Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,6

said quickly.

“You know my view on telling tales. I don’t gossip with anyone.”

“I know, but it must not be even hinted at. As far as everyone is concerned, Captain Dunn is here for a recuperative break and so we can get to know each other as brother and sister. My uncle did not know of his existence before he died.”

“But it’s really to do with that child you’ve had sleeping with you.”

Esther groaned aloud. “You should not know any of this. You rarely leave the kitchen!”

“There’s nothing in this household that gets by me, and I’ve seen you frowning more in these last few days than I ever have.”

Accepting that she could not treat Cook as a fool or issue denials that the astute woman would immediately see as falsehoods, Esther knew she would have to be honest. Her only moment of slight amusement was when she realised how annoyed Captain Jones would be to find out that yet another person knew of their predicament.

“There have been threats made to the safety of Isabella,” Esther confided. “The two captains are here to protect her.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Cook said. “I shall not ask who she is or who she belongs to, for I don’t think I want to know.”

“The fewer people who know, the better for everyone,” Esther said.

“And what, apart from the obvious, has put you in a state this morning?”

“Are there no more splits?” Esther asked, trying to change the subject.

“Not for you, or we will find you curled up asleep somewhere, too full to do anything useful. Are you going to be honest or try to keep up this cat-and-mouse questioning? For if you are, I’ll banish you out of my kitchen for good.”

“No!” Esther was genuinely horrified. She had few places or people with whom she could be herself, and Cook was only one of three people, the others being Dawson the butler and Lydia.

“You know I do not make idle threats.”

“I overheard something which, although true, I did not like to hear,” Esther admitted. The words had stung, but she could not deny their truth. She was an old spinster, and most people at some point or another had tried to treat her like an inexperienced chit. That was part of the reason she was so angry at her reputation being put at risk. She had worked so hard to get to where she was. Learning the hard way that very few people in life could be relied on.

“They offered an insult, did they?” Cook asked, immediately bristling.

“One of them did. The usual belittling comments.”

“I will instruct Dawson to serve him the worst of the cuts of meats and the food that has gone cold. The cad will soon regret upsetting you.”

“No!” Esther laughed. “I do not wish his poor opinion of me to be confirmed by my running a shoddy household. He shall find everything perfect here, except perhaps my welcome. I wasn’t very nice when greeting them.”

“Are they deserving of a civil welcome?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have some ground to recover. There is no excuse for bad behaviour.”

Esther stood and kissed Cook’s cheek. “You are perfectly correct as always, and I shall go and make amends. Perhaps when I have finished my day’s work.”

“Esther,” Cook scolded quietly. No one realised that she often used Esther’s given name. It was a sign of the familiarity and close relationship between the pair. Not a usual one, to be sure, but one from which each received much benefit.

“I know, I know. I shall do it now.” Esther smiled as she walked away. “Thank you for my treat. Wonderful as always.”

Cook shook her head before removing the evidence of their interlude and returning to work. She worried about the young woman and wished that Esther had not chosen the path she had. It was too lonely for a woman who should be setting up home with her own family. Cook was thankful that her old master was no longer alive to see it. She was certain he would not have guessed the route Esther had taken since his death. The poor man had wanted to see her happy and secure. Cook was not sure Esther was either of those.

*

Lydia Bolton entered the drawing room with Isabella at her side. The child had been walking alongside her happily enough, but the moment she saw the two gentlemen looking at her expectantly, she withdrew behind the folds of Lydia’s skirts.

To her credit, Lydia continued into the room as if she did not