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“Mr. Newland?” A light reflected off the man’s forehead.
Yes, the doctor’s head mirror. Was it…sunlight from the window reflecting off of it?
His thoughts were muddled.
The doctor held Zach’s eyes open with his finger, and again the head mirror reflected light into them. Zach tried to close them.
“Mr. Newland? Can you understand me?”
Yes, he understood. He tried to speak, but only a croak came out.
“It’s okay. Don’t try to talk. You’ll be talking in no time.”
The doctor placed his hands on both sides of Zach’s neck and palpated. “Any headache, Mr. Newland?”
Zach shook his head. At least he thought he shook his head. No headache but…fuzzy brain. His thoughts were jumbled.
“You’ve been unconscious for about twenty-four hours. You have a concussion. You also were poisoned—we think through a beverage. Luckily you didn’t get enough of it to harm you.”
Where am I?
But, of course, the words had not come out. Zach willed his lips to part and tried to force the words out. Again, all that came out was a grunt.
“Your voice will be back soon enough. I’m Dr. Michael Blake, your physician.”
Zach grunted again. What happened to me?
“We aren’t sure who is responsible for this, Mr. Newland. But the constables and inspectors are looking into it. We expect to have you out of here a few days.”
But the production. What about the production?
The stage director and manager would have to take care of things. His understudy was decent. If he had to do a few of the performances, so be it.
Sophie? Where is Sophie? And then he remembered. Trudging through the dark murk… The sliver of light leading him out. It was Sophie.
He opened his lips again. “Sophie.”
Dr. Blake turned back toward him. “What was that?”
“Sophie.” He exhaled.
“Lady Sophie MacIntyre. Of course. She has been here to ask about you. I’ll make sure she’s informed of your progress.”
Zach’s eyes fluttered shut. Everything was all right now. Sophie…
* * *
This must be what Ally felt like.
Sophie couldn’t help smiling at the recollection of all of Ally’s adventures after Mother and the earl had first gotten married. Evan had been left in charge of them, but Ally was determined to go to London to see her then paramour, Mr. Landon. She kept sneaking off the estate, paying off servants to get her to London. Evan had been mad as a bull, but the two ended up falling into deep love.
Now, here Sophie was, a good girl, paying off a couple of servants to get her to Zach’s house. She had heard from Dr. Blake that he had been released the day before. She intended to go see to him and take care of him. He needed her.
She walked quickly to the livery, her reticule filled with sovereigns to pay the servants for their silence. She smiled. Zach was at his home.
Until strong hands grabbed her from behind. Before she could cry out, a damp handkerchief was clamped over her face.
Not again. She had been through this before, nearly a year ago. How could it be happening again?
