Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“What is it?” Cedric called as he heard the knock at his office door.
He resumed chewing on the corner of his bottom lip as he continued looking down at the papers before him.
He’d been called away the night before to hear an investment opportunity into the nearby town’s wheat yield increase, and though the investment returns were clearly written out on the pages before him, he could not seem to focus.
It seemed all he wanted to focus on anymore was Deborah’s lips.
How soft they felt, how addicting they had tasted; like milk and cream and peaches.
He’d never met a woman who tasted so delicious.
Even when he wanted to be mad at her earlier, all he could feel was yearning, which had only soured his mood further and was how he found himself doing something he was not prone to doing- apologizing.
He knew she would never admit it, but there was a moment- a brief moment, where she let herself go and sank into his arms. Feeling her melt into him had been…heavenly. Better than any touch he’d felt with a woman, and he had felt many.
“Ahem.”
Cedric blinked, realizing that once again he’d gotten caught up in the memory of their kiss, and looked up to see his young valet, Ebon.
“Yes, my boy,” Cedric sighed, dropping his pen onto his desk. “What is it?”
Ebon gave him a curious look.
“I am just waiting for your answer, Your Grace,” the young valet replied.
Cedric’s brows furrowed.
“Answer to what?” He asked.
Ebon’s look of curiosity shifted to one of worry as he shifted nervously on his feet. Cedric rubbed his temple as he stifled a groan, suddenly understanding that the boy had spoken to him, and he had been so wrapped in his thoughts that he had not heard him.
“To my question, Your Grace? I- I asked you if you would like me to turn down your bedding for you. Or if I could bring you a glass of port?”
“Turn down my bedding?” Cedric muttered, reaching for his pocket watch, “Why would you do that? It is only-”
Cedric paused as his eyes narrowed in on the lateness of the hour.
“Nearly one in the morning,” he sighed, snapping his pocket watch closed.
He put his pocket watch back and looked toward Ebon with a pitying gaze.
“Go to bed, my boy; I will take care of myself this evening. I am sorry that you waited to help me. I had no idea it had grown this late,” Cedric apologized.
There I go, apologizing again, he thought dryly.
Ebon gave him a kind smile and bowed.
“It really was no trouble, Your Grace,” he replied.
Cedric bid the valet farewell and then returned to his investment proposals. The words were just starting to blur and lose focus again when the sound of shattering glass had him jolting out of his chair. The word ‘Help!’ was then screamed with desperation, and Cedric rushed from his office.
His heart began to thrash wildly in his chest as he rounded the corner of the hallway and found Ebon on the ground, trying to hold down a convulsing Adeline.
“I did not mean to!” Ebon cried, looking up at Cedric with tear-filled eyes. “We just bumped into one another. It gave me a fright. Her as well. She laughed but then…then this happened!”
“It is alright, Ebon,” Cedric said, going to his knees, “Let her go, I have her.”
“I did not know what to do, what should I do?” the boy cried.
“You should go to bed,” Cedric said calmly, gently rolling Adeline onto her side, just as Mrs. House had told him to do, “Take tomorrow off. I imagine you must have had quite the fright.”
“But I- ” Ebon started to say.
“I said go!” Cedric boomed over his shoulder. “Leave us at once!”
Sniffling, the sixteen-year-old servant took off down the hall and toward the staff quarters.
“You are safe, Adeline; you hear me?” Cedric asked, forcing his voice to be calm and free of fear or worry despite what he felt, “This will pass, and you will be well again.”
Desperation coursed through Cedric. He wanted to call for Mrs. House, but he feared what effect that would have on Adeline if the girl saw her old nurse again. So instead, he continued to kneel by Adeline’s side, watching helplessly as the girl’s convulsions seemed to drag on.
“Oh, my God!”
Cedric wrenched his head up as he heard the exclamation, and he glared at Deborah as he saw her running toward them.
“Leave us at once!” He snarled, moving closer to Adeline’s convulsing body.
“Hush, you ogre!” Deborah snarled right back, kneeling beside the girl.
Cedric’s mouth dropped agape as Deborah smoothed away the hair in Adeline’s face. No one had ever talked to him like that. Especially when he was in one of his more visceral moods.
“Come now, love, snap out of it,” Deborah cooed, her entire focus on Adeline as she moved her hand in soothing circles on the girl’s back. “Come back to us. Remember what you said? You are strong!”
