Chapter Seven
As Aldric made his way back toward the rented lodgings they were utilizing during their sojourn in Paris, he felt torn.
Nothing new had been revealed during his very brief walk with Céleste and Marguerite.
Jean-Francois’s unkindness had grown. Marguerite’s dismissal of her sister-in-law’s well-being had been quickly established the day before.
Pierre Léandre’s character—that of an irredeemable snake—was not unknown to Aldric.
Why, then, had the brief encounter with the three of them left Aldric so much more ill at ease than he had been? And why did the situation feel so personal? This was Henri’s family, and Aldric would, of course, do all he could to help Henri. But family turmoil was something best avoided.
He’d promised Stanley to look after the Gents. He’d promised himself to get out before he made things worse. Getting more deeply involved when his departure was beginning to feel so imminent was not wise at all.
But something was wrong with Céleste Fortier, and he couldn’t shake the weight of that realization.
When he’d first met her so many years earlier, she had been just as Henri had described: full of life and energy, flitting about as busy as a bee, a little mischievous, and profoundly attached to Henri.
Little of that had changed by the time she’d arrived at Norwood Manor two years ago for the house party.
But she was very quiet now, quick to defer to her brother and sister-in-law, very still, and withdrawn. Jean-Francois was far too like Aldric’s brother and late father, crushing people’s spirits with their unkindness and inhumanity.
Mother had been ill for months toward the end.
Deteriorating before their eyes, yet Father had refused to do anything for her.
He had ignored her suffering, mocked it even.
Aldric’s pleas had been ignored at first. He’d tried harder, begged more fervently.
But Father had responded with punishments, and those punishments had turned into beatings.
Aldric had abandoned his efforts, something he would regret for the rest of his life.
Mother had needed him to get her the help she was so desperate for. She’d needed him to find a means of securing the medical care that could have prolonged her life or, at the very least, eased her suffering. And he’d given up. He’d stopped trying.
Céleste was subject to the same heartlessness his mother had been. He wouldn’t fail again.
By the time he reached his lodgings, he had a plan in mind.
Henri was in the small sitting room.
“Are Lucas and Julia still away?” Aldric asked.
Henri nodded. “We might not see them again during this entire visit. Lucas is so excited to show her everything he can think of, and she is eagerly anticipating it all.”
“And is Nicolette away as well?” Aldric asked.
“She is calling on some of her Paris friends.”
“I hope you have the afternoon free, then,” Aldric said, “because we are about to embark on a mission of mercy.”
He had Henri’s full attention. “What is this mission?”
“I have summoned a fiacre, and we are making our way to your brother’s house, with one stop along the way.”
Henri looked immediately wary. “Why are you going to see Jean-Francois?”
“We aren’t. We’re going to see Céleste.”
Henri stood. His brow pulled taut with concern. “Has something happened?”
“I saw her and your sister-in-law outside of a milliner’s shop earlier. Céleste looks unwell, and based on several comments they both made, she has deteriorated of late, but no one in that household is taking the matter seriously.”
Henri walked with him out of the room. “We knew that already. What has happened to increase your anxiety over the matter?” Henri obviously knew him well enough to trust he wouldn’t escalate a strategy without reason.
They stepped out of the building where they were lodging and onto the pavement. “Céleste is too accepting of their mistreatment,” Aldric said. “Either their unkindness has dampened the spark that used to be in her, or she is too ill to advocate for herself. Neither is an acceptable possibility.”
Henri looked both concerned and embarrassed.
“Before you take to apologizing for your brother, something you’ve done before, allow me to remind you that I have one of my own, and I know perfectly well how infuriating and beyond one’s control a family can be.
” He knew it far, far too well. “Do you know which doctor has been tending to your sister?”
“Nicolette said it was Dr. Mercier,” Henri said.
“I’d advise a detour to his home to bring him with us.”
Henri gave the driver directions to both the doctor’s home and his brother’s, then he and Aldric climbed inside the conveyance. They were soon on their way.
“I hadn’t intended for you to be burdened with family troubles,” Henri said.
“I’m a Benick. Family troubles come with the name.”
“All the more reason you shouldn’t have to be drawn into other families’ problems.”
