Page 3 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
It had grown dark. Each of the boys grabbed a blanket and settled into a spot by the roaring fire that Jude had tended.
Hudson surprised all of them by telling them a ghost story that was set at Christmas. He wasn’t known for storytelling or creativity, but it was an interesting story that had them all leaning closer with their blankets right until the very end.
After a few more stories, they all fell asleep, each of them sprawledout around the furniture in the room. One or two of them could have taken the bed within the single bed chamber in the cabin, but they had all opted to camp out together in the main room.
The next morning, Hudson woke them all up so they could try for a morning hunt. Once they had donned their greatcoats and bundled themselves in their warm coverings, they traversed the woods as quietly as they could, settling into a spot where they could observe the area from behind several large stones.
There was packed snow on the ground, but it wasn’t actively snowing. It was a little late in the season to hunt, but they hoped that luck might be on their side.
An hour or so later, that wouldn’t appear to be the case. They had sat in silence, patiently waiting, but the snow began to fall, and only fell harder as the wind picked up. They hadn’t seen a single animal out and about. Deciding they would freeze to death if they remained outside for much longer, they gave up and made their way back to the cabin.
Elias revived the fire while the rest of his friends peeled off their coverings so they could dry before the fire. They would warm up at the cabin for a few more hours and hope the snow stopped before they made the ride back to the main house.
Conversation filled the room as the boys spoke of the upcoming holiday and the treats they couldn’t wait to partake in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They devoured all the food from their packs. After a few hours, the snow had stopped, and they decided it was time to make the ride back to Elias’s house.
They dressed in their coats and warm coverings again. Elias separated the logs so that the fire would die out in the fireplace, while they each packed all of their things into their satchels. All the boys ventured to the stables and mounted their horses to set off.
The wind was harsh against their cheeks, but otherwise it was a pleasant ride. They trotted into the stables and leapt from their horses.
“My lord,” one groom started, his eyes cast to his feet. “Your father asked to have you attend him directly upon your return. We were just about to send someone to fetch you.”
“Is something amiss?” Elias asked.
The man met his gaze, and sadness marred his expression. “It’s not my place, my lord. You must speak with his lordship.”
Elias dropped his pack to the ground before addressing his friends. “Tend to things here and meet me in the drawing room. I must go to my father.”
Hudson nodded and took Elias’s gun from his hand. Elias sprinted toward the house. A footman was just inside the door.
“Where is my father?” Elias asked, his tone harsher than usual.
The footman wore the same somber expression the groom had. “I believe he’s with her ladyship. In her chamber.”
His words made little sense. Elias’s parents always slept in the same bed. His mother never used the chamber that was designated for the countess. He must mean the chamber his parents shared.
Elias took off again down the corridor from the back of the house until it opened up to the foyer that led to the grand staircase. He climbed the stairs two at a time, barreling to his parents’ chamber. Not bothering to knock, he threw the door open, and the chamber was empty. What was going on? Where was his father and why did he wish to see him?
Continuing farther down the hall to a chamber he couldn’t remember the last time he’d visited, other than perhaps when Diana roped him into a game of hide-and-seek, he approached the closed door. Something nagged at him, and he opened the door more cautiously this time, poking his head inside.
Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. His mother laid on the bed, having suffered some kind of accident given the amount of bloody bandages. One leg and arm were obviously broken and had been wrapped in dressings, but the blood seeped through thewhite cloth wrapping. There was blood around her midsection, and her head was wrapped with another bloody cloth.
“Papa?” he called, his voice barely above a whisper. He wasn’t even sure it was his own voice as he took in the shocking scene before him.
“Come in and close the door,” his father commanded. His papa, the man he loved and respected most in the world, and looked up to for all things, was a mixture of fury, pain, and sadness.
His papa held his mama’s hand while a doctor continued working with a grim expression. Elias drew a deep breath, his entire thin body trembling from the sight before him. Somehow he found the ability to step closer to the bed, coming to stand by his father to stay out of the way of the doctor who worked from the other side of the bed.
Elias remained quiet and fisted his hands at his sides, digging his fingernails into his palms to give himself something to focus on so he wouldn’t break into sobs beside his father, who appeared only moments away from slipping into a state of madness.
The doctor finally looked up from where he worked and caught his father’s gaze, shaking his head and his expression somber. “I’m very sorry, my lords. Her injuries are too severe. She won’t survive. I have given her laudanum to make her comfortable, but I don’t expect her to live much longer.”
“No!” his father cried out. “No. Emily, please. Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me.” His father was falling apart before his eyes, sobbing and holding his mother’s hand to his face. “No…no…no…You can’t. I can’t live without you.” Each of his words came out in between sobs.
Tears streamed down Elias’s cheeks as he clenched his fists harder, trying to maintain some level of composure for his father’s benefit. He glanced at his mother, who appeared as if she were sleeping peacefully, which was in stark contrast to the pale, almost blue tone of her skin and the devastating appearance of her injuries. Elias glanced away, meeting the eye of the doctor, who cast him a sympathetic expression.
“What happened?” Elias asked the doctor.
“She suffered an accident while riding. I am told that her horse returned to the stables without her and your father and grooms went out looking for her and found her like this in the snow.”
