“We are,” she agreed.
His countenance turned mulish. “I want you to get some rest,bijou.”
She brushed a stray forelock of hair from his forehead. “Later, my love.”
Two more interminable hours passed.
Jo saw a breakfast tray sent up. Decker’s mother’s house was not nearly as large as his townhome in London, but it bore the mark of gentry, despite her status as an earl’s former mistress. She had half a dozen servants and a cook.
Decker scarcely touched the food.
Dr. Thompson would be calling again soon, as promised, to check upon the progress of his patient. Jo very much feared the prognosis would be hopeless. Lila returned to the vigil, settling herself in a chair on the opposite side of the bed.
“Did you sleep at all, my dear?” Jo asked her, taking note of the exhaustion on the girl’s face.
“I tried,” she said, her tearful gaze going to the form of her mother, still and silent as a grave.
Jo fought against another wave of her own sobs, perpetually threatening to break free. “Have you breakfasted?”
“I am not hungry,” the girl said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Jo understood.
“You ought to eat something, Lila,” Decker added. “Mama would not want you to starve yourself.”
“And what do you know of what Mama would want?” Lila demanded, her voice shrill with pent-up emotion. “You have been absent from our lives for seven years, Eli.”
It was the first time Jo had ever heard someone refer to her husband by his given name, aside from during the recitation of their wedding vows. But that was not what shocked Jo the most. Rather, what took her by surprise was the suppressed anger in the girl’s voice.
Decker inclined his head. “I have been absent. I acknowledge that. It was wrong, and I acknowledge that as well. I regret the rift between our mother and myself more than you can know, Lila. However, you must know that Mama sent me regular letters apprising me of your life at my request. Pictures as well.”
That appeared to give his sister pause. “She said nothing of that to me. Not in all these years. Whenever I asked her about you, she said you wanted nothing to do with us.”
“I suppose it must have seemed that way,” Decker acknowledged, “and perhaps it was easier for her to view what happened in those terms. Rest assured, however, I may have been gone, but I never stopped loving either of you.”
Lila gave him a hard stare that told Jo there would be many rocky moments ahead in Decker’s relationship with his younger sister. In the midst of the night, Lila had been too engulfed in tears to offer many words. It seemed time and some slumber—however abbreviated—had loosened her tongue.
“Lila,” Jo said then, seeking to ease the tension, “I will ring for a tray to be brought up for you. When you are peckish, you may help yourself to whatever you would like.”
“If you insist upon ringing for a tray, I shan’t stop you,” Lila grumbled.
Jo did just that and settled in to wait once more.
Silence reigned. The tray arrived, and Lila reluctantly stole some bits here and there, eating no more than a sparrow would, it seemed to Jo. However, it was something. Meanwhile, Decker and Lila’s mother remained unresponsive.
At long last, Dr. Thompson arrived.
Decker stiffened at Jo’s side, his countenance sharpened to blunt, hard edges as the doctor performed a cursory examination. The doctor’s expression was sympathetic but firm as he turned to address Decker.
“I do not expect a recovery, Mr. Decker.”
The grim pronouncement tore a gasp from Lila. Jo absorbed the news, which, whilst expected, was a heavy blow to Decker. He had wanted very much to speak with his mother. To have a final chance at erasing some of the old pains between them. To make amends for their rift.
Now, he would not have that opportunity.
She bit her lip as she turned her gaze toward her husband, whose dark head was bowed over the hands clasped in his lap. “It is as I feared, then. How may we…make her more comfortable, Dr. Thompson?”
“I will administer more laudanum,” the physician said. “In hours such as these, it is often a matter of easing the patient’s distress. Nearness of one’s family is immeasurable. You are doing everything you can, sir.”
