Page 16 of The Phantom Duke
Can I do it? Do I have the nerve to stand before that man and make demands? But then what he has asked of me is just as outrageous, and he barely blinked an eye to ask it.
“I just don’t know,” she said, honestly.
“You must,” Theodora insisted, typically dogmatic and fiery.
“You can, for yourself and Gilbert,” Evelina assured her, taking her hand and pressing it between both of hers. To guide and provide maternal support was her character.
“It is the only avenue that makes sense. Both for you and the duke,” Theodora said, rising from her seat and ticking off the points she had written down with taps of her pencil. “You will regret it if you do not take this opportunity.”
Maria nodded, feeling her knees tremble with the immensity of the decision she had just taken. Her friends’ words made sense, but she found herself desperately wishing that she had more time to decide. Everything was happening too quickly.
“Now, all that remains to be done is for you to deliver your terms to the Duke of Winterleigh,” Evelina said. “Of course, I will accompany you.”
“I do not think that will be received well,” Maria said. “I get the impression that the duke is a very private man. I do not want to anger him or let him think he is being manipulated by four wicked witches.”
“Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble,” Anna laughed. “Oh, I do like being a witch!”
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. In your case, you are the one going to something wicked.” Theodora paused, frowning. “Oh dear, I do not like the sound of that at all.”
“Enough, ladies,” Evelina said, raising her hands. “The last time we were all so gathered it was to toast our friend Maria as the bravest woman in London. I think she has proved how fitting that name is a second time. Please, furnish yourself with a cup of tea and toast, Maria Shelidan, soon to be Duchess of Winterleigh!”
Maria found herself blushing as she was toasted. Blushing because the description Duchess of Winterleigh brought with it thoughts that she should not be harboring.
I will not be taken advantage of. Nor will I be a weak and vulnerable woman. I have been exploited by a man before. Treated like a fool. It will not happen again.
CHAPTER 6
“Lady Maria! Welcome back, my Lady!” Rosie greeted Maria at the door of the orphanage.
She opened the door wide, stepping aside without hesitation.
“The doctor is asleep after going without for two days caring for the little ones,” Rosie said, “so he will not be able to object to you being here.”
“I would like to see him try, doctor or not,” Maria said.
Rosie gasped when Maria limped through the door, the light of the lantern she held illuminating Maria’s injury.
“It is nothing, Rosie. A fall from the trap. Is Gilbert awake?” she said, walking along the corridor as quickly as her ankle would allow.
“All asleep last time I checked,” Rosie said, “about an hour ago. Quinine has done the job for now. His little forehead feels cooler, and the olive wood smoke has helped his chest. I’m just hoping he has the strength to fight off the rest.”
Maria stopped just inside the dormitory as her cane made a loud clack against the tiled floor. She leaned it against the door and hobbled along, leaning on the end of each bed as she made her way to where Gilbert lay.
She lowered herself to the end of his bed, taking the weight off her foot gratefully. He was stirring, curled up beneath his bedclothes in a ball. Carefully, she brushed his hair from his face, feeling the difference in his temperature just as Rosie had said.
Still far too warm, though, and no sweat, which is not good. If he was sweating, it would mean the fever had broken.
She listened to his wheezing breath, feeling each haggard inhalation as a physical pain. She desperately wanted to take all of his pain upon herself. Her shoulders were strong enough to bear it for him. That she could not broke her heart. Maria waited for a long time, stroking his hair and watching him sleep. She wanted him to wake so that he would know she had been there, but knew this to be a selfish wish.
“He needs his sleep, poor lamb,” Rosie whispered.
“Not out of the woods yet,” Maria replied just as softly.
“Not by a long chalk, my lady.”
And even if he did recover, would he have a place to live unless Maria intervened? To defeat fever now would only be delaying the inevitable if he then ended up on the streets, particularly when the English winter set in. She would not allow it. She kissed her fingertips and bestowed the kiss on his forehead before walking back, with Rosie’s help.
“He means an awful lot to you, my lady,” Rosie said.
