Elias eased her down among the pillows, then stepped back so Celia and Berta could tend to her. He bowed his head and prayed that the noble lady had not yet left them. He knew it was selfish to wish her more days of weariness and pain, but he had grown quite fond of her and loathed the idea of never seeing her again.
A light knock at the door made him hurry across the room in the hopes that Friedrich had already returned with the doctor. His hopes were answered.
“Dr. MacMaddenly to see Her Grace,” said the spindly man with a heavy Scottish burr. Dressed all in black, for some uncomfortable reason, he gave Elias the impression of an undertaker rather than a physician. The gentleman squinted at him over the thick lenses of his wire-rimmed spectacles. “I understand there is some urgency.” His tone left no doubt he was telling Elias to step aside.
Elias swung the door open wide and waved the man inside. “That you for coming so quickly, doctor. It is quite urgent.”
Dr. MacMaddenly snorted and hurried to the bedside, unceremoniously shooing the women out of the way. After setting his large black bag on the bedside table, he leaned over the duchess. “Kindly open your eyes, Your Grace,” he gently coaxed her. When she failed to respond, he straightened and pointed at the door. “Her Grace needs privacy during my examination. Out with the lot of ye. I shall send for ye when I am ready, ye ken?”
“I would rather stay with my mother,” Celia said.
The doctor eyed her with a stern puckering of his mouth. “I need to have a look at your mother, m’lady. So I can help her. It will not be long, and ’tis better that ye wait outside.” He pointed at the door again. “Now, go. For her sake. Aye?”
Elias gently but firmly pulled Celia away. “Come, dear one. We need to get you some tea. Let Dr. MacMaddenly do what he can. Let us go downstairs to the parlor.”
“I don’t want her to die without me here.” Celia kept her gaze locked on her mother but allowed Elias to ease her into his arms.
The physician looked up from where he held the duchess’s wrist between his finger and thumb. “Pulse is rapid and weak but steadier than I expected. If that changes, I shall get ye up here immediately. Now go and allow me to do what needs doing.”
“Celia, come.” Elias curled his arm around her and nudged her out through the sitting room, into the hall, and to the top of the stair.
She stiffened in his arms, stuck in place, then twisted around to stare at her mother’s door. “I am not going any farther. What if she needs me?” Terror filled her eyes. The tremor in her voice begged him to understand.
He took her hand and kissed it. “Then we shall sit right here on the step.” To show he meant it, he plopped down, looked up at her, then held out his hand. “Join me, my lady?”
Despair and hopelessness slumping her shoulders, Celia dropped beside him and covered her face with her hands.
Wrapping an arm around her, Elias leaned her against him and held her while she wept. Knowing she had tossed her reticule somewhere between here and the front door, he offered her the use of his handkerchief. “I have heard of Dr. MacMaddenly,” he said quietly, hoping to offer her some sort of comfort. “Schooled in Edinburgh and highly sought after by those members of thetonneeding care.”
“There is no hope.” The handkerchief she clutched to her mouth muffled her voice. “I brought in doctors from all over. None have helped her.”
“There is always hope.” Elias tipped her face up to his. “We will not give up until she tells us farewell.”
Her face crumpled, and she unleashed a pitiful wail while thumping his chest with her fist. “I do not want her to leave. She is all I have.”
He hugged her close again, rocking and shushing her, realizing his fierce lioness was inconsolable. It would do no good to remind her of her brother. Or of himself. She would not be alone in this world, but now was not the time for logic. Now was the time to be there for her.
After what seemed like hours, the door behind them creaked open. Elias turned, and Celia lifted her head.
“I would speak to you both.” The doctor motioned for them to join him.
Celia jumped up and rushed into the sitting room. Elias followed close behind.
Standing in the center of the room, Dr. MacMaddenly shrugged on his greatcoat as he spoke. “How long has Her Grace suffered with this condition?”
“For the past year,” Celia said. Bitterness sharpened her tone. “And no physician in the civilized world has helped her. All of them clucked their tongues and told me to order her grave prepared.”
The doctor appeared unimpressed as he donned his hat and peered down his nose at her. “Obviously, none of those physicians were Scots trained in Edinburgh.” He picked up his bag, then shot a glance back at the bedroom door. “Her Grace suffers from a weakness of her heart. I administered a dose of digitalis tincture and watched her closely. She appears to be tolerating it well enough, but dinna hesitate to fetch me if the need arises. I shall return tomorrow to check for improvement. I will need to see her daily to settle on the exact amount required each day in order for her to enjoy life a bit more than she enjoys it at present. ’Tis a grand drug for cases such as hers, but also exceedingly dangerous.” He dismissed them both with a curt nod. “Good evenin’ to ye. I shall call again tomorrow.” Without waiting for their response or questions, he left.
Celia stared after him for a moment, then whirled about and rushed into the bedroom.
Elias debated for a moment whether to join her, then decided to wait. Celia needed private time with her mother. Filled with an edginess that forbade standing still, he idly paced around the small room. It occurred to him he hadn’t sent Monty’s coach back to the Whitfields’, but surely the driver had taken it upon himself to do so.
A quiet click made him stop and turn toward the bedroom door. A surge of relief crashed through him as Celia gave him a tremulous smile.
“She is resting peacefully,” she said, “and enjoying deeper breaths than she has in quite a while.”
He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his. “That is the best of news.”
