Sophia’s hands trembled as she clasped them together.
“Then it must be my fault,” she blurted out, guilt crowding her delicate features.
“Your fault?” Jacob asked, surprised. “What on Earth are you talking about?”
Sophia began to shake her head as she finally understood what had truly happened.
“This is all my fault. You see, I had foolishly deluded myself into thinking that my curse holds no ground. But a few days after wedecreased the distance between us, this happened. It cannot be a coincidence.”
Jacob was looking at her as though she was speaking nonsense.
“Your Grace, that is a wild assumption. It could have been a number of factors. Perhaps Duncan was just exhausted from the events of the day. Many before him have fainted, and they have not been subjected to a curse,” he tried to reason with her.
“Yes, but you just admitted that something of this sort is extraordinary for the Duke. Even I know it to be true; he takes perfect care of his health and should not be fainting like this.”
“Perhaps then it was something that he ate. We know that he was in a meeting this evening. Who knows what was served to him there.” Jacob countered.
“No, he told me previously that he did not eat anything that entire day because they were serving beef dishes, and he does not enjoy those.”
Jacob raised an eyebrow at her.
“Then perhaps it was something that he had for breakfast.”
“Jacob, you know very well that His Grace has the same breakfast each morning without fail, and nothing has happened to him because of it. You are detracting from the real reason.”
“Yes, because the reason which you think it happened is highly absurd.” Jacob shook his head. “I advise you to get some rest. The physician shall be arriving soon, and he will inform us of what truly happened.”
“How can I possibly go rest when he is in there lying unconscious?” Sophia’s voice was a testament to the pain she was feeling.“When is the physician going to arrive?”
“He should be coming any moment now,” Jacob assured her.
Seconds stretched into minutes, and Sophia felt as though she was in purgatory as she waited for the physician to arrive. Finally, there was a noise coming from the front door.
Sophia and Jacob had been waiting in the hallway all this time, worried expressions on their faces. They scrambled to their feet as soon as they heard the sound of someone approaching them.
“Physician,” Jacob greeted him, “I am glad that you have finally arrived. We require your assistance urgently.”
“Yes, of course. I came as soon as I was summoned,” he noted. “What is the problem?”
“It is my brother. He has mysteriously fainted, and we cannot get him to wake up again.”
“I see, let me take a moment to examine him,” the physician suggested and disappeared inside the Dukes’ chambers.
Sophia held her breath, scratching the inside of her palm in her nervous state.
“The best we can do at this point is remain optimistic,” Jacob told her, but his words flew above her head.
“Optimistic?” she repeated, horrified. “I would find that much easier to do, were it not myhusbandin there.”
“Your husband,” Jacob noted, “and my brother. I assure you, I am just as worried as you are.”
“Oh, I was not suggesti —”
Sophia’s defense was cut off halfway when the physician returned to them.
“What is it?” Sophia dropped everything that they were discussing prior at once. “Please, let us know, physician.”
While Sophia wanted answers and reassurance, she could only find more confusion on the physician’s face.
