Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,79

the way into a small bedchamber beneath the eaves. Two beds were crammed into it. One was neatly made. Juliet guessed it was Betty’s. In the other, lay the writhing, sweating figure of Susan, panting and groaning in clear distress. Mrs. Stewart knelt beside her, murmuring soothing words while bathing the sick girl’s forehead.

She glanced up, and at sight of Juliet, her eyebrows flew up.

“What can I do?” Juliet asked.

“Give me the medicine,” Mrs. Stewart said, reaching for it.

“Are you sure?” Juliet said, handing it over.

A distracted smile flickered across Mrs. Stewart’s anxious face. “Don’t worry, it always looks like that.”

“It’s only her ladyship’s recipe,” Betty explained. “Cook makes it up, so you needn’t worry about it being thirty years old and rancid.”

“As I recall, it couldn’t taste worse if it was thirty years old and rancid,” Mrs. Stewart said, “but it took care of all my childish stomach upsets. Juliet, can you just help her sit up a bit more so that she swallows this…”

Obediently, Juliet went to the bed and heaved the shivering girl into a more upright position. Susan took the medicine from the cup Mrs. Stewart held to her lips and swallowed.

“All of it,” Mrs. Stewart said, tilting the cup once more, and Susan took the rest. If it tasted vile, she didn’t seem to notice.

Juliet eased her back onto the pillows.

A minute later, while Betty, Juliet, and Mrs. Stewart gazed anxiously down at her, Susan suddenly heaved herself up, reaching blindly. Mrs. Stewart snatched the bowl from Betty, and the maid was violently ill into it.

“Griffin,” Mrs. Stewart called. “Send Dan for Dr. Gorman.”

“Dr. Gorman in Kidfield?” Juliet asked. “Susan’s mother is in the town, too, at the Black Cat.”

“Send to her, too, by all means,” Mrs. Stewart murmured. “We all want our mothers when we’re sick.”

An urgent clatter on the stairs, and Dan’s tousled head came round the door. He seemed to be fully dressed.

“I’ll come with you,” Juliet said, pushing past him. “And fetch Mrs. Harper.”

He caught her arm, frowning. “Don’t be silly. I’m riding for quickness. Dr. Gorman has his own horse, and Mrs. Harper doesn’t.”

“Besides, you can’t gallop around the country at night with Dan,” Mrs. Stewart said prosaically.

“Write her a note,” Dan urged, “and I’ll drop it at the Black Cat on my way past.” He released her, looking instead toward his mother. “What should I tell Gorman about her condition?”

Juliet darted back to her own chamber, ferreted out her writing materials from the bottom of her bag, and scrawled a quick, somewhat ink-blotted note to Mrs. Harper. It was just about legible. Hastily, she folded it, wrote the woman’s name across the front, and bolted to the door just as Dan’s boots thudded their way back down.

He paused on the half-landing with a quick, crooked smile, taking the note from her. “I won’t forget.”

“Dan,” she said urgently. “Be careful. Remember what happened this afternoon.”

“I’ll be riding like the wind,” he said lightly. “No one could touch me if they tried. Which they won’t. I’ll be back in just over an hour or so, hopefully. If he isn’t out on another call.”

His eyes flickered down to her lips, and lower, reminding her she wore nothing but the night rail and the open shawl. But even as her whole body flushed, his gaze rose determinedly back to her face, and with another flickering smile, he was gone.

Juliet swallowed and returned to the sick room. Here, she helped Mrs. Stewart change Susan’s soiled sheets, while Betty kept the girl warm in blankets. Juliet was disturbed by the spatters of blood across the pillowcase. At last, they half-carried Susan back into her bed. Betty brought over the two clean bowls, which the footman had left outside the bedchamber.

“I don’t think you have been to bed,” Juliet said to Mrs. Stewart. “Go and sleep, and I’ll sit with her.”

“I cannot take such advantage of a guest,” Mrs. Stewart said lightly.

“You would be doing me a favor,” Juliet assured her. “I like to be useful. And I owe Dan so much.”

“Do you?” Mrs. Stewart said thoughtfully, although she rose to her feet. “You must tell me about that some time. Because obviously, Dan will not.”

“I will,” Juliet promised, taking her place. “Betty, you should lie down. I’ll call if I need help.”

Mrs. Stewart vanished in a swish of skirts and could be heard directing Griffin to bed. Betty lay down fully dressed. Juliet squeezed out the cloth and gently bathed Susan’s face. The girl was