by Bree Verity
“The sapphire contains a charm that you can use to… encourage Sir Theodore to bend to your will.”
“Really?” Caroline’s eyes went wide.
“Yes, really. But,” Fenella held her finger up in warning, “the purpose is not to make him your slave. Merely to make life between you more amenable.” Fenella picked up Caroline’s slack hand and turned it over, placing the jewel inside her palm and closing her fingers around it. “Wear it at all times. All you need to do is touch the jewel and think of what you wish Sir Theodore to do, and he will do it. However, the jewel is not all powerful. There will be things that even the strongest of magic cannot compel a man to do.”
“Like what?”
Fenella shrugged. “It depends on the man.”
For a long moment, Caroline stared at the sapphire, it’s long, silver chain dangling between her fingers and pooling in her lap. It seemed a completely innocuous piece of jewelery. She placed it over her head and tucked it inside her dress. Possible scenarios whirled in Caroline’s mind. With a jewel like this, she could make Sir Theodore take her to the ‘Change. She could force him to make the investments she wanted. And she could control just about every other aspect of her married life. Her eyes shined.
Fenella looked at her with some concern. “You do understand that the use of magic will have its consequences? The sapphire is not a toy.”
“I know that,” replied Caroline. “Still, it is amusing to consider all of the things about Sir Theodore that I might control.”
Fenella clicked her fingers at Caroline. “Give it back,” she commanded.
Caroline stared up at her in bewilderment. “What?”
“Give it back. I can see you are going to misuse it.”
“I will not,” replied Caroline indignantly. “I shall be very careful.”
Fenella stared at her for a long moment, until Caroline grew restless under her stare.
“I promise. I shall be careful.”
“Just make sure that you are,” Fenella warned. “The jewel is to make you comfortable in your relationship with your husband, not to make him your puppet.”
“I know,” said Caroline, emphasizing the words and rolling her eyes at Fenella.
“Very well. I’ll leave you to it then.”
And between one breath and the next, she was gone.
Seconds after, Caroline wondered whether she had imagined the entire incident. There were no such things as fairy godmothers. There was no such a thing as magic. Yet, she could feel the weight of the pendant around her neck, irrefutable proof that the meeting had happened. She reached into her bodice and pulled the sapphire ornament out, staring at it.
Even with the jewel in her hand she frowned. Magic wasn’t real, surely? At least, normal people, not fairies - fae - could not wield it. Magicians used trickery and sleight of hand, not real magic. Mentalists and spiritualists were charlatans.
And so, of course, Caroline decided to test the magic of the jewel at the dinner table that very night.
Chapter Three.
The hard-backed chair that Theo sat on while waiting for Caroline matched his own uncomfortable state of mind. Running a nervous hand through his light brown hair, he thought back over the events of the afternoon. He knew he had handled the first interview with his wife badly. She should not have felt obliged to storm off to her own chambers - he should have been able to convince her of the correctness of his words without her becoming so very, very angry. After all, men were given more intelligence than women for a reason. He felt as if he had failed his wife, and failed himself, in the very first test in their married life.
And he waited with trepidation for his wife to appear for dinner. He truly expected her to send down to say she would not attend. He hoped that she would not. He would have to visit her in her bedchamber if that was the case and remind her that he had specifically requested her presence at the dinner table. He didn’t want to have to insist on her presence. But he had the dreadful suspicion that he would have to do exactly that.
So, it was with some surprise that he watched as his wife sauntered downstairs, dressed for dinner, and with a winning smile on her face.
He returned her smile in some confusion. The last time he had spoken to her, he could almost see the fire flashing from her eyes. She didn’t raise her voice, but the controlled fury in her tone was evidenced by the violence with which she put her teacup down and how sharply her heels clicked on the floorboards as she left the room. This juxtaposition had him on edge. Something had happened to change her. And he had no idea what it was.
Despite his misgivings, he offered his wife his arm and the two of them walked to the dining room. After being seated and the covers removed, Theo nodded to the servants to withdraw. He and his wife would serve themselves - a practice Theo hoped Caroline would not be averse to. They could behave with pomp and circumstance aplenty when they had guests, but when it was just family, the meal would be cozy and informal.
Only with the raising of one eyebrow did Caroline display any emotion at all at the withdrawal of the servants. She seemed quite at ease with serving herself, and Theo started to relax.
He served himself some wide slabs of roast pork, tender and perfect, and some of the apples that rested beside them on the tray, along with some asparagus and white sauce, and roasted potatoes dripping with butter and tarragon. He picked up a bowl of peas and scooped several spoonfuls on to his plate, and then stood and walked to where Caroline was sitting, spooning peas on to her plate as well until he heard her say in a strangled voice, “Stop.”
For a moment he froze. An overlarge pile of peas lay on her plate, threatening to spill off the edge. Why on earth had he done that? Caroline had already served herself from the potatoes and a dish of stewed pigeon. Who was he to decide what she wanted on her plate? Maybe she did not even fancy peas.
He flushed bright red, and returned to his own place at the table, shakily sitting back down and laughing hollowly as he placed the dreaded peas back on the table.
