But he intended to find a way to remain faithful to his marriage irrespective of his feelings, which meant he should listen to her advice while he had the opportunity to do so. Future interactions must be avoided, so this was his chance to hear her thoughts.
“What do I do?”
Madeline’s lips curled into a smile. “If there is one thing I am confident of, it is that you will find a new plan. You are resourceful, Simon Scott. This is a temporary setback.”
Simon drew in a deep breath and with it came some sense of peace in the midst of his psychological tempest. “I shall contrive a new role for myself. One of my own choosing.”
Her amber eyes glowed in approval. “You shall.”
“What of Miss Boyle?”
Madeline’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second until she recovered. “You will find a way to make it work because that is the kind of man you are. A true gentleman through and through. She … You …. The two of you will discover what you have in common and grow closer over time. Perhaps one day”—she swallowed as if the sentiment caused her composure to sway—“fall in love.”
Simon stared down into her beautiful face, tempted to lean down and brush his lips over her soft mouth, but he willed himself to hold on to his integrity. Despite the swimming confusion in his mind, Madeline’s contribution was calming thedespairing beast within, and he could almost imagine that he would be happy in his new life with Olivia Boyle at his side if he stayed true to his honor.
“You are a good friend, Madeline Bigsby.”
“Will you be all right?”
He nodded. “I will find a way.”
CHAPTER 6
“Her first task was to sort a huge pile of mixed grains—millet, barley, poppy seeds—before nightfall, a feat no mortal could achieve.”
Lucius Apuleius, Metamorphoses
OCTOBER 2, 1821
The family physician was in John’s private rooms when Simon joined him to force a serious discussion of developments from the day before. Dr. White was a friendly old man about five feet high, with a balding head framed by a thick fringe of white hair, and he sported a luxurious mustache. His thick eyeglasses pinched either side of his head in their tight embrace, and … Simon eschewed treatment from him.
There was something glib about White’s manners, and his propensity for generous prescriptions of laudanum as a cure-all for every complaint of the physical or the spirit was off-putting. Simon preferred to follow good habits and avoid physicians when he could. He missed the doctor who had taken care of his brother Nicholas after his accident, but he had retired years ago and Isla had presented this medicating quack in his place. Needless to say, his family adored him because he kept them in a ready supply of alcohol and opium concoctions—Simon’s warnings about the habit-forming nature of such fell on deaf ears.
White packed up his things and left, Simon watching him depart with a belligerent stare. “I do not know why you see him. Your health has not improved under his watch.”
John coughed, clearing his throat before rising to ring a bell. “He has an excellent reputation, according to the ladies Isla takes tea with.”
Simon ground his teeth, not wishing to start another quarrel, but it was clear the reason for theexcellent reputationwas that certain people of their set liked to receive their drugs without admonishment from a caring healer. His father had been such an individual. White was unlikely to criticize a patient over their use of medications.
“We need to speak about this heir,” Simon stated, deciding to change the subject.
A knock on the door interrupted him, with Duncan entering after John called out to him.
“Milord?”
“Bring me my coffee, Duncan.”
The footman’s expression shifted to one beleaguered by great troubles. “The doctor, milord.”
Simon rolled his eyes. White might be irresponsible dispensing the bottles of laudanum, but apparently he wasadamant that John needed to forsake the bitter beverage for tea. A direction which Duncan attempted to remind his master of, but to no avail.
“Bring me my coffee!” John wheezed as he shouted his command again. Isla and John did not see eye to eye on this one subject. Simon, on the other hand, thought it was a ridiculous line to draw in the sand. If the laudanum flowed like wine, what harm could the coffee do?
After a few tense moments, Duncan relented and headed off to fetch the coffee.
“It is a dark day for the Blackwood title.”
Simon lifted his gaze with a quizzical rise of his eyebrow, having lost the thread of the conversation.
