Chapter Twenty-five
Adelaide stood stunned when the guards hurried to her cell with sheepish expressions. One of them fumbled with a key, while the other one mumbled something that might have been an apology if she had been listening. The only thing she heard was what the first guard said.
“You have been released, Miss Barrett,” he said. “We shall get your belongings back to you now. Follow us.”
Adelaide nodded numbly, her body moving despite her brain’s inability to understand what was happening.
Just earlier that morning, they had believed her to be a conniving murderess.
Now, they were releasing her without so much as an explanation.
It was only by listening when they reached the secretary’s desk that she understood what had happened.
Lord Edwin had been found guilty of the crimes of which she stood accused.
Lord Thomas had discovered evidence and rushed to clear Adelaide’s name.
Lord Edwin, it seemed, would be taking her place in the goal.
Adelaide arrived back at Lochville Manor to find another new physician entering Marcus’s room. She rushed up behind him, wanting to question the man, worried after what had happened to Marcus with Mr. Fletcher. But the physician turned to her with a firm expression, shaking his head.
“You cannot come in, Miss Barrett,” he said. “His Grace is gravely ill. I must tend to him at once, or if his condition is half as grim as I have been led to believe, he will die.”
Adelaide nodded, wincing as the door slammed in her face.
She paced outside the door, praying that the new physician was not too late.
She wrung her hands, chewing her lip until it bled and silently willing the physician to exit the room and speak to her.
The memory of Marcus’s betrayed expression haunted her, and she thought about the future.
She was unsure whether their love could survive such a horrible breach of trust. Even if it was built on the lies of his murderous cousin.
When the door to Marcus’s chambers opened, the physician stepped out, wiping sweat from his face. He looked at Adelaide with tired eyes, shaking his head.
“His treatments will be aggressive,” he said. “He is not to have any visitors at this time. I do not know how effective the treatments will be with such late-stage poisoning. All you can do is wait, and pray as much and as often as you can.”
Adelaide’s heart plummeted. She nodded numbly, the shock of the past couple of days still struggling to allow her emotions to catch up.
She watched the physician leave, following after him a few moments later down the stairs in a state of utter fog.
Fragments of thoughts struggled to compile sentences, most of which ended up being complete gibberish.
She barely managed to find her way to the library, where she collapsed onto the sofa and her shoulders racked with sobs.
When Adelaide felt arms wrap around her, she noticed it was dark outside. She turned her head to see Edith’s pale, tear-stained face looking her over with grave concern.
“You have been asleep for two days, Adelaide,” she said, brushing sweat-soaked hair out of Adelaide’s face. “Are you all right?”
Adelaide blinked, confused.
“I only came in here this morning,” she said, shaking her head.
Edith bit her lip, shaking her head.
“You came in here two mornings ago,” she said.
“Grandmother and I have tried waking you since then. But when your aunt failed to get you to respond an hour ago, she was prepared to fetch Mr. Fairfield. He has practically lived here, trying to correct those weeks of poisoning Marcus endured. I asked them all to let me try once more to wake you before they took you away to the clinic.”
Adelaide shook her head more firmly, trying to clear it.
“I do not need the physician,” she said, slowly standing. “I need to see Marcus. I need to know that he will be all right.”
Edith put an arm around Adelaide’s waist, slowly guiding her out of the room.
“No, darling,” she murmured. “You need a good rest in your bed.”
Adelaide began to argue. But her legs were unsteady, and she nearly caused Edith to fall. She nodded, silently allowing her friend to escort her to her chambers. Edith helped her into bed, stroking Adelaide’s damp hair.
“Rest, Adelaide,” she said softly. Her eyes were sad and burdened, as though she knew something Adelaide did not.
Adelaide wanted to press her and see what she knew, but the last thing she remembered was Edith’s smile beneath the fresh tears that streamed down her cheeks before sleep claimed her unwittingly once more.
The following morning, Adelaide awoke to find a bottle of laudanum on her bedside table, along with a note from the physician with instructions for strict bed rest and how to take her medicine.
She stared at the ceiling, her mind still frantic with the chaotic thoughts of everything that had happened.