“My apologies, Mrs. Longshore. I am not certain what I was thinking.”
“Indeed,” replied Caroline, laughter in her eyes, “I wondered if you would ever stop.”
He ventured a small smile. “I wonder that myself.”
“You certainly did disappear off into your own world there for a moment.”
“I did, and again, I must apologize.”
Caroline waved his apology away. “There is no need. No harm was done.”
Theo wasn’t sure he agreed. Something had happened to make him get up like that. He would never normally have taken such an action. In fact, he could not recall ever having served someone else, except perhaps when he was with his cronies at an all-night card game and they had sent the servants off to bed.
No, the behavior was very odd. Very odd indeed. His brow clouded as he slowly started to eat the food already on his plate, the tastes and textures lost to him.
Caroline, too, had started eating, seemingly unaffected by his strange behavior, except for a small smile that played around her mouth. Theo flushed anew. He had no desire to appear the fool to his new wife.
He cleared his throat and said to her, “I do hope you were not too much irritated by my words earlier, Madam. I had no desire to displease you.”
“The irritation has passed, Sir Theodore,” she replied prettily, casting her eyes up to look at him from under her long lashes.
“Good.” Theo was relieved. “I should very much dislike to spend our first day as a married couple in disagreement.”
“As should I.” Theo noticed Caroline’s hand sneak toward a sparkling sapphire at her neck.
“Is that a habit of yours? To clutch at your jewelery?” he asked.
Her hand shot back down to her lap.
“I do not think so,” she replied sharply. Perhaps, Theo thought, she had not noticed his joking tone.
“That sapphire is lovely,” he said, his eyes fixed firmly on it. “Is it an heirloom? For th
e setting appears quite old.”
“No, it is new,” Caroline replied shortly before filling her mouth with pigeon.
“It looks well on you. I applaud your taste in jewelery.”
The only response was a tight smile.
They continued their meal in silence, broken only by the questions Theo asked Caroline, and the short answers that she supplied. He was concerned that his new wife had no conversation at all, until he hit on a subject that drew her interest.
“I have organized for Ponsonby to deliver your mother to us five days from now,” he said. “I shall likely be at my offices, but I’m certain you will wish to be here to see her settled?”
“Indeed, I would,” Caroline replied. “She will be flustered without me.”
“I suspect she will survive a week without you,” Theo gently joked, then stopped smiling when Caroline glared at him.
“You do not know my mother,” she said coldly, her hand moving again toward the sapphire pendant.
Theo stood up from the table, and walked out of the room, into the spacious entranceway. The servants immediately sprang to attention.
“Was there something you wanted, Sir?” one of them asked.
Theo stared at him in confusion. Why had he come out into the entrance?
“No, no there is nothing,” he said vacantly.
The servant nodded and then, with a concerned look asked, “Are you quite well, Sir Theodore?”
“Quite well, thank you.” He walked back into the dining room to find Caroline watching him curiously. Again, he blushed.
“It appears I must apologize again, Mrs. Longshore, for leaving you stranded at the dining table.”
He could hear the consternation in his own voice. What on earth was going on?
She, too, asked him, “Are you quite well, Sir Theodore?”
He shook his head, perplexed. “I seem to be behaving a little strangely tonight - unlike my usual self.”
“Perhaps it is only to be expected, since it was such a momentous day for us both.”
“Perhaps,” he replied doubtfully. He looked down to his dinner resting on the plate in front of him and found that his appetite had deserted him. Pushing the plate away, he said, “However, I have been in many more arduous situations than this morning, and I haven’t had these lapses before.” Glancing up at Caroline he continued, “I do apologize, my dear, of course, I don’t mean to say that getting married to you was arduous, merely that I have been in other situations…”
“I understand,” cut in Caroline. “Could you perhaps be ill?” Her brown eyes were steadily fixed upon him.
“That is the only possibility I can imagine,” confessed Theo. “Some minor impediment affecting my behavior.” Actually, he was quickly developing quite a headache. He sipped from his wine glass, hoping to improve the pounding in his head and the ordering of his thoughts, but the wine made little difference.
The very last thing he wanted was to fall ill on his wedding night. He had looked forward to exploring the curves of his wife’s body for weeks - and his self-imposed celibacy in the weeks leading up to his wedding had only increased his desires.
However, the headache, which seemed fast to be becoming a megrim, put paid to any amorous thoughts.
“Mrs. Longshore, I wonder if you could call for Harris to find me some headache powders,” he said, a little faintly. “I seem to be developing a dreadful ache in the head, and I should hate to deprive you of your expectations for the evening.”
“I can assure you, Sir, my expectations are the least of my concerns right now. You have turned extremely pale. If you are ill, you should take yourself to bed, along with your headache powders.”
The painful buzzing in his head made it difficult for him to hear Caroline’s words, let alone process them. “Of course you are right,” he finally said, his hands pressing against his temples. “I would be of no good to you tonight anyway.”
Caroline nodded and came around to his side of the table. She pressed her cool hand against his forehead. “You’re burning up,” she announced. “Could you have a fever?”
