Page 50 of Claimed By the Duke of Ice

“Where are Mr. and Mrs. Snievely,” he demanded from the boy who took his reins.

“At the house, Your Grace,” the boy answered immediately, his eyes wide as he focused on Grace. “Is she…”

Before the boy could finish his sentence, Nathaniel grabbed the reins from him and took off for the main house. Already, several servants were standing outside, including Mr. and Mrs. Snievely.

“Your Grace, what has happened?” Mrs. Snievely asked as he approached. Without a word, Mr. Snievely took the reins from Nathaniel and helped lower Grace from the steed’s back.

“A fall,” Nathaniel was able to get out as he slid out of the saddle with Grace in his arms. “A nasty one, too. Quick, you must call the—”

Nathaniel froze as he looked down at the woman in his arms. It was not Grace he was staring at anymore but his mother. The last image of her he had, lying lifeless in his arms. Tremors began to crawl up his arms, and this time, he couldn’t stop them. His stomach suddenly lurched forward, and he fell to his knees. He was able to lay her on the grass before he turned to his left and retched violently.

Still trembling, he once more looked back at Grace, hoping it was her. But it was still the face of his mother. Help me, Nathaniel, her lifeless lips called. Help me.

“Where is the physician?!” Nathaniel roared, scrambling back.

“He’s here,” Mrs. Snievely assured him, appearing by his side. “He was already here to help with a servant’s broken hand. Look, here he comes now.”

Nathaniel looked wildly up to the house to see the physician and Mr. Snievely running toward them.

“He has to save her,” he demanded, his breath coming in short bursts as his anxiety grew. “She…she…Mama wake up. Wake up!”

Nathaniel gripped Grace’s shoulders tightly and shook her.

“Your Grace, please!” Mrs. Snievely protested, pushing him away. “You mustn’t do that.”

Nathaniel was shocked as Mrs. Snievely pushed him so harshly, but he made no protest as he watched his elderly servant tenderly pick up his mother’s shoulders and cradle her head to her.

“Your Grace, look at me,” Mrs. Snievely insisted. “Look at me! This is not your mother. This is your wife, Grace, and she is still alive; do you hear me? She is still here with us.”

Something in Nathaniel’s mind broke then, a thin dam he wasn’t aware of that held his insanity in check. Numbly, he got up to his feet, his eyes still wide and staring as he looked down at the woman in Mrs. Snievely’s arms. The past was meshing with the present, and he couldn’t make it stop.

“Your Grace,” Mr. Snievely said warily, taking a slow step toward him. “Stay with us, my boy,” he urged. “Don’t let the past take you away again.”

Mr. Snievely’s warning fell on deaf ears as Nathaniel continued to walk backward stiffly as he shook his head, his body seemingly no longer his own. More servants began calling for him, urging him to come back, but he found his feet suddenly changing direction, facing him forward. And he ran.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“You said she would awaken,” Susan Rowley whispered aggressively above her daughter’s head. “Why hasn’t she?”

“Her wounds are healing, Lady Rowley,” the physician urged, “but she must wake on her own time. Only she knows how much rest she needs. You must be patient.”

From the deep, sleepy recesses of Grace’s mind, she began to hear the voices above her arguing. Pain laced through her head and neck as she began to wake, and suddenly, she remembered. Black Honey. Nathaniel’s teasing. Her fall. The sound of Nathaniel’s pained voice as he begged her to awaken.

Nathaniel, she thought, need coursing through her. She whimpered as she thought of him and tried to move. She wanted her husband.

“Ah, see?” the voice above said. “Here she comes around.”

“Grace?” her mother’s voice called, this time more clearly. She felt hands on her shoulders, on her cheeks. “Yes darling, that’s it. Wake up. Wake up for Mama.”

Another whimper left Grace’s dry throat, and as she slowly began to move her head, she was able to lift her eyes open. Above her, she saw her Mama, Papa, Letitia, and Matilda. And a man she didn’t know. But no Nathaniel.”

“Mama?” she croaked. Above her, Grace saw her family let out a collective sigh, and her mother began to weep.

“Yes, darling, I’m here, I’m here,” Susan soothed, leaning down to kiss Grace’s forehead. “We’re all here.”

“We knew you’d come back to us, sweetheart,” her father said proudly, leaning down to stroke her hair.

Slowly becoming more awake, Grace looked away from her family and took a steady look around the room. She was in her room at Garland Estate, which soothed her a little. For a moment, she had thought she’d been brought back to her parent’s home in London. But as she looked around her room, she saw no Nathaniel. Where was he? She just needed to see that he was there. Somewhere on the grounds, even if he wasn’t beside her. That he was at least nearby. But the man she wanted was nowhere to be seen.

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