Page 55 of Her Notorious Rake
He grasped Dalton’s hand and pulled him to his feet, helping him over to the chair in the darker corner of the room. “Close the drapes, please,” Dalton whispered, sinking down, tilting his head back to rest his eyes again. The sunlight was punishing, blinding.
Theodore sighed but acquiesced, and stood above him, arms folded, a stern look settling on his usually sunny features. “You’re going to kill yourself,” he told Dalton firmly.
“What do I have to live for?” Dalton murmured. He probably wasn’t making sense anymore, but then again, nothing made sense. His uncle would force him to wed Celeste, and Mother was slipping away every day, further and further. She’d barely stirred from her room lately, and when he went to check on her, she was asleep still, or in a half-conscious state and the physician’s expression was always grim.
He might have said all of this to Theodore in a jumbled rush, but then again, he was nearly out of his mind these days, lost in a stupor of depression and heartbreak. Or maybe, his heart had simply crumbled to dust inside. That would explain the numbness that settled over him like a blanket, making itimpossible to care any longer.
Theodore leaned down and grasped him by the shoulders, shaking him. “Are you going to just let her go? Without a fight?”
“She wouldn’t receive me when I called on her yesterday evening. I couldn’t even get in the front door at Kenway House.”
Theodore sighed, his eyes flickering with sympathy. “Heavens…”
Someone knocked, soft but urgent, on the bedroom door behind them.
“Cousin, please—I must tell you something. About my uncle,” Celeste’s voice was muffled, tearful as it had been the last several days, whenever she’d tried to accost Dalton. He shook her off each time with a glare that she wilted beneath.
Dalton groaned into his hands. “Celeste! I’ve told you—”
“Let her in—let’s hear what she has to say,” Theodore whispered to him.
Dalton shot him a withering glare and waved his hand in assent. “Very well,” he muttered.
Theodore strode over to the bedroom door and pulled it open. “Celeste!” he hissed, motioning for her.
She hastened past him, and urged him to shut the door. Her face was pale and blotchy, her eyes and nose red as she began to weep again. “Oh, Dalton, I must tell you everything. Everything my uncle has done—”
“What has he done?” Theodore whispered, frowning.
“My uncle, and the physician—I heard them speaking last night, and they were discussing something about increasing Aunt Adelaide’s doses. Oflaudanum.He’s paid the physician to render her insensible, with thesetonics. They’ve—” and here she dissolved into a fit of sobbing that made her incomprehensible, and sank into Theodore’s arms.
Dalton pushed himself to his feet, ignoring his protesting head. “They’vewhat?” he whispered. “Uncle Ernest is—he’sgiving my mother laudanum?”
“Yes,” Celeste hiccuped. “I heard the physician say that the dose Uncle requested he dose your mother with…he said it could kill her.” More sobbing. It took her several moments to catch her breath, and a shake from Dalton. “And Uncle—he got so angry, said the physician was going back on his word, after everything he’s been paid. And he said to the physician, ‘You did not object all those years ago when we dosed my brother with the final dose.’” Celeste pressed a hand to her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And Dalton, it washisidea, to coerce you to wed me. He’ll do anything, it’s evident. To secure your estate for himself. He always has believed it’s rightfully his. But I—I didn’t think he would—” Theodore let her dissolve into his arms again, and he met Dalton’s eyes. The air crackled with the significance of this revelation.
Dalton began to shake from head to toe, outrage clouding his senses, headier than the whiskey he’d been drinking for perhaps days on end. Uncle ErnestkilledFather? Deep down in his gut, a sickening wave of shock bloomed, and he shook his head. Uncle Ernest was conniving, certainly, but was he truly capable ofmurder?
“Where is he?” He whispered.
Theodore released Celeste and grabbed Dalton by the arm. “You won’t do anything rash,” he whispered firmly. “Or you will only bring censure upon your own head. Take this to the law, as this is a criminal offense on your uncle’s part.”
“He murdered my father, Theodore,” Dalton’s stomach churned. “He—” He closed his eyes as a tear slid down his cheek. “And now, he will kill my mother.” Turning to his cousin, he roared out, “Where is he, Celeste?”
Theodore grasped Dalton by his shirtfront. “Think,Dalton. The man is dangerous. We must proceeded delicately. First of all, we must see to your mother, ensure that she is safe.”
“She is scarcely awake now. She’s slipping away because of that monster.”
Theodore turned to Celeste, grasping her by both arms and fixing her with those stern looks of his. “Celeste, is your uncle out of the house? I didn’t notice him earlier.” When Celeste nodded and confirmed that Ernest was gone, he told her, “Go and sit with your aunt. I will call my carriage around, and have your mother taken to my home, so she may be safe. Celeste, you will accompany her. I fear that your uncle will do anything to achieve his end, and that may mean that your life, your aunt’s life, and Dalton’s are in terrible danger.”
Celeste nodded and flew out the door.
Dalton tried to breathe. “And what of my uncle?”
“I have a plan,” Theodore told him in a whisper.
***
The carriage left London hours ago, and now Gemma watched the hills and fields blur past as she drew closer and closer to Willow Grove. She and Udolpho would need to stop over at an inn, perhaps, since it was already late in the day, and before long, it would be nightfall.
