AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yet with every letter she wrote, she felt her heart sinking just a little further. And when she finally plucked up the courage to sneak away and knock upon the door of the Earl of Elgin’s townhouse, she was greeted with only more uncertainty.
When the butler answered, bowing, Daisy could already sense from the presence of the house that something was wrong. It seemed all too quiet inside.
“My Lady, forgive me, but we were not expecting guests,” the butler explained politely. “Did you have some appointment I ought to have known about? I was made to believe all audiences had been cancelled or rearranged.”
“No, no, I did not have …” Daisy began, and then as his words sank in, she asked, “Cancelled or rearranged?”
Raising an eyebrow at him, unable to keep the suspicion from coiling in her stomach, Daisy waited to know what the butler had to say.
“I am afraid the family is not in residence at the moment for reasons I am unable to discuss,” the butler explained, “though I would be pleased to take a message for the earl or one of his sons? Or was it Lady Petunia you wished to see?”
Daisy’s stomach clenched at that. It was worse than she had first believed. The entire family was gone, and it could not be a mere coincidence.Is Philip so desperate to avoid me that he has gone away with his entire family?she wondered, though deep down, she knew that it was ridiculous. She was at her wits’ end.
“Oh, no, please …” Daisy shook her head. “Do not trouble yourself. I was merely in the area and thought I should pop in to say hello. It is nothing that cannot wait.”
Saying those final words caused Daisy’s heart to ache painfully, and as she descended the townhouse steps, she felt as though her spirit were descending also, her final hopes seeping away into the stone at her feet.
Will I ever learn why he has abandoned me?
Chapter 24
The stench of sickness clotted in Philip’s nostrils, and he could barely stand it. Sitting at his father’s bedside, he would have given anything to stop the racking coughs that shuddered through his father’s entire body and ease the soreness of his throat, which could be heard in every rasp.
“Father, permit me to open the window,” Philip pleaded. What was the point in being sick in the countryside if you did not allow the country air in to help you breathe? It made no sense to Philip, and having been studying medicine for a few years now, he was certain it would help.
Yet the earl shook his head and groaned, “No, I wish them to remain closed.”
Philip bit his lip to stop from snapping at his father. His illness couldn’t have come at a worse time, dragging Philip away from Oxford the day he intended to go to the duke and ask for Lady Daisy’s hand.
That had been almost a week ago. It still pained him to think of the hurried letter he had penned to the beautiful young lady, promising that as soon as his father was recovered or another of his siblings arrived to care for him, he would return to finish what he had begun. So far, he had heard nothing in return, and his heart was heavy.
“How are you feeling today?” Philip asked his father, hopeful that his father’s ability to speak after several days only being able to cough and nod was a good sign.
“As if I have …” the earl began only to be cut off by a fresh bout of coughing.
“It is alright. Don’t try to talk anymore,” Philip insisted and rose to pour a glass of water from the jug on the bedside table. Helping his father to drink, he couldn’t help noticing how fragile he had become. The man who had once been a strong force of authority and power was now little more than a quivering, coughing mess, the skin around his eyes so dark and sunken that it was impossible to mistake that he was sick.
Trying his best not to think about what might happen, Philip urged his father to rest and grabbed a book from the nearest shelf to read to him. He knew just how sick his father was when he did not try to protest at the book he had chosen, a simple fairytale book, which had been one their mother had read to them as children when they were sick.
He was just about to begin when there was knocking on the door. Turning around in the seat he had dropped into, he was just in time to find the butler entering. The old man bowed and glanced at the bed to see that his master’s eyes were closed as if in sleep before he turned to address Philip, “Mr. Radcliffe, you wished to know when word came from your sister?”
“Yes, yes, I did,” Philip nodded, his hope rising. Perhaps soon he would be on his way back to Oxford.
“She has written to say that she will need a few extra days to prepare things on her end as her husband is still away on business, though she is on her way with the children,” the butler explained, and Philip’s heart started to sink once more. He would have liked to have been on his way back to Oxford by that evening, but it appeared it was not meant to be. “She believes she will arrive in a day or so, sir.”
“Thank you, Reeves.”
The butler bowed, glancing at his master in bed once more, looking as if he wished to know if there were any chance in his state.
“He will recover,” Philip reassured him, knowing that the butler had been with his father for longer than he had been alive. Though they were master and servant, the two were practically friends, and it was clear to see the worry on the old man’s face.
“I know, Mr Radcliffe,” the butler replied with a smile and a nod, “I have faith.”
With that, the butler bowed and began to leave the dimly lit room again.
Unable to stop himself, Philip called him back, “Reeves?”
The butler turned back with his hand on the door handle, prepared to close the door behind him once he had exited. “Yes, Mr Radcliffe?”
