“I fear he has fallen ill, Miss Miller,” Mr. Noonan said after he bowed. “Come, he is in his chambers.”
“What is wrong with him?” she asked. “Please tell me.”
“I do not know,” he said, walking at her side, shaking his head. “It is not like the servants’ illness. He has fallen into unconsciousness and I cannot wake him.”
“Oh, God,” she said, her raw panic seizing control once more.Think, I need to think. Calm down and bloody think.Drawing deep breaths as she trotted up the stairs, not bothering to wonder where the Baron had disappeared to, Thea slowly got her terror under control. Ampleforth had Liam, blackmailed her into marrying him, her brother now ill. What did that lead to?
Fearing she knew the answer to that question, Thea entered Freddie’s chambers, barely seeing Michael bow. “Fetch me a quill and paper,” she ordered as she passed him.
Freddie lay in his bed, his flesh pale, but not deathly so. Had Mr. Noonan not come to get her and been so worried, she might have thought him merely to be asleep. “Freddie?” Thea shook his shoulder. “Freddie?”
He did not wake. Throwing Mr. Noonan a desperate glance, she asked, “Did you look this up in your book?”
He nodded. “I cannot find anything that matches this. He woke once and I gave him brandy.”
Mr. Noonan gestured toward the bottle Ampleforth had gifted him. Something about it made Thea hesitate, frowning, but then Michael bowed and handed her paper, quill pen and an inkwell. Taking them to the nearest table, Thea bent and scribbled a letter. Folding it, she spun around and handed it to Mr. Noonan.
“Take this,” she ordered. “Get it to Lord Bradford by the fastest means possible. Not the Duke, but his son. If it means a groom on a horse, then so be it. And do not let the Baron of Ampleforth get his hands on it.”
Mr. Noonan bowed. “I will put it straight into the hands of one I trust, Miss Miller.”
“And no one is to come in these chambers save you and I. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Miss Miller.”
“Go. Return after you have sent this off. Understood?”
“I understand.”
Mr. Noonan safely tucked the letter into an inner pocket of his coat, then bowed and departed Freddie’s chambers. Michael brought her a chair, into which she sank, gazing into Freddie’s silent, still face. “What exactly happened, Michael?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“Lord Willowdale came here a few hours ago, Miss Miller,” he replied. “I was performing my duties as usual when he suddenly collapsed. I carried him to his bed, as you see him, then called for Mr. Noonan.”
“Did he eat anything?”
“Not that I am aware of, Miss Miller, save his luncheon in the dining room.”
Thea bit her lower lip, wondering how he could have been poisoned when his food came straight from the kitchen under the watchful eyes of Mr. O’Bannon. She did not doubt the loyalty of either the butler or his wife, the cook, for one moment. There was little doubt the poisoning of the servants was the work of the assassin in the walls, as it would be easy enough for him to creep from hiding, then vanish quickly.
“But it would not be that easy in the kitchen,” she muttered.
“Miss Miller?”
“I am just trying to sort things out in my mind,” she replied. “You also will prevent anyone from entering this room, correct?”
“No one will enter Lord Willowdale’s rooms without your permission, Miss Miller.”
“Very good.”
It took Mr. Noonan thirty minutes to return, during which Thea fretted and worried, fearing that even the household steward had come to harm. When he did arrive, he bolted the door behind him and entered Freddie’s bedroom.
Bowing, he said, “Miss Miller, I took the liberty of placing the head groom on one of Lord Willowdale’s fastest horses. He will ride through the night, sparing the mount as best he can. He is an experienced horseman, though even he may kill the animal to get to the Bradford estate as fast as possible.”
Thea nodded. “Thank you. You did well, Mr. Noonan.”
“By your leave, I will continue to peruse the medical book, and see if I can find what ails Lord Willowdale.”
“Please do.”
