Chapter Twenty
Sitting for so long with Alexander, much as he had executed with Duncan, Benjamin realized he had again essentially become invisible.
The rest of the family left Marksman to Benjamin’s care.
Naturally, they all stopped in regularly, most several times each day, but the investigation continued while he remained in Marksman’s quarters.
The world continued to spin, and he was at a standstill once more.
More and more participants were being arrested, so many that Benjamin had lost count.
Meanwhile, he remained at Alexander’s side, washing his younger brother’s body over and over again and seeing no real results: Alexander’s fever refused to break, and Benjamin was becoming frustrated.
The only time he had company for more than a few minutes was when Lady Annalise called upon her brother.
The girl had asked him to stay, and they talked while she tended to Alexander.
Benjamin learned of how she had been with her mother on that fateful day that Robert Dutton had sold his wife and child, sending them away.
Of course, he already knew something of the tale, for Alexander had repeated it often enough, but it was a different perspective coming from the young woman who lived through it.
“Beaufort was all amazed,” she said, “when I told him of how the stars and the moon in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite of what we see in England and Europe.”
Benjamin had noted how often the lady mentioned Beaufort, but he did not comment on that part of her conversation.
“I, too, was not aware of what you described, but it comes as no great surprise. Every day I spent at medical school in Scotland, I became more and more convinced of the glory of God’s hand. ”
“They say your real father was a vicar,” she stated.
“He was a most excellent man. My mother is still alive and lives close to the estate I inherited,” he told her. “In that manner, Alexander and I are the richest of our brothers. We still have someone with whom we share blood and are alive.”
“Alexander says my maternal grandmother and my mother’s brother are alive also, and he will…” her voice broke on a sob.
“And ‘he will,’” Benjamin declared. “Your brother is young and strong, and your reappearance in his life will provide him a reason to live. Never doubt the hand of God in such matters.”
“Thank you,” she said with a nod of her head in acceptance. “I needed to hear those words.”
Unlike Theodora, who always wished to tend to Alexander without anyone else’s company, Lady Annalise seemed to wish for someone with whom she could converse.
Benjamin imagined her quite lonely, and, in truth, so was he.
He missed Miss Whitchurch and the child terribly, though he did not speak those words aloud, for it was too soon to hope that the lady and the boy would one day look upon him as he viewed them.
Part of a family. With hopes of others in their lives.
“You may leave,” Dora told Benjamin when she had come again to sit with Marksman. “I am capable of tending Alexander alone.”
Her bossiness should not have surprised Benjamin, for, surely, he had viewed it prior, but somehow it bothered him more, for he realized that Alexander would not approve of Theodora’s actions.
Dora had acted thusly with her father’s care, but it had been more difficult for her to drive everyone away then.
Duncan’s shooting had each of them concerned with an attack on the family, where Alexander had been shot during a government investigation.
It was not that they were not all worried for Alexander, but Lord Liverpool had Duncan’s division of the Home Office, as well as all his lordship’s sons, chasing after multiple participants in Lord Honfleur’s scheme.
Therefore, Benjamin had been the only member of the family who stood witness to Theodora’s most recent manipulation.
He was well aware, in many ways, Theodora had been coddled by them all.
She was the only female in the family by the time he had arrived at Duncan Place, and all her brothers had permitted her much latitude, for she was the last of Duncan’s family and they deeply revered Duncan.
He prayed Theodora had not acted purposely, and though Benjamin could understand if Duncan’s daughter did not wish to share Alexander with the sister for whom his lordship had searched for some fifteen years, Benjamin thought Theodora’s manipulation unnecessary.
Earlier, on this particular day, Benjamin had returned to his room to retrieve a book he had been reading when he overheard Dora and Lady Annalise’s conversation in the hall outside of Marksman’s quarters.
Lady Annalise asked, “Should not Alexander be coming out of his constant fever by now? It does not seem right to me. Could your Mr. Rheem have missed a sliver of bone or a flake of metal off the bullet?”
Benjamin had asked himself the same question several times. He had personally searched Alexander’s body for a place that had festered, but he had not found any infection or redness.
Meanwhile, Theodora retorted in tones of dismissal, “I assure you, Mr. Rheem is one of London’s finest surgeons.”
