A Lady of Persuasion (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy #3)(27)

Not that Gray would have known any better how to handle the situation. His brother had no education in legal matters, either. This was why Joss was determined to study law. They couldn’t build a successful family business unless one of them could look at these piles of legal prattle and make sense of them.

The butler appeared in the entryway. “A caller, sir.”

“I’m not at home.”

“It’s Sir Toby Aldridge, sir.”

“Damn,” Joss muttered, sifting through a stack of parchment. Just what he needed—the task of entertaining that insufferable ass in addition to everything else. “Didn’t he get the message that Bel’s taken ill?”

“Yes, he did,” a voice said from the corridor. The insufferable ass himself rounded the doorway and entered the study. “All the more reason for me to call.”

Joss dismissed the butler with a look. “You’ll have to come back another day,” he told Toby, sitting down to his desk. “She’s feeling too poorly for social calls, and I’m in no humor for them either.”

Toby flopped into a chair opposite. “Don’t treat me as if I’m some stranger off the street. I’m marrying Isabel in less than a month, for God’s sake. Now, what’s the nature of her illness?

Has a doctor been called? Can I see her?”

“It’s just a sore throat,” Joss said. “She doesn’t want a doctor. And no, you can’t see her.”

The butler appeared in the doorway again. “The Countess of Kendall and a Miss Osborne, for Miss Grayson.”

“Tell them I’ll be there momentarily. I’ll show them up to Miss Grayson’s chambers myself.”

“Now see here.” Toby rose from his chair. “You just said she’s not to receive callers. Why can Lucy and her friend go up, and not me?”

“Because Bel asked to see them. She didn’t ask to see you.” Joss brushed past Toby and walked down the corridor to the entryway. Toby’s footsteps followed him to the foyer, where Lucy waited. Joss bowed to the countess first. “Please excuse my appearance,” he said, gesturing toward his ruined attire. “The work of my son, I’m afraid.”

Lucy smiled. “Yes, I’ve heard young Master Jacob is a handful.” Her gaze drifted over Joss’s shoulder. “Toby, what a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think you’d be here.”

“Why should it be such a surprise? Wouldn’t any gentleman call on his invalid intended?”

Ignoring Toby’s complaint, Lucy continued, “Miss Osborne, this is Miss Grayson’s brother, Captain Josiah Grayson, and her betrothed, Sir Toby Aldridge. Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my friend, Miss Hetta Osborne.”

“Miss Osborne. You are welcome.” Joss bowed to the newcomer, a young lady a few years older than Bel, dressed in a simple muslin frock and a curry-colored spencer. He straightened to find her regarding him with intense, unwavering curiosity. Joss suppressed the urge to pull a face, call attention to her rudeness.

“Miss Obsorne’s come to stay with me through my confinement. Her father is the doctor at Corbinsdale. When Bel sent word that she’d been taken ill, I immediately thought to bring Hetta with me.” Lucy laid a gloved hand on her friend’s arm. “Miss Osborne’s practically a physician in her own right.”

“A female physician?” Now Joss enjoyed his turn to stare. Miss Osborne was a compact, efficiently made sort of woman. In manner and bearing, she had the air of a matron, but girlish freckles dusted her milk-white complexion. Indeed, she stared with all the unabashed curiosity of a child, but intelligence sharpened her eyes—eyes that were a warm shade of hazel. They gave him pause.

It had been a long time since Joss had noticed the color of a woman’s eyes. Lately, a cursory glance was all he spared any new acquaintance before slotting the person into one of two categories: “Tolerate” or “Dismiss.” But he wasn’t sure yet how to categorize this woman. He needed a closer look. Thus, he found himself studying her appearance with undue concentration.

He found himself noting that her eyes were a rather appealing shade of hazel, flecked with green.

Behind him, Toby made a sound of derision. “Practically a physician? If Isabel is ill, she’s going to be seen by a real doctor. I’ll send my own personal physician.”

Miss Osborne lifted her chin. “The only reason I cannot claim the title ‘physician’ is my sex. I’ve received the same benefit of education and experience as any of my male counterparts.”

“As any country quack, you mean.” Toby turned to Joss. “You can’t seriously mean to entrust your sister’s health to this … this girl.”

Lucy grasped her friend’s arm. “Hetta, don’t be offended. Toby doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’s just upset over Bel’s illness.”

“Yes, I understand.” Miss Osborne fixed Toby with a withering look. “I’m well acquainted with the irrational behaviors gentlemen exhibit when their ladies are ailing.”

“Irrational behaviors?” Joss said. “It’s irrational for a man to display concern?” Now Miss Osborne was truly becoming a problem. She was making him side with Toby. Much as he begrudged Toby any consideration, Joss understood all too well the agony of watching—at least, hearing—a woman suffer. “One would think you’d have some sympathy,” he said. She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Sympathy would imply understanding, and I’ve never understood why women are labeled the weaker sex. In my observation, males suffer the condition of helplessness with far less courage than females suffer pain.”