Page 74 of Sincerely, the Duke
Eileen scowled.
“How the devil were you planning to get there?”
“Safely, I assure you. I’ve been giving this much thought since Papa passed. Being in London has just mademy plan come sooner and easier than I expected when in York. I’ve checked the mail coach’s schedule and how to get to where it is. I need to be there in exactly forty-five minutes to board. My maid is waiting by the back gate with our satchels packed, and I have enough food for us for several days.” She looked down at the laden basket. “Unless you take it from me.”
“What? No. No, I wouldn’t take food from you, and no, I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
“I have everything all thought out. I’ve been saving my pin money a long time,” she continued. “There is enough for lodging and more food for at least a month or two. Longer if I’m frugal. The only thing I must do is get out of here before Edwina finds me and locks me in my room for the next thirty years.”
“I am the one standing in your way, not your sister,” he snapped, unable to understand why she couldn’t find a way to be happy where she was and with the plans Edwina had for her. They were good plans. “I can’t let you do this. You’ve been attending parties and dances this week, and from all I’ve seen enjoying yourself quite well. You even went for a ride in the park with your sister and Mr. Malcolm.”
“I’ve been biding my time until I could get my plan in place.”
The agony of how damned bad he was feeling swamped his senses. He needed brandy, willow bark, and whatever the other powder was the apothecary had given him. He looked around the tables. There were bowls, vegetables, even flowers, but there wasn’t a bottle of brandy, wine, or port on any of them.
Eileen inhaled a deep breath. “After getting this far, if I don’t leave tonight, I will tomorrow night. If not then, the next, or in a week. You and Edwina cannot keepwatch over me twenty-four hours a day unless you lock me in my room.”
“Of course we can,” he grumbled, rubbing and squeezing the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension and the chill sweeping over him again. Evidently, this was more critical than he first thought. “I hope it won’t come to that. I’ll talk to Edwina and get her to see reason about how you feel and how unhappy you are. We’ll arrange for you to do more of the things you enjoy.”
“You cannot make my sister see reason,” Eileen scoffed. “I have tried. She only sees her sworn oath to our father. I have no such oath and I don’t want to live under the weight of hers any longer.”
“You are the one not adhering to reasoning.” He opened a cabinet and looked inside. “You can’t run away simply because you are unhappy.”
She dropped the arm holding the basket to her side and squared her shoulders. “I wrote Edwina a note and left it on the table in the vestibule. I don’t think she will understand but maybe you can help her. Papa is gone. I can’t live my life for him or for her any longer.”
Of all nights for her to plan her escape. Why this night when his head was thundering and he was weary with fear the fever had returned? He wasn’t fully alert.
“Go back to bed,” he said and turned away from her and opened another cupboard, looking for brandy or claret or something to drink. Hell, he didn’t know where it was. Palmer always kept it on a tray in the drawing room, book room, and his chambers.
“I’m not going back to my room, Your Grace. I am leaving. I know how to take care of myself and my maid. We will be fine.”
The seriousness of Eileen’s tone shuddered through him. Damnation, she reminded him of Edwina the firstday he had seen her standing in the vestibule of his home telling Palmer she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I’ll think of something tomorrow, Eileen,” he said, willing himself to be patient. “Just give me time and I will help you.” He opened another cabinet. He was in no temper or disposition to continue to argue with her over practical solutions to her restless desire to find a new life.
Eileen walked closer and eyed him carefully. “Are you all right? You don’t look well.”
No. He wasn’t. He was dazed, feverish and sweating as if it were a hot day in July. “I have a pounding head. I’m half asleep. I came down for something—a brandy—and I don’t know where a damn thing is in the kitchen.”
Eileen walked over to a freestanding cabinet, opened one of the doors, and took out a bottle of brandy. She handed it to him. He gave her a curious look.
“I don’t know any more about a kitchen than you do,” she offered to alleviate his fears of how she knew where it was. “I saw it when I was looking for food. I don’t know where they keep the crystal, so I can’t help you with a glass.”
“That’s all right,” he said, pulling out the stopper. “I’ll drink it out of the bottle.” He took a stinging sip, hoping it would quickly help him to feel better. “Get yourself back up to bed.”
“The only way you are keeping me here tonight is to throw me over your shoulder, carry me up the stairs, and lock me in my room while I am kicking, screaming, and waking the entire…” She paused.
“House,” he finished for her and took another drink from the bottle.
“Neighborhood,” she said. “Let me leave without trouble and help Edwina understand why I had to go.”
“I am not good at trying tomakeher do anything.”
She grabbed her basket with both hands again and said, “I’m leaving. It’s up to you if you call to my sisters, grab hold to stop me, or let me go.”
She turned and started walking toward the door.
Rick had no doubt if he stopped her she would try to leave again and again until she managed to escape. Her mind was set.
