“Of course not, mother. When the Duke collapsed, she was nowhere in the vicinity. She is just being harsh with herself because she believes that it is her curse that caused this to happen.”
The Dowager’s mouth fell open.
“I had not even considered it until this moment. Do you really believe that this can be the case?” she asked Jacob, worried.
“We have already established that there is no such thing as the curse.”
“But she seems to believe it is the reason. Should we not take her word? Perhaps she is privy to something we do not know,” the Dowager suggested, skeptically.
“I do not expect that you should endorse this sort of nonsense. The only reason that Sophia believes that it is her curse that caused the Duke to be in this state is because that is what she has been told by society all these years. It is natural for her to blame herself. We should know better not to.”
“I suppose you are right,” the Dowager considered, her tone slightly apologetic. “I got ahead of myself because I am just blindsided by all of this and was considering all of the possibilities. Sophia should not be blamed.”
“I am glad that you are seeing reason.” Jacob let out a sigh of relief. “I did not wish to argue with you to convince you otherwise.”
“My dear, your mother has been on this earth longer than you have. After meeting Sophia and getting to know her on a more personal level, I already deduced that the curse was nothing but hogwash. I only assumed for a moment because she believes so.”
“It is unfortunate that she blames herself for this entire thing. Last night, I could not talk her out of leaving. She had her mind set,” Jacob frowned.
“Well, our first priority must now be to ensure that the Duke is all right. Only after that can we take steps to get Sophia back.”
“In my day, it was highly frowned upon for a woman to leave her husband’s side in times of crisis, no matter what the reason,” the Duchess continued, “but I have a soft spot for Sophia. She hasbeen through enough in her life, and I do not wish to make her feel bad for doing what she thought was right in the moment.”
The door to the Duke’s room swung open, and the physician emerged from inside of it, having completed his examination of the Duke which had been going on for the better part of the last hour. He had a guarded expression on his face.
“Physician, please let us know what has plagued my son so suddenly,” the Duchess asked immediately.
“Is it exhaustion as we first assumed? Surely, he should have woken up by now if that were the case,” Jacob added on.
“After completing my examination, I have come to the conclusion that the reason is far more serious than just a case of exhaustion and fatigue,” the physician replied. “But first, you must answer some questions for me.”
“Anything.”
“Tell me, has the Duke been involved in some sort of a disagreement as of late? A rivalry perhaps. Anything that could give someone the incentive to cause harm to him?”
Jacob and his mother exchanged glances, both equally confused as the other.
“Not that we know of,” Jacob replied.
“I am sure that there are none. My son conducts himself in a way in which even his enemies wish him well. Neither does he ever get into petty squabbles with anyone from the lot,” the Dowager replied confidently.
“And if there was anything, I am certain that he would have at least told me. He shares everything with me,” Jacob assured.
“I see. Then this makes it even more perplexing. His symptoms indicate a poisoning of sorts.”
“A poisoning?” The Dowager’s eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets, and Jacob had to wrap an arm around her shoulders to calm her down.
“Indeed. I cannot yet determine the nature of the poison, but it is evident that someone deliberately tried to cause him bodily harm. The symptoms align with a slow-acting toxin that has been introduced over an extended period. I suspect that it must have been consumed sometime early in the day.”
“Oh, but who would do such a thing?” the Dowager asked. “What measures can we take to ensure that the poisoning does not prove to be fatal?”
“For the first, I have no answer. But as far as recovery goes, he should be all right. I suspect that the poison was meant to be taken in multiple doses. The fact that he only fainted indicates that his dose was not high enough just yet,” the doctor replied.
“Could it be something that he ate outside?”
“I do not believe so,” Jacob jumped in. “Sophia told me that the Duke skipped lunch at his meeting yesterday, so it must be something that he consumed inside the estate.”
“Inside the estate?” The Dowager clutched her chest. “Then this is nothing but an elaborate ploy to harm him. I cannot believe that this has happened. Summon the servants and let the physician have a thorough inspection of all the food items in the kitchen.”
