Shocked, Alex looked at her sister. “Aweek?”
Freddie shrugged. “That’s what he said. Maybe even a little longer, depending on how he heals.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “Is that a problem?”
“No,” Alex said quickly. “No, I just didn’t—oh,blast.”
She hadn’t been paying attention and overfilled her cup. Now tea was getting everywhere.
The housekeeper politely ignored her very unladylike curse and began mopping up the mess. “Allow me.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Drummond,” Alex mumbled.
“Not a problem, Miss Alexandra. Might I suggest a drop of whiskey? I’ve found there’s nothing better for soothing the nerves,” Mrs. Drummond said with a wink.
Normally, Alex would feel compelled to insist that her nerves werejust fine, but today she waved a hand. “Yes, why not.”
Mrs. Drummond flashed her a smile and nodded. As the housekeeper headed for the liquor cabinet, Freddie arched a brow.
Alex rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me I’ve finally shocked you.”
“In the last day you’ve cried in front of me, said you didn’t want to go to the office, and now you’re drinking in the afternoon.” Freddie ticked off each item on her hand. “Yes, I’d say you’ve suitably shocked me.”
Alex huffed a laugh while Mrs. Drummond returned with the whiskey bottle and poured a generous drop into her teacup. “I suppose that is a rather surprising trifecta.”
“I would have thought hell would freeze first.” The housekeeper abruptly cleared her throat. “Apologies for my bad language, Mrs. Drummond,” Freddie said. “My sister and I are both a little out of sorts today.”
Mrs. Drummond tried to look stern, but a smile pulled at her lips. “Will there be anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Alex said, but then Freddie called her back.
“Send word to Dr. Mosley and tell him Lucien woke about an hour ago, had the medicine he left, and fell asleep again. He’ll probably stop by later anyway,” Freddie added airily. “But I know he wanted to be notified when Lucien woke.”
“Of course, Miss Winifred,” the housekeeper said with a nod and left the room.
Alex bit the inside of her cheek and mentally chastised herself for feeling envious over Freddie taking charge of the situation. She should be grateful to her sister for taking over when she had been too exhausted to stay up. Shewasgrateful. But oh, how Alex wished she could have been there when he woke. Instead, he had been greeted by the image of Freddie, looking fresh-faced and angelic in her simple white gown. She could picture his smile of relief, even now. But just as Alex’s stomach began to tighten, she took a long sip of tea.
“Alex,” Freddie prompted. “He will befine,” she said with certainty. “Don’t worry.”
Alex was swamped with guilt over her unkind thoughts. “I know,” she bleated, not sounding very certain. Freddie gave her an encouraging smile and patted her hand. But before Alex could castigate herself any further, someone knocked softly on the door.
Mrs. Drummond entered with a worried look on her face. “Sorry to interrupt,” she began. “But an Inspector Holland is here. And he said it is urgent.”
Alex set down her cup and hurried to her feet. Just the distraction she was looking for. “Of course. Show him in.”
She smoothed the front of her dress and patted her hair. Now she regretted not taking the time to change. Alex wasn’t used to having even a hair out of place, but it was too late for that.
“You look fine,” Freddie grunted. “It’s only the inspector.”
Alex turned in surprise at the dismissive comment and found Freddie slouching with her arms crossed.
Strange.
But Alex didn’t have the chance to ruminate on this any further before Inspector Holland appeared. Only then did Freddie bother to sit up—and reluctantly, at that.
“Thank you so much for coming here,” Alex said as she shook his hand. “I know how busy you are.”
Freddie muttered something under her breath that Alex couldn’t quite make out. The inspector cast her a quick glance before addressing Alex.
“I would have come sooner, but Officer O’Connell suggested it had been a late night. I thought I would give you both time to recover.”