Cedric’s gaze dropped back to Adeline as the little girl let out a heartbreaking whimper, and then suddenly her seizures stopped. Her little body all but melted into the floor, and her eyes fluttered shut.
“Adeline?” He worriedly asked, stroking a hand over her hair.
“Shhh,” Deborah soothed, placing her palm on the girl’s neck as she closed her eyes.
Cedric snapped his mouth shut, worry making his nerves stand on end, and his hands shake.
“Her heartbeat is steady,” Deborah whispered, removing her hand, “And her breathing is deep and strong. She is just asleep.”
Cedric expelled his held breath, dizzy with relief.
“Of course she is,” he whispered, gathering the girl in his arms, “After what just happened, the poor thing must be exhausted.”
Adeline felt troublingly light as Cedric lifted her into his arms and rose to his feet.
He took a step, then halted when the sound of grinding glass echoed through the suddenly silent hallway.
He looked down and saw that one of the large Chinese urns had crashed to the floor; no doubt what he had heard crashing in the first place.
“What is- oh my!” Mrs. House gasped as she rounded the corner.
Cedric turned with Adeline in her arms. The housekeeper was in her nightgown and robe, holding up an oil lamp as her wide eyes surveyed the mess.
“Is she-” Mrs. House began to ask, but as Cedric opened his mouth to order her back to bed, Deborah spoke.
“Our girl is just fine, Mrs. House. Thank you for your concern.” Deborah stated kindly, “Would you please see to cleaning this mess up? We do not wish for any other incidents this evening.”
Cedric looked back at Deborah, in awe of her calm strength amid the chaos.
“Of course, Your Grace, of course,” Mrs. House replied, then scurried off to do as she was told.
Then, to Cedric, she whispered, “I shall send Arina to the room.”
Cedric nodded quickly.
“Come along,” Deborah urged, putting a gentle hand on Cedric’s lower back, surprising him once again, “Let us get our little love to bed.”
Cedric simply nodded, grateful that, even if just for once, someone else took the reins of control and shared the heavy responsibility with him.
Deborah kept her hand on his back the entire time they walked through the hall, up the stairs, and toward Adeline’s bedroom, holding an oil lamp in the other, to light the way. Despite what had just happened, he could not help but think about how soft and comforting such a simple touch felt.
In Adeline’s bedroom, Cedric lay the girl down in her bed with utmost care.
“I had thought she had stopped her late-night wonderings,” Cedric whispered, taking Adeline’s limp hands in both of his. “I thought she was finally starting to get her rest.”
“No,” Deborah whispered, looking down at the sleeping girl with great affection, “That is how we met. The first night we were here, neither of us could sleep.”
Cedric only nodded at the new information. It seemed Deborah knew more about Adeline than he had realized.
“Do you believe that could be reason why she suffered from one of her fits tonight?” He whispered, staring at Adeline’s pale face.
“It could be,” Deborah whispered, moving her hand from his back to his shoulder.
He shivered, acutely aware of every inch her warm, delicate fingers moved, despite the fabric of his shirt separating their flesh.
“It could also be from our exercise today,” Deborah went on. “Perhaps you were right, and I should not have taken her outside.”
Guilt swept through Cedric as he continued to look worriedly at his niece, but he said nothing.
“Should we call the physician?” Deborah whispered.
Cedric drew his gaze up to the large seascape portrait hanging on Adeline’s wall.
He watched as the frame of it lifted slightly away from the wall, a subtle sign that Arina was ready to come in as soon as they left.
She would examine the girl as she slept, and if there was a need to call the physician, the kind maid would let him know.
“No need,” Cedric replied.
He then leaned down and kissed the top of Adeline’s hand, then gently tucked it by her side as he rose to his feet. As he did so, he became acutely aware of Deborah’s hand slipping away from his shoulder, and he was startled by how quickly he longed to have it back.
“For now, she just needs to rest. Come along; you can check on her in the morning,” Cedric urged.
This time, it was his hand that went to her back as he began to guide her out of Adeline’s room. Deborah, to his relief, allowed him to do so, but even so, she continued to look worriedly over her shoulder at Adeline until Cedric led them to the hallway and then closed the door.
“Are you sure she should be alone after what happened?” Deborah whispered, looking at the closed door. “I could stay with her. Make sure she does not have another fit.”
Affection spread through Cedric’s chest, touched by how much Deborah already seemingly cared for Adeline.