Chapter 9
Would you believe that none other than the infamous Dowager F___ has gone into a long overdue seclusion? She has not been seen for three days, not even at her usual gaming hells. Though the rumor cannot be proved as of yet, it is thought that a Mr. W___ may take his seat with the Lords sooner than anticipated.
The Mayfair Chronicles, June 3, 1846
No one answered the door after Leo’s second knock. And that wasn’t necessarily the most unsettling part.
If the footman or butler were not available, then the housekeeper or even a maid should have come at his knock.
What in bloody hell was going on?
The gargoyle-shaped knocker was firmly in place, so he knew Jezebel was in residence and hadn’t in fact up and left for the country in the middle of the night. Besides, Hayden would have sent him a note had he successfully managed to remove Jez from London at the height of the season.
Leo rapped the heavy brass knocker against the ebony-painted door once again, and stepped away from the townhouse to glance up to the tall-paned second-story windows. As tempting as it was to shout out for Jez in the middle of Mayfair, the curtains were all closed and he didn’t wish to wake her if she was indeed in residence. He also had no intention of drawing unwanted attention from Jez’s neighbors. Regardless, someone should have answered his summons already.
Not wishing to stand in the street all night, he tested the latch on the door. It clicked up easily and he pushed it open.
All the lamps were snuffed in the anteroom and not a sound could be heard from any direction. If Mr. Warren had so much as put a hair out of place on Jezebel’s head, he’d murder the blighter on sight.
Catching up his cane, he pressed in the tiny silver nob that would release the blade hidden within.
“Jezebel,” he called out, his voice echoing around the marble foyer.
Impatiently, he waited for a response. Not necessarily from Jez, but from one of the multitude of servants she kept on hand at all times.
So why was no one answering?
“Jez,” he called out again, taking the stairs two at a time, making his way to the double doors at the far end of the hall. He’d been here many times and had attended to her in her boudoir when they planned their evenings, her maids readying her for whatever event they chose to crash.
He didn’t bother knocking when he reached the heavy oak door of her private chamber but threw it open so hard that it only stopped when the latch lodged into the wall.
He stormed through the sitting room and into her bedroom where four startled sets of eyes jolted up and stared at him in openmouthed astonishment. The housekeeper’s mouth flapped like a landed fish, the butler—an aged and frail man—was hunched over, attempting to help his mistress up from the floor where she lay rumpled and twisted in her bedding. Two maids stood by, one twisting and wringing a wet towel between nervous hands, the other kneeling on the floor with Jez resting her feverish-looking head in her lap.
Leo rushed to Jez’s side and lifted her in his arms to place her back atop the bed. He froze at the sight of the dark stain that covered her bedding.
What in hell?
Goddamn it.
Was it possible she carried the next Earl of Fallon in her womb? Hell yes, it was possible. The blighter had only died a week ago.
“I’ll send for the surgeon.”
How had he been so bloody daft as to not realize she’d been with child sooner?
“Please don’t.” She pressed her cold, feverish palm to his face. “He can’t be here.” Her voice was cracked and dry.
Her frame felt slight and delicate as he lifted her easily from the floor. Why hadn’t he noticed her evident weight loss before now?
“You are unwell, Jez. A medical professional needs to have a look at you.”
“They’ll bleed me.” Her eyes slid shut as he took her into her sitting room and settled her on the red velvet divan she used for mid-afternoon naps. A place where he had lain down so many times while her maids dressed her behind the Chinese screen set in the farthest corner of the room. He grabbed the yellow bolstered pillow at the end of the divan and stuck it behind her back when she rolled onto her side.
A hiss of what could only be described as painful agony pressed out from between her parted lips. Her brow was beaded in a cold sweat, her teeth chattered as she sucked in another pained breath.
“Bleeding might be your best option,” he said. The only certainty he had about the situation was that anything was better than nothing.
“I’ve bled enough today,” she grunted out and then pinched her lips together before sobbing out her pain. She grasped his arm; her hold was painfully firm. “You can’t fix this. Call on Hayden if you want to send for someone.”
