Page 42 of Earl of Excess
“It’s Caleb Smoot. I think he followed us. Johnny described a man that has been hanging around outside—and it sounds like Caleb. Not only did he break into our house, but he was stealing my boat when I found him. Did I tell you that Dandie attacked him and bit a piece of his ear? Matthew held him at gunpoint, while I tied him up. Luckily, Tobias Smith arrived and took him with him. He promised to take care of the situation. Something must be wrong. I cannot imagine Tobias knows Smoot is here,” she finished.
“The man is blind, and he saves you from drowning and being bitten by a gator. And now I find out he helped hold off Smoot?” The older woman leaned back and hooted. “That colonel of yours is some catch, granddaughter. We need to get him well!”
Her aunt joined her in her mirth. Frustrated, Bethany picked up the cup and started down the hall to Matthew’s room. They ignored what she had tried to tell them about Caleb Smoot. Grandmère never commented on it. Bethany wondered if she had gotten it wrong. Maybe it wasn’t him. But inside, she knew it was. She recalled his nastiness when he heard Matthew’s accent. He hated the British, but he was not alone in that. Many of her countrymen had not found favor with the English.
Why was Caleb Smoot hanging around the plantation?
Dandie jumped off the couch and followed Bethany. They stopped in front of Matthew’s room. Bethany could hear him talking inside. She recognized the voice he used when he spoke in his sleep. It was fast, and he mumbled. She knocked on the door, hoping to draw his attention. No answer. She lifted her fist to knock again when the door opened. “Bethany. Is everything all right?”
“How did you know it was me, Matthew,” she asked in a light-hearted manner.
Matthew looked pale, and his cheeks were hot. “As I have said, you smell like honeysuckle, Bethany. I am thinking it’s becoming my favorite flower.” He grinned.
“I brought you some tea. We need to control the fever.”
Dandie licked his hand.
He nodded. “Will you sit with me? I feel dizzy and my head hurts. I hate to complain, but things feel like they are getting worse, and I don’t know what’s wrong.”
His voice sounded strained and weak. “Let me get this chair, Matthew. You should sit.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” he replied feebly.
As he drew closer to the chair, he lost his footing and hit the floor.
“Matthew!” Bethany shoved the cup of tea onto the small dresser and moved down by his side, cradling his head. “Grandmère, Aunt Theo, please come quickly,” she yelled in a trembling voice.
“What happened?” Grandmère asked.
“He got dizzy and fell—I could not catch him. Help me get him on the bed, please.” Bethany struggled with her grandmother to get him on the bed.
“Colonel! Let me help you.” Grandmère knelt on one side of Matthew. “He’s hit his head... badly. A bump is already rising on his right temple.”
Bethany grabbed him under one arm, and her grandmother grabbed him under the other arm. “Lift,” she said, as the two women lifted him onto his bed.
“How did you ever handle him after the battle,mon petit?” Grandmère asked, standing back and panting from the exertion.
Bethany swiped at her brow. “He could help, a little. I think he was a little in shock. I’ve never seen him so weak. What’s wrong with him?”
“I am not sure,” Grandmère said.
“Argh.” Matthew heaved over the edge of the bed and vomited black fluid.
She looked at her grandmother. “Mon Dieu!It’s the fever. Matthew hasyellow jack.”
Someone knocked loudly on the front door, and she jumped.
“You answer the door,cher. Do not let anyone in the house. We need to isolate. I will clean the floor. I have gloves.” Her grandmother quickly brushed past her towards the kitchen.
“Grrrrr...” Dandie barked, darting toward the door and backing up, repeatedly.
Dazed, Bethany approached the door and looked out the window. It was the man, Sinclair.
Determined not to repeat her earlier rudeness with the man, she opened the door, stepped outside and closed it behind her. “Yes?”
The dark-headed man backed up a few steps. “Miss Phillips. I know you have Lord Longueville.”
*
