Chemistry of Magic: Unexpected Magic Book Five (Unexpected Magic #5)(44)
Her features froze in fear, but she curtsied obediently.
“I’ve been told Tess writes a fair hand,” Emilia told the suspicious cook. “I’m taking her with me to copy some medicinal recipes from Lady Pascoe’s books. I may be gone until dinner. Please see that Lord Dare eats while I’m away. He’s likely to forget.”
Knowing better than to argue, Mrs. Peacock continued mixing her batter and merely nodded.
She was meddling, Emilia knew. But she was a Malcolm, and meddling was a family tradition. She hurried upstairs to decide whether she needed an extravagant calling gown, or if she might wear an old one and start right to work.
Deciding she only wore her fine gowns to force people to notice her, and she didn’t have that problem with Dare and Bridey, she chose a comfortable muslin with modest sleeves and smaller skirts.
While Dare had been buying horses, Robert had found a gig for sale in the village. By the time she was dressed, the groom had one of the new horses harnessed to the cart, ready and waiting, much to Emilia’s delight. Taking up the reins, she gave in to the thrill of independence. In London, she could go nowhere without an escort. Here, she could go anywhere, despite Dare’s dire predictions. She’d driven her grandfather’s gig all over when she’d stayed with him. She’d missed that freedom.
Tess climbed up beside her and folded her hands in her lap. She’d tucked her thin, blondish hair into a cap, revealing a fine complexion and clear blue eyes. She might almost be pretty if she didn’t always look so downcast.
“Mrs. Wiggs tells me you were an excellent student.” Although she lacked any skill at small talk, Emilia attempted to break through the maid’s silence as she drove down the lane.
“Yes, m’lady.”
Hiding her grimace, she tried again. “Could you tell me about your schooling? How many years? Who was your teacher? That sort of thing?”
That roused the girl to cast her an anxious look, but she answered in a low voice. “The vicar has a school. I learned everything he had to teach, then helped with the youngers. I sometimes helped him write out his sermons in a clear hand, and I wrote letters for those that can’t.”
The tiny village that had grown up near the walls of Alder Abbey had no noble house besides the baronet’s. Emilia was surprised to hear someone had provided a vicar’s living. “There wasn’t a vicar here when I was little. What’s his name?”
“Oh, I’m not from Alder. I’m from Harrogate. I only came here because Aunt Mary asked.”
Well, that prevented Emilia from learning more about the father of the infant she carried. Assuming Aunt Mary was Mrs. Wiggs, she thought she’d have to question that lady a little more. “It’s good to have family looking after you,” she said with what she hoped was reassurance. “I’m hoping you can help me and Lady Pascoe with our project. I’ll wait until we are there to discuss it.”
Emilia drew a little more out of the girl as she drove, but under the guidance of Dare’s fine steed, the distance to the abbey wasn’t great. He truly did have a knack for finding sturdy, if not flashy, horses.
Bridey greeted them with delight and led them straight back to the infirmary and school.
“I can hire workmen to fix roofs and partition schoolrooms and boarding rooms,” Bridey said as they traversed the cloistered walkway. “But what I need to do is develop a system for accepting students and patients. Tess, I’d like you to help me with that.”
Out of her element, the girl finally lifted her head. Emilia thought she saw a flash of the eager adolescent she must once have been, before humiliation and terror had beaten her down.
“How?” Tess asked timidly.
“I thought we should start with written applications. A good midwife should have the ability to write down her recipes and notes, and I want to start with the best students, so we need women who can read and write. Some will become teachers, so education is essential.”
Given her height, and strong character, Bridey could be intimidating, but Tess seemed more interested than frightened. That was what Emilia had been hoping for.
She really wanted to start work on her laboratory, but with workmen running in and out of all the cubicles, she would only be in the way. So she settled for helping with the school.
A few hours later, Bridey helped herself to some of the bread and cheese a maid had delivered while she examined Tess’s handiwork. “I think the student application looks sound. Now, let’s start on the patient application.”
Tess obediently lifted her pen to a new sheet of paper. She did, indeed, have excellent penmanship, and her spelling was accurate. She would be wasted as the housekeeper Mrs. Wiggs had hoped to make of her.
“Name, village, et cetera, at the top, of course, the same as the other,” Bridey dictated. “Fill it in as if you were the patient, so we know how large the lines should be. Suggest anything you think should be there.”
“Do we need to ask permission of the patient’s parents, husband, or father of the infant?” Emilia asked, nibbling a bread crust.
“No,” Tess said decisively, speaking out for the first time on her own. “Ask for the names of who is responsible for the patient in case of emergency, but don’t force her to ask permission to be a patient.”
“What if the patient is a child?” Emilia asked, offering the plate of cheese to Bridey and Tess before finishing it off. “Bridey really shouldn’t take on that responsibility.”