The butler did indeed step aside and Evan gritted his teeth. They had wasted so much time, he would be lucky if the shooter was still around. The hot need to repay the scratch on Lilly’s face seared through him.
When he stepped outside, he noted the staff had already taken care of the carriage and horses. He peered around but all appeared normal. Pistol tucked to his side lest he frighten any passers-by, he systematically searched the small grounds of the house. Frustration built when it became apparent the gunman had vanished after his failed attempt.
He paused to take a look at the wall and grimaced. Sure enough, a lead bullet was embedded in the red brick. Someone had been shooting at Lilly. But why? He knocked on the door and shouted at Higgins to let him in. The man opened it cautiously, gun barrel pointed at Evan’s gut.
“Put the gun down,” Evan barked. “The shooter has fled.”
Releasing an audible sigh of relief, Higgins stepped back to allow him entrance. “Could have been an accident, my lord.”
“It was no accident.” He handed the butler his gun. “I shall have to take Lilly back to Oxfordshire at the first opportunity. It’s too dangerous in London.”
Evan swiped his clammy hands down his trousers and stalked to the back of the house. Lilly jolted in her chair as he entered and he found Mary sitting by her side, consoling her. Mary quickly excused herself and Lilly leapt up and flung her arms around his neck.
“I thought you were going to get shot!”
Unable to resist, Evan wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. “Let me assure you, my dear Lilly, that I have no desire to get shot. However, I fear the shooter is targeting you for some reason and I think it imperative we leave as soon as possible.”
“Why should someone target me?”
“I don’t know. Can you think of some reason?”
“No.”
He eyed her gravely. “Are you sure?”
“No, Evan!” She dropped her hands from his neck but he refused to release her. “I am no one. I have spent most of my life hiding in the country. Why should someone take a disliking to me? Until I met you, I had never done anything!”
Regret bounced around his insides. Regret that he had not done more for her. Regret that soon enough, their time together would end. He searched her face but knew she hid nothing from him.
“I shall hire an investigator, I think. Perhaps a professional can get to the bottom of this. Letting it slide doesn’t appeal to me.”
“Are you sure it was not just some madman?”
Perhaps it was, but misgiving clawed at his gut and told him it was something more. “I will not take that chance.” A knock at the dining room door made Lilly jolt in his arms and he released her. “Enter.”
Mary came in and bobbed as she apologised. She held out a silver platter with a letter on it. “This came for Miss Claremont earlier.”
Lilly scowled as she took the letter. “Who could know I’m here?”
“It’s from your cousin, miss,” Mary explained. “The messenger is a friend of mine and works at the Grosvenor Hotel. He said your cousin is staying there.”
Inwardly, Evan grimaced. He hoped that fool did not want to visit. And if he knew of Lilly’s presence here, that meant gossip had already begun to circulate. He dismissed Mary with a thanks and intended to leave Lilly to her letter but her face paled as she scanned the missive.
“Is something amiss?”
The paper shook in her hands and she lifted her gaze to his. “He plans to sell my house,” she declared.
“Can he do that?” Evan pulled out a chair and coaxed her to sit.
“I don’t know. It is held in trust until I turn five and twenty, but Father never intended to leave me homeless. He had told Henry to ensure I was looked after. I would have thought with his debt to you gone, he didn’t need money. I anticipated returning there after... after...”
He sat beside her and gripped her hand. “I shall speak to my lawyer. I’m sure he cannot do such a thing. Though if he intends to keep the money from the sale invested for you, perhaps he can,” he mused.
Lilly gave an unladylike snort. “You have met my cousin. He may be harmless, but he is not savvy. I shall lose everything.”
Her eyes shimmered and his heart pulled. He would have to speak with Henry and come to some arrangement. How could he let Lilly lose the house she had been brought up in? “Don’t worry.” He squeezed her hand. “I shan’t let it come to that.”
She offered him a weak smile. “What did I do to deserve you, Evan?”