But soon, she fell into another deep, impenetrable sleep.
It was another two days before Adelaide could stay awake upon waking from her slumber.
During those two days, she spent every moment in which she could fight off sleep waiting for word about or from Marcus.
Each time she awoke and there was no word, her deep despondency worsened.
She did not know if anyone came to see about her well-being while she slept.
However, why had no one left a note about Marcus?
When she was certain she would remain awake, she sat in the chair beside her window, not bothering to dress.
She had slept for so many days that she did not know how much time had passed since the constable had dragged her from the manor with Marcus’s wounded eyes following her out of his chambers.
She desperately longed to see him. However, with not even a note left for her to indicate the progress of his recovery, she could not know if he had improved at all, or if she had lost him.
If she had, she was unsure whether she was ready for such news.
Nor could she bear the news that he did not wish to see her.
When Sophia entered her chambers, however, Adelaide hurled herself into the maid’s arms.
“Oh, Sophia,” she said. “What do you know of Marcus? Has he… Is he…?”
Sophia held her mistress tightly, sobbing lightly into her shoulder.
“Miss Barrett, I was worried for you,” she said, pulling away and looking at Adelaide with a relief that only days of fearing the worst can provide. “I am at your service for whatever you need.”
Adelaide shook her head, pushing the maid gently away.
“What news of Marcus, Sophia?” she asked. “I am fine. I must know about Marcus.”
Sophia took a deep breath, her gaze filling Adelaide with cold dread.
“He slips in and out of consciousness,” she said. “One day, he seems to be improving. The next, he does not awaken at all. Mr. Fairfield seems uncertain about the duke’s recovery.”
Adelaide collapsed back into her chair, burying her face in her hands.
“I cannot lose him, Sophia,” she said. “I will perish if he does not survive.”
Sophia embraced her, rocking her gently.
“Come,” she said softly. “Let me draw you a bath. It will surely make you feel better.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to protest, but for the first time in her years as Adelaide’s lady’s maid, Sophia narrowed her brown eyes and pressed her lips together as she shook her head.
“You must regain your strength before you worry about His Grace,” she said firmly. “You cannot help him if you are weak and unwell.”
Adelaide sighed, giving the lady’s maid a gentle smile.
“Very well,” she said, leaning into Sophia’s grasp. “Thank you.”
The bath was invigorating, as she quickly found, the warm, lavender-scented water washing away the grit and stale air of the cell she inhibited, which she was still certain she could feel on her skin and in her hair until Sophia helped her out of the tub.
The lady’s maid escorted her back into her chambers after her bath, choosing her favorite green day dress and some diamond encrusted combs to pin up her hair.
“Let us get you feeling beautiful, milady,” she said gently as she began helping Adelaide dress. “The lovelier you look, the better you will feel.”
Adelaide nodded, though she felt less than lovely.
She silently allowed her lady’s maid to dress her and pin her hair into an intricate Grecian Knot held together by the combs.
When Sophia was finished, she glanced at the looking glass.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were shadowed as though she had not slept in a fortnight.
However, for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, she looked a little like her old self.
As she looked in the looking glass, she noticed a piece of paper beneath the door to her chambers.
Memories of the warning notes made her heart begin to beat frantically, even as she slowly crossed the room to retrieve it.
Her hands trembled so badly that she could not unfold the letter.
Sophia took it, looking at her mistress with grave concern.
“Allow me to read it to you,” she said softly with a sweet smile.”
Adelaide nodded, holding onto the door for support. However, as Sophia read the note, Adelaide’s heart stopped.
Come to Marcus’s room at once. It is urgent.
The message was simple and short, yet the meaning was unclear. Did the conciseness of the request mean that Marcus himself had her summoned? Or was the worst happening, and she was being brought there to spend his last moments with him?
It mattered little to Adelaide. She was being invited to Marcus’s chambers, and she would go immediately.
She was out the door and down the corridor before Sophia could call after her.
She did not stop running until she reached the door to Marcus’s chambers.
The door was firmly closed, so she was granted no glimpse of what awaited her inside.