Never Land the First Fish

Chapter Twenty-Two: Part 2

As always, the earl's appearance came as a shock. In his mind's eye, Maddox still saw the golden hero of his childhood, as tall as a tree, strong and active. The height remained, but Father's body had wasted as his ability to tolerate food waned. Maddox had helped yesterday with Father's sponge bath, and had seen the emaciated body under the sheet.

Today, little of it showed. The useless arm was tucked out of sight, though the arm he could still somewhat use lay above the sheet.

It was pulled up across the chest to tuck under his chin and the other shoulder.

He was asleep, his mouth slightly slack, his age etched in his wrinkles, his once guinea-bright hair now a thinning mop of greyish white.

Mama held his free hand. She was old, too, Maddox suddenly realised. When she was active, it wasn't particularly apparent, her personality lighting her countenance so that age became irrelevant.

In repose, gazing sadly at the love of her life, all her years descended.

He must have made a sound, for she turned and in a fraction of a second she pasted on a welcoming smile. "Joseph. Darling."

"You are the only one who calls me Joseph," he said, crossing the room to kiss her cheek. When he was awarded his barony while still a schoolboy, most people called him by his title, Maddox, though his contemporaries immediately seized on the nickname 'Mad'. "How is Father today?"

Mama shook her head. "He is sinking, Joseph. I am glad you arrived home while he was still with us."

"I'm glad to be here, too." He pulled another chair up beside his mother's and took a seat. "I'd like to introduce Emily to Father. She is the woman I plan to marry, Mama."

Mama frowned. "Joseph, no! I cannot like it."

"You do not know her, Mama. Have you even met her?" As far as he was aware, Mama had barely put her nose out into the public rooms since they arrived, and Emily had certainly not been invited into Father's sick room.

Mama waved a hand in negation, with a slight shake of her head. "I'm sure Miss Kilbrierry is charming, but Joseph you cannot have thought. A stage performer? And you must be aware that she is older, and single, and not English, and theatrical people do not work by the same rules. I understand that, Joseph, and I am not criticising her. She has been welcomed under my roof for your sake, dearest. But marriage? I cannot like it."

Maddox stood, the urge to pace almost overwhelming. "No, Mama. She has not been welcomed. She has been tolerated by people who have already judged her and found her wanting."

"Joseph..."

"No, Mama. Let me finish. Emily Kilbrierry is a world-class concert performer, that is true. She has a God-given talent with the violin that she shares with the world. And yes, she had a half-Indian mother, though her father and maternal grandfather were both English."

"Her mother was a woman of low reputation, Joseph," Mama protested.

Maddox was not having such hypocrisy. "A woman forced into the same way of life as my brother's wife, who has been welcomed into this family, and who is one of the people currently giving my beloved the cold shoulder."

"Miss Kilbrierry is allowing you into her bed in your parent's house, and—by repute—you are not the first."

Maddox nodded. "She has given me that privilege. Need I remind you of your own history and that of various other ladies of the family? And that is not to mention behaviour that has been tolerated in my brothers and other males in the family. I love her, Mama. She resists my suit because of all the things you mention, but particularly because she does not want to cause a rift between me and my family."

Mama pressed her lips together to suppress a smile, but Maddox wasn't finished. "It won't work. I will never be happy without her, and I do not plan to give her up. If you and the family reject her, it will be you who creates the rift she fears."

"You are threatening me, Joseph?" The countess lifted one elegant eyebrow, a trick she had caught from her husband.

"No, Mama. I am telling you. If England makes my wife unhappy, we shall stay out of England."

They had been so absorbed in their argument that the sound from the bed caught them by surprise. Father's good eye was open, and he cleared his throat before emitting a sound that Maddox could not interpret.

Mama bent closer, taking his hand again. "Love, Stephen?"

Father blinked twice, the code he had developed to say yes.

"You love our Joseph?"

One blink, and another sound that Mama translated as "Love. Good. Love is good? Stephen, are you saying that you approve of Joseph's plan to marry Miss Kilbrierry."

She tried several different words for the sounds Father used in reply, until she hit on, "Joseph is an adult. Yes, Stephen. You are right." Tears stood out in her eyes as she held out her free hand to her son. "I am sorry, Joseph. I worry for you, and I forget that you have been on your own in the world for these ten years and more. I will get to know your Miss Kilbrierry. I cannot promise to like her, or to be happy with the match, but I will respect your choice, and I will ensure the rest of the family knows my will in this, and that of your father."

Maddox had no difficulty understanding the repeated sound that meant "Good." The undamaged side of his father's face smiled, and Mama bent to kiss his cheek.

"Chee er," Father said.

"Yes, Stephen, we will bring her here so you can see her," Mama promised.