It was odd. Although Robbie hadn’t been gone for more than a few months, she felt like a stranger in Edinburgh. She hadn’t realized how much she loved the country until the smoky fog of the city loomed over her once more.
Colin had sent a rider on ahead to inform Lydia that Robbie was on her way. She met them at the door of her little clinic and immediately fell into Robbie’s arms, sobbing quietly.
“I’m so, so sorry, Lydia. What can I do?”
Lydia stepped away, sniffed and wiped her face with a handkerchief. “You shouldn’t have made such a long trip, Robbie. There’s nothing to be done now but bury the lad.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do, right, Colin?”
Colin stepped down from the carriage and introduced himself, failing to mention that he was a doctor. “I have a friend who is a mortician, Mrs. Dunn. I would be honored if you would let me take care of the entire process. I understand how difficult and overwhelming this is for you.”
Lydia’s lower lip quivered. “I have very little money—”
“Nonsense,” Robbie interrupted. “Everything will be taken care of. I know that Gavin would be more than happy to pay for the burial.”
Now Lydia smiled through her tears. “So all is well with you and your new mister?”
Robbie raised her eyebrows. “There will always be something for us to adjust to,” she said with a little laugh.
Leaving Gavin at home with Birdie was not something Robbie wanted to think about. But think she did, all the way from Erskine House to the outskirts of Edinburgh. Her darkest thoughts centered on the fact that Birdie had already commandeered her dog and her maid; what was to keep her from trying to do the same with her husband?
They took Lydia with them to Colin’s townhouse where they met Eve, Colin’s spinster sister. She looked nothing like her brother. Although her eyes were warm and her smile sincere, she was a very plain-looking woman who, Robbie thought, was probably well past thirty. But she took Robbie and Lydia in, scooting them along in front of her like they were a couple of chicks being tended to by the mother hen.
Later, as Robbie and Lydia were encsonced in a room together, Lydia told Robbie what had happened.
“They cut him, Robbie.”
Robbie took her hands in hers. “Cut him? Where?”
Lydia took a deep breath and gave Robbie’s hands a squeeze. “From what Karl said before he…before he…passed on, the thugs told him that he should—” She sucked in a breath. “They told him he was an abomination and that he should never have children.”
Robbie gasped, realizing what Lydia meant. “Oh, my dearest. I’m so sorry. What’s this world coming to when an innocent young lad can’t even be left alone to live his life? How could he possibly have been a threat to them?”
“He threatened no one. A gentle soul, he was,” Lydia whispered, close to tears again.
After a moment, Robbie said, “I don’t even know how to begin to ask you to leave here, knowing that Karl will be close by.”
“I have no reason to stay in this despicable city, Robbie. Karl and I were excited about a new spot; if you still want me to come, I’ll come gladly.”
Relieved, Robbie hugged her. “I’m not sure you’ll be so glad you’ve come once you’ve met my sister.”
Lydia pulled away and put her hand on Robbie’s cheek. “If she’s your sister, how difficult can she be?”
Hiding a smile, Robbie thought, how difficult, indeed?
Feeling the need to let Lydia know the whole story of her “fairy tale romance,” Robbie filled her in on the mistaken proposal and everything that came afterwards. She told her she thought she was pregnant, but she wanted it kept between the two of them. She wanted Lydia to have a full picture of the household she was coming into.
The funeral was small, but Karl had touched many lives in his short one. A nun from the poor house came, the one who had found Karl on the steps those many years ago. She embraced Lydia, and they spoke quietly together after the service and the interment.
After packing Lydia’s meager belongings and giving her a moment to look around one last time, they bade goodbye to Eve and set off for Erskine House.
• • •
They were met by a frazzled Mrs. Murray when they entered the foyer.
“Thank the Lord ye be back!” Her scarf was askew, and her clothes looked as though she’d slept in them.
Oh no. “What’s happened? Is something wrong?” How foolish of me to ask.
“I sent Maureen home for a few days; the madam was running her ragged. Sweet girl, though, she offered to stay in spite of it, but she took a fall carrying the madam’s laundry and turned her ankle. I thought it best to send her where she could get some rest.”
Robbie winced. “Oh, Mrs. Murray. Please don’t let her drive you away, too,” Robbie pleaded. She pulled Lydia beside her. “This is Lydia Dunn. She’s the nurse that we’ve hired to care for Birdie.”
“Praise Jesus,” Mrs. Murray said, making a sign of the cross over her chest. “Ye’ve got yer work cut out for ye, that’s for certain.”
