Page 65 of The Scandalous Deal of the Scarred Lady
The butler drew forward a white-faced woman who met James’s gaze without hesitation. “I am Bridget, Your Grace, and I love that girl as a daughter. I have a steady hand, steadier than most people. Tell me what to do.”
James remembered her, the chaperone from their interrupted tea. He looked in her eyes and nodded. “Barrington, I think it would be best were she to try it,” he said, his voice hoarse.
In moments they’d prepared for the operation. At Lucy’s direction, Helena’s head was tilted back, leaving her neck exposed. Barrington and James both held Helena steady, James praying harder than he’d ever prayed in his life as Bridget made a small incision in Helena’s neck. At Lucy’s direction, James doused the cut immediately with brandy. He swallowed hard and wished to close his eyes as the reed from the pen was inserted through the incision made, though he forced himself to watch all the same.
It took several breaths through the tube before he heard it, the soft sound of air escaping through the thin reed, that whistled as she breathed.
Helena lived. She would survive.
Only when he knew she was safe did James sit down hard on the floor next to the couch where the entire operation had been performed. Bridget stood and was immediately engulfed in the arms of her husband. The strength that had carried her through the operation left Bridget weeping now. Her sobs echoed in the quiet room.
Barrington stood over his daughter, poleaxed, as though terrified to touch her in case she might break.
“Your Grace.” It was Lucy who stood before Barrington. She wavered on her feet, the strain showing in her face. “Your Grace, you need to find Phoebe. She must be held responsible for this.”
Barrington was not a stupid man. He understood in an instant what she was saying. “Phoebe? You mean to say that jar…that this wasdeliberate?”
“Phoebe Barlowe has been deliberately poisoning your daughter since she was born. Furthermore, Phoebe intended for Helena to die tonight!” Lucy exclaimed.
The strain of saying all this was too much. Lucy started to fall. “Mother!” James caught her up and tenderly placed her in a chair. Behind them, Barrington shouted orders. Doors slammed. Footsteps and shouts rang through the house.
“I am well. See to her. Take care of your Helena,” Lucy said softly as she leaned back against the cushioned back of the chair. “Allow me to catch my breath.”
James nodded and returned to Helena’s side, just in time for him to be the first to see those beautiful eyes open wide.
Chapter 45
Why does my neck hurt so?
Helena opened her eyes, groggy and disoriented. The last thing she’d remembered was talking to her father. Slowly things came into focus: an incredible pair of blues eyes, a pale face above hers.
James.
She was lying down. Wherever she was, this seemed most improper, but when she tried to rise, there were gentle hands holding her in place. A woman’s voice. Two women. Arguing over her.
“She must rest.”
“She would rest far better in her own bed. I only need Antony to carry her.”
“I will carry her.”
It was the last voice that arrested her attention. Not one of the women. A deep voice, one she knew in an instant.
James.It truly was James, for she could never dream him so vividly. He had to be real.
But you did dream of him once, so long ago. The night of the storm, the night that his servant was brought to you, you dreamed about him.
“Your…Grace…?” His title was so hard to say at this moment, — to use his name would not have been appropriate. But the words formed on her lips, they could not be uttered. Her voice had been silenced. She raised one hand to touch her neck and felt the bandage there.
“Shh…my darling…you must not touch the reed…let it remain until the swelling goes down completely. A few days likely. Nay, do not scratch at your skin either, though I can see your face is most painfully red.”
Masculine hands caught at her own and she tried desperately to focus on him and make sense of his words.
“Miss Barlowe is no longer here!”
The announcement from the doorway stirred the entire room into action. A muttered oath from her father told him she was near. She tried desperately to call to him, and she did though she made not a sound. He flew to her side, pushing James out of the way, examining her with his eyes before placing a kiss on her forehead. “I am pleased to see you awake.”
“Father?” This came out like a soft gasp that made him smile.
