“Think nothing of it. Shall I tell Lord Herberton the good news? I believe there is a particular young lady downstairs who has not stopped asking after you either.”
“Lady Rebecca,” George said quickly. Timothy tried to keep the smile off his face, but he couldn’t. He had to see her, now.
“Time to make those changes, Uncle.”
“To your life?” he laughed softly. “Then good luck, boy. I have a feeling I know what you are going to do.” George clapped him on the shoulder as Timothy hastened from the room.
He ran across the corridor, thrilled at the way his body had recovered so much overnight. Even his legs allowed him to jump down the staircase, two steps at a time, until he paused half way. At the very bottom, he could see Lady Eliza standing with Alexander. Beside them, Lady Rebecca was restless, pacing up and down, with one of the curls of her hair looped so tightly around her fingers in stress, the finger was turning red.
“I have not heard anything, my Lady,” Alexander was saying softly with a placating tone. “As soon as I hear from the physician, I will let you know.”
“May we not see him?” Rebecca asked, turning to face Alexander, yet the movement meant she could see Timothy. She gasped, saying no more as her eyes found him.
“You can see me now,” Timothy called down. His words prompted Alexander and Lady Eliza to whip round.
“Timothy? Thank God for that!” Alexander was the first one to stride forward, reaching for Timothy’s hand and shaking it heartily. “You look well.”
“I am merely tired. The physician tells me ejecting the tea so quickly from my system was what saved me. Something I have to thank Lady Rebecca for.” His eyes flitted to hers. She had tears in her eyes; it had to be the relief.
“You must come see everyone. They are dying to know you are well.” Lord Herberton tried to steer him to the nearest room, but Timothy couldn’t go yet.
“Tell my mother I am recovering and I will see her shortly.” Timothy disentangled his hand from Lord Herberton’s and went straight to Rebecca. “There is something I must do first.” He offered his hand to Rebecca’s, thrilled when she took it. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere I may ask you something.” He led her down the corridor, calling back to Lady Eliza. “Lady Eliza, something tells me you might have to come too as our chaperone.”
Lady Eliza needed no more encouragement. She made a quick goodbye to Alexander, clasping his hand, before she hurried after them, practically having to run thanks to the pace Timothy had set.
“Timothy, how are you feeling?” Rebecca asked at his side, her tone still worried as he led her out of the door and across the terrace, where they’d partaken of that awful tea the day before. He led her down a set of stone steps the other side and out across the gardens, with Lady Eliza still hurrying on behind.
“Better. Much better! Have no fear, Rebecca. The physician tells me there will be no lasting damage. Once I had emptied the contents of my stomach, it was simply a case of coping with the hallucinations.”
“Hallucinations?” Rebecca sounded panicked, her grasp on his hand tightening, just as he had longed for that touch to be there all night. “What did you see?”
“Odd things.” Timothy screwed up his nose. In the middle of the night, he had seen such strange oddities, such as the bed curtains coming alive to strangle him, yet the constant thing had been the image of his father at his side. Every now and then, Rebecca had appeared too, coming toward him with that hand outstretched. “You were one of them, begging to dance.”
“Would you two slow down?” Lady Eliza called after the two of them. “You make chaperoning you rather difficult when you run away at such a speed.”
“Perhaps that is my intention,” Timothy whispered to Rebecca, pulling a smile from her.
“I cannot tell you…” she whispered as he brought her around the side of the copse, leading her toward the ruins of the castle they had visited only a couple of days before.
“Tell me what?”
“How I feel to see you well. When it happened…” She shuddered beside him. “I do not think I have ever been so afraid.”
“I am simply glad.”
“Glad?” She tugged on his hand in surprise. “How can you say such a thing? Timothy, your life was in great jeopardy!”
He pulled her forward another time, revealing his smile the closer they got to the ruins and the exposed towers.
“Had I not gulped that tea, you would have been the one to drink it, Rebecca, and Lady Esther would have said nothing. I think I will thank the Lord for the rest of my days for how things happened. I cannot bear to think of what would have happened to you otherwise.” His words did something to her as he pulled her to a stop at last in the middle of the ruins. She sniffed, clearly trying to stop more tears as Lady Eliza entered the edge of the ruins.
“I do not remember saying I needed such exercise today,” Lady Eliza called after them, crossing the last of the distance at a much slower pace.
“Why have we come out here?” Rebecca asked quietly, her eyes alone on Timothy.