Lydia stepped forward. “Now, now, things can’t be as bad as all that. Let me get right to work. Show me my charge.”
Robbie had been holding her breath. She exhaled, relieved, and took Lydia down the hallway into Birdie’s apartment.
They stepped into the room. “Birdie?”
“Robbie? You’re back. Good. That housekeeper of yours sent Maureen away, just when I was getting her acquainted with my needs. Now that you’re home, you can get her back, can’t you? Mrs. Murray doesn’t like me, I know she doesn’t. She can barely stand to come in and take care of things I need done.”
Robbie glanced at Lydia, relieved not to see fear or even distaste on her face, although there was a hint of amusement. “Birdie, I’ve said this before. Mrs. Murray is not your personal servant. She’s the one who keeps this whole place going, so you have to remember she has many other duties. And,” she added, “I’ve brought you your own nurse.”
Lydia sat down next to Birdie and touched her hand. “I’m Lydia Dunn.”
Birdie frowned. “Your hands are rough.”
Robbie shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Aye, they are that,” Lydia answered. “Hard work does that to a person.”
Birdie released a petulent sigh. “Well, I suppose I can give you a try, since you’ve come all the way from Edinburgh. But I am quite helpless, you know.”
“You have very pretty hair,” Lydia commented.
All smiles now, Birdie said, “I know. And it needs washing. That can be your first task.”
Lydia sat back, surprised. Or appearing so. “Do you mean to say you aren’t even able to wash your own hair?”
“How can I? I can’t see!”
“But you can feel, can’t you, dear?” Her voice was soft but stern.
“Of course I can feel, but I don’t know where anything is. I need help finding the bathroom.”
Lydia tsked. “You mean to say you’ve been here for this long and you haven’t learned how to find the bathroom? How do you manage?”
“Someone takes me by the hand and leads me there,” Birdie explained.
“Oh, my dear. Wouldn’t you rather be able to find it yourself, rather than counting on someone to be around when perhaps they aren’t and cannot be?”
Exasperated, Birdie said, “Robbie? I don’t think this is going to work.”
“It’s going to work, Birdie. You have to learn to do some things for yourself, and Lydia can teach you and help you.”
“But she’s—”
“Stop. No more whining, Birdie, I’m serious.”
Birdie sank back against the settee. “Where’s Gavin? I want to talk to Gavin. And where’s my dog? Lady!” she shouted, and lo and behold Robbie’s pup came running and jumped into Birdie’s lap, not even giving Robbie a look. “Now send me Gavin. And did Colin return with you? I want to see him as well.”
Robbie curtsied; fortunately Birdie couldn’t see the whimsy.
• • •
Robbie and Lydia sat in the breakfast room having tea. “Now do you see what I mean?”
Lydia stirred her tea, then took a sip. “She’s always gotten what she’s wanted, hasn’t she?”
“That and more, I believe,” Robbie answered.
“Even as a youngster? Wasn’t anyone stern with her?”
“No. Papa catered to her, and our housekeeper tried to handle Birdie once, but Papa intervened. I guess he didn’t do her any favors.”
The door swung open and Gavin entered. “Here you are.” He took a chair next to Robbie and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m happy you’re back.” He looked a bit frazzled himself. When introduced to Lydia he released a sigh of relief.
“How are things at the school?” Robbie asked, so pleased to see him she wanted to drag him off to bed.
His forehead creased into furrows. “I didn’t realize how difficult children were to control. I had no problem with my students at university; they were there because they wanted to be.” With a puzzled shake of his head, he added, “There are a few boys in the class who continue to disrupt things for the rest of the students.”
“How does the schoolmaster handle them?”
Gavin made an unpleasant face. “He takes a switch to them. I’ve never thought that did anything but make the child angrier and more apt to rebel, but they are his students, not mine.”
“How have you handled them?”
“I’ve sent them home.”
“That’s probably what they wanted you to do,” Lydia answered.
“I realize that,” he said, “but I don’t believe in corporal punishment for children.”
Robbie watched as Lydia studied her husband. “You are truly a kind and patient soul, aren’t you?”
Gavin let out a harsh laugh. “Between Birdie and my students, both kindness and patience have been sorely tested, believe me.”
“Oh, no. What did she have you doing for her, anyway?” Robbie asked.
“Playing referee, mostly. At one point Mrs. Murray was close to quitting,” he said.
“God, what kind of plague have I set upon this household?” Robbie asked. “So far no one has been able to control Birdie. You,” she said to Lydia, “are our last hope.”
“I’ll do my best, but mind, it might not be pretty.”