Chapter Nineteen
Winsome had justoverheard the doctor claim that Lord Manderbey must be kept awake and moving. Thank heavens her father had sent for Philips, else they would have allowed the lord to go to sleep.
“Won’t he get cold if we’re making him walk around while he’s not wearing anything?” Thomas asked.
“Probably,” Phillips said, “but that will be a help rather than a hindrance. His being uncomfortable will help keep him conscious. Let’s get him up but be warned, he’s likely to be bad-tempered about it.”
They must have roused Lord Manderbey as he shouted, “Get off me, you rogues!”
“See what I mean about the temper, very usual. All the way up, that’s the ticket,” Phillips said.
“Unhand me!”
“Calm yourself, Manderbey. You are at my house,” the duke said. “I thought you might sleep off your dose of laudanum, but Phillips said you’ve got to be up and walking.”
“Phillips?” Lord Manderbey said with a note of disdain. “Who is Phillips?”
“My personal physician.”
“Your Grace. It’s you,” Lord Manderbey said, as if just recognizing him.
“It’s me, all right,” the duke said. “There now, let’s get you walking.”
There was the sound of shuffling. “Excellent,” Phillips said. “Let’s keep him awake for several hours and then we should be in the clear.”
“Who are you?” Lord Manderbey said accusingly.
“Phillips,” the physician said with a sigh. To the duke, he said, “Do not expect much sense out of him for now.”
“Excuse me,” Lord Manderbey said, “you don’t make sense! Why am I here?”
“Manderbey,” the duke said, “try to concentrate. You are at my house. You’ve been dosed with laudanum and now you have to walk it off.”
“Did Phillips do it?” Lord Manderbey asked.
“No, Phillips did not do it. Now keep walking.”
Winsome heard shuffling. Then Lord Manderbey said, “What’s his first name?”
This, apparently, was in reference to her father, as Charlie said, “The duke?”
“That fellow right there.”
“Um, well, it’s Roland,” Charlie said, “though I never in my life said it out loud before now.”
“Roland,” Lord Manderbey said, “I’m going to marry your daughter and I’ll have no complaints about it.”
Winsome slapped a hand over her mouth. Gracious, she did not know how much laudanum Lord Manderbey had consumed, but it was having some unintended consequences. She counted on her father’s good humor to avoid getting offended about it.
“I see,” the duke said.
“I said no complaints!”
“My God this is going to be a long night,” the duke said.
And so it was a long night. Lord Manderbey had, for two hours, had all sorts of pronouncements to make as he was walked back andforth. He rather routinely forgot who Phillips was and asked him why he was there. He swerved from calling the duke Roland and then duke and then back to Roland again. He even proposed Rolly as a nickname. He at one point was very suspicious about Charlie, for reasons only known to himself. At another point, Mr. Wicket must have stepped out of the shadows and Lord Manderbey had cried, “A specter!”
When informed it was Mr. Wicket, he said, “Don’t know why anybody would have a fellow named Wicked in their house.”
