Page 105 of A Bargain with the Rake (Necessary Arrangements 3)

Chapter 28

There are a few moments in one’s life when time seems to stop, and the events proceed before one’s eyes in slow motion. The entire scene is veiled by smoke or tears—something is obscuring the vision in any case—and all sounds recede to the background.

For Evie, one of those moments happened when she had watched her childhood home burn rapidly before her eyes. All the pleasant memories, laughter, games of hide and seek with her family rushed through her mind.

The second time this happened was when she galloped onto the dueling field in the dead of the morning and watched her husband drop to the ground right after the shot rang out.

“No!” Evie shrieked and jumped from the horse without waiting for it to stop. She ran toward the prone body of her husband, sobbing as several episodes of her life flashed before her eyes.

First, the image of Evie’s come-out ball entered her mind. She walked down the stairs, hand in hand with Mary, and her gaze collided with Gabriel’s. She remembered the intense way he looked at her, his roguish smile. This was the moment she fell hopelessly in love. Next, she remembered him standing on the side of the road, his cravat covered with dirt, his eyes wide in surprise just after she threw a patch of mud at him. Their entire elopement slowly made its way into her mind again. Then, their trip to the gaming hell. And finally, his foolish declaration that he did not love her. Oh, his poor, ignorant heart.

She landed on her knees in front of him and patted his chest, looking for a bullet wound.

“I deloped! I didn’t shoot him! I didn’t, I swear!” The shouts came from the other side of the field. Evie turned and saw Bingham nervously clutching his pistol to his chest, muttering over and over again that he hadn’t shot at anyone.

The doctor kneeled next to Evie and checked Gabriel’s pulse. “He’s alive.”

Evie’s heart slammed rapidly against her ribs.He’s alive. “Was he truly not shot? I don’t see blood anywhere.”

The doctor shook his head. “Bingham shot in the air.”

A deep breath left her in an audible whoosh. A gentle hand settled on her shoulder, and she raised her head to see Clydesdale standing beside her. She didn’t even notice he was there. He stretched his arm and tugged Evie to her feet. Clydesdale blinked, obviously trying to ignore the state of Evie’s attire. She’d had to wear breeches in order to ride comfortably and hastily to the dueling spot.

“He wasn’t feeling well all morning, I think,” Clydesdale said carefully.

“Why did you let him duel?” Evie yelled, wiping the tears off her face.

Clydesdale raised his brow. “I didn’t think I had the power to stop him.” He frowned, looking over Evie’s shoulder.

Julie appeared at that moment and came close to her husband.

“I didn’t tell you where I was headed just so you could follow me, Julie,” he said. “It was in case of emergency.”

Julie let out an exasperated sigh. “This seems like an emergency to me,” she said sharply. “What happened? He wasn’t shot, was he?”

Evie looked at the doctor. “I think he was poisoned.”

He looked at her in surprise. “What makes you say that?”

“Poisoned?” Julie asked in surprise.

Evie addressed the doctor. “Our footman died this morning. Apparently, he ingested the food that was intended for us.”

“Evie! Why didn’t you tell me?” Julie exclaimed in horror.

“I didn’t have time. I needed to find Gabriel as soon as I could.” She turned back to the doctor. “But he didn’t eat much of it, maybe one bite. Do you think he— Will he be all right?”

“Well, if he didn’t ingest much, perhaps he will. But I need to perform the bloodletting as soon as I can. We need to let the poisonous blood out. As soon as we transport him to a nice bed, I can start the process.”

Evie nodded. “Good.” She sniffed and wiped the remainder of the tears off her face.

They loaded Gabriel into Clydesdale’s carriage and drove him to his London townhouse. Evie insisted Gabriel would be more comfortable in his own bed. She also wanted him to have his favorite cook prepare his meals when he woke up. Gabriel loved Matilda’s dishes; he’d said it enough times. Besides, she wasn’t about to trust Mrs. Farley with her dishes any more.

When they laid Gabriel comfortably on the bed, and the doctor started preparing for the bloodletting ritual, Evie went downstairs and apprised Matilda of what happened. The poor woman became white as chalk, but she quickly composed herself. She prepared dandelion tea, citing that she knew it to help clear out the poisons from the body. Evie was glad to have a helping hand and was ready to try anything if it meant Gabriel would feel better.

So she watched the doctor perform the bloodletting ritual, she fed Gabriel dandelion tea when he woke up for brief periods of time, and she prayed for him to get better.

A few hours later, Evie sat by Gabriel’s bed, changing the compress on his forehead. He was still weak, sweaty, and occasionally delirious. The doctor performed two rituals of bloodletting in one day and promised to come on the morrow as well. Evie wasn’t certain it was helping. In fact, Gabriel seemed to get worse with every hour.

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