‘B-but you said you loved me,’ she whimpered desperately as she fought to take him in her arms.
‘I say that to all the girls. What makes you think you were any different?’ And with that he gave her a final push that sent her sprawling on the ground then turned and strode away without so much as a backwards glance.
Surrounded by darkness Abi sat there too numb with shock to believe what had just happened as all her dreams of a happy ever after with the man she loved turned to ashes.
What shall I do now?she asked herself. She didn’t even have enough money for her passage home. Most of the money she had earned since working at the club had been frivolously spent on glamorous gowns and she had truly believed that once she was here, Hugo would take care of her. The money she had left would stretch to a few more nights in Madame Bisset’s guesthouse but what would she do then? Broken-hearted and shaking uncontrollably, she finally rose and staggered back towards the town.
Chapter Thirty-Three
‘Good morning, Aunt, I’ve brought you your breakfast,’ Emmy said cheerfully as she laid the tray down and hurried across her aunt’s room to draw the curtains. Through the glass she could see the leaves beginning to flutter from the trees. The October morning was cold and she shuddered before moving to the small fireplace and throwing some coal on to the fire.
She had spent a sleepless night worrying about Abi and had finally decided in the early hours of the morning that she had no choice but to go to France and bring her home. But first she would have to sweet-talk her aunt into letting her have some time off.
She turned towards the bed and her heart leapt in her chest as she saw her aunt’s blue lips. Her head was hanging limply to the side on her pillow and she was staring blankly. Racing out on to the landing, Emmy screamed, ‘Aggie go for the doctor at once, my aunt is very ill!’
Within seconds Aggie appeared at the bottom of the stairs, her face ashen as she asked, ‘What’s ’appened, Miss Emmy?’
Emmy had no time to answer, for at that moment there was a rap on the door and when Aggie went to open it she found Jake standing there.
He was like the answer to a prayer and grabbing the sleeve of his coat she dragged him unceremoniously over the doorstep.
‘Whatever is the matter?’ he asked with concern. ‘I was only nipping in to drop these bread baskets off to Cook on my way to work.’
‘It’s the missus,’ Aggie told him with a catch in her voice. ‘She’s took bad apparently. Miss Emerald is up there with her now. She told me to run fer the doctor but seein’ as ’ow yer ’ere, ’appen you could see what’s wrong?’
Jake dropped the baskets, scattering them all over the floor, and took the stairs two at a time, calling over his shoulder, ‘Go out to the carriage and bring me my doctor’s bag please, Aggie.’
Aggie hurried off to do as she was told as Jake burst into the bedroom where he found Emmy hanging over her aunt with tears on her cheeks.
She looked up when he came in, and she was sure she had never been so pleased to see anyone in her life. ‘I just .?.?. just brought her breakfast and found her like this,’ she sobbed. ‘What’s happened to her, Jake?’
Jake didn’t answer as he started to unbutton Imogen’s high-necked nightgown, and when Aggie returned with his bag, he quickly withdrew his stethoscope and listened to her heart. But he had no need to examine her really, the way her face had dropped on one side told him all he needed to know.
‘Wh-what’s wrong with her?’ Emmy whimpered as he rose and began to adjust Imogen’s pillows.
‘She’s suffered an apoplectic seizure – or a stroke as it’s now being named,’ he answered gravely. ‘Now, help me to raise these pillows and then pass me the little white tablets you’ll find in the front of my bag.’
Emmy was all fingers and thumbs, but she managed to do as he asked and when her aunt was propped up and he had placed a tablet beneath her tongue, she asked fearfully, ‘She is going to be all right and get better, isn’t she?’
Jake felt as if his heart was breaking seeing Emmy so fearful and upset but he was well aware that their aunt may be able to still hear them so after making sure he had made her as comfortable as he could, he drew her out on to the landing, leaving Aggie to sit beside her.
‘I’m afraid I can’t answer that question, Emmy.’ He really wished that he could. ‘A lot will depend on what happens in the next forty-eight hours. If she can get past that she has every chance of making a recovery, although I doubt she’ll ever be quite as she was before and she’ll have to be very careful. She’s going to need constant nursing for some time.’
As he spoke, Emmy’s hopes of going in search of Abi flew out of the window and she felt as if she were being torn in two. She was in a no-win situation. If she stayed to care for her aunt she would continue to worry about Abi and if she went looking for Abi she would worry about her aunt.
‘What can I do for her?’ she asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand and lifting her chin, determined to rise to the challenge.
‘Keep her very quiet and get as much liquid into her as you can,’ he advised. ‘And of course, she’ll need to see her own doctor to see if he agrees with my diagnosis. It’s lucky that I stopped by when I did. Will you manage, Emmy?’
His voice was so kind and gentle and so full of concern for her that she was afraid she’d start crying again, but somehow she held herself together as she nodded.
‘Yes, I will.’ She gave him a tremulous smile. ‘It’s my aunt we should be worrying about not me. Poor soul, what a dreadful thing to happen to her.’ She paused before saying, ‘I was going to ask her today if I could have some time off to go and try to find Abi and bring her home but that’s out of the question now.’
‘Wouldn’t Aggie be willing to care for her?’
She nodded. ‘Oh yes, I’m sure she would, but I’d feel so guilty leaving her. We’ll just have to see how she is in a few days’ time. Perhaps if I know she’s on the road to recovery I might risk leaving her but certainly not until then.’
‘What about if you were to ask your mother to come and take over for a short while? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you explained the situation to her.’
