A Perfect Gentleman(36)

She couldn’t breathe and Grace fought to scream but there was only silence no matter how hard she tried. Someone was pushing on her and she couldn’t get away.

“Grace!” the voice intruded on her nightmare.

“Wake up.”

She struggled to open her eyes but it was so hard. She needed air. With all her might she opened her mouth and took a deep breath and pushed the person away.

“Damn and blast.”

She opened her eyes to find Vicar Trent sitting on her floor amongst the broken glass. Had he fallen?

“Now you wake up.”

“What happened?” Her hands shook and the nightmare wavered on the fringes of her consciousness.

“You were having another bad dream.”

“Yes, I know,” she said slowly. “How did you know?”

“You were screaming.”

Her heartbeat increased. So someone had heard her. The screams hadn’t been silent. Though it was a relief that Vicar Trent came to her aid, she felt bad for having disturbed him. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” He pushed up on the floor to stand and winced before he brought his hand forward. A chard of glass stuck out his palm, blood pooled around it.

“Oh, dear. She shoved the covers back from her bed and moved to rise.”

“Stay where you are,” he barked. “We don’t need you cutting your feet.”

Grace ignored him and looked for her shoes or slippers. After she had jumped in bed earlier she had dropped her slippers at the side of the bed. There were next to her bedside table. Careful to avoid the glass on the floor, she slipped her feet inside before she rushed over to the pitcher of water in the basin. He walked over to her, his arm extended in front of him, palm up. Being as careful as possible, Grace plucked the glass from his hand. It began to bleed anew and she poured cool water over his cut before she took a small cloth and pressed it against his hand. “My bandages are in the kitchen.”

“I’ll get them. You need to get back in bed.”

“You can’t wrap your own hand,” Grace insisted and picked up the lamp Vicar Trent had left in her room earlier and carried it out into the hall and down the stairs. She assumed he followed. When she entered the kitchen she lit two more and began rummaging in the cabinets for her bandages. She seemed to be tending his wounds quite a bit lately. Had she not been present each time he was injured, she would wonder if he were accident prone.

Vicar Trent settled at one of the chairs and produced his hand once again. The cut was long, but not overly deep, and it wasn’t bleeding like it had earlier. A breeze blew into the room and the flames flickered. She glanced around for the source. The back door had blown open. A chair lay on its side. Had someone come into the house again?

Vicar Trent stood. “The door was broken earlier.” He bent to pick up the chair and set it right. “We had assumed the assailant came in through the front door but they broke in through this one.”

A chill ran up her spine.

“I didn’t want to alarm you and thought I had secured this door sufficiently so that nobody could come in.”

It probably would have sufficed if the wind hadn’t picked up. Grace glanced out the window. In the moonlight she could see limbs bend and leaves be torn from trees. Soon it would be winter.

Vicar Trent pushed the door closed again and this time he pushed a cabinet in front of it to keep it shut. “That should hold for the rest of the night. I will see about getting it fixed tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“We should return upstairs. It is almost morning and you haven’t slept much.”

“Could we check on father first?”

“Of course.” Vicar Trent smiled kindly at her and nodded. Together they walked to her father’s room and looked inside. He rested peacefully, as did Perkins who snored quietly from his chair. Taking the lamp from Grace, Vicar Trent led her back upstairs to her room.

“I should have thought to bring a broom.”

“It will keep until tomorrow.”

She hesitated before moving further into her room. What if the person had come back and was hiding in the house? What if he came for her while Vicar Trent slept? “I don’t want to be alone.”

“I don’t think that is wise.”

She turned and looked at him. “Please.” She couldn’t be alone. Her heart raced with fear at being in here by herself.

Vicar Trent sighed. “Very well.” He followed her into the room and waited while she crawled back into bed before settling in the chair in front of the fire.



“She is fine mother. Just go back downstairs.”

Matthew stirred in his chair, trying to make sense of what was around him. Surprisingly he had found sleep, but what was Audrey Montgomery doing here?

