As Adrian returned to his seat, he watched his mother hum happily as the servants brought her breakfast. His concern grew as he watched her rake copious amounts of food onto her plate, tuck her napkin into the collar of her dress, and begin to eat with gusto.
“That is… that is quite a plateful you have there, Mother,” Adrian noted, trying to sound calm. “I am happy to see that your appetite has returned.”
“Oh, well,” Nora said around a mouthful of food. That shocked Adrian as well. Their mother had raised them to appreciate manners, and talking with a full mouth was something she had once absolutely abhorred. “You know. Enough for me. Enough for Evander.”
Adrian and Elara shared another worried glance.
“Evander, Mama?” Elara asked gently.
Nora simply nodded as she stabbed more eggs onto her fork. Adrian bit his tongue, not sure what to say. He was a tall man, standing at nearly six feet four inches. However, Evander was slightly over six feet five. Their mother stood at a mere five feet and one inch tall, and, at sixty, had a thin frame.
If she was trying to eat not just for herself but for Evander as well, Adrian could not fathom what such an amount of food would do to her health.
“How long has she been eating like this?” Adrian whispered to Elara.
“In truth, I do not know,” Elara whispered back. “I am not sure if it started before she began venturing out of her rooms again or only after. I only noticed her new habits yesterday.”
“This is not healthy for her, Elara,” Adrian said under his breath. “You need to stop meddling with Evander’s case or sneaking out. I will soon make progress with it. For now, you really must keep an eye on our mother.”
Elara nodded, glancing back at Nora.
“I believe you are right. Apologies, brother. I should have noticed sooner.”
“No need to apologize,” he assured her. “We just need to be sure this does not get out of hand.”
“What are you two twittering about over there?” Nora asked, speaking once more with her mouth full.
“I was just telling Adrian about the beautiful birds I spotted in the garden this morning from my window,” Elara said at her usual volume.
She stood up and smiled as she walked to their mother’s side.
“Would you care to take a walk with me? Perhaps we could get a better view up close,” Elara said as she offered Nora her hand.
A confused look came over Nora’s face as she looked from Elara to Adrian.
“I do not know,” she said after swallowing her latest enormous bite. “What of Evander’s food?”
Adrian forced a smile, even though his nerves were fraught with worry.
“I will have the servants save it for him,” he replied. “He can have it later.”
A small smile of relief spread across Nora’s face, and she reached for Elara’s offered hand.
“Such a good brother you are,” Nora gushed, then looked from him to Elara with another overly wide, broad smile. “Oh, how I love my children so very much.”
“We love you too, Mama,” Elara replied.
Nora patted Adrian’s cheek as she and Elara walked by, and Adrian kept his smile in place. The moment they were gone from the room, though, Adrian’s smile dissolved, and he rubbed his hands over his face. He made a mental note to keep a closer watch over his mother as he stood, but for now, he would trust Elara with her and focus on finding the Earl of Winslow.
And he knew where he had to go next.
Chapter 6
“My lady, please,” Mona gently urged from the corner of Warren’s bedchamber. “I do not mean to be so bold, but I do not believe this is proper.”
Bridget let the fine wooden cigar box topple out of her raised hand and felt a little satisfying thrill as she heard it hit the floor with athunk.Like all the other boxes and trinkets she had opened up that morning, it had not held her mother’s brooch.
Less than a day ago, Bridget would have agreed with the maid staring anxiously from the corner. Now, though, after everything she had learned the night before, her definition of proper seemed irrevocably changed.
