“Thank heavens, you’re all right.” Angeline held his hand with desperation.
He didn’t have the energy to reassure. The headache was splitting his skull in two.
“Oh, Royston. I’m sorry.” She brushed his hair from his face. “It was my mother. She put something in your drink, a potion she brews herself from mushroom powder and dried herbs. It is a hallucinogenic.”
“Damn.” He scrubbed the back of his neck.
He wanted to say something, but Enright entered carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and tea.
“My lord, please eat everything. It’s very important you drink a lot of fluids. The physician was very clear.” The butler stood there, giving him a pointed look.
“I will. I promise.” Royston was so confused.
Enright left the room, casting glances at him as if worried he might collapse.
“Drink some tea.” She poured and handed him the cup. “I’ll tell you more once you drink the tea.”
“I remember having a drink with your mother,” he said among sips. “But then I dreamed… or maybe it was real. You came in a beautiful nightgown.”
He finished the tea. Admittedly, the hot drink settled his stomach.
“No, darling.” She helped him with the soup. “My mother’s potion essentially helps fabricate false memories.”
“Very vivid memories. I could swear you were real.”
“Unfortunately, you reacted badly to the drug, and you were incredibly sick. I called a physician, but in the meantime, something else happened.” She paused, lowering her gaze. “More soup.”
He took a moment to savour the leek and potato soup, not too salty and with a dollop of soured cream. The more he ate, the better he felt.
“What happened?”
She took her time to answer. “Lady Redvers discovered your marriage proposal to me and decided to take action. She threw her daughter at you while you lay delirious on the sofa. Then she pretended to catch you and her daughter in a compromising situation. A few of her friends witnessed the scene.”
He lowered the bowl. “Bloody hell. Now I remember Miss Taylor vaguely.”
“Lady Redvers expects you to marry her daughter. I’d say everyone does. News of your supposed shameful behaviour towards Miss Taylor is all over town. You can’t avoid a wedding.” Her voice broke, and his heart broke as well because of her pain.
“Bollocks.”
“It’s a huge scandal. Lady Redvers took advantage of your state to trap you in a forced marriage. Miss Taylor claimed you confessed your love for her.” She swallowed hard, her bottom lip quivering. “You must marry her. Your reputation and her reputation would be damaged forever. You’ll never get that seat. Lord Redvers was horrified as well.”
“To hell with that seat. I won’t marry her.”
Bloody hell. His stomach lurched, and his throat was on fire all over again. A coughing fit caught him. The more he coughed, the more his throat smarted.
No, he wouldn’t marry anyone but Angeline. He’d find a way to protect her, too.
“Take deep breaths.” Angeline rubbed his back and handed him another glass of water.
He was so angry that dark blotches pulsated in his field of vision. He had a vague memory of Lady Redvers mentioning something about his steel factory. He’d give it to her if that was what it took to be with Angeline. He’d renounce his title. He’d leave London. Anything to be with the woman he loved.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sagged into the pillow. “Is your mother involved in that incident as well?”
“No, she drugged you because she wanted to prove to me that you would have abandoned me after we’d shared a tumble. She was convinced that, once you believed we’d been together, you would have left me. The adverse reaction of your body and Lady Redvers’s trick weren’t part of her plan. She says she didn’t tell Lady Redvers about your proposal. I know I shouldn’t believe her but I think she was telling the truth.”
“I ran into Lord Redvers at Garrard’s Jewellery when I bought your ring , and told him I meant to marry you.”
“Oh.” She stroked the topaz. “Then it wasn’t my mother.”
