Page 16 of Duke of Emeralds
Leonard tried to intervene gently, placing a hand on her arm to still her movements. “Mother, we can always tell Father later,” he said, his voice calm and reassuring.
But Patience shook her head, her eyes wild with both joy and desperation. “Why, but we cannot have dinner without your father too. All the more reason to find him,” she insisted, her voice rising slightly.
“Oh dear,” Hester murmured, her heart twisting with sorrow and helplessness. She hadn’t meant for her words to make matters worse, but she knew all too well the fragile state of her mother’s mind.
Leonard sent her a reassuring glance, his eyes filled with a quiet strength that Hester clung to. He followed their mother into his study, a room that had once belonged to their father, and Hester trailed behind them, her steps heavy with dread.
Patience moved through the room, her gaze darting from one corner to another, as if willing their father to appear. When she came up empty, she turned to them, her eyes filled with confusion and distress. “Children, I cannot find your father in his study,” she said, her voice trembling slightly.
“How about—” Leonard began, but Patience quickly cut him off, her eyes wild with a mix of desperation and hope.
“Oh, I saw him going to the stables earlier. Perhaps he’s still there,” she said with a sheen forming in her eyes.
“Mother, Father is not in the stables,” Leonard said, his hand reaching out to gently grasp her arm, trying to still her frantic movements.
“Well then, where is he?” she demanded, her eyes darting around the room as if expecting him to appear at any moment. “I need to find him,” she insisted, her voice rising with each word.
Hester’s heart wrenched as she watched her brother struggle to gently contain their mother, his arms wrapping around her in an attempt to calm her. But Patience was growing more agitated by the second, her body trembling with the force of her emotions.
“Benedict!” Patience screamed. “The children don’t want me to find you,” she added, her voice breaking with betrayal and despair.
“Mother, Father is no more. He’s dead. Gone. And you know it,” Leonard cried out.
Patience let out a wail, her body shaking with the force of her sobs. “You liar!” she beat against his chest, clawing at his coat. “My husband is not dead. He’s very much alive. More alive than you’ve ever been. You liar!”
Tears rolled down Hester’s cheeks.My mother did not deserve this fate,she thought, her hands clenching at her sides.She’d only loved, and was it a crime to love so deeply?
Patience’s frenzied gaze suddenly landed on Hester, her eyes filled with a desperate plea. “Tell him, Hester dear,” she urged. “Tell your brother that your father is not dead. That death wouldn’t have dared take him from me.”
Hester stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest as she struggled to find the words. She couldn’t voice the truth, not when it would only bring more pain to her mother. But she hoped that despite her state, her mother could read the truth in her eyes.
And she did. Patience’s eyes filled with grief and rage as she looked at Hester, her body trembling with the force of her emotions. She gave another violent jerk in Leonard’s arms.
“You lying little girl!” she cried.
The commotion had drawn the attention of the servants, who began to appear in the doorway.
“What have we done to deserve such lying children, Benedict?” she wailed as Leonard scooped her into his arms and made his way toward her chambers.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Thompson, hurried after them. “My Lord,” she called out, breathless with concern.
Leonard turned to her. “Get her tea ready at once. We need her calmed,” he instructed, his voice was controlled despite the turmoil that was evidently within him. “And send for the doctor too.”
“At once, My Lord,” Mrs. Thompson responded, her voice filled with a mix of concern and efficiency. She turned to the maid whohad followed them, her hands gesturing as she gave the young girl more instructions.
“Pardon me, My Lord,” Mrs. Thompson said. “I shouldn’t have let her out for too long.”
Leonard shook his head, his expression softening slightly. “God knows she deserves the air,” he said, his voice filled with a mix of sorrow and understanding. “None of us could have foreseen this happening.”
Hester could see the weight of their mother’s condition pressing down on Leonard, the lines of worry etched deep into his forehead. He laid their squirming mother on her bed, his movements gentle and careful despite the resistance she put up. Patience’s arms flailed, her body trembling with the force of her emotions.
But even in her distress, she managed to break free of his hold, her hand lashing out and striking him squarely across the cheek. The sound of the slap echoed through the room, and a shocked silence descended upon them all.
Even Patience seemed taken aback by her own violence, her body freezing as she stared at her son, her eyes wide with a mix of shock and horror. Leonard’s jaw clenched, his expression a mix of pain and sorrow, and Hester felt her heart twist within her chest.
“Is that you, Benedict?” Patience’s voice broke the silence, her hand reaching out to cradle Leonard’s face between her palms.She stroked the part of his cheek she had just assaulted, her fingers trembling slightly as she traced the thin cut her nails had left behind.
“Oh, Benedict,” she sighed. This was not the first time their mother had mistaken Leonard for their father during one of her distressed moments, and Hester knew that they would simply have to let matters take their natural course.
