“Give him to me,” the Duke commanded, his voice low and strong.
Eliza passed Philip over, and he immediately began swimming back to shore, the boy secure in his arms. Eliza made her way out of the water and turned to help Miss Winslow, who was still struggling with Arthur at the shoreline. Between the two of them, they managed to get the boy moving toward the beach and seated on the sand.
A crowd of servants had gathered with blankets and worried faces. The Duke sat in the middle of them, Philip safe in his arms, coughing up seawater but alive.
Eliza collapsed onto the beach, flat on her back and her chest heaving. Miss Winslow fell beside her, sobbing with relief.
“What on earth came over all of you?” the Duke demanded.
Arthur crawled over to Philip and threw his arms around his brother. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I told you to go deeper and you almost…”
“It’s all right,” Philip wheezed. “I’m all right.”
The Duke knelt beside them, his face grim. “Are you both all right?”
The boys nodded, still clinging to each other.
The Duke looked at Miss Winslow, who was shaking violently. “Miss Winslow?”
“I’m so sorry, Your Grace,” she gasped. “I should have…I wasn’t watching closely enough… It all happened so fast… I t-t-tried to-to…”
“She was watching them,” Eliza cut in, struggling to her feet. Her legs felt like ice, but she forced herself upright. “I saw thewhole thing from the window. The wind picked up suddenly. The waves came out of nowhere. They couldn’t have known it would become so dangerous.”
His gaze shifted to her, sharp and assessing.
“Miss Winslow did everything right,” Eliza continued. “She went in immediately. She got Arthur to safety. She was trying to reach Philip when I arrived.”
“It was all my fault, Uncle,” Arthur said, his voice small. “I told Philip to go deeper. I dared him. And when he got in trouble, I went after him, but I couldn’t… I tried to save him.”
The Duke’s expression softened slightly. He placed a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “You tried to help your brother. That took courage. But you both could have drowned.”
“I know,” Arthur whispered.
The Duke looked at both boys, his voice firm but not harsh. “Do you understand how dangerous that was? Do you understand that you could have died?”
They nodded, wide-eyed and solemn.
“I need you to promise me, both of you, that you will never swim that deep without an adult who knows how to swim properly. Do you promise?”
“I promise,” Arthur said immediately.
“Me too,” Philip added.
“Good.” Morgan stood. “Miss Winslow, take the boys inside. Get them warm and dry. Cook can make them some hot cocoa.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Miss Winslow scrambled to her feet, her relief a palpable thing. “Thank you, Your Grace. I am so, so sorry?—”
“We’ll discuss this later. For now, just see to the boys. Make sure you have some cocoa as well.”
She curtsied and ushered Arthur and Philip toward the house. The other servants followed, murmuring amongst themselves.
Eliza turned to leave as well, but a deep voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Miss Graham. A moment.”
She turned back slowly. They were almost alone now, the other servants far enough away that they wouldn’t be overheard with the swirling wind.
“Your Grace?” She asked as she pulled the blanket a servant had given her tight around her shoulders. “I want to apologize for my directness earlier,” Eliza said quickly. “I only wanted to makesure you understood what actually happened. I didn’t mean to insert myself in any way that would be unfit?—”
