“No.” More tears flowed as Wilmot closed his eyes. “I cannot. I would rather die than hurt Mother.”
Bowing his head, Maximilian drew in a deep breath, ordering himself to quell his rising anger. His brother did not need the tongue lashing he was so tempted to give him. “Very well. Just promise me you will not try to kill yourself again.”
Wilmot’s head rolled from side to side on the pillow. “I cannot make that promise. Do not ask that of me.”
Blowing out a deep gust of breath, Maximilian then said, “Will you at least talk to me if this temptation strikes you again? Give me the chance to talk you out of it?”
A small smile crossed Wilmot’s lips as his eyes opened again to gaze at Maximilian. “I will agree to that.”
“We have guests arriving soon,” Maximilian said, his tone lighter. “I certainly would hate for them to discover I chained my own brother in the dungeon. So, do not make me regretnotdoing it.”
“You really want me to stay alive?”
“Yes. I do.”
Wilmot’s smiled grew slightly bigger. “It is nice that you care, brother.”
“I do. Now, I see that a servant has arrived with your supper. I intend to sit here and watch you eat every bite.”
True to his word, Maximilian sat beside the bed as the servant helped Wilmot to sit up and placed the tray in his lap. Wilmot ate the lavish meal with more enthusiasm than Maximilian expected. By the time he had finished, Mr. Leary had returned to examine him and offer him more laudanum.
Wilmot drank it down cheerfully, and then let the footman take the tray from him. “Thank you for coming to see me,” Wilmot said as Mr. Leary gently lifted his wrapped arm and checked it for swelling and blood seepage. As far as Maximilian could tell, his brother’s arm would be fine within a few weeks.
“You are welcome, brother,” he said, dropping a quick wink. “Sleep now, I will return in the morning.”
“Good night then.”
“Good night.”
Maximilian stepped out of Wilmot’s chambers and into the castle’s corridor. Only when he started to walk away did he realize that Mr. Leary had followed him. The physician bowed, and said, “Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak to you in private.”
“Of course.”
“I have not informed Lord Wilmot of this,” the physician said, his tone worried. He busily dry-washed his hands, a sign that Maximilian knew boded no good. “I fear your brother may lose that arm.”
Chapter 6
“My Lady, I am so excited I do not think I will survive this adventure.”
Lady Helena laughed as she pulled out gown after gown, examining them as she decided whether or not she wanted Eugenia to pack them. “I daresay I feel the same. Why, I have hardly slept all week since we received the letter.”
Eugenia pulled a pearl necklace from her mistress’s jewelry box. “Do you wish me to pack this, My Lady?”
Lady Helena glanced up. “Not that old thing. I do want most everything else, however. Especially the diamond and ruby necklace.”
“Of course, that truly shows off your eyes.”
Time passed quickly as Eugenia packed both Lady Helena’s things as well as her own. It would take them more than a week to travel from London to Yorkshire, staying at inns along the way. Having been out of London with Lady Helena only a few times in her life, she looked forward to seeing new things, a grand adventure. They would be leaving in the morning, and Eugenia would be hard put to sleep as well later that night.
The day finally dawned, and now Eugenia rode in the carriage with the Earl and Countess’s valet and personal maid. Lady Helena and her parents rode in the carriage ahead of them as they took the roads north to Yorkshire. All but hanging out of the window, Eugenia gaped at everything she saw. Farmers worked their fields as they passed. Young boys threw stones at sheep to keep them from wandering as they guarded their flocks. Peasants in rude carts pulled by oxen or mules traveled in the other direction, toward London, their goods piled high. Eugenia waved enthusiastically at them while the valet and lady’s maid pretended not to see.
Each night they stayed at an inn, another source of excitement for Eugenia. She and Lady Helena shared a room, giggling over the sights they had seen that day, whispering like school girls. “In a few days I will meet him,” Lady Helena confided, her green eyes gleaming. “Do you think he will kiss me?”
Eugenia almost choked on her shock. “Not until you are at least engaged to be married.”
Lady Helena laughed. “If he tried to kiss me, I will let him.”
“I would, too,” Eugenia confessed, blushing furiously.