“It is possible,” he said, “although I am not accustomed to being unwell.”
“You should be in bed and resting.”
Caroline helped Theo out of his chair and into the entranceway, where the two servants instantly came forward to assist.
“Sir Theodore needs to be helped upstairs,” Caroline instructed, “and Harris informed of his condition. You,” she pointed to one of the servants, “I am sorry, I do not know your name yet.”
“It is James, Madam,” the young man said.
“James, can you please go downstairs and ask the cook to prepare a tea infusion for megrim? She should know what needs to go in it.”
With a nod, James hurried off on his errand, and Caroline turned to the other servant. “You and I will need to help him up the stairs.”
“I can walk myself,” groaned Theo. “I just need to hold on to the balustrade.” He started to walk, feeling as if his brain was swelling and trying to break out of his skull. Caroline walked beside him, gently directing him, and the other servant walked a step behind, to catch him should he fall.
On reaching his bedroom, Harris appeared, and Theo could see he was surprised to find his master in such a state. He must look dreadful.
“I shall prepare some headache powders,” he said, hurrying away while the second servant and Caroline led Theo to his bed. Caroline dismissed the servant and started to remove his shoes.
“You don’t need to do that, Mrs. Longshore,” he protested in a whisper. “Harris can take care of it.”
“Just be quiet.”
Despite the pain he was in, Theo chuckled.
“Your wish is my command,” he said, then groaned.
With his shoes removed, Caroline quickly helped Theo to shift around, so he was lying supine on the bed. Harris hurried up, the powders dissolved in a little water and, holding Theo’s head up tenderly, he made him drink the hideous stuff.
A moment later, Mrs. Benton, the housekeeper, appeared. “How is he?” she asked with concern. Theo had to smile. Mrs. Benton had been in his service for nearly fourteen years, and he was fairly certain she considered him more of an errant schoolboy than a successful businessman.
“A good night’s sleep should do him good,” he heard Caroline reply, “Did you bring the tea?”
“Yes, cook assures me a tea of feverfew and melissa should do the trick. Now all we need to do is to get him to drink it.”
The sound of the liquid being poured from the teapot into the cup roared in Theo’s ears, assaulting his brain with a hundred little jabs. He winced but screwing up his eyes made everything hurt even more.
He felt his head being lifted, and knew he was drinking the tea (which was almost as horrible as the headache powders), but he seemed to have no power over his body. He was nothing but pain.
And then, suddenly, the pain stopped.
He gasped, opening his eyes wide to find Caroline, Harris and Mrs. Benton leaning over him, matching worried expressions on their faces.
He could feel where tears had been cascading down his face, and his body felt like a leaden weight. Still, he could smile up at the concerned people and say, “It has gone.”
“Gone?” snapped Caroline. “Just like that it is gone? When it was so severe?”
Theo shrugged. “Maybe it was a miracle?” he suggested with a wink. Caroline stared at him icily.
“Maybe it was the mixture of the powders and the tea,” suggested Mrs. Benton dryly. “The herbs and medicines have been known to be quick and efficacious.”
“Either way, may I say that it is pleasing to see you looking so well, Sir, after looking so dreadful only a moment ago,” said Harris with a smile. Theo smiled back at him. “It is rather pleasing to feel so much better, Harris,” he replied. Then he frowned. “However, it is of concern. What on earth could bring on such an attack?” He sat up and turned to the two servants.
“Before the headache, I was acting strangely, as if my actions were not my own. What kind of illness can bring on that sort of behavior?”
Caroline turned away sharply, but Theo was certain he saw an expression of guilt cross her face before she did so. What did she have to be guilty about?
Mrs. Benton replied to his question, “Some kinds of brain fever lead to changes in behavior, I believe. It might be best to have Doctor Harding look you over, Sir.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Theo agreed. His head felt as if it was filling with cotton wool. He lay down, his voice sounding as if it came from a long way away. “I think the sedative properties of the headache powders are taking effect. I need to take a short nap.”
But before he had finished the sentence, Theo was already asleep.
* * *
“We should probably leave him be,” whispered Mrs. Benton in Caroline’s ear, and with a nod of agreement, and a quiet, “Goodnight,” to Harris, the two of them left the room.
Mrs. Benton, a matronly woman, smiled regretfully at Caroline. “I am sorry that your wedding night has been so interrupted,” she said. “It must be disconcerting to have to put one’s brand new husband to bed with the megrim on the very first night.”
Caroline smiled back at the kindly housekeeper. “It is of no consequence, really,” she replied. “Although Sir Theodore says he has not had a particularly trying day, I cannot imagine it would be easy for any bachelor to give up his single status without some regrets.”
“Indeed, not at all!” Mrs. Benton put a hand on Caroline’s sleeve and the two of them stopped walking. “Sir Theodore could speak of nothing but the wedding for weeks!”
“Really?” Caroline frowned and gave an incredulous smile. “For a marriage of convenience? I fear you are trying to improve Sir Theodore in my estimation, Mrs. Benton.”