Move!she commanded herself, grabbing her robe and limply pulling it on as she shambled onward to where her husband lay, fighting for each breath.
Mustering all the courage and love she had, she sank to her knees and took Jeremy’s hand. She brought it to her lips and kissed it, her eyes meeting his, her heart aching as she watched him try to smile.
“Do not leave me,” she begged. “Do not dare leave me, or I shall… I shall… I shall allow Sprightly to relieve himself on your grave!”
She thought she heard Jeremy chuckle, but then his eyes rolled back, and his arm went limp. Only the shallow yet steady rise and fall of his chest told her that it was not over yet; he was still fighting to stay with her, even though he was unconscious.
While Anna sat in the chair by her writing desk with a cooling cup of chamomile tea in her hands, untouched, Katherine had been surprisingly busy. The young woman might have been a doctor herself, given the care she took in tending to Jeremy, doing what Anna could not.
The lady’s maid had been in and out several times, bringing strange items with her: some kind of pungent tonic she had fed to Jeremy by spoonful, unusual black cubes she had somehow made him swallow, and a sort of powder she mixed into water to help Jeremy drink.
Anna just stared at the man she had fallen hopelessly in love with, desperately watching for any sign of improvement. He was still breathing, maybe with more strength than before, but it was hard to tell. The purplish hue on his face had faded to a blotchy red, and his lips were not as bloodless, but until he woke up, there would be no relief of any kind.
“Will he live?” Anna asked, as Katherine stuffed another pillow under Jeremy’s head.
The skillful maid sat back on her feet and adjusted the blanket that she had draped over Jeremy. “We have done all we can for him, Your Grace. The rest is in the Lord’s hands… and the physician’s, when the man finally gets here.”
“Should I be at the door to greet him?” Anna asked in a faraway voice, feeling utterly detached from her own body and mind.
She would still be naked if it were not for Katherine’s decisive instructions. The maid had helped her into a simple dress while pouring one concoction or another down Jeremy’s throat, showing as much care to her duchess as her duke.
“You should drink that tea for the shock,” Katherine insisted. “I’ll contend with the physician. In truth, I really don’t think you should leave this room at all.”
Anna blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Just… trust me,” Katherine replied, her brow creasing.
With a burst of horror, Anna understood.They will blame me. They will be convinced that I am a killer.Even if Jeremy survived this, which she prayed he would, who would believe that she wasn’t responsible? For one husband to die on their wedding night and the second to suffer an unknown affliction that could yet kill him would reek of suspicion.
“I cannot just sit here and do nothing,” Anna said. “I will go mad if I do not do something to help.”
“All he needs is for you to stay close to him,” Katherine replied. “The physician will arrive when he arrives. There’s no use in you?—”
But Anna was already on her feet and heading for the chamber door, surprised to find that it was locked. She glanced back at Katherine with a sad smile, understanding that her friend had locked the door in order to keep her safe from whatever judgment might be waiting outside.
“Your Grace, please,” Katherine urged. “They won’t understand. They won’t listen.Iknow you haven’t done anything, but that isbecause I know you. You should stay in here with me, so you can be here when he wakes up.”
It was tempting.AllAnna wanted to do was be there when Jeremy woke up, but she couldn’t endure another endless stretch of time just staring down at him, willing him to open his eyes. She needed to make herself useful, for her own sake.
“I will return with the physician,” she told Katherine and walked out.
CHAPTER 28
No one bothered Anna as she made her way across the landing and down the stairs to the front doors. In truth, the manor was eerily silent, no sound of the festivities that she had snuck away from hours ago, no sound of anyone at all. The sunset had given way to a dusky sky, with stars twinkling beyond the windowpanes, and the entrance hall was dimly illuminated by lanterns and candles.
Perhaps the household had gone to sleep, deciding they would discover the duke’s fate in the morning. If that were true, then Anna envied them, for she knew she would not sleep at all until she knew if the man she loved was going to live or if she was to be a widow again. A true widow this time, with naught but crushing grief and the gaping void of a broken heart to look forward to.
She quietly opened the front door and edged out onto the porch, pulling her robe tighter around herself to fight against the night chill.
Where is he?She squinted into the gloom, toward the gates. The physician should have been there by now. True, she wasn’t completely sure how much time had passed since the moment Jeremy fell and the moment the footman rode off to fetch the doctor, but it felt too long.
“I was wrong about ye.” The voice startled Anna, as she whipped around to find Beatrice in the doorway, dressed as if she had been woken from her bed.
“Pardon?” Anna replied, her throat tight.
“I thought ye cared about him,” Beatrice replied, as Anna noticed other figures moving around in the entrance hall. People who hadn’t been there before, like they had been waiting for Anna to make an appearance before they showed themselves.
She saw a few of the house party guests who still hadn’t gone home, and several members of the former McIver household, though the only member ofherstaff was Paul. The butler seemed anxious, as if he didn’t want to be there.
