Page 81 of His Haunted Duchess
Sleep, the water told him. Sleep and rest. His eyes drooped, and for a moment, his hands stopped their vigorous push forward. One of Caroline’s hands brushed against his face. He snatched it, pushing upward, toward the speckled light on the surface.
His head broke water. Felicity was yelling something, wailing like the wind before a ship. Caroline popped up next to him, gasping and spluttering.
“It’s all right,” he coughed, spluttering. He dragged her to the shore, pulling them both onto the fresh green verge like a pair of dripping seals. Caroline clung to him.
“Frederic!” She caressed his cheek. “You’re here! Are you all right?”
He coughed heavily, shaking like a leaf in a storm, then smiled.
“Well enough. I came for my wife.”
She blushed and curled into him, trembling with cold and fear. How frigid her fingers felt as he rubbed them between his own! She needed to get warm—and quickly. Philip, halfway between them and the horses, stared at them with an open mouth.
“Blankets!” Frederic yelled. “She’s freezing!”
Philip turned on his heel and sprinted back towards the house. A frantic, bobbing white cap told him Winifred would soon join them. Caroline smiled at him from lips tinged with blue.
“Oh, Frederic—I thought?—”
He put her hand on his chest.
“Feel. I’m breathing, alive and well. Worry about yourself, darling. We have to get you warm.”
“Your Grace!” Felicity’s shriek shook both of them. “Don’t touch her.”
For her own safety, Frederic ignored her. Caroline’s eyes tinged with terror.
“The water—” She started coughing again. Each one shook her frame like a dog with a rag. Frederic pulled her even closer to him. Where were those blankets?
“Don’t touch her, Frederic.” Felicity’s bonnet had untied. Her hands were shaking. “She’s a cursed woman.”
Frederic set his jaw. The proper authorities would deal with her—he would see to it personally, but for now?—
“If you stay near her, the curse that killed her family will eventually kill you too. She’s a monster.”
Caroline’s eyes welled with tears. She dropped her gaze. Frederic counted slowly under his breath.
“Lady Flounters—” The rage in his voice made her pause. “Leave this property immediately.”
What in the world was she thinking? She could have killed Caroline, pushing her into the water like that. Of all of the entitled and selfish?—
“She’s a witch! She has bewitched you.” Felicity’s voice rose to a frantic keen. “I should have been the one by your side—your duchess. Father promised! He promised me!”
Frederic and Caroline stared at her.
“My marriage was to pay the debt when your father died. They made an agreement.”
Her eyes bulged, and her breath came in rapid spurts.
“Felicity,” he said, a little more gently. “Your father and I agreed on a repayment plan. He wanted capital for?—”
“I know what he wanted,” Felicity shrieked. “But it was my place! It was my place to be by your side, and this witch—” She pointed a crooked and trembling finger at Caroline as if she was casting a curse. “This witch stole my place from me!”
Frederic chafed Caroline’s shoulders. Her breathing was starting to regulate though she cast occasional anxious glances at Felicity. The front doors of the house opened, and two bulky figures came rushing out. The blankets would help?—
“A marriage made in scandal is no marriage,” Felicity said. “You could cast her off, burn her like the witch she is. There is still time?—”
“That is enough.” Frederic stood, still holding Caroline by his side. “How dare you?—”
