Page 40 of The Duke's Improper Bride
Ireland.As green as Scotland, but nowhere near as beautiful.
Especially the hellscape in front of her. The land, the sea, the air, this was nothing but a sinister picture of grays and shadows, even as violent waves crashed against a rocky shore. Seagulls swooped from the sky, bickering over scraps of food.
The asylum was a dull stone dwelling, imposing, even as it perched dangerously close to the vicious sea below. A few trees dotted the gentle slope on one side, leading to a well-worn path. Trees closer to death than life.
What a wicked, nasty place.
Nora shook as she knocked against the thick door, the palms of her hands clammy. She clutched onto a copy of the newsprint and focused on the rotting ledge of the adjacent window as the door cracked open.
“I’m here for the cleaning position.”
An older woman answered, her voice gruff. “I’ve no need. It was filled yesterday.”
The door began to close, but Nora stuck her foot in the way, wincing when it was pinched. “I’ll clean for no p-pay for six months. Please, I’ve nowhere to go.”
“We’re not a poor house,” the woman squawked back. “Though might as well be the same.” She took Nora in from head to toe.
Nora fought the urge to straighten and hold her chin high. Instead, she ducked her head lower, never meeting the woman directly in the eyes.
“It’s a nasty job,” the woman said, opening the door a little wider.
Just beyond, Nora couldn’t see much. Inside, the building was dark, as if there were shades on the windows. But she didn’t need to see in—the stench was enough to turn her stomach.
“I’m a h-hard worker,” Nora said at last, her voice low. Her body tensed as her words stumbled.
“I’ve no room for you. You’ll sleep in the kitchen, one meal a day.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Mrs. Healy.”
Nora nodded. She was certain she’d be in hell once she stepped over the threshold. Stuart would have loved throwing her away into a place such as this. If she had gone through with the marriage, that is. Stuart would have done his duty first. He would have seen there was an heir. But Nora had been foolish to think he had ever believed she deserved to take up space.
“Well, come in, come in.” The woman ushered her inside the small foyer. The curtains were drawn across the large windows above a grand staircase. “Follow me. You’ll start at once.”
* * *
No man,woman, or child should have to endure what Nora witnessed as she cleaned. She had never seen death, but there were several bodies halfway on their journey to meet their maker. And the crying. The crying was horrible. Almost as much as the screaming—the yells filled with anger or pain, and sometimes both.
She had been spat upon, pushed, yelled at, and made to cower, but Nora cleaned with only one mission—to find Daniel.
It was well into the evening with only candlelight remaining as she finished scrubbing the last hallway and still, Daniel was nowhere in sight. There were two addresses, two asylums. Perhaps he was in Scotland after all.
Her stomach dropped. What if she was too late? What if, like the others she had seen, Daniel had become a shell of a man? Her dearest friend locked away by his family. The very people who should have loved him.
She stood, tossing the rag into the bucket, and wiped her hands on the dirty, torn apron she had been given.
“Daniel?” she whispered. Her voice was lost in the howling sound of despair and madness. It was just as well. What did she believe was going to happen here? It was a mistake to walk into an asylum believing she could free her friend, when there was a chance she was risking her own life in the process.
For a moment, Nora thought she heard a small noise. The hair on her arms stood at attention and her body stiffened.
“Danny?”
A faint, questioning ‘hello’ came from the end of the darkened hallway. Her heart raced as she rushed forward, her feet heavy and clumsy.
“Danny?” she asked again. Nora tried to walk past the patients without showing signs of rushing, but she couldn’t help but feel as if she were being catapulted toward the darkness for a reason.
She followed the answer, stopping in front of a caged room with several bodies inside. Some were asleep, others motionless, but one was pacing the room’s length back and forth. The body was nothing short of a shadow figure cutting its way through the darkness.
