“Do you still wish he’d married your governess?” Amelia asked.
“Not anymore. Miss Grant would never have let me eat cake and drink chocolate.” She took another bite, then set the plate aside. “I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling very hungry right now.”
“Why don’t you have a lie-down, and perhaps your feet will feel better?”
The girl nodded, but as she tried to stand up, her balance swayed again. “I’m having trouble walking.”
Amelia went to her side. “I’m going to help you back to your room. And once you’ve rested, I’m certain it will go away. Try not to worry.”
But though her words were cheerful, she couldn’t stop her own rise of fear. She’d never seen anything like this, and as soon as she reached her own room, she penned a note to Dr. Fraser with orders for it to be delivered with great haste.
Then she wrote to David, asking him to come home immediately.
Chapter Thirteen
ONEWEEKLATER
David wasn’t certain what to think of Amelia’s note. Her terse command toCome home nowsounded entirely out of character. He bristled at the idea of returning when she hadn’t bothered to give a reason.
He was within a mile of Castledon, but he couldn’t help but wonder what was happening and why she was so adamant that he should travel home immediately.
When he arrived at the estate, the coach drew to a halt. David disembarked, only to find a strange silence upon the grounds. A sense of foreboding came over him the moment he walked toward the house. Hastening his pace, he went inside, only to find grim expressions on the faces of his servants.
“What’s happened?” he asked Haverford.
The butler shook his head and let out a slow breath. “My lord, I fear it’s your daughter. She’s unwell, and Lady Castledon has—”
David didn’t wait for the man to finish, but ordered, “Send for the doctor if he’s not here already.”
“But my lord—”
He was already hurrying up the stairs, two at a time. Though he didn’t know what was wrong, the mood of the servants wasentirely too somber. He could sense the presence of death, and God help him, he couldn’t endure this again.
Without knocking, he tore open Christine’s door and found Amelia seated at her bedside. The moment her eyes met his, he saw that she’d been weeping. His daughter’s skin was the color of snow, and she appeared lifeless.
“Thank God you’ve come,” Amelia said, rising to embrace him. And though he knew he ought to hold her, he couldn’t bring himself to return the affection. A coldness had taken root, a numbness of fear that blotted out all else. His daughter was fighting for her life, and all he could pray was,Dear God, not her, too.
“Where is the doctor?” he demanded, stepping back.
Amelia’s face brightened, but she said, “Dr. Fraser should be arriving today. I thought he might be here yesterday, but I suspect there was a delay.”
He wasn’t certain who she was talking about, though the name Fraser seemed familiar.
“My sister’s husband, the Viscount of Falsham,” she reminded him. “He’s the best physician I know.”
“What of Dr. Greenford?” he asked. The local physician had treated Katherine’s wasting sickness, never leaving her side. Even at the end, the man had given her medicine to ease her pain when she was dying. “Why have you not sent for him?”
“She dismissed him,” Mrs. Menford said briskly as she entered the room carrying a kettle of hot water. “Lady Castledon told him not to return.”
David was aghast at that. Why would she send their only doctor away, to wait for some Scotsman who lived several days’ journey from them?
“Dr. Greenford was making her worse,” Amelia said. “He was trying to bleed her.”
“Bleeding is a respected method of treatment,” he argued back. “All the physicians do so, when it is necessary.”
“I cannot see any good reason to weaken our daughter further, when she’s already so ill.”
It was the first time he’d heard Amelia refer to Christine in that way. Before he could wonder what to make of it, his daughter opened her eyes. “Papa, are you here?”
