Page 12 of A Duke Under Her Spell
“Thank you, Your Grace.” Miss Wright nodded. Felix offered her his arm and she graciously accepted, allowing him to lead her into the house and up to her room. They stopped just short of the Dowager Duchess’s bedchamber and he opened the door. He motioned for Miss Wright to step inside. The maids had aired the room, lit the fireplace, and provided fresh bed linens.
“’Tis beautiful,” Miss Wright breathed in awe.
“This room is kept for my mother’s guests, as you are now, Miss Wright,” Felix smiled at her response to the room. “Please make yourself at home. Do not hesitate to ask the staff for anything that you might need. The house and its grounds are at your disposal. When you are not treating my mother, you are free to come and go as you please.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. I would like to return to my croft as often as is possible, but I will do so only when it is safe to leave your mother alone. Until we have ascertained whether the treatment is working, I will remain nearby.”
“I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to aid us in our time of crisis. You cannot imagine the number of physicians we have consulted on the matter, and you are the first to present a possible solution. My uncle has been offering to send practitioners from the East. If you are not able to help, then I will be forced to accept whatever he can manage to send us. I fear he would go to great expense only to receive the same response as all of the doctors who came before them.”
“I will do my best, but in truth there is no guarantee that my way will work any better than the physicians who came before me,” she warned, placing her belongings on the bed.
“I will take whatever aid you can offer. The certainty of its efficacy will come with the results or it will not, but either way all one can truly do is try, and to save my mother, I would do anything.”
“A sentiment I can understand more than most, Your Grace. Could I have saved my grandmother, I would have done so in an instant.”
“What was it that took her?”
“Unfortunately, it was the one thing her medicines could not cure, old age. She died quietly in her sleep.”
“May I express once again how sorry I am for your loss.”
“It was her time and she was ready. I was not.”
“We never are when it comes to our parents.”
“Indeed.” She looked up at him studying his face. “Did I see a wheeled chair out upon the lawn, Your Grace?”
“Yes, you did. My latest construction.”
“Might I see it? I am most interested in such things. It would certainly improve your mother’s quality of life, would it not?”
“That is my hope. Before she fell ill, gardening was my mother’s passion. She loved her roses. Now, she cannot leave her bedchamber. That is no life for anyone. I dream of a way in which she can live her life with minimal restrictions to her mobility. Since my father died, it has been a struggle. Shall we go and see it now?”
“Yes, thank you, Your Grace. I would like that very much.”
“Allow me to look in on Mother and then we shall go.”
“Of course.”
Leaving the guest room, they both looked in on the Dowager Duchess, but found her sleeping. The two of them walked back outside and over to the wheeled chair. “Might I impose upon you to sit in it for a time,” Felix requested. “I would like to test it fully before placing my mother in it.”
“Of course. I would be happy to do so.” Miss Wright sat in the chair and allowed herself to be wheeled around the gardens.
The Earl and Lady Cordelia watched agape at the unorthodox nature of their behavior. “Your Grace?” Lady Cordelia called out in question. “Is all well?”
“Yes, fear not, My Lady. Miss Wright has simply agreed to aid me in testing my new device. We will be but a moment. Please, enjoy your tea.”
Felix wheeled the healer about for a moment more and then took her over to the tea table. “It is of grand construction, Your Grace,” the Earl praised as Felix assisted Miss Wright from the chair.
“Yes, I think it will do quite nicely.”
“Her Grace is fortunate to have as caring and conscientious of a son as Your Grace.”
“Thank you.” Felix could not escape the feeling that the Earl was only being so pleasant because he still wished to convince him to sell the land with the castle, and to marry his sister.
Looking at Miss Wright, he found himself wishing once more that it was she, and not Cordelia Weatherton, who was the noble lady.But she is not, and all thoughts of such a nature are for naught.Shaking his head, he moved forward to tend to his guests. He was caught off guard when Lady Cordelia laid a possessive hand on his arm as he sat down.Such forward behavior is unlike her.Following Lady Cordelia’s eye, he caught her giving Miss Wright a look of disdain.Jealousy is not an attractive look for anyone.
Try as he may he could not bring himself to like the Weathertons, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult with Miss Wright’s presence. The four of them wiled away the next hour together until Miss Wright arose and announced that she would go and look in on the Dowager Duchess. Once the healer was out of hearing the Earl leaned forward a look of concern on his face, “Do you believe it to be wise to invite the granddaughter of a witch into your home, Your Grace?”