Benjamin had not witnessed the girl’s action, but he imagined Alexander’s sister recoiled from Theodora’s tone. He heard a door close along the passageway and assumed Lady Annalise had returned to her room.
Later, Lady Orson escorted Lady Annalise to an appointment with a modiste, and Benjamin was below when Rheem called, but he was soon paged to return to the sick room.
“You required my assistance?” Benjamin asked the surgeon when he reentered the room.
“Yes,” Rheem declared as he washed his hands.
“Lady Theodora believes Marksman has an additional infection. It appears she is correct. The area near his back must have been rubbed by Marksman as he thrashed about. I did not notice, for there are no stitches in the area. I believe the bolts in the wagon bed or perhaps a nail rubbed the area raw. Thankfully, Lady Theodora was more vigilant than either you or I,” he declared with a grin.
“Actually, it was Lady Annalise’s suggestion,” Benjamin said with a frown of disappointment with Theodora’s pettiness.
Rheem also frowned. “Let us see if Lady Theodora chooses to wear borrowed feathers,” Rheem suggested. “If so, I will speak to Duncan privately. For now, we must again tend his lordship.”
In the end, Benjamin never knew whether Duncan had been informed of his daughter’s petty behavior or not.
By midday of the following day, Marksman was awake, at least for short periods of time, and Benjamin was no longer required to sit with the patient for long hours.
When Marksman was awake, there was always someone willing to sit with him.
Benjamin’s youngest brother and Theodora set a date for their wedding, and Beaufort had been asked to stand up with Marksman.
Benjamin would have liked to have been asked, but he knew Beaufort had been quite helpful in watching over Lady Annalise, so he thought choosing Beaufort made sense.
Moreover, if what the others believed proved true, soon Beaufort and Marksman would be brothers in marriage, for they all believed Beaufort preferred the pretty redhead.
“Where are you going?” Orson asked when Benjamin reached the door.
“I thought to call in at my home. I have not been at Macalhey House since I departed for the confrontation with Honfleur and Booth. I do have other responsibilities, and there are a half dozen to attend to Marksman in my absence.”
“I did not mean to offend you,” Orson said with a frown.
“I am not offended,” Benjamin was quick to say. “I worry for…”
“Miss Whitchurch and the child?” Orson asked.
“I know I have no right…” Benjamin began.
“I understand. My worry for Emma nearly sent me to Bedlam.” Orson grinned.
“There are more than enough in this house to respond to Marksman’s needs.
Enjoy a meal with Miss Whitchurch. Bounce the boy on your knee.
Feel human again. That is what I feel with Lady Orson.
She is my connection to the hope for a future. ”
It was Friday, the last day of July, and Victoria had yet to set eyes on Lord Thompson since the previous Friday evening when she bid him a good night.
He had left Macalhey House in the early hours of Saturday.
“Too long,” her mind announced as she led the way to the door to bid her workers farewell.
“We should be able to finish all the pieces for Lady Hendrick tomorrow,” Mrs. Geoffrey declared, “then we might begin those for Mrs. Katersky.”
“I will finish the Lady Hendrick order, and you may begin the one for Mrs. Katersky,” Miss Adolph said with a grin. “You are more patient than I when it comes to those little knots Lady Hendrick prefers to decorate her order.”
Victoria laughed, for they had all known trouble with the embroidered-like knots her ladyship had requested. “Come,” she said as she motioned to the door. “I realize you must be ready for your evening meal. I shall see you in the morning.”
Victoria was enjoying the laughter and the company of these women as she tugged the door wide. It was only then did she realize someone stood outside the portal. She gasped and staggered backwards a few steps. Horror had arrived, and it stepped inside before she could slam and bolt the door.
“Well, well, well,” Mr. Jonas Betts said as he glanced around the entry hall. “A bit sparse,” he declared, “but much better than anything your sister thought appropriate. I always knew you to be the superior of the vicar’s daughters.”
Victoria quickly recovered from her surprise.
“Why are you here, Mr. Betts?” she demanded.
She noted how Miss Adolph backed towards the connecting door between the two sections of Macalhey House; therefore, Victoria caught Mr. Betts’s arm to distract him.
“Lord Thompson would not approve of your entering his house without his permission.”