“Well something isn’t right. You look at bit shocked.”

Was that Mrs. Montgomery’s voice? What was she doing in the hall outside of Grace’s room?

“No, everything is fine.” Miss Montgomery dropped her voice to a whisper.

“What are you hiding, Audrey? Do not push me away.”

Matthew stood and looked for a place to hide. That woman couldn’t find him here. It was bad enough when she found him and Grace exiting the barn yesterday, he couldn’t imagine what the woman would do, or say, if she found him in her bedchamber. Across the room was the bathing chamber but he couldn’t enter it without crossing in front of the door to the hall. The armoire was also on the opposite wall, though he loathed the idea of have to hide in such a place. There was nothing on this side of the room save hiding beneath the bed and he refused to hide as if he had done something wrong.

“Grace is sleeping mother. I don’t want to disturb her.”

Matthew sat back in the chair and slouched. Perhaps Mrs. Montgomery wouldn’t notice him if she came in.

“I want to see that she is uninjured.”

“I said she was fine.”

The next sound Matthew heard was a gasp, which he assumed was from the mother. Then Grace spoke.

“Mrs. Montgomery, what are you doing here?”

“Nobody answered the door when we called and we knew you were here,” Miss Montgomery began.

“Hush, Audrey,” her mother insisted.

But Miss Montgomery continued. “We went around back to see if you were in the barn and saw that the back door was broken and open. That is when we saw the bloody bandages and after the attack on your father, I wanted to make sure you and your father were unharmed.”

“That is very kind of you, Audrey,” said Grace. “But as you can see, I am well.”

“But you are not alone,” Mrs. Montgomery hissed.

Matthew groaned and sat up. “It isn’t as it looks.”

“That is what you said yesterday. A gentleman does not spend the night in the room of an unattached woman.”

Matthew stood. “I can explain.”

“There is no need.” The woman stuck her nose in the air and marched out the door. “Come along Audrey, I no longer feel it is right that you associate with Grace.”

“But mother, at least let them explain.”

“There is nothing to explain. I saw enough with my own eyes.”

“Oh dear, that woman is going to make trouble again,” Grace muttered.

Though he had put off marriage until he could come to know her better, Matthew now knew that time was at an end. As soon as it could be arranged he would write to his brother about obtaining a Special License, or perhaps write to the vicar in the next town about performing the ceremony. Did a vicar cry the banns for himself in his own church? He had never come across that issue before and would write and ask about that as well. Of course, this was assuming Grace would marry him. But what choice did she really have?





Grace just knew Mrs. Montgomery was going to make trouble for Vicar Trent. All the man had done was come to her aid, and make her feel safe, and for that Audrey’s mother was going to spread more vicious rumors about him. Why were they here so early today?

Grace glanced at the clock. Goodness, it was nearly eleven in the morning. How could she have slept so late, again? Of course, she had slept very little last night. The sun was about to rise when she last closed her eyes.

Regardless, she needed to get a start on her chores because cows did not milk themselves.

“I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Yes, thank you.”

She scrambled to find a dress she could wear to go about her chores. When she was clothed Grace brushed out her hair and tied it behind her and then removed her slippers, adding thicker stockings and put on her boots. On her way out of the house she stopped to check on her father. There was no change, other than he had a bit more color today, and made her way to the barn. Inside she found Matthew already on a stool milking a cow. Beside him was Clive. Grace settled at the side of the next cow. The three of them worked quietly until all of the cows had been milked. When it came time to collect the eggs, Matthew took only from the uncovered nests and held the basket as Grace gathered the rest.

“I need you to find my brother, Jordan, and tell him it is urgent that he come here,” Vicar Trent explained to Clive as the lad hopped up onto the seat of his wagon.

“I will, sir. I promise.”

“Why do you need your brother?” Grace asked after the lad drove off.

“You need servants in this house, and guards. At least until we know who tried to kill you last night.”