housekeeper. It wouldn’t be proper.”
He nodded and smiled. “Coffee, thank you, Mrs. McClintok.”
The kitchen door opened, and Elspeth came in, greeting Mrs. McClintok as she did and waving James back into his seat. She bent over and kissed his cheek.
“Tea, Mrs. Pendergast?”
“Yes, thank you, Mrs. McClintok.”
“Aren’t you looking lovely this morning?” he said as she seated herself beside him.
“Thank you, James,” she said. “I’m feeling well finally after a few weeks of . . . of being under the weather.”
“Are you sick, Elspeth?” He laid down his fork. “What is the matter? Do you need to see the doctor? Why hasn’t Alexander taken you to the doctor?”
She smiled at him and laid her fingers on his arm. “I’m fine, James.”
“Morning sickness, Mrs. Pendergast?” Mrs. McClintok asked.
Elspeth nodded and blushed. “It seems to have gone away, just as the doctor said it would.”
“Oh,” James said. “This is normal for ladies who are expecting?”
“Not all ladies, Mr. Thompson, but many.”
“That is not why I came over this morning,” Elspeth said and looked at James. “Truly, I feel fine now, and the doctor said it is very common.”
“What do you need, then?” James asked, relieved that his sister was fine and that he did not need to know any more about the subject.
Elspeth stirred sugar into her tea and took a sip. She looked up at him. “Mrs. Emory told me you fired MacAvoy. Is that true, James?”
He stared at his plate, moving the last of the eggs onto his fork with the crust of his bread. It hadn’t occurred to him until recently that his family may have something to say about that subject, as they were nosy and opinionated.
He shrugged. “It’s not anything for you to be concerned about.”
“Not anything for me to be concerned about? How ridiculous! MacAvoy is as much a part of the Thompson family as any of us. What are the two of you arguing about?”
“Boxing, is all. Nothing really.”
“I don’t believe that for one second, and neither does Alexander. What has happened?”
James pushed back from the table, his eyes on the coffee cup he held in his hand. How could he tell her, or any of them, but especially her, who’d always had a special place in his heart? How could he tell her he was terrified of what the future might bring? That he’d imagined he’d always be twenty-five years old and handsome and fit and unbeatable in a ring? Could he tell anyone that he recognized a massive change in his life on the horizon and could not accept it? Would not accept it. Would rather ignore it, regardless of what a fool it made him.
“There’s nothing to say.” He shrugged. “We had a parting of the ways. It happens, Elspeth. People drift apart.”
He glanced at her face, at the pity he saw there, and the love too, and lurched to his feet. “I’ve got to be going. Got to get ready for my next match. How are you getting home, Elspeth?”
She stood and touched his face. “I love you so dearly, James. You’re always concerned about me and all of our family. My carriage is outside. I’ll be fine.”
He watched her leave the kitchen, his throat aching, his heart pounding. Mrs. McClintok was staring at him steadily when he turned his head. “More eggs or toast, Mr. Thompson?”
He shook his head, hurried up the steps and through his bedroom door. They all had to stick their female noses in his business, and he did not care for it. He pulled on his jacket, ran down the steps and out the front door, heading to the workout rooms without saying a word to anyone in his family. He would punch heavy bags and maybe some poor idiot’s face until he felt more himself.
Chapter 9
“Perhaps we shouldn’t say anything to her about it,” Lucinda heard her aunt say as she stopped by the parlor doorway to fix her hem that had caught on the buckle of her shoe. She and Aunt were at the Pendergast house again with Susannah Delgado, enjoying an afternoon visit. She hadn’t visited Edith for weeks and was the better for it, she was convinced. She straightened and flounced her skirts, making sure they would not catch again.
“Although James would not care for it, I think Miss Vermeal should know. I think she may be able to talk some sense into him,” Elspeth Pendergast said.
Lucinda walked in and noticed Susannah at the far end of the room, stretched out on the