Page 74 of Passion Painted in a Lady's Heart
“Are you going somewhere?” Sebastian’s stepmother asked, as Sebastian came downstairs the next morning.
He had packed a bag, and John had written to say they could leave for Bath at once. Sebastian was looking forward to getting away, and he nodded, noticing his uncle standing in the door of the dining room across the hallway.
“A few days in Bath with Lord Cuthbert. It’ll do me good. We won’t call at the estate but stay in the town. I’m not needed here, am I?” Sebastian asked, fearing his stepmother might mention something else of vital importance he had forgotten.
But to his relief, she shook her head.
“It’ll certainly do you good, Sebastian. Have a safe journey, and we’ll see you when you return,” she replied, smiling at him, as though encouraging him to go.
Sebastian nodded, putting on his coat, and wanting only to leave as quickly as possible. His uncle expressed a similar sentiment as to his hopes for Sebastian’s safe journey. Thanking them both, Sebastian stepped out into the summer sunshine, taking a deep breath, and glad to think he was leaving his troubles behind, at least for a short while. Rosalind was still on his mind, but he reminded himself he had done the right thing, even as it had been truly painful to do.
“I couldn’t burden her with the scandal. I love her too much for that,” he told himself, vowing to forever hold Rosalind in his heart the perfect picture, even as there could be nothing real about his dreams.
John was waiting for him in a carriage at the end of the street, and they were to depart immediately for Bath, overnighting at an inn along the way, and staying with a friend of Lord Cuthbert’s, who had a townhouse on the Royal Crescent.
“Ah, here you are, very good. How are you feeling?” John asked as Sebastian climbed into the carriage.
“I’ve felt better, but… let’s just get going. I want to get away from all this. It’s all so confusing. I don’t know… well, I don’t know if I’m mad or not,” Sebastian replied.
His friend shook his head.
“You’re not mad. How many times do I have to repeat it to you, Sebastian?” he asked, rolling his eyes.
Sebastian smiled. He was exasperating himself with his own speculation, let alone those around him. But as they set off, he let out a sudden cry, realizing he had left his bag behind in the hallway.
“I really am going mad. This is utterly ridiculous. We’ll have to go back. Do you mind?” he said, but John waved his hand dismissively.
“We’re only a few minutes away. It’s easy to forget things. Come along, we’ll go back. It’s no trouble,” he said, and leaning out of the carriage window, he instructed the driver to return to their starting point.
Sebastian did not want to be seen by his stepmother or uncle. He would slip in through the back of the house via the kitchen door. John insisted on accompanying him, and the cook looked somewhat surprised to see the two aristocrats enter through the pantry as she was humming to herself while kneading dough.
“You gave me quite a fright, my Lord,” she exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Pattison. I forgot something. I just need to use the back stairs,” Sebastian replied, and leading John through the underbelly of the house, with its larders and cold rooms, they made their way up the back stairs to the hall.
A door led discreetly from below the main staircase into the marble flagged hallway, but as Sebastian approached the top of the stairs, he could hear hushed voices coming from beyond. His stepmother and uncle were talking, and now he paused, turning to John, who reached out and opened the door a tiny crack.
“I wasn’t expecting him to go, but it doesn’t matter. We know it’s working. When he returns, we’ll finish what we’ve started,” his stepmother said.
Sebastian could see her standing by the banister at the bottom of the stairs, her uncle standing just beyond the line of his vision, his hand on Lady Southbourne’s arm.
“I’ve waited long enough, Victoria. A few more days won’t make a difference. You’ve done well first, my brother, and now Sebastian. It was a marvelous ruse my grandfather’s madness made to be my brother’s, too and now my nephew’s,” Sebastian’s uncle replied.
Sebastian’s eyes grew wide with horror. He turned to John, who looked equally astonished, but who now caught his arm, lest Sebastian do something impulsive.
“Listen,” John mouthed.
“It really wasn’t difficult to move a cigar case, alter a painting, or mistake arrangements of social events. And we were lucky in finding Mr. Palin, too. He was very helpful when it came to my husband, and he’s proving his use now. He played the part of a doctor very well, didn’t he?” Sebastian’s stepmother said.
His uncle laughed.
“Exceedingly so a slow working poison, working little by little. My brother suspected nothing, and neither does Sebastian,” he replied.
“He suspects he’s going mad, but… he is, isn’t he? All those cups of coffee. I overdid it a little when he was sick, but no matter. A few more doses, and he’ll be just like his father confined to his bed, incapable of making decisions, and then…” she said, her words trailing off.
“And then, my dear, you and I will marry, and without a legitimate heir to your poor, mad stepson, I’ll become the Earl of Southbourne,” Sebastian’s uncle replied.
They laughed together, and Sebastian watched as his uncle put his arm around Lady Soutbourne, drawing her into an embrace and kissing her. He was trembling with anger, and it was as much as he could do not to burst through the door and confront them immediately.