Aldric might have agreed, but he’d promised Stanley. The Gents’ difficulties would be his difficulties until they were all settled and building their lives with those they loved. Aldric had not yet made good on that vow.
They were soon at the home of Dr. Mercier. Henri opted to step out and request the doctor join them. He must have been very easily persuaded; Henri returned quickly with the medical man in tow.
“I am sorry to hear that Mlle Fortier is in need of my care so soon after my most recent visit to the Fortier home,” the doctor said as the carriage resumed its journey.
“How recently were you there?” Aldric asked.
“Not even a week ago.”
“And what was your evaluation then?” Henri asked.
“I recommended her activities be curtailed and she be permitted to rest.” Dr. Mercier shook his head. “I suspect they have not merely ignored that suggestion but have been pushing her harder.”
That appeared to be entirely the case.
Upon reaching the Fortiers’ home, they were met with surprise from the staff. But one look at Henri and that surprise turned to delight. He had that effect on people. When he inquired as to his sister’s whereabouts, they were sent in the direction of the nursery.
They crossed paths with Céleste before reaching their destination. She was walking with Adèle down a corridor. Céleste looked exhausted. The little girl reached for Henri, who quickly scooped her up.
“Dr. Mercier? What brings you here?” Céleste’s lack of liveliness was worrisome.
“Lord Aldric was concerned by the fatigue he saw in you this afternoon.” The doctor was clearly evaluating her even as he spoke. “Is your sister-in-law near at hand? I should like to undertake an examination.”
“She is somewhere, but I don’t know that she will permit herself to be pulled from whatever it is she is doing.”
Ignoring Céleste’s suffering. Neglecting her well-being.
It was too much like Mother’s final weeks.
Far too much. Aldric pushed down the painful memories and the regrets that haunted him.
He hid them, as he’d grown so adept at doing.
Céleste would have the care she needed. He would focus on that and not let himself dwell on the things he’d not done for his mother.
“Henri’s presence during the examination would satisfy me,” Céleste said.
Soon enough, Aldric was standing in the corridor outside Céleste’s closed bedchamber door, making certain no one interrupted or put an end to the examination. Henri’s sister might be dangerously ill. Having a doctor’s care was imperative.
“Please,” Mother pleaded with Father yet again. “I am in need of a doctor. I know myself to be growing more ill.”
“Your complaints are growing wearisome.” Father strode, casual and unconcerned, toward the door of the sitting room.
“Please, Father.” Aldric knew that attempting to strong-arm his father would never work. Appeals to his better nature were likely equally doomed, but he couldn’t simply leave Mother to suffer.
“Do not dare dictate to me.” Father’s eyes flashed with a warning that Aldric could not mistake.
Even one more word on Mother’s behalf would result in another beating, which he was willing to endure, and likely also increase Father’s determination to ignore her needs completely, which Aldric couldn’t bear to be the cause of.
Father was dead now too. And Aldric didn’t mourn him. If that condemned Aldric as heartless, so be it.
Jean-Francois arrived at Céleste’s door. “I was told Dr. Mercier is here.” He sounded anything but grateful.
“Your sister’s health was noticeably ill-affected by her being dragged around Paris this afternoon. As no one in this household seemed the least inclined to show her any compassion, that fell to others.”
Jean-Francois’s posture stiffened. “I am not disinclined to show compassion; I am simply wary of expending time and money on something insignificant.”
What an absolute toad. “You consider your sister ‘insignificant’?”
“I was not referring to my sister but rather to this bit of weariness she has been complaining of. She simply needs to expend a little effort, something she has been unwilling to do of late.”
“Expending ‘a little effort’ appears to be something she is unable to do of late.”
“You seem to have taken a decided interest in my sister.” Jean-Francois’s gaze turned worryingly intrigued.
The frequency with which that trap had been laid at Norwood two years earlier was still exhausting to recall. “I was raised to be a gentleman, which means I do not ignore a lady’s distress.”
“And you are accusing me of doing precisely that?” Jean-Francois couldn’t seem to decide whether he was offended or made hopeful by Aldric’s interference in his sister’s concerns. He was enough to make a person dizzy.