Drake followed him out into the hall. ‘On the east lawn . . . with Miss Evelyn.’
They ran outside, quickly followed by the butler who had appeared from nowhere. Two garden workers reached Evelyn at the same time as Drake and her parents. More indoor staff arrived and a commotion ensued. Sir Robert finally brought some order.
‘Allow my son some air!’ he barked.
Lady Pendragon arrived, parting the crowd with her mere presence. For the first time, she could see her son’s oddly coloured lips.
‘Somebody fetch Doctor Birch,’ she cried, reaching for Nicholas.
Her husband barred her with an outstretched arm. ‘We need to bring him inside.’ He addressed his staff. ‘Inside! Now!’
Nicholas was lifted into the air and carried towards the house on a moving bed of people and flanked by his parents. Evelyn, who had been largely ignored, was finally helped to her feet by Timmins. He picked up her hat from the bed of snow and returned it to her. She looked at it with glazed eyes.
‘Thank you, Timmins,’ she murmured and stiffly turned, intending to follow the procession.
Drake noticed her chin dimple when she saw Nicholas’s pale hand lying limp and unsupported amongst the eager hands that carried him. Drake felt her sadness and stepped forward to support it, but someone, with cleaner hands than he, pushed him away. The message was clear. He was no longer needed. He watched, solemnly, the tangle of human bodies carrying their precious cargo, followed sombrely by Evelyn in her vibrant red coat. In her hand she held her hat, its red ribbons trailing in the snow like streaks of blood.
* * *
‘How long were you out there?’
Tears stung the back of Evelyn’s eyes. ‘No more than a few minutes, Father.’ She watched him pace the floor. His anxiety frightened her.
‘Nicholas must have overexerted himself.’
‘It was only a walk, Father.’
‘I don’t believe it.’ He didn’t want to believe it. ‘What were you doing? Playing one of your silly games, no doubt?’
She wished they had, but Nicholas had lost interest of late.
‘Nicholas asked if I would like to go outside to look at the snow. I said yes, Father. How is Nicholas? What is wrong with him?’
‘I don’t know.’ He sat down and massaged his knotted brow with his fingertips. ‘Doctor Birch is with him.’
Lady Pendragon entered the room. ‘You know exactly what is wrong with him,’ she accused her husband. She addressed her daughter, but the words were for him. ‘Vital medicine has been withheld from him. Now he is ill. From today, we do everything Doctor Birch recommends.Everything.’
‘That is unfair, Beatrice. Nicholas has had the best medicine money can buy. He has not been right since his illness last year. His heart has been weakened and he is tired of taking Doctor Birch’s miracle cures. No amount of potions will bring about a cure.’
‘Hecanbe cured. Hewillbe cured. Doctor Birch says he can.’
‘And the poor will be showered in gold,’ scoffed her father.
Her mother ran from the room, weeping. Evelyn was horrified. Her parents never argued, Doctor Birch’s skills were never in question and, worst of all, Nicholaswasill, despite his reassurances to the contrary. Her safe world suddenly felt uncertain. It was all her fault. She should never have agreed to see the snow.
* * *
Nicholas was taken to his bed and Miss Brown summoned to remain on hand until a more suitable person was found. Her temporary removal meant Evelyn was left alone with her guilty thoughts and with no sensible voice to rebalance her. She paced the hall outside her brother’s door, eager for good news, but none came. Instead, the servants talked in whispers and gave her pitying looks, which stoked her feelings of guilt.
To everyone’s relief, Doctor Birch arrived within the hour. The household seemed to hold its breath as it waited for his diagnosis, but if he had made one, no one told Evelyn. She had finally been sent to her room where she sat on her bed, hugging her knees, waiting — and praying — for the nightmare to end. The winter sky had grown dark before Miss Brown returned to her and gave her the comfort she craved.
‘A nurse has arrived to tend to Nicholas,’ she told her as she stroked her hair. ‘He is in good hands now.’
‘Will he recover?’ Evelyn asked hopefully.
Miss Brown smiled a little too brightly. ‘Oh, I’m sure he will.’ Her forced smile frightened Evelyn. She looked tired, worried — defeated.
Evelyn just wanted everything to return to normal. ‘Shall I get ready to visit Mother and Father?’ she asked. Her allotted time with her parents was part of her daily routine and something to cling to.
