Chapter 5
“I remember it all so clearly now, Linette! Like I’ve awaken from a fog. The older man called him Prince Valentin—yes, I would swear it!”
“No swearing is necessary, Miss Easton,” Miss Biddle said firmly to Estelle, and then she glanced with some reproach at Linette, who sat beside the bed. “She’s to stay snug and warm under the blankets, Dr. Whitaker’s orders! Not flittingabout the room or playing with Luther. It’s only three days since she nearly drowned—three days! One would think from her antics that it hadn’t happened at all—”
“But that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you say, dear Miss Biddle?”
Linette’s soft-spoken words had the desired effect as the housekeeper’s tense shoulders seemed to relax, and she smiled grudgingly at Estelle.
“Indeed, it is, one cannotargue it. Safe and whole with only a few healing bruises and that lump on your head, scarcely noticeable any longer, to lend credence to the tale. If you’ve need of anything, Miss Easton, just let me know.”
As Estelle nodded, pulling the blankets more tightly beneath her chin to please their long-time housekeeper, Linette murmured her thanks and waited for the woman to leave the room. Yet Estelle’smeek compliance lasted no longer than the door clicking shut and she threw back the covers and sat up to face Linette.
“His hair was the color of gold, almost like Lindsay’s Jared, and he was so handsome! And the other man…yes, Robert was his name. Robert said Prince Valentin was in danger. Danger! What could it all mean, Linette?”
“It means that perhaps you hit your head so hard that you dreamedthis incredible tale. Now lie down and take a nap like Luther, will you?”
Estelle glanced at her little dog snuggled deeply into the blankets at the foot of the bed, not rousing at all no matter his mistress’s restless fidgeting. If she had bounced back quickly from her misadventure, Luther had preferred to sleep the days away with occasional bouts of play, though he ate and drank normally.
Apparently, Dr. Whitaker had tended to Estelle’s beloved Luther as well during his daily visits, though Linette wouldn’t be one to attest personally to it. She had kept to her room until he had come and gone, still stunned by his unexpected Christmas kiss and its effect upon her.
It seemed she couldn’t stop thinking about him, but she didn’twantto think about him! He wasn’t the man of her dreams,he couldn’t be.
She wouldn’t meet the man of her dreams until she went to London for her much longed-for Season when she would be dressed from head to toe in shimmering satin and he, in the finest evening apparel worn by a gentleman of theton. Just like Marguerite when Walker Burke, then Lord Summerlin, had swept her off her feet at Almack’s, and Corie’s friend Lindsay when Jared Giles, theEarl of Dovercourt, had swept her into a waltz.
Corie hadn’t ever wanted a Season and Donovan had swept her off her feet right here in Porthleven, but that wasn’t what Linette wanted at all! She didn’t want her heart to flutter every time she thought of that serious-minded Dr. Adam Whitaker with his striking hazel eyes, tall stature, and unforgettable smile that made her insides melt just rememberingit now. Or the warmth of his lips grazing hers when she thought she might swoon dead away in the middle of the foyer.
Ridiculous! Preposterous! The man of her dreams wasn’t in Cornwall at all but somewhere far away in a noble castle or a hunting lodge or his family’s stately country house—
“Linette, didn’t you hear me? I’m not allowed out of bed so you must go to Donovan this very minute andtell him what I’ve told you! Prince Valentin is in danger! There must be something we can do to help him. I’m sure they were staying in a cottage atop the bluff by my favorite beach. I saw smoke curling from the chimney when Luther and I were running across the sand—Linette?”
Her fingers pressed to her lips, Linette found it difficult to focus upon Estelle’s rush of words, and she had to shakeher head to clear her thoughts. That made Estelle sink back upon her calves for she had climbed out from under the blankets to kneel on the bed in front of Linette.
“You weren’t listening to a thing I said, were you?”
“Yes, yes, I heard you—oh, Estelle, you must get back into bed.” Linette rose and gently pushed her younger sister backward so she might cover her up again. “Please…and I reallyhave to go now. Dr. Whitaker will be here any moment to see you—”
“Andyou, if you’ll only stay here with me. But you won’t because he kissed you under the mistletoe and it’s upset you, though I don’t know why. You should see how you’re blushing, Linette! I know you were thinking about him just now when you weren’t listening to a thing I was telling you.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were! Youcan’t lie to me or me to you…and I’m telling you, the young man who saved my life is in danger! I remember Robert saying they were going to find other lodging or a ship to take them north along the coast. That they hadn’t wanted to draw attention to themselves. Why else would Prince Valentin not carry me into the house rather than leaving me on the step? Or deliver Luther to me himself?”
“I don’tknow, Estelle, now please stay under the blankets! You’ll catch a chill and then where will that leave you?”
“Right here for another few days while I try to convince you to speak to Donovan. Prince Valentin is trying to elude some terrible trouble, I’m certain of it! Perhaps they’re aboard a ship even now and far away from Porthleven, but if they’re still here, Donovan might be able to help them.Linette, Prince Valentin saved my life!”
So he had, Linette thought, sighing heavily, and she didn’t have any more time to argue with Estelle about a fairy-tale prince, a sailor, or whoever the young man might have been. She glanced anxiously at the mantel clock.
Ten minutes to three. Oh, Lord. Dr. Whitaker had arrived punctually at three o’clock each afternoon, something Donovan had remarkedupon as a very fine quality in their new physician.
Linette had known of his arrival because she’d hidden behind her bedchamber door, listening to his footsteps upon the carpeted hall as he made his way to Estelle’s room with Miss Biddle. His remarks low and polite, the deep sound of his voice sending shivers racing through her unlike anything she’d ever known before…
“Very well, Estelle, Ibelieve I’ve time enough to speak to Donovan before Dr. Whitaker arrives—”
“When you’ll go hide in your room? Miss Biddle said she saw you peeking through the crack in the door yesterday, which means Dr. Whitaker must have seen you, too.”
“Oh, Estelle, you’re insufferable!” Linette said with frustration at her sister’s teasing, though she couldn’t help smiling herself.
