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When his brother opened his mouth, Gabe fed him the spoonful of porridge.
“There we are.”
But his relief was short lived as Clayton spewed the porridge all over Gabe a half second later.
Oh, good God! He stumbled backward in surprise as slimy porridge slid down the front of his regimentals.
His brother struggled against his bindings and screeched like he was possessed, and Gabe took a staggering breath. “For God’s sake, Clayton,” he breathed out. “If you don’t want porridge, I’ll get you something else.”
“Treasure!” Clayton wailed.
Damn it all. They were back on this treasure nonsense. “We don’t have a treasure, Clayton,” Gabe said calmly.
But his brother only cackled in response. “My treasure! My treasure! It’s mine!”
He truly was mad as a March hare and it was devastating to witness. “Clayton,” he said more forcefully. “We do not have a treasure. Please stop saying that we do.” Damn it all, Hill was right. Outbursts like this could most definitely put his brother in harm’s way.
“It’s mine!”
Perhaps a change of topic would distract him. “I only want you to eat a little something, Clayton. If you don’t want porridge, what do you want? Baked eggs or—”
“Treasure!”
“Please,” Gabe pleaded.
But his brother only struggled against his restraints and cackled again, a maniacal sound that sent a fresh wave of chills rushing down Gabe’s spine, and his heart ached all over again. Clayton would never get better. He would only get worse from here, at least that was what Peat had explained upon Gabe’s first visit to Rosewood, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it. But even in the fortnight since he’d been back in England, he could see that his brother was only getting worse. And coming to terms with that reality was more than distressing.
If only there was a cure. If only there was something Gabe could do, something that would actually help his brother, something beyond simply visiting him and making certain he was cared for. But there was no cure and nothing Gabe could do other than watch Clayton fall deeper and deeper into his madness and witness the destruction of his physical stature to the horror that was syphilis.
Defeated, he sank down into a chair at his brother’s bedside and a released a breath. “I’m so sorry, Clayton. I’m so sorry you’re living in this Hell.”
Clayton’s only response was to struggle against his bindings and mutter something beneath his breath. Gabe scrubbed a hand through his hair. He might not be able to do anything for his brother, but Clayton’s earldomdidneed to be managed. And in Clayton’s current state, that duty would fall to Gabe.
Perhaps Mr. Hill would give him an idea of how he should go about that management. After all, being responsible for the earldom was not something Gabe had ever been trained to do. He also had a feeling that he needed to see Northend with his own eyes to assess the state of their family seat. It had been a million years since he’d seen the place, but it needed to be done. Of course, heading to Norfolk would take him from London for days and depending on what he found upon his arrival, perhaps even longer. And perhaps he’d take a look at Oakcliffe while he was at it, and see for himself if the place in the Peak District was more serene. He did hate the idea of leaving Clayton all alone in his absence, but what other choice did he have?
Gabe refocused on his brother who began muttering louder than he had a moment ago. Of course, Clayton wouldn’t miss his presence while he was gone. He didn’t even know who Gabe was anymore, and had no idea if he was there or not.
As soon as he left Rosewood, he’d head to Hill and Hall and hope the Northwold solicitor had an idea of where Gabe should begin in his quest to drag the earldom from its impoverished state.
“We have to gobackto Chatham House?” Cassie touched a hand to her heart. “But we only just escaped with our lives.”
Escaped with their lives? Heavens, her sister was dramatic. Sophie shook her head in mild annoyance. After all, Grandfather hadn’t put up any sort of fight in keeping Priscilla under his roof and had seemed to be quite relieved for the girl to take up residence at Beckbury House. In fact, extricating Priscilla, or Prissa as she’d asked them to call her, had been much easier than Sophie could have ever imagined. So very odd, that. She had quite enjoyed the look of surprise on Papa’s face when they’d returned home with their cousin in tow, however. And she enjoyed it even more when Papa said only a fool should ever bet against her.
“It’s only dinner,” Sophie replied, glancing down at the summons in their grandfather’s hand as she sank onto the settee between Charlotte and their recently rescued cousin, Prissa. “And it isn’t just us. Grandfather is requesting the entire family this evening.”
“The entire family?” Charlotte focused her attention on their cousin. “I daresay you know him better than all of us. What do you think that means?”
Prissa frowned slightly as she returned her teacup to her saucer. “I’m honestly not certain. I once thought I had a very good idea about why Grandpapa did the things he does and said the things he says…” She shook her head, and her dark hair fell over her shoulder. “But I’m not certain I know him at all anymore, if I ever truly did.”
Cassie squeaked. “What if he’s assembling all of us there to reveal which of us he intends to marry off to Hellsburg?”
“Papa would never allow him to do such a thing to any of us,” Sophie said, parroting Chase’s words from the night before. “And since he so easily accepted Mama’s offer to have Prissa stay with us, I can’t image he has such plans for her future, either.”
“Isthatwhat you thought?” their cousin asked, focusing her attention on Cassie. ”Grandpapa only wanted Hellsburg to takeBellaaway. I don’t believe anyone else needs to fear that exact future.”
That didn’t make any sense at all. Sophie had been so certain their grandfather wanted a bride for their awful Prussian cousin and not a husband for his granddaughter who already had a betrothed. “Why would he want Hellsburg to take your sister away?”
“He was always awful to Bella,” Prissa admitted. “I can never remember a time when he was kind to her. But our Prussian cousin departs for his homeland tomorrow. There has been no talk of him taking a bride with him, not now that Bella has escaped England with Lord Avery.”
