, Mr Yates!” she said over her shoulder, grabbing up vials and packages.

“I can’t just leave the rest of you to manage everything,” Estelle said unhappily.

“Of course you can,” Marie disagreed firmly. “We have managed perfectly well in your absence before this, when you and Father were off on book-buying expeditions.”

“But the bank letter…”

“Will still be here when you return, and I don’t know what you think you can do about it anyway.” Marie lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “I’ll spend some time going over the books. Send another advertisement to The Times, they always do very well.”

“And you can take Lord Ferndale’s books, they’re ready!” Louise said, and though she didn’t say it in front of Mr Yates, the unspoken subtext was and get him to pay for them . “I’ll package them up!”

“You had best put some clothes in a valise,” Marie said, “come, I’ll help you.”

“And you sit down there, Mr Yates, and I’ll make some tea,” Mrs Poole said in her usual cheerful motherly way, “and you can have some biscuits.”

“You are a gem, Mrs Poole,” Felix said enthusiastically, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Estelle allowed Marie to half-drag her away to her bedroom and pull a valise out from under the bed, but drew the line when Marie opened her closet and grabbed every single evening dress off the pegs.

“Marie! I’m only going for a day or two, I certainly don’t need three evening dresses!”

“You never know,” Marie said, peering owlishly at Estelle through her spectacles as she laid the dresses on the bed. “And they do dress for dinner at Ferndale Hall. You want to look nice, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but…” She didn’t even expect to stay for three days. What would be the point of three evening dresses?

“I’ll lend you my yellow spotted muslin and my best gloves too, and you had better take your spare bonnet. Come on, get to packing!” Marie flapped her hands at Estelle and left to fetch the yellow dress. Estelle sighed again and opened the valise. It was good-sized, and she supposed she could fit four day dresses as well as the evening gowns and the underthings she would need.

“This is enough clothes to stay for a month,” she muttered finally, squeezing the lid down and buckling the straps.

“Silly to take a half-empty case though,” Marie said cheerfully. “And since you’re going by carriage, you needn’t worry about carrying it.”

“Good thing too.” Estelle tested the handle and groaned at the weight. “Maybe I should take a few things out…”

“Certainly not, when Mr Yates is here to carry it for you!” Marie seized her by the shoulders and looked into Estelle’s face. “Listen to me, sister,” she said seriously, and Estelle froze. Marie rarely used that tone.

“What?” she asked faintly.

“Use this time as a holiday and enjoy yourself.”

Estelle half-laughed, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t call dealing with a burgeoning bedbug infestation a holiday!”

“Ferndale Hall has a full complement of maids; even if the housekeeper is indisposed all you’ll need to do is give orders. Enjoy yourself. Relax. And take the time to get to know Mr Yates properly, before you make any irrevocable decisions.”

Oh, so this was the serious point Marie had been working up to. Sobering, Estelle nodded.

The other benefit of Estelle being away for a few days would mean hearty meals at Ferndale Hall and one less mouth to feed at home. That would save a few pennies and help a little. She would return with Lord Ferndale’s latest payment and they would work out the best way to approach the bank. That single letter of demand had swept all their small but hard-won gains away so quickly, it was difficult to think how they could proceed.

Perhaps a few days away dealing with something as mundane but frustrating as bedbugs was exactly what she needed?

As Estelle kissed her sisters goodbye, Louise gave her books for Lord Ferndale to Felix, who carried them in one arm. He accepted them without demur. With his free hand, he easily lifted Estelle’s valise.

That did not match her first impressions, when he’d barely carried one book into the store from the pile on the street. She’d thought him distracted and unfit. Then the truth hit her. He wasn’t weak at all, but he had been distracted by the one book he’d been looking for.

With a sigh, Estelle had to accept that she’d done Felix a great disservice in judging him so quickly. She heard a small grunt as he opened the shop door and saw his neck muscles straining with the weight.

A giggle escaped. He was struggling with the effort, but he was doing his very best not to show it. Somehow, that raised him even further in her opinion, that he was doing his best to help without complaining.

Outside in the sunshine, the Ferndale carriage came into view. The driver slowed the two horses to a stop outside Baxter’s Fine Books. Felix’s horse was tethered loosely to the back, as it followed behind. He would probably ride it home while Estelle travelled with Miss Yates and Lord Ferndale.

She climbed in and sat beside Miss Yates, while Lord Ferndale sat opposite, and Felix handed her valise to the coachman to put in the boot.

To Estelle’s surprise, Felix climbed into the carriage and sat opposite her as he greeted his grandfather and great-aunt again.

There was little room in the footwell, and his long legs meant his knees were perilously close to touching hers.

Lord Ferndale raised an imperious eyebrow at his grandson. “You’re not riding home?”

