Page 74 of His Haunted Duchess
“A note for you, madam.”
Caroline set down her cup and took the crisp parchment from Carlyle’s hand.
“Now who could this be from? It couldn’t be Lady Bessinger. She told me last week that she had sent a message, but?—”
Frederic took a sip from his cup and pursed his lips. It was acrid, like the rot of old fruit. He stiffened his lips, trying to keep the disgust out of his expression. This was the delicious herb? And Philip had drunk it? Willingly? He’d have to send that boy to a physician.
Caroline didn’t notice. Her eyes flicked over the paper.
“Oh! It’s from Lord and Lady Drewer. They’re hosting a luncheon next week and request?—”
The edges of Frederic’s vision blurred and ran like silt. He blinked. He must be more fatigued than he had previously supposed. Perhaps he could rest this afternoon. His thoughts slowed to a murky trickle.
“—but of course we’ll have to send our regards and?—”
Frederic dropped the cup back into the saucer. Some of the tea tipped out, splattering the tablecloth with lurid yellow specks.
“Darling?” Caroline’s concerned face loomed over him. “Darling, are you all right?”
Her voice echoed down to him, but he was already so, so far down the well. He tried to speak, to scream, anything—but the darkness that had claimed his vision swallowed them, forcing him into silence.
“Help! Oh, help!”
Caroline’s scream shredded the afternoon air.What had happened? Oh, was he ill? Or worse?Caroline bent over Frederic, rubbing his lifeless hand.
Carlyle skidded into the room, his waistcoat, for the first time in his life, flapping like a ship in full sail. His eyes widened with horror over Frederic’s collapsed form.
“Fetch a physician!” Caroline cried. “Quickly!”
He turned on his heel, nearly knocking into Cook. She took one look at Frederic and fell to the wall, clutching her heart.
“Oh, a curse!” she gasped. “A curse is upon us!”
Cold dread struck Caroline’s heart. She shuddered.
“Oh, I might have known,” the cook moaned. “When Jenkins told that story about the lantern and will-o-the-wisps, I felt just as if a collapse was coming upon me.”
Caroline put one hand to her head. The room felt tilted, off kilter from how it should be. She leaned forward and swayed dangerously. She might collapse herself. She leaned both hands on the table to steady her rolling vision.
Quick steps announced Esther. Her pallor blanched as pale as the moon.
“What in the in the world?—”
She stopped, face wrenching.
“No—not he. No?—”
She trembled on her knees for a moment then drew a long, shuddering breath and approached the table with halting steps.Caroline watched her in a trance. They had been so happy—so happy together. For the first time—perhaps in her life—she had felt. He had felt?—
Esther put one hand on Frederic’s stiff shoulder.
“Is he?—?”
Caroline put her hand to his face, trembling. Her fingers sought any sign of life. A pulse beat like an injured bird. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
“He’s alive.” The measured tone in her voice surprised her. She felt like tearing apart into a thousand pieces. “He is still alive.”
Cook moaned from the corner. Esther turned to her.
