“I am not!” I tried not to smile back. “And how can you say such things with ease? Are you not embarrassed?”
“I am greatly embarrassed, however, words said can never be unsaid, and thus I must go forward undeterred.”
“You are stubborn and strange, Dr. Darrington.”
“Yes, forgive me.”
I laughed but before I could say more I heard Hathor calling out, “Verity? Verity?”
Quickly I rose at the same time that Dr. Darrington stepped behind the bush beside me. His eyes looked around, but his body was so close to mine I could take in the scent of him: warm honey and apples. Once more I felt his heat upon my skin even through my clothes.
“Verity?” Amity called as well but her voice was rather far off.
Dr. Darrington glanced around. “You ought to go quickly, Verity, before a scene is caused.”
“Verity?” I repeated, looking up at him. His eyes, however, were still focused elsewhere. “Does that mean I may call you Theodore?”
His whole neck snapped as he looked back at me, his face full of shock. I grinned.
“I shall go now, Theodore, thank you,” I whispered to him, and ran behind him back toward the main path.
“There you are!” Hathor said as she rushed to me, Amity alongside her. “Mama was nearly in a panic when she realized you must have gotten separated from us. We all began to search. Where on earth did you vanish to?”
“Forgive me, I was mesmerized by the lovebirds,” I lied with a smile.
“What? Are those truly birds?” Amity’s eyebrows rose.
“Later. We ought to return to my mother before she calls for the London guard,” Hathor replied, linking arms with me. “I swear, Verity, sometimes it feels like you are seconds from drifting away.”
“I am not sure I know what you mean,” I replied, glancing back over my shoulder to the bushes Theodore was surely still hiding behind.
All of a sudden, my day was much brighter.
And just like that, I realized I liked him…Now what was I supposed to do next?
Theodore
The smile on my face, the joy that coursed through me…came with a sense of dread and frustration.
What purpose did I have for doing this? For speaking to her this way? I told myself confessing my feelings would put an end to them. But it did not. I assured myself that the only reason I had come to her now was that I did not wish for her to be lost or for the marchioness to worry for her. However, I knew it was not true. As the marquess and I spoke I could not help but glance at her, watching her every step as if she were the wonder brought from across the far ends of the globe. When her strides purposely slowed and she moved farther and farther away…I took the chance myself. I lied to the marquess, saying there were patients in need of my care, just so I could go to her, so I could speak to her.
Now that I had done so I found myself asking once more…what was the purpose? No good could come from her and me being near each other. Had anyone seen us, I could have easily stained her reputation.
“Enough, I must keep my distance from her,” I whispered as I made my way through the crowd. It was for the best.
“Pardon me, sir,” I said as I slightly bumped into a frail blond-haired man with skin so pale, I could see the blue of his veins underneath. I was not at all a small person, but I was not so large as to knock him off his feet at the mere colliding of our shoulders. However, the man screamed as if all the world were attacking at once. He collapsed into my arms, gripping his head.
“Alistair!” A woman dressed in periwinkle with white gloves dashed to his side, her brown eyes wide with fear as the man once more struggled to stand on his own.
Nevertheless, he reached out for her white hand through gritted teeth. “It…I…sorry.”
“My lord, you must breathe,” I said, checking his pulse. It was dangerously slow. I looked to whom I could only assume was his wife. “My lady, we must get him home at once, he is—”
“Brother?”
Within mere seconds another man, slightly taller than myself, with blond hair similar to the man in my arms, rushed to our side.
“What is the matter? Yumiko, what happened?” he immediately asked the woman beside us.
“I do not know! He wished to leave, as he was feeling a slight fever, and next he was falling and screaming—”
“Tristian…It…AHH! AHH!” From the name of his wife and brother, I was sure he was none other than the first son of Lord Wyndham, Lord Alistair Yves, the Viscount of Tregaron. And it was far too late to be worried about a scene. Everyone within hearing distance had now turned to look at the spectacle.
“My lord, I am a doctor, and we must get him home at once!” I said, regaining their attention as they seemed to have all but forgotten I was here.
“I shall help you move him,” his brother replied, already on the other side of him and placing his arm around his shoulders.
“I can walk…on…my own.”
“My lord, you can barely breathe on your own!” I said as we quickly moved toward the exit.
“Make way! MAKE WAY!” his brother yelled at any and everyone, with clear panic and fear in his voice as we rushed.
It took us nearly eight minutes to reach his carriage, and when we did, he was all but unconscious.
“Brother!” Tristian yelled as we laid him on the back seat.
“ALISTAIR!” his wife screamed. I understood but neither was helpful.
“Sir, I need you to go to the carriage of Lord Fancot; there you will find my medical bag!” I said directly to Tristian and he was off running a second later, leaving me with his wife, who had also entered the carriage, gripping her husband’s hand.
“Alistair? My love, open your eyes, please open your eyes, please!”
I thought it foolish, not in the realm of possibilities, for he was so clearly ill, and yet somehow his eyes opened, and he glanced up to her and smiled. How? I was not sure, but soon they closed once more and immediately I reached for his neck. He was so weak. I had heard the rumors that Lord Wyndham’s heir was nearly upon his death bed so…
“What on earth was he doing on his feet?” I asked, mostly to myself as I undid his ascot and his shirt in order to make sure neither restricted his breathing.
“It is my fault!” the woman cried beside me. “He knew I wished to see the exhibit, so he pushed himself to come with me.”