He groaned inwardly and tugged her onto his lap so as to embrace her. He didn’t deserve one moment of her time and in spite of her forced circumstances, she had been giving and loving. Did she not realise that he thought himself the lucky one?
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Lilly walked down the stairs the next morning, Evan scowled at her. “We are going to miss the train.”
“I couldn’t find my hat,” she muttered, flinging an irritable look his way.
He waited for her to finish her descent and instructed his driver to fetch her luggage from her room. She didn’t have much but he had taken the time to buy her a few pieces to keep her going. The man had raced up and brought down her case before Lilly had come to stand in front of him. What had her so irritable?
“Is something amiss? Lilly, you look paler than usual.”
She waved away his concern with her free hand. “I am fine. Just a little headache.”
The white cast to her cheeks gave way to a red flush and he saw her tremble. “Truly, you look quite unwell.” He took her elbow and guided her to the chaise in the hall.
In spite of a mumble of protest, she sank gratefully onto the padded cushions. He remained standing, peering down at her. When she craned her neck to see him, she wavered and ended up lying across the chaise.
Evan dropped down to his knees and flattened a hand to her head. Her skin felt aflame. “You’re burning up.”
“I’m fine,” she protested weakly. “I never get sick.”
“Be quiet, you silly woman,” he snapped. “You are almost certainly sick. Mary,” he called, “send for the doctor. Tell the carriage we will not be going anywhere. I’m taking Miss Claremont up to bed.”
Mary appeared at his side and peered around her master to view her. Concern flickered in her expression before she turned and went about her duties.
“And fetch some water,” Evan muttered as he scooped Lilly into his arms.
She tried to cling to him, but her limbs seemed to refuse to cooperate. Evan held her tightly, his heart beginning to pound in a sickening beat. What was wrong with her? She had been perfectly well at breakfast.
He raced up the stairs, breathing heavily, and carried her into the bedroom. As soon as he laid her down in the room—the one she had shared with him for her entire stay—he started tearing at her clothes.
She tried to push him away but her weak protest had little effect. “Stop,” she mumbled. “You shall ruin it.”
“It’s not the first dress of yours I have ruined and it will not be the last. But I’ll be damned if I let you overheat in all that fabric.”
He had her stripped to her undergarments after a fight with all those damned layers and plenty of cursing. He dragged up a chair to her bedside and seated himself next to her, elbows on his knees as he studied her. Her skin shone with perspiration and she peered at him through half-open eyes as if fighting fatigue. Evan rubbed his jaw and glanced at the mantel clock. That doctor had better hurry.
“Don’t look so worried. I never get sick.”
“How long have you been feeling like this?”
“Only since this morning.” Her voice shook. “Shortly after breakfast I believe.” He tapped his chin and his eyes widened when she moaned. “Evan, I need...”
A hand flailed around the bedding and he grasped her meaning. He leapt to his feet and pulled the chamber pot from under the bed, getting it to her just in time. Lilly
flopped back once her stomach was empty. Her undergarments had gone almost see through, the cotton sticking to her clammy skin.
Mary entered with a washbowl and placed it on the chiffonier. Evan brushed Mary’s hand aside as she tried to dab Lilly’s forehead and he took the cloth himself. “Did you send for the doctor?”
“Of course.”
Shivers wracked her when Evan started dabbing at her hot forehead. She struggled to keep her eyes open now and she tossed and turned. Mary took away the chamber pot and returned in time for another gagging fit but there was nothing left in her so she wretched uselessly.
“You should not be seeing me like this,” she panted.
“Nonsense. I’m going nowhere.”
Horror churned in his own stomach. To see the strong Lilly brought so low by some mystery illness made his hands shake as he wiped her down again. They’d enjoyed a pleasant breakfast and she, as usual, had plenty of frank observations for him. Her descent into illness had been so rapid.
