The Duke's Love (18 page)

“Get everyone ready, I want to leave early
,
” Jake said as he
stood
.

"What is the rush? It would be rude not to have breakfast with the others
,
”
s
he said.  Katherine put on a bright smile. She saw Ana breeze in
to
the room. She watched in fascination
,
as Ana looked about the room, catching her son's eyes and suddenly going red in the face and averting her direction. Yes,
th
at
was definitely interesting. Jake made no move to join her. Katherine was somewhat disappointed.

Lady Felicia and Sarah made their appearance right after. To Katherine’s surprise Sarah sat down right next to Ana and by the looks of it, Ana was not pleased. Katherine wondered what the girl was up to. She saw Eliza go over and join them
.
Katherine nudged Jake and they both watched to see what chaos would break out next.

Ana
was horrified when
Sarah sat down next to her. Not wanting to make a scene, she smiled and graciously said good morning.

“Good morning to you as well
,
Lady Ana. I have been meaning to
speak with
you and
I think this is the perfect opportunity,
”
s
he said, offering her tea.

“
I really don’t think we have anything to discuss,
” Ana said stat
ing
the obvious.

“
For this weekend,
it would appear we have no choice but to be in each other’s company
. Therefore, I believe we should make an
attempt
at civility
. I don’t think either of us would like to have the strain between us
reaching the gossips for their entertainment
,
”
s
he said.
Ana thought that
Sarah
actually
seemed sincere.
She at least took the tea offering.

“I suppose you have a point
and I am glad that you have realized our positions here
. I
also would be alarmed if we
were to
become the talk of the ton and
I
appreciate your civility. Apparently, you have had time to think of your actions since the encounter last night.
” Ana said smoothly. 

“I
do apologize for my actions last evening. So, do you think we can find a way to tolerate each other for the remainder of the visit?
” Sarah asked.

Before Ana
had the
chance to say anything
else
, Eliza sat down with them and joined in.

“
What do we have here? Tell me Sarah, are you planning to have a tantrum the next time you do not get your way? I dare say, it did provide a most entertaining evening
,” Eliza jibed. Sarah huffed and sneered at them before she got up and
walked away
. Eliza took the opportunity to ask, “What did the witch want?” She asked.

“
It appeared that she was calling a
truce
of sorts
, but you interrupted before I could question her more
,
” Ana said frowning.

Although
she
did not
particularly want tea
, she
at least
had to try to
be
polite
. She picked up the
tea
cup
and took a sip.
The tea had a bitter taste.
After everyone was seated, breakfast was served. “Does your tea taste alright
,
Eliza?”
Ana
asked
.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“No reason,
Perhaps it is just mine,
” Ana shook her head, taking another
sip
. She wrinkled her nose
at the bitter taste and decide
d
she had enough
. Suddenly, she found that she was not feeling well and a headache was forming.
She looked down at the food in front of her and
the food did not look appetizing at all.

“
Ana, are you feeling okay? You look rather pale, what is wrong?
” Eliza’s concerned voice reached her ears.

“
It is probably nothing,
I just have a headache. I think I will retire
to my room for a bit, maybe a little rest will help,
” Ana said as she stood up and clumsily
walked out of the dining room.
She stumbled upstairs, leaning on the
wall in the
hall to help guide her to her room.
A sudden feeling of exhaustion and dizziness was beginning to overcome her. Somehow, she knew something was wrong, but she was feeling so ill that she could not think clearly.
All she could concentrate on now was to get to her bed to rest.
Slowly, she felt herself collapsing and her last thought was hoping that she had reached the bed.

Frowning,
Jake watched
as
Ana
had
stumble
d
from
the dining
room. Something was wrong and
a sense of
worry was growing inside of him. He was not even paying attention
,
when Sarah
had
started talking to him. He recalled something about gardens. “Did you notice anything amiss with Lady Ana?” He asked politely. He saw her eyes narrow.
Earlier, he had
watched as Sarah and Ana
were speaking with each other
.
Although, it
had not appeared
a happy conversation,
he
had
decided
not to intervene.

“No, she seemed fine to me.” Sarah continued to chatter about nonsense and it was wearing on his nerves.

