It must have been laced with a sleeping draught, though Alex did acknowledge that she felt significantly more refreshed. Her body clearly needed the rest, but it was preferable tonotbe drugged by one’s mother.
Alex let out an idle yawn as she turned to the small clock on the nightstand and squinted at the face. Then she let out a gasp.
It was nearly noon.
Alex leaped out of bed and quickly washed up. She was still in her clothes from the night before, but didn’t bother to change. There wasn’t any more time to waste. She stepped into the hallway just as Freddie was closing the door to Lucien’s room.
Alex charged straight toward her. “What are you doing?”
Freddie held a finger up to her lips. “He just fell asleep.”
“Oh.” She came to a halt. “How—how is he?”
“He’ll be fine, but he needs to rest.” Freddie hooked her arm through Alex’s and began to lead her down the hall. “Come downstairs with me. You should eat. Doctor’s orders.”
“All right.” She must still be feeling the effects of the draught given that she didn’t have the energy to resist.
“Don’t worry,” Freddie soothed as she patted her hand. “We’ll check on him in an hour.”
“All right,” Alex repeated, though she did cast a mournful look at the closed door.
Suddenly a memory of a very small Freddie leading her along in much the same manner came to her—along with a similar feeling of surrender. Only then it was so they could go build a castle or play with her dolls.
Freddie could be quite persuasive under the right circumstances.
“Is anyone else at home?”
“Mother is napping and Father is at the office. But I am understrictorders to keep you away.”
Alex let out a huff. “That is the absolute last place I want to be right now.”
“Hmm,” Freddie replied as they entered the parlor.
Alex broke away to take her usual seat closest to the door while Freddie rang the bell for tea.
“I don’t suppose you and Lucien had the chance to talk before he was pummeled,” she asked as she took the chair across from Alex.
“No. I didn’t even know he was in the building until I—”
Heard him calling to me.
Her heart clenched. Lucien had engaged a man twice his size to give her the chance to escape. Alex wasn’t certain he would be alive right now if she had left him behind. She cleared her throat in a bid to keep her emotions at bay and looked down. “He was very brave.”
Alex could feel her sister’s eyes on her, but she had already broken down in front of her once today. A second time would be excessive.
“You both were,” Freddie murmured just as a maid entered with the tea cart followed by Mrs. Drummond, their London housekeeper and Mrs. Holloway’s older sister.
“Hello, ladies. How are you feeling, Miss Alexandra?”
Alex managed a weary smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“I’m very glad to hear it. You gave us all a good scare last night.”
“I’m sure,” Alex replied and moved to pour the tea, if only to give her hands something to do. And somewhere else to look other than in Mrs. Drummond’s concerned face. “Does Mr. Taylor know about Lucien?”
Mrs. Drummond sighed. “No. I was hoping poor Lucien’s condition would improve a little before I sent word to my sister.”
“He seemed better when I spoke to him,” Freddie offered. “He’s still very sore, poor thing, but nothing a good long rest won’t fix. The doctor said he should be able to return home in about a week.”