What did Hayden know that he did not?
Leo turned to the maid who had been nervously standing by. “You.” He pointed at her. “My house is four doors down, knock on the front door and ask for Frederick. Tell him to take you straight to the Duke of Alsborough’s.”
She nodded and ran out of the room with all due haste.
He flicked a coin at the butler and the man caught it surprisingly quick. “Rouse the surgeon and get him here without delay.”
Jez pulled at his arm that she still held on to. “No, Leo.”
“I’m not giving you a choice in the matter. We’ll wait for Hayden to arrive before we decide anything, all right? But the surgeon will be standing by if he’s needed.”
Jez nodded her head and furrowed her brows together as another wave of pain visibly hit her. She brought her knees up to her chest, curling into fetal position. Leo scratched at the side of his prickly face in thought. There had to be something he could do to make this better.
“I’m so tired, Leo. I just want it all to end.”
“Stop with that nonsense. Do you really want your dead husband to win?” He held out his hand for a cloth to wipe her sweat-dampened brow. The housekeeper handed him a cool cloth. “Carry on, Jez. Be bold and strong as you always have been.”
“I don’t feel very strong at the moment,” was her weak response.
“We’ll get you healthy again. Now tell me why you were resting on the floor as opposed to your comfortable bed?”
“I—I fell,” she responded.
Sobs overtook her for a moment and she couldn’t seem to say more. She bit her bottom lip so fiercely he thought she’d pierce it if she didn’t let up.
“You should have sent for someone to assist you.”
“Isn’t it obvious that I don’t want anyone to see me at present?”
Yes, it was. And he was a cad for saying otherwise. God, he could be such an insensitive ass at the oddest of times.
The housekeeper stepped close to the head of the divan and leaned over the arm to whisper something in Jez’s ear. Leo held his friend’s hand in his as the maid wrung out the towel and mopped Jez’s forehead again. What should he do? What could he even say?
When Hayden came running through the door like a barreling bull, Leo stood and moved away from Jez to perch himself on the back of an upholstered chair.
Hayden’s expression was grim. He only nodded to Leo before making his way to Jez’s side. Taking her outstretched hand, he leaned over her and whispered something privately in her ear.
Despite the urgency of the situation, it seemed Leo was the only one not to be informed of Jez’s condition.
Hayden gave directions to the maid to ready her ladyship’s bed. The young woman was off before Hayden completed his request, as though she knew exactly what needed to be done.
Leo stepped closer to Jez and Hayden. “I’ll do whatever is needed. Just tell me what to do.”
Hayden turned to him, an oddly saddened expression clouding his eyes. “I can handle this.”
“Tell me she will fare well, Hayden.” He roughly put his hands through his hair, which he was sure stood on end from doing that repeatedly over the past half hour.
“Let me settle her in her room.” Without further explanation Hayden leaned directly over Jez and asked her to put her arms around his shoulders. She weakly complied and her arms shook as she raised them.
Carefully, Hayden lifted her in his arms and made his way to the adjacent room. Leo spied the maid stripping the bedding and putting down wide pieces of linen with the help of the housekeeper.
There was nothing left for him to do here, so he made his way downstairs.
His open palm slammed against the wall when he hit the bottom landing. Hayden didn’t need to tell him what was going on. It suddenly came to him why the surgeon couldn’t see Jez; the reason was like a bloody banshee screaming in his ear till he was going deaf from the truth.
If the surgeon knew or so much as guessed that she had miscarried the last issue for the previous Earl of Fallon then everyone else would find out. If it was known that the babe hadn’t lasted in her womb, then Mr. Warren would move faster on securing the title and remove Jez from the house.
Son of a bitch.
After Leo sent the doctor away with a purse full of coins, explaining that everything was fine since it was a bad dish at dinner that had bothered Jezebel, the man had left in a sour mood.
An hour later Leo made his way back upstairs, still digesting the truth. How could he mention anything about their friendly wager to court the Ponsley girl now? Quite simply he couldn’t. What a bloody mess everything had turned out to be.