Page 74 of A Treacherous Bet to Win a Duchess

Only three days after Timothy’s mysterious death, the rest of the kitchen staff fell violently ill. And today, so did Meredith and two of the maids.

Seeing that Cecilia was on the verge of tears, Anthony attempted to reassure her.

“It’s all right, Cecilia. Dr. Wentworth says it’s simply a nasty case of the flu. Meredith will be just fine.” Unfortunately, his attempt did no good.

Probably because Cecilia noticed the lack of conviction and sureness in my voice.

“What do you think about taking Daisy and Herbert to the garden with us, Cecilia?”

“I don’t want her to go, Brother,” she replied in a tiny voice.

“I beg your pardon, Cecilia?”

“I don’t want Miss Meyer to leave like Mother did.”

Her words chilled Anthony to his core. Against his will, he felt his right hand begin to tremble.

No!

Just the thought of potentially losing Meredith—

No!

He forced it out of his mind.

I need to stay levelheaded. Like Father said, a man should never be vulnerable. I cannot let my emotions get the better of me during this critical time.

Because he didn’t have his handkerchief with him, he settled for wiping her tears away with his thumb.

“Cecilia, look at me. I promise you shewon’tbe going anywhere. Do you understand? We’ll do everything,everythingthat we can. All right?”

“All right.”

“Good. Come on then, let’s concentrate on more uplifting thoughts, such as coaxing the cats into the garden.”

* * *

“No, not at all, Fletcher. Please do come in. What is it?”

“Your Grace, the orphanage forwarded you a response. I am here to deliver it to you.”

“Really? How quick. Thank you, Fletcher. At least one thing has gone right in the midst of all this madness.” Anthony wanted to be alone before opening the letter, but Fletcher wasn’t taking his leave yet.

“Is there something else, Fletcher? Good heavens! I didn’t realize you were sweating so profusely. Please have a seat. What’s wrong?”

Fletcher thanked him and sat down.

“Your Grace, what are your thoughts regarding our current circumstances?”

“Well, this is obviously somewhat of a living nightmare. Young Timothy passed away and now the influenza has returned once more to terrorize our household. Poor Cecilia is barely maintaining her composure, and I suppose the same can be said for me,” he sighed.

Fletcher acknowledged his words with a sort of pensive grunt. Then he leaned forward and inquired in a low voice, “But wouldn’t you say that this is all a bit suspicious, Your Grace?”

Anthony furrowed his eyebrows.

“What makes you say that, Fletcher? I would describe our situation as being more unfortunate and worrisome, rather than suspicious.”

“Dr. Wentworth says it is quite a common thing for influenza to flare up in the summer time. In his professional opinion, the overheating of one’s body can increase one’s susceptibility to illness. And as for poor Timothy, no one saw what happened.”