A helicopter which was approaching from the sky in front of them.
They both went to the French window to watch.
The sun glinted on the rotor blades as the huge metal bird descended from the blue sky and landed on the grass in front of them. Adam, arms folded across his body, ran across the green towards the helicopter just as the door slid open and two men jumped down pulling a stretcher with them.
Only then did she notice the medical cross painted on the side of the helicopter. And the words Air Ambulance.
She and Gabriel exchanged looks, surprise, relief, and a million questions. He grappled with the glass door and they ran out of the conservatory onto the green. Adam and the stretcher had already gone round to the front and into the house. Pierre and Gabriel followed.
Everyone was out in the hallway. But it was hard to speak with the sound of the helicopter outside. It took Pierre a few seconds to notice Nicole at the top of the stairs looking down at them.
“What’s all this racket?” she shouted, fingers in her ears. “I was on the phone.”
Just then, Adam and George ran past her down the stairs and behind them to the special lift. A minute later, the lift doors whooshed open, and the paramedics wheeled the stretcher out. Lord M lay on it with a blanket tucked around him. Millie kept pace by his side, holding his hand in hers.
As they came level with Pierre, he waved for them to stop. Pierre had to lean very close to hear him above the noise.
“Don’t forget. The article. Make it ready for the wedding. Don’t let me down.” He reached over with his good arm and held her wrist like a falling man clinging to a saviour.
She hugged him. “I promise. I’ll make it the best thing. Come back soon and I’ll put it in your hands.”
The paramedics pushed on. All around the hall, shocked faces watched. Only Adam and George seemed to know what was going on. And Millie, of course. Millie, who had been told by Laura and sped home like a bullet to talk to Lord M and convince him, like no one else could, to go to hospital.
They all went outside to watch him lifted into the air ambulance. Then Adam climbed up.
“I’ll have a suitcase packed for you and send it on,” Mrs B shouted after them, but Adam couldn’t hear.
“Don’t worry; we’ll take it with us,” Millie shouted to Mrs B. “George and I are following by ferry. And can you please pack some things for Lord M? We’re leaving in half-an-hour.”
Pierre stood on the green and watched the air ambulance lift up and skim across the sky. On board was the man she hoped would survive. She kept watching until the helicopter became a small bird, then an insect, then a dot before it disappeared completely.
It could not be clearer. His last request was for the article. So, she would do that, and maybe – she bargained with fate – if she did a great job, he would be saved and he would come back and see it. She turned and went back to the house.
Inside, there was a maelstrom of activity. George hurried from his office, firing instructions into his phone. Gabriel volunteered to help Liam with something, and they disappeared upstairs. Nurse Ann brought a package with Lord M’s medicines and a splint for his weak arm. Everyone seemed to be rushing around. Everyone except Nicole. She stood like a lighthouse among the waves, cold fury on her face.
“Who called that chopper?”
Pierre felt too drained and upset to take on Nicole just then. “I don’t know. All I know is Millie came back from her dress fitting and went up to see Lord M and then we heard the ambulance.”
As soon as the words were out, she realised her mistake.
Nicole’s face went a mottled red with rage. “Then it was Laura! I should have known.” She marched back up the stairs so forcefully as if each marble step were an enemy that needed to be squashed under her feet.
Pierre’s heart sank. In her attempt to not argue with Nicole, she had dropped Laura right in it.
Twenty
Nicole surprised them all at dinner by actually walking into the kitchen. For a crazy instant, Pierre wondered if the woman had come to actually eat with them. Gabriel, sitting opposite Pierre, had an empty chair next to him. Cook was halfway through slicing goose meat. The sumptuous dinner she had prepared for welcoming Millie and George was now a sad meal for a skeleton staff who were too worried about Lord M to appreciate it. Reluctantly, Cook put down the carving knife and reached for a clean plate for Nicole.
No need.
Nicole ignored all of them as she advanced on Laura, heels clicking on the stone floor. “Was that your doing?”
Laura, caught by surprise, asked, “What are you talking about?”
Nicole glared daggers at her. “He said he was fine and didn’t want to go to hospital. But you couldn’t leave it alone, could you? Now you’ve ruined everything two weeks before the wedding.”
Gabriel pushed back his chair from the dinner table and went to calm her down, but she wasn’t finished. “You really are the most annoying interfering stupid girl.”
