“Doctor Phillip, please tell us about this condition,” Andrew said a bit more calmly.
“The Dowager was diagnosed with it a while ago. It was before Ellen’s entrance into Society, and she instructed me not to say anything. She wanted your first ball and entrance into Society to be perfect. She did not want to alarm anybody, I assured her that I would not as long as she got enough rest and avoided high-stress situations. It would seem from the news you gave me that this must have exhausted her already weak heart.”
“So, you are saying there’s no cure or anything more to be done for my mother?”
The doctor shook his head gently. “There is none, but I am doing the best I can.”
“How is she doing now?” Ellen asked.
“Her vital signs are all right. She just needs a little rest, and she will be back on her feet in no time.”
Andrew nodded. “Thank you, Doctor.”
“I shall be taking my leave if that is all. Please call for me as soon as possible in case of an emergency. I have left some medicine in her drawer, ensure that she takes it.”
Ellen nodded. “We will. Thank you again.”
Andrew walked out with Doctor Philips, and Ellen stayed behind to watch her mother. She sat next to her and held her hands as she sobbed silently. “Oh, but why did not you say anything, Mama? Do you not know we cannot afford to lose you?” She clasped her mother’s hand and bowed her head. She remained like that until Andrew entered the room.
“Ellen, I hate to interrupt like this, but we have unfinished business to get back to.”
“Oh please, Andrew, could we just forget that ever happened? Could we?”
“We cannot Ellen, and you know it. Now that Mother is frail in health, it is more important than ever to see that things can be back to normal. I will be in the drawing room with the Earl. We shall await your presence.”
Ellen sighed and nodded. “I will be right behind you.”
When Andrew left, giving her some privacy, she turned to her mother’s still face. “I still have goals and dreams, Mother. As much as I want to do what pleases you, I also have to make sure that it pleases me as well. I hope that you understand that.”
With that, she stood up, gave her mother one last look, and walked slowly to the drawing room. As she walked down the flight of stairs, she could hear Andrew and Gerard in some sort of argument. She took a deep breath and steeled her face. Whatever Gerard had to tell her, she would make sure that she did not break.
* * *
Gerard thought he was going out of his mind. He had been far away, staring at the emotions running through Ellen’s face as she watched her brother and mother arguing. She was in pain, and he wanted to reach out and heal that pain, but then, he had heard it before he saw it, the way Ellen’s mouth had opened and emitted that loud shrill. He gave the family some privacy after he laid the Dowager down, and he went to the drawing room to pace. He hoped that Selina Bamber was doing okay. He did not have anything against the Dowager, and he understood how skeptical she must be about him and Ellen. But the truth was, nobody had given him an opportunity to speak. It was true that he was not going to marry Ellen against his will. He could not afford to. What kind of marriage would that be?
“I see that you are still here.”
He turned around to see Andrew, who looked so exhausted, come in. “I could not leave. I wanted to be sure that she was all right.”
Andrew looked at him wryly. “Which of them? My mother or my sister?”
“Both of them,” Gerard confessed.
“I will have you know that I still have not forgotten about the past events. You will marry my sister, Ridlington. I do not care whether I have to duel you or drag you down the aisle myself.”
Gerard, who could never back down from a fight or be intimidated, replied, “I think that it is best that the Duke of Grant listens to what I have to say for a change.”
“And what do you have to say, My Lord?”
They two men turned to find Ellen standing in the drawing room watching them. Gerard cursed himself silently for not seeing her coming. He moved to her, ignoring her brother’s protests.
“That I will not duel. I will not duel with your brother because I am madly in love with you, Ellen. That is the whole point of everything I have been trying to say.”
He watched the emotions play out on Ellen’s face: from detachment to shock, to relief, and then to confusion.
“Why? If you would only marry me because of my honor, you do not have to do that. I would rather remain a spinster the rest of my life than be tied down forever to a man who only wants to marry me out of duty,” Ellen said.
Gerard chuckled. “The last reason why I would admit this is to save your honor, and you know this, Ellen. I confess that I have been terrified, but it is only because I know the power you wield over me. You have my entire heart. I have traveled because, in some twisted way, I have been searching for rest, for a home, and then I met you, the Diamond of the Season. You were trying to escape, I was looking to stay, and I knew as we walked on the streets during those London nights that I had found it. I knew it as clearly as I know my name.”
