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Chapter 14
The sound of a scream woke Victoria suddenly. She sat up, shaking sleep away as she listened intently. But the night was quiet. Surely, she had just been woken up by one of her own dreams?
Then it happened again. This time, it was very real. Shocked, Victoria scrambled from her bed and lit her candle. Picking up the candlestick, she went out into the hall. Someone was shouting something, mixing in with the screams. Then Victoria saw shadows at the far end of the hall.
Where Blackmore’s bedchamber was.
Victoria hurried towards the activity and stood in the doorway to see Mayfield and Manning leaning over Blackmore as he thrashed in the bed. Mayfield had his hands on the man’s shoulders, while Manning was attempting to grab onto Blackmore’s legs.
“Just grab onto them, man!” Mayfield growled. “He’s going to hurt himself if he carries on like this.”
Horrified, Victoria watched as Blackmore, still pinned under the sheets, managed to free a leg and kick Manning in the ribs as the valet tried to grab hold. The servant gasped and stumbled back, grabbing at his side. Mayfield groaned and sat on the bed.
“Rafe! Rafe, wake up! Come on, snap out of this!”
Victoria moved closer. Her husband looked like he had been sweating, the sheets tangled around his waist. All he was wearing were a pair of breeches, but they looked like they were soaked as well. Victoria had never seen an entire body sweat like this before.
“What’s going on?”
Mayfield looked over his shoulder, not letting up on pinning the other man down.
“Lady Blackmore, you should go back to your bedchamber.”
Victoria ignored him, coming around the bed to see her husband’s pale face twisted in pain. The sight of him like this really hurt. She suddenly wanted to cry seeing him in such turmoil.
“Is this one of the nightmares you told me about?”
“It is. They’ve been getting more frequent since we returned to England,” Mayfield said bitterly. “He said they were under control, but they’re clearly not.”
Victoria put her candle on the bedside table and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, gasping as Blackmore’s arm flung out and almost caught her in the face. Mayfield shook his head.
“You really should go, Lady Blackmore.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I doubt it. I can barely get him to snap out of it.”
“At least let me try.”
Why was she even suggesting this? She should be doing as Mayfield told her and go back to her room. Instead, she was here wanting to help.
She really needed to get committed.
Sighing heavily, gritting his teeth as Blackmore bucked again, Mayfield nodded.
“All right. But if he hurts you, don’t blame me.”
Victoria leaned over Blackmore. He was shaking, and he looked like he was burning up. But when she touched her fingers to his cheek, he was freezing cold. She stroked his cheek, brushing his hair off his forehead.
“Can we light a fire? He’s really cold.”
“He ends up going hot after a while.”
“But right now, he’s cold. Maybe if we can get him warmer.”
Mayfield grunted and looked over at Manning.
“Can you get on that?”
