Page 150 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“Not yet. If she doesn’t wake up in about an hour, we’ll call then. She’s utterly exhausted, so I’m not surprised she ended up like this after her panic attack.” I carried Sylvie inside with Heath trailing behind me.
“Is there anyone who can keep an eye on her while I deal with things? Did Mum explain the situation?”
Heath opened the door to the Austen room for me. “Her Grace offered a very brief explanation, sir, but I got the gist of it. Ah, good, Louise, you’re here.”
I turned to see one of the young maids hovering in the doorway. Louise—if I remembered correctly, she worked part-time while studying nursing at university nearby.
Perfect choice.
I expected nothing less from Heath, though.
“Your Grace.” She bobbed her head to me. “Mr. Heath said you needed someone to sit with the lady.”
“Ah, yes. She’s had a stressful morning and is currently sleeping after passing out. I can’t sit with her as I need to deal with the situation. Would you help me remove her shoes and outerwear and then stay with her, please?”
“Of course.” She swept into the room gracefully and got to work as soon as I put Sylvie down on the bed. Louise worked quickly, and before I knew it, Sylvie was down to her jumper and leggings and was tucked up in the bed.
She looked so peaceful that I could barely believe she was hysterical not long ago.
“Um, Your Grace? Should we call a doctor for her?” Louise asked me hesitantly.
“Let me know if she doesn’t wake up in an hour,” I said, pulling off my own coat and throwing it on the chair by the window. “We’ll call someone then. For now, I think she just needs to rest. Unless you think otherwise?”
“Sir?”
I gently brushed Sylvie’s hair from her face, letting my fingers linger on her cheek for a second. “You’re studying nursing, aren’t you?”
Louise’s cheeks flushed. “Oh, I didn’t think you knew that. If she’s not injured at all, I’m happy to monitor her.”
I smiled at her. “Thank you. I’ll be in the main sitting room—please have someone get me the moment Sylvie wakes up.”
“Yes, sir.”
With that, I left Louise to it and headed downstairs to wait for everyone else to get here.
***
Hazel’s endless tears were silent.
They’d started the moment I told her what was happening fifteen minutes ago. A soundless stream of devastation that was written all over her face.
Somehow, her quiet pain was just as gut-wrenching as Sylvie’s panicked sobs had been.
Everyone was here. Joanna and Richard; Hazel and Sylvie’s parents. Steve and Cassandra; Julian’s parents. Nanaand Gramps. My mother. Zara and Beth. And Heath, who was continuously topping up cups of hot tea and coffee.
“Well,” Mum said, strolling back into the room. “It appears that the council made a mistake on the final contract sent to the building company.”
Joanna blinked at her. “Are you telling me all this has been caused by atypo?”
Mum grimaced. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. From what I know right now, it seems the correspondence with the contractors only ever gave the date in numerical form. It wasn’t written out as it was on Sylvie’s contract.”
Steve’s jaw clenched. “Either way, they’ve breached the contract.”
“But what do we do?” Julian asked. “We can’t get married there. We’ll have to cancel everything.”
“The fault lies with either the contractor or the council, so we’ll be able to recover all the funds and then some,” his dad replied. “But unless there’s a miracle, I don’t think you can get married, kids. I’m sorry.”
Hazel buried her face in Julian’s chest. Her whole body shook, but there was still no noise. Almost as if she really couldn’t make a sound.
