Page 30 of The Lady and the Duke

“Youdon’tsay…”

Lydia stood again. “I must go. I have work today. Aunt Lavinia wants all the books taken off the library shelves, dusted and reorganized. I expect it will take me several days atleast.”

“Why not come by at noon for some dinner. The brothers are off on some nefarious business or other; mother has a whist luncheon; and, of course, father is at the bank being the efficientmanager.”

“I would like that. It would give me abreak.”

“Did you find a book you liked the other day?” Jenny asked as they descended thestairs.

“Notyet.”

“Do you want to get one now. I have one I can recommend. It is a romance. Do you likethose?”

“I do, but some are a bit soppy. I often prefer historicalessays.”

“I have just thething.”

Jenny led Lydia to the library and handed her a book. “You might enjoy this. It is a historicalromance.”

“The Vagaries of Celeste. Thank you. I look forward toreadingit.”

* * *

Lydia coughedand swatted at the cloud of dust that fell from the heavy books she took down from the top libraryshelf.

“Good gracious,” she exclaimed, as she descended from the short ladder she was using to reach thebooks.

The clock had just struck eleven o’clock and it reminded Lydia that in just an hour she would be having a break at Jenny’s. She looked forward to it, as the Lovell household was much more lavish in their eating habits than the parsimonious Aunt Lavinia. If Jenny had not invited her to join her for dinner she would be having some leftover soup, a heel of cheese, and a slice of brownbread.

Lydia dusted the books she had just taken down and placed them on the library table to be sorted as Aunt Lavinia hadinstructed.

Lydia went to the back door through the kitchen and shook out several of the rags she had been using to dust thebooks.

She looked out over the back garden, admiring the trees and looking forward to constructing her vegetable garden if Aunt gave her permission. Lydia had not yet roused the courage toaskher.

She went back inside and moved the ladder further along the bookshelves to take down the last of the books in this particular section. She had waited until the end to tackle, what was the largest volume in the library. She could not imagine what sort of book itmightbe.

She climbed the ladder and reached with her fingers to slide the book along and tip it toward her. But she misjudged its weight and, as it tipped, it also slipped off the shelf. She tried managing its fall, but it was far too heavy, and it fell from her hands. She struggled to catch it, but in doing so, she twisted, and the ladder began to totter. She tried adjusting her balance, but could not, and she, too, began to fall. She tumbled onto the floor and the book fell on top of her, striking her onthehead.

She let out a yelp of pain. She was certain she would develop a lump on her head, but even more worrying, was her ankle. It was in excruciating pain and she began to sob. Was it broken? Oh, my, what to do? There was no one to call out toforhelp.

She tried calming herself, and her sobs subsided. She scooted back against the wall and rested as she tried to figure out what todonext.

Her head, while it hurt, was less of a worry than the foot. She leaned over and reached to the ankle, which was now swelling. She tried moving the ankle, but it hurt too much. The one thing she knew for certain was that she would need to get help. And the only person even remotely close by wasJenny.

Somehow she would need to stand. She looked around the room to see what might be of assistance. Across the room, she spotted a cane that must have belonged to Lavinia’s husband. But it was not within reach. So her first task was to get over there, stand, and somehow hobble over to Jenny’sforhelp.

Using her hands, she slid forward and scooted to within reaching distance of the cane. There was a chair at the desk that she could reach and she shifted it away from the desk and positioned so that she might lift herself up by her arms and sit. From there she could try and stand, grab the cane and then work her way over toJenny.

“You’re early,” Jenny exclaimed as she opened the front door. “Oh,” she exclaimed as she saw Lydia leaning onacane.

“I’ve fallen and really hurt my ankle. Can you help me,please?”

“Oh, my darling,” she said as she took hold of Lydia by both arms and guided her into the sitting room. “Do you think it might bebroken?”

“It could verywellbe.”

Jenny guided Lydia to sit in a wingbackchair.