Page 5 of A Daring Desire

―Excerpt of a letter from The Miss Venetia Beckett (daughter of Nina and Charles Beckett, the Viscount and Viscountess Kline) to Lady Rose Carmichael (daughter of Max and Phoebe Carmichael, The Earl and Countess of Ellisborough).

17th December 1849, Connaught Place, London.

A sound jolted Cat awake, her attention at once riveted on the figure on the bed who was sleeping fitfully, and turned in confusion to see Mr Berrycloth had come in.

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” he asked.

Cat rubbed a weary hand over her face and stifled a yawn. “No, I was only dozing,” she replied, though fatigue tugged at her bones. Berrycloth had taken over from her at about three a.m., but Cat had immediately gone to the kitchens to make the chicken broth so it would be ready in the morning. She had returned at six to instruct Berrycloth to return to bed, as he was clearly still exhausted, and had remained with her husband ever since.

“How is he?” Berrycloth asked, gazing down at Kilbane with anxiety.

“Restless and in a deal of pain. When he’s quiet he can sleep, but then this wretched cough wracks him, and you can see how agonising it is for him.”

Berrycloth nodded. “He said he felt like there was a dagger in his chest. It’s not just influenza, is it?”

Cat shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I believe he has pneumonia.”

Berrycloth’s expression was one of dismay, but he nodded. “I feared as much. When will the doctor get here?”

“Oh,” Cat said, hesitating. “To be truthful, I have sent for someone else, n-not exactly a doctor,” she added, wondering how Berrycloth would take this.

“Not a doctor?” he repeated, staring at her as if she’d lost her mind.

Cat shook her head. “My family have always been treated by… well, you’d perhaps call her a wise woman, but I can assure you she has nursed all of us through many maladies. Even my father submits to her care, and you know that Lord Montagu is no fool.”

“No,” Berrycloth said, but still looked appalled. “All the same, I should think his lordship would prefer to be seen by a doctor.”

“Oh,” Cat said, crestfallen, as she had not considered this. “Yes, I do see that he might prefer it,”

“Dr Fanshaw has a most excellent reputation, I understand.”

“Yes,” Cat replied, unease stirring in her belly, though she knew many people regarded the fashionable doctor with great respect. “Well, perhaps, if you think Lord Kilbane would want him. I should not like to go against his wishes.”

Berrycloth nodded and strode to the door. “I’ll have Mr Jefferies send for him at once.”

Cat watched him go, tangling her fingers together in agitation, but not knowing Lord Kilbane’s feelings well enough to object.

When Berrycloth returned, Cat reluctantly relinquished care of her husband to him and took herself off to wash and dress and swallow a few bites of breakfast. She returned to the master bedroom just in time to hear breaking glass.

“Bugger off!” Kilbane raged and immediately succumbed to a coughing fit that turned him ashen with pain.

“Well, and that is what you get for abusing poor Mr Berrycloth,” Cat told him tartly, hurrying to the bed.

“Don’t… want… fussing… old woman,” her husband wheezed furiously.

“I only wanted you to take a drink of water,” Berrycloth retorted, ruffled.

“Goodness me, is that what this commotion is about?” Cat tsked, opening the door and calling for a housemaid to come and clear up the debris. She walked to the other side of the bed and sat down, careful not to jostle him. “I have made you some chicken broth with my own hands, my lord, and I tell you now, I expect you to consume every drop.”

“Go… to the devil,” he managed before submitting to more coughing and it was so obviously agonising that Cat’s heart wept for him.

A maid darted into the room, giving the bed a terrified glance before sweeping up the broken glass and drying the water. She bobbed a swift curtsey and dashed out again just as Jefferies appeared in the door.

“Doctor Fanshaw’s carriage is coming up the driveway, my lady. Should I see him up at once?”

“Oh, yes, at once,” Berrycloth said eagerly, hurrying out to fetch him.

Cat nodded at Jefferies, who withdrew and closed the door.