The doctor, a surprisingly young man with a thatch of bright blond hair, finally arrived and shooed everyone out of the room. Evan paced outside, scuffing the green carpet with his foot and pausing to listen at the door though he heard nothing. He hoped that whelp of a doctor knew what he was doing.
After far too long, the doctor opened the door, nearly causing Evan to stumble in. The doctor began packing away his case. “A case of food poisoning, I suspect. She needs lots of fluids and bed rest. There is little more we can do.”
“Food poisoning? How is that possible?” Evan asked, hands on his hips.
“It could well be something she ate. We cannot say what for sure, but I should have your staff check the kitchen for any sign of contamination and throw away all your food supplies.”
Evan nodded to Mary who hurried from the room. Poisoning? This was too great a coincidence. First she was shot at and now she had been poisoned. Had someone gained access to the kitchen or the food delivery? And why had only she been affected? He considered breakfast and recalled he hadn’t eaten much, mostly because he had been too keen to rush back to Oxfordshire where it was safe.
The fact that her cousin had been spotted in town was too much like happenstance for his liking. It had been plaguing him since the carriage incident but this sealed his beliefs fully. Once Lilly was better—and she just had to get better—he would have to hunt down Henry. If he wanted to sell her house, he must know any lawyer would fight such a decision and win easily enough. Was that enough of an incentive to try to murder Lilly? It seemed fanciful but the blundering idiot had left her to die after falling from her horse. Too many fingers pointed to Henry.
Evan took the doctor aside. “You’re sure it is poisoning and not typhoid or something else?”
“It is certainly not typhoid. It came on too rapidly.”
“Cholera?”
He shook his head. “A fever is rare in such cases and while she is indeed ill, I am not overly concerned. With plenty of fluids, she’ll be well, but you must ensure she keeps drinking. If she loses too much fluid, her body will be out of balance.”
Evan nodded but couldn’t bring himself to feel assured. One of the maids had died from cholera several years ago and it had been a frightful business. He would not wish it on anyone, and certainly not on Lilly.
The doctor left with assurances he would visit in the morning, leaving Evan to pace and worry. In spite of Mary’s attempts at getting him to take a break from her bedside, he refused to leave her. Lilly grew nonsensical and her movements erratic. How could he leave her when he didn’t know what might happen? If he lost her, he would never forgive himself.
Through the night he remained at her bedside, occasionally waking to find his head pressed against the mattress, his body stiff and sore. She slept fitfully and vomited several more times so he coaxed her to drink as much water as possible.
When he woke again, a thin sliver of light seeped across the bed, making him squint. He raised his head slowly and eyed her ashen face. With her eyes closed, her skin pale, she looked so peaceful. At some point during the night, she must have burrowed under the covers as they were tangled around her. He stood and groaned as his aching body protested.
Smothering a yawn, he put a hand to her forehead. Though hot, her skin didn’t feel as blistering as the previous day. He released a long breath and tugged the blankets from her, leaving her covered in only a sheet.
Lilly mumbled and stirred so he sat quickly and grasped her hand. “Lilly?”
When no response came, he slumped back in the chair, her hand in his lap. How was it he could not conceive a future without her now? At what point had she become such a vital part of his life? Yet even if she survived, he had little time left with her. Another ten months didn’t seem long enough now.
Evan lifted her hand to his mouth, pressed a kiss to her palm and held it there, relished the feel of her soft skin against his lips. But part they must. After Lilly, he doubted he would risk marrying. It was hard enough holding onto his temper on a daily basis without having an irritating wife he had picked out from the debutantes and none would measure up to Lilly’s wit and intelligence. He thought it likely whoever he chose would be at great risk of causing his temper to flare and he refused to become like his father.
So a life alone it was. Selfishness drove him not to release Lilly sooner or to let her go off and achieve her dreams. He needed her as much as he needed air but all good things must come to an end and an illegitimate woman and a marquess with a temper were never intended to last forever.
He gripped her hand harder. For now, all he cared about was that she lived.