“I thought I’d give Hannibal a reprieve,” Felix answered with his usual irrepressible grin. “He found a patch of red clover outside the church and he will be skittish now.”

“Interesting,” Lord Ferndale said, but then offered nothing more.

Miss Yates patted her hand to her chest in sign of distress. Then scratched at her sternum. “I am itching already. I dread to think what awaits us at the Hall.”

Felix reassured her. “All shall be well, aunt, we have Miss Baxter to save us.”

Estelle tried not to smile too much at his praise, but it was rather lovely. And he in turn was smiling so delightfully her way.

He continued, “Why, Miss Baxter knew I had the little biters before I did. She has a sharp eye and knows the signs.”

Miss Yates squirmed in her seat, bumping Estelle.

Lord Ferndale rubbed a patch of his thigh and laughed. “The more I think about it, the more I feel like itching as well. Is it possible they are in the carriage seats?”

The carriage went over a bump and Felix’s knee pushed against Estelle’s leg, branding her through the layers of fabric.

“It is highly unlikely,” Estelle said, feeling the small of her back begin to prickle. “Since Mr Yates only spent one night at the Hall, and didn’t use the carriage. They cannot have spread too far in so short a time.”

“We should probably change the topic,” Felix suggested. “I fear talking about such things makes us think too much and so on and so forth.” He too scratched at his arm as the carriage hit another bump and his knees knocked into Estelle again.

Estelle seized upon Felix’s good advice. “Lord Ferndale, I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but Mr Yates mentioned that you are sometimes afflicted with a cough in the evenings. My sister Bernadette is very skilled with herbs and remedies and has provided a bottle of tonic she recommends for such afflictions.”

The old gentleman nodded in appreciation. “Well, that is very kind of Miss Bernadette. I shall certainly try it. Goodness knows nothing Doctor Rasley has suggested has helped.”

“Perhaps I should also send for Bernadette to come to the Hall, once we deal with the … er … once we’re settled, and she may have something for Mrs Sykes?” Estelle suggested.

Felix, drat him, knocked his knee against Estelle even though there was no bump in the road this time to warrant it. All the while he kept smiling his handsome smile and making things flip in her belly. She tried to glare at him, but her heart wasn’t in it. The corners of her mouth kept wanting to turn up.

Miss Yates provided a welcome distraction. “I’m sure she’d welcome a chat with Bernadette. Doctor Rasley can be …” she drifted away.

“Off putting?” Estelle suggested.

Felix interrupted. “Old Rasley’s not still going, is he? Or has his son stepped up?”

“I forget you’ve been away,” Lord Ferndale said. “Yes, it’s the same Doctor Rasley. His son is practising in London and has made it quite clear he has no plans to take over his father’s business, at any stage.”

“I didn’t see Rasley in church,” Felix said.

Lord Ferndale coughed discreetly and said, “He’s not at his best in the mornings.”

“We really should find a way to encourage his retirement,” Miss Yates said. “No disrespect to his many, many years of service …”

Estelle looked out the window as Ferndale Hall came into view. The doctor’s unreliable performance, not to mention his old-fashioned, judgmental attitude, was why so many women came to see Bernadette.

Lord Ferndale sighed in frustration. “If the doctor retires, I’ll have to take meetings with the Town Council to agree to appoint a replacement, and I’m afraid I may be in a minority.”

A collective grunt of frustration erupted from Estelle and Miss Yates, as they recognised the major problem facing Hatfield’s collective health.

“I’m missing something,” Felix said, looking around at them all with his brows wrinkled in confusion.

Lord Ferndale chuckled. “You have been away for some time, my boy. The local magistrate is now Miss Baxter’s cousin, Joshua Baxter, and with his crony Reverend Millings and several aldermen who like to follow their lead, I’m afraid the mayor and I are often outvoted.”

Felix groaned. “Oh God. We’re sunk!”

“Not if we can get the new hospital funded,” Miss Yates said stoutly. “We shall have the funds to hire two more doctors at least, and you had best believe my ladies on the hospital committee shall have a say in who is appointed. The aldermen will listen to their wives!”

“Or they’ll be eating pease porridge for weeks?” Lord Ferndale said with amusement.

Miss Yates smirked. “ Cold pease porridge.”

“Perish the thought!” Felix shuddered.

“I hope that tactic works, Florence,” Lord Ferndale said, smiling kindly at his sister. “Certainly, it would work on Felix, I believe, but perhaps our aldermen are not so governed by their stomachs.”

The carriage slowed in the circular drive and Estelle sighed, looking up at the vast manor house and thinking of the sheer amount of linen and beds to treat. “One challenge at a time. Let’s first rid Ferndale Hall of unwanted guests!”