“Where he belongs,” Adrian said. “I rode with his footmen, and we delivered him to Bethlem Hospital.”
Lily was aghast at the idea. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?” Her mind was spinning with horror. How could it even be possible?
But then, in a moment of clarity, she understood. If Matthew were locked away in an asylum, the property would fall into Adrian’s hands. He would have complete command of Arnsbury and its wealth.
“You are despicable. And what’s more, you—”
Before she could say another word, her brother stood and took her by the hand. “Thank you, gentlemen. We bid you a good night.”
She wanted to protest, but James sent her a sharp look to be silent. For that reason, Lily allowed him to lead her from the drawing room. Her brother was up to something, and she didn’tknow what it was. She had to trust that he knew how to help Matthew.
Sebastian happily trailed them, sniffing the carpet along the way. James continued to lead her outside, but Lily could not believe any of Adrian’s claims. When they were outside and alone, she asked her brother, “Do you think he actually took Matthew to Bethlem Hospital?” She had heard terrible rumors about what had been done to the criminally insane patients.
“No,” James answered. “For one, they would never accept a new patient at this hour, unless the police were involved. Adrian is trying to throw us off.”
“Then where—” Her words broke off when Sebastian began sniffing the ground. His nose locked upon the scent and he trotted toward the rear of the house, by the mews.
She started to hurry, afraid that the dog had only caught a wrong trail. But she held hope that he was close to finding Matthew.
Sebastian sniffed a path toward the stables and then whined at the doorway. Lily unlatched it, and the dog bolted forward…only for him to stop near the entrance and gobble up what appeared to be a fallen piece of meat.
She let out a sigh of dismay. “I can’t believe it. For a moment, I wanted to believe that he had tracked Matthew this far.” Frustrated, she reached for Sebastian and guided him back outside. There was only the soft nicker of horses in the stable, and certainly nothing else was visible in the darkness.
“Let’s go home, Lily,” her brother urged. “It’s late, and Matthew isn’t here. I’ll reach out to our friends, and we will see what can be done. And if he is in Bethlem Hospital, by some chance, I will get him out.”
With reluctance, she closed the door behind them and followed her brother back to the carriage.
They had left.
Matthew groaned in the darkness, struggling to call out to her. “Lily,” he rasped. But his voice was hardly above a whisper. She would never hear him.
He didn’t know how much blood he’d lost, but it felt as his heartbeat were slowing down. Weariness overtook him, and he tried to call out twice more. The earthen floor was damp and cold beneath his face. It struck him as ironic that he had escaped torture in India at Nisha’s hands, only to be killed by her in the end.
His skin had turned to ice, and he was trembling hard. Matthew thought he was hallucinating now, for the world kept flickering in and out of his consciousness. There was a whining sound, and he thought he heard voices again. Or perhaps he was dying from loss of blood.
A tongue rasped against his face, and he blinked, only to see Sebastian beside him. He couldn’t quite grasp how it had happened, but the dog continued to lick him.
“Matthew!” Lily’s voice called out. “Dear God, James, we have to get him out of here.”
It was her voice that jolted him back. In the darkness, he tried to glimpse her face, but he could only see shadows. He moved his lips, trying to speak Lily’s name, but no words would come out.
It was already too late, he knew. He was shaking badly, his voice locked in silence. He couldn’t tell her how glad he was to see her, even if it was for the last time. How beautiful she was or how much he adored her.
She was openly weeping for him, but it would do no good now.
It was the middle of the night when James carried an unconscious Matthew to the house of Dr. Fraser and his wife, Lady Falsham. Lily pounded on the door, her worries heightening with every moment. So much blood. She hadn’t known he’d been that badly wounded, but she had bound the wound tightly, trying to stop the bleeding. Her heart froze with the fear that he might not survive this ordeal.
She kept pounding and calling out for the footman. When one eventually opened the door, he suppressed a yawn. But once he realized what had happened, the servant sprang into action. “Oh dear. Lord Penford, Lady Lily, do bring him inside. I will awaken the doctor.”
The footman led them over to a smaller room off the parlor, which had been set up for patients. “Put Lord Arnsbury there, upon the bed.” He rang for other servants, and when they arrived, he gave orders for hot water, bandages, and supplies the doctor would need.
Within a few minutes, Dr. Fraser strode into the room, rubbing at his eyes. “Penford, Lady Lily,” he greeted them absently.
But the moment he spied Matthew’s bloody shirt, his demeanor transformed. “Now what’s happened to you, lad?” he murmured, pulling back the shirt to examine Matthew. Without looking up, he said to James, “I need more light. Hold the lamp so I can have a look at his wound. Lady Lily, fetch me that basin of water and bring some linen so I can clean it.”
Her hands were shaking so badly, she nearly spilled the water, but she hurried to obey. Inwardly, she voiced a thousand prayers, hoping that Matthew would live. The doctor’s faceremained grave as he cut away her makeshift bandage to examine the jagged wound.
“It hasn’t struck a vital organ,” Dr. Fraser said, “but the amount of blood he’s lost is disturbing. His heart is struggling to beat.”