A tap on his shoulder drew him from his morbid thoughts. Mary placed down a tray with some tea and toast on it.
“You didn’t eat all day,” she said in hushed tones. “Make sure you eat something, my lord. You shall be no good to Miss Claremont in a weakened state.”
Reluctantly, he took a slice of toast and nibbled at it. It tasted no better than ash to his dry tongue in spite of the generous slathering of butter. All pleasures had vanished since Lilly fell sick. Evan allowed himself a tilted smile. He hadn’t thought much of pleasures before Lilly. Life had been about work and little more, but since she had entered his life, he’d learned to take much more enjoyment in things. He dreaded to think how smug she would be if she knew she had taught him a thing or two.
Mary hovered over him while he finished his toast and shooed him out of the room to wash and change. He protested in a whisper but she insisted on cleaning Lilly with damp cloths and for propriety’s sake, he had to leave. Thankfully, he trusted Mary wholeheartedly to look after her. The housekeeper and his mistress had become quite friendly these past few days, often causing him to scowl when he caught them whispering furtively.
As he came out of the spare room, having changed and done his best to look presentable, he ran into the doctor. Damnation, he had nearly missed him. “How is she?” he asked, dispensing of the pleasantries.
“That she has not been sick for a while is a good sign, but I would have hoped to see more animation from her. She is very unresponsive. It may be exhaustion but you must keep a close eye on her. All you can do now is wait. Keep giving her liquids as I directed and if she awakens properly, try some weak broth. I have instructed your housekeeper on her proper care.”
“And is she stays unresponsive?”
“If she is still like this tomorrow, I fear it may be something worse than simple food poisoning but I cannot know for sure.”
Fear tightened around his throat like a noose. Pain fisted in his gut. This was more than simple food poisoning. He was sure of it now and he knew who was behind it. Soon, he would make him pay.
“If she deteriorates,” the doctor continued, unaware of Evan’s building rage, “send for me and I shall come immediately.”
“Right, thank you,” he replied absentmindedly. Already he was forming a plan to hunt down her cousin and drag the answers from him, but he couldn’t le
ave Lilly. Not yet.
With heavy movements, his body weighted by worry, he took his place at her bedside and resolved not to leave it until she was better. For she would get better. She had to or he did not know what he would do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lilly groaned and tried to wriggle some sensation back into her fingers. Something held her hand down. She squinted and waited for her vision to focus. Mouth dry, she squeezed her eyes shut and dragged them open again. It had to be early morning... or even late afternoon. Ribbons of dusky light slipped between the heavy curtains. She wriggled her tingling hand again and finally summoned the energy to roll to one side and see what was wrong with it.
A smile forced its way across her dry lips and she winced as they cracked. Evan lay on her hand, his heavy breaths telling her he was fast asleep. How long had he been there? She’d been vaguely aware of him by her side when the doctor called again, but the rest of the time was a blur of delirious dreams.
“Evan,” she called, but her arid throat stole the words.
She managed to slide her fingers out from underneath his head and stroke his hair. Even with her aching body, pounding head and feeling as though she had been hung to dry in a dessert, her heart softened. How she loved this man.
He jerked awake while she continued to stroke his hair. His head snapped up and it seemed to take him a moment to decide where he was. His gaze came to rest on her. “Lilly, good Lord, you’re awake!” Evan stood hastily, knocked back the chair and raced to the door. Flinging it open, he bellowed, “Mary! Send for the doctor.”
“Evan,” she croaked.
He whirled, eyes wide. Even in the dim light she saw the shadows under his eyes and the lines in his brow appeared more deeply grooved. She longed to reach out and smooth them away.
“She will be resting and won’t be able to hear you from downstairs. I don’t need the doctor.”
He hastened back over, righted the chair and sat beside her. She held out a hand and he went to take it, paused and shook his head, then snatched it in both hands. Lilly frowned. He appeared to be fighting some kind of battle with himself but what?
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