Page 76 of Her Heartless Duke
Grunting in displeasure, Isaac tucked the ruined letters back into his coat pocket and slapped a few coins on the beaten wooden bar before following his friend out the door.
Daniel was right—almost immediately upon walking out of the tavern’s doors, he was hit by a blast of cold air, which worked to considerably clear his mind of the liquor-induced fog he had forced upon it.
Isaac stuck his cold hands into his pocket as he followed Daniel back to the same dirty loft he had chosen to occupy during the opening of the Season.
Before Olivia complained that he needed to find a better venue for their dance practices.
He smiled bitterly at the memory. She had always been rather outspoken for an unmarried young lady. Daniel had said she had been a little spoiled and Isaac knew he should not find that particular character trait endearing, but God help him, he did.
Every little thing she did was adorable to him.
She must have been so disappointed I bailed on the dance competition, he thought to himself, wondering how she took it.
“About Lady Willow’s dance competition…” Isaac began.
Daniel merely shrugged, his face devoid of any expression. “My sister was not able to join the dance competition. She was feeling unwell and had to retire early.”
Isaac knew that she probably left early because her partner had decided not to show up and she was likely trying to save face by absconding with some vague malady.
“What is it with that bloody dance competition anyway?” he grumbled.
Daniel cast him a sideways look. “You might not know it but my mother and father had both met in that same dance competition the Dowager Countess insists on holding every three years.”
Isaac nodded. He had heard the same thing from Olivia some time ago.
“Well, my sister grew up with stories of how our mother fell in love with our father that very same night,” Daniel shrugged. “I suppose it might sound like a fairy tale to us, but she believed in it, the little fool—if only because it is one of her last real ties to our mother. She died when Olivia was far too young to have many memories of her, you see.”
His friend rarely spoke of their mother, the Countess of Lancashire, who died much too young from some sort of malady. He had thought that his friend still grieved his mother’s death. Now, he realized it was also because he could not bear to taunt Olivia with the same memories that she was not able to make with the Countess before she passed away.
“Well, the dance competition is done and over with,” Daniel smiled sadly. “And my sister has returned to our home in Yorkshire as she always does around this time of the year.”
“Why?”
“Because the anniversary of our mother’s death is fast approaching,” Daniel told him somberly. “Olivia always spends that day alone in Yorkshire. She never misses it.”
An image of a much younger Olivia popped up in his mind, a cheeky little girl with golden braids hanging past her shoulders. She had been left to a grieving father and an older brother who, despite his great love for her, did not know much about how to raise a motherless young girl.
“How… how did the Countess die?” Isaac murmured and then added, “If you do not mind me asking.”
Daniel sighed and looked up to one of the street lamps that lined the street.
“It was a terrible illness,” he said softly. “One that afflicted the women of our family. Our grandmother had it and so did our mother.”
Isaac’s brows furrowed. “What kind of illness?”
His friend shrugged emptily and Isaac could feel the helplessness emanating from him.
“No one really knows. Even Dr. Edwards—he attended to our mother—says that there is not much information about it. It seems to afflict the blood in some way, causing dizziness and headaches, fainting spells… towards the end, there will be signs of bleeding like bruising in unlikely places and in worsening conditions, the coughing of blood.”
He had seen a bruise on the back of her leg… the last time they had been intimate. He had thought it odd, but Olivia had shrugged it off, saying she had backed up against some furniture or another.
He had also noticed that she had been growing paler with each meeting, her stamina remarkably less with every practice, when it should have only gotten stronger…
“Olivia, she…”
Daniel nodded solemnly. “My sister has the same illness. And soon, it will claim her life.”
Isaac froze to the spot. “What? What do you… How soon?” he asked hoarsely.