The hunting party was ready to leave
.
He
was just waiting to say good-bye to his mother and
he
wanted to have a word with Ana. However, it looked like it would have to wait. “
Sarah, if
you
will
excuse me, I would like to have a word with my mother
,
” h
e said stiffly. He
gave her a quick bow
and walked away without
waiting for
her reply.
He noticed Eliza
and his mother in conversation.

“Eliza, what is wrong with Ana?” He questioned.

“
Don’t be alarmed, she
just has a headache and went to rest,” Katherine answered for Eliza. 

“Look, your
Grace
,
there has been much tension since last night, she really
doesn’t
want to be here, it
is wearing her down. She will be fine, I promise
,
” Eliza supplied. Jake relaxed a little.
Okay, that
made sense
and he fully understood how she felt
. God knows, he was
feeling the strain, as well
.

“
Very well
, will you check on her later
, M
other?” He asked in silent command.

“Yes
,
dear, you go have fun and I’ll
look in
on her later. Please be back by
dinner, the
chef has outdone himself today
,
” s
he chuckled.

Jake gave her his thanks
, kissed her on the
cheek,
and went to gather the men
for the hunt
.
A foxhunt would be a
good diversion. It had been awhile since he had been able to enjoy a foxhunt. Tomorrow he had a lot of estate business to attend to and
that
would keep him more than busy and out of the way.

. He joined the men outside, climbed up on his
horse,
and
then
gave the word to start the hunt. A gun sounded
,
everyone jumped into
action,
and Jake jumped into the
fray
with them.
Even as he
rode through the woods fast and hard, his mind was not on the chase. With his muscles sore and sweat beading down his face a good hour later, he
still
had
a nagging feeling that something was amiss.
He mentally recounted his morning and knew it was Ana that was bothering him.

After debating his decision for a moment, he determined that
the hunting party could finish without him. He turned his horse around and headed back toward the stables
,
feeling better with each stride the horse made. He reached the stables, jumped off, threw the reins to the stable hand, and hurried inside.

Eliza was sitting in
the
parlor with her
mother,
along with
Lady Felicia and her awful daughter. Katherine was having the carriages brought around.
The ladies were going into the village for a bit of shopping.
The other guests were still in their chambers getting
dressed
.

“I need to go and check on Ana before we leave.” Eliza said to her mother. She went upstairs and
eased the bedroom door open
. Ana was fast asleep on the bed. She slipped inside the room,
being
careful not to wake her.

Eliza noted the odd position that Ana was lying in, so she walked over and
place
d
her hand on her forehead. She
jerked her hand back
after realizing that
Ana was burning up. Eliza
grabbed her shoulders trying to shake
her awake. However, she
remained
limp and did not make
a sound
.
Feeling her pulse, she knew
something was dreadfully wrong. She
rushed
down
stairs
and found Katherine. “Something’s not right, come quick
ly
.” She
practically dragged
Katherine
along behind her. 

When they
entered
Ana’s
room
,
Katherine immediately saw what the urgency was about. Katherine told all the ladies to go back downstairs, canceling the village trip. Once alone, Katherine and Eliza both jumped into action. Eliza ran
for
a bowl of
cold
water and towels.
Frantically,
Katherine gathered the servants and gave each one a specific order. She had servants running around and
a
footman going to the village to find a doctor. Eliza knew this was not
just a simple headache
.
Could it be
something she ate? Katherine sent someone to find her son and they were
a
waiting Jake
’s arrival
.

In the
meantime
, Eliza and a maid undressed Ana
, wiped her down with cold cloths,
and covered
her with
a light
blanket
. Katherine's guests were being kept in the dark
, so
she
needed
to make up some excuse to cancel the evening activities. Eliza was dabbing Ana's head with a cold
wet
cloth.
She
kept talking to Ana, more to make herself calm
,
than trying to get through to
the unconscious girl
.

“What the hell happened?” Jake
asked
as he entered the bedchamber. A servant
directed
him upstairs the moment he
had
stepped inside the house. 

“I have no idea
,
but I’ve already
sent
for a doctor
,
” Katherine replied.

“How long
h
as she been like this?” Jake snapped out.

“She’s been like this for
at least an
hour
,
”
s
he said. Jake ignored the
social propriety of staying out of a lady’s bedroom
, and immediately went to Ana’s bedside.
Katherine could see the tension mounting on his face and stress lines were becoming
more
evident with every passing minute. She watched as he took the cold cloth and lightly
swabbed
Ana’s forehead.