Miss Cheswick's Charm (Seven Wishes Book 2)

by Bree Verity

  Theo ached to get Sir Allan to himself, to be able to converse with the financial legend, but he kept himself contained. He knew he would get his opportunity when the ladies left the table.

  Further down the table, Lord Ridgley held court between his own wife and Miss Fotheringham, keeping them both entertained, and Freddie spoke with some intensity to Mr. Dodsworthy and his wife, although when he looked up and caught Theo’s eye, it was always with a wink and a grin.

  Several other young ladies of Caroline’s acquaintance and several of Theo’s single business partners ogled and flirted with each other at the foot of the table and seemed quite content to be doing so.

  All in all, the party seemed to be a roaring success, and Theo felt a deep well of contentment building in him. This was the way home life should be. Spent amongst friends, enjoying the fruits of everyone’s labors. The beets had been a little bitter, perhaps, and the lamb a little tough, but Theo had eaten plenty of pigeon, sturgeon and buttered potatoes and drank more of the excellent claret, so those few problems were overcome.

  He turned to speak to Lady Edenburgh when there was an odd gurgle in his stomach, and he frowned, wriggling in his chair a little to dislodge the discomfort.

  Lady Edenburgh, known for her unusual manners, grinned at him. “That sounds ominous,” she said, and Theo flushed and laughed.

  “I am certain it is nothing,” he said. Another rumble occurred, but this time, instead of going away, it crawled a little way into his spine. He winced.

  “Are you quite well, Sir Theo?” Lady Edenburgh asked. Her voice held concern. “You have turned quite an alarming shade.”

  “Did you have the beets?” he asked her, and she frowned. “I did not realise there were beets,” she said. “Was there something wrong with them?”

  “They were quite bitter,” he replied, then gasped as another paroxysm hit. “Will you excuse me a moment?”

  At Lady Edenburgh’s concerned nod, he pushed his chair back and exited the dining room into the large foyer.

  He breathed deeply, a hand on his stomach. Had he eaten too much? While he had indulged – everyone had - Theo didn’t think he had been gluttonous about it. But his stomach felt bloated and, frankly, more painful than it should.

  “Are you quite the thing, Sir?” Extra staff had been brought in for the dinner party, and Theo was pleased to see his own man, James, was the one asking, not some stranger.

  “I admit, I am not feeling quite the thing, James,” he said, his brow knotting. He registered a vague sheen of perspiration crossing his whole body. “I might try a little fresh air.”

  With a nod, James turned to open the sitting room, and the door on its little side balcony. With a nod and a smile, Theo dismissed him, pulling a cheroot from his pocket and lighting the end. The cool air felt wonderful on his fevered face and he breathed deeply.

  But the very first pull on his cheroot brought his nausea back in full force and the pain in his stomach was quickly making its way down into his bowels - great cramps were overtaking him and he was hard pressed not to cry out in pain.

  Then Theo felt the color drain from his face, and he knew he needed to evacuate. Immediately. Taking a quick look around to ensure nobody was watching, he waddled into the small garden and pulled down his trousers - just in time.

  Chapter Sixteen.

  Caroline smiled brightly at the anxious servant who had appeared by her elbow several minutes later.

  “What is it, James?” she asked. “Are you here to solve the mystery of where Sir Theodore has taken himself off to?”

  There was a short laugh around the table.

  But James leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Madam, I think something is happening with Sir Theo. He is out in the garden, and quite unwell.”

  She shot a gaze at him, the smile frozen to her face. Then, she pushed her chair back, ably assisted by the stalwart servant. “If you will excuse me a moment, I shall see if I can find my wayward husband.” Again, a small laugh.

  The smile dissolved from her face as soon as Caroline left the room. “Where is he?” she demanded, and a white-lipped James led her through the sitting room to the garden.

  The smell was nauseating, but the sight of her husband lying on his side, his knees pulled up, his arms folded across his stomach and his face etched in pain was enough to have Caroline immediately by his side.

  “What is it, my dear?” she said, loud enough for him to hear through his agonized moans.

  “Caroline,” he groaned. “You’re here.”

  “What hurts, my love?”

  “My stomach,” he grated out. “I am sorry. The dinner party…”

  “Will survive without you for a short while,” she said firmly. Turning to James, she issued an instruction. “Go see if you can find Mrs. Benton, please, and ask her to bring an emetic, as well as a bucket of tepid saltwater.” James almost ran away, and she turned back to Theo. “It may have been something you ate, Theo, so Mrs. Benton will bring something to clear your stomach.”

  “No,” he groaned, and Caroline’s heart went out to him. The torture he had already faced from his bowels was going to be nothing compared to what he would face, having to swallow enough ash and saltwater to bring his stomach to spasm.

  “The beets,” he whispered through white lips. “There was something with the beets.”

  “We didn’t have beets, dear,” she replied with a frown.

  “The beets were bitter.”

  At that moment Mrs. Benton, with Benton by her side, appeared, basket in hand. She immediately sent Benton off to find a blanket to cover Theo’s lower regions, and told Caroline, “I have asked James to bring the saltwater.”

  Caroline nodded, feeling completely inadequate as poor Theo groaned again. The stench was dreadful, and Caroline thought she, herself may throw up.

  “Might I suggest we make him more comfortable in his own chambers, Madam?” said Mrs. Benton. “Laying out here in the cold and dark, well, it cannot be good for anyone’s constitution.”

  Benton hurried back with a blanket and, with Caroline’s nod of approval, he and James carried Theo to his room, his head lolling against both of their shoulders.

  Caroline pushed her hair off her face. “I need to tell everyone what is happening,” she said, as much to herself as Mrs. Benton. “Should I tell everyone to go home?”

  Mrs. Benton shrugged. “I expect they will not have much of a time if they know the man of the house is upstairs purging,” she said brusquely, and despite her worry, Caroline laughed.

  “You’re right, Mrs. Benton, as always. I shall be upstairs in a moment.”

  She turned, then turned back. “Wait,” she said. “Sir Theo was talking about how his beets were bitter. We didn’t serve beets, did we?”

  “No,” replied Mrs. Benton with a shake of her head.

  “I wonder if you can ask the cook to do a little digging, then?” asked Caroline. “What was it that he ate?”

  Mrs. Benton agreed, and Caroline turned once again, taking a deep, centering breath before she returned to the dining room.

  “I am so sorry, friends,” she said, “but it appears Sir Theo has been taken quite ill all of a sudden.”

  There was a chorus of questions, and Caroline smiled tightly. “We are not quite sure what has overtaken him as yet. I know it is dreadful of me to ask it of you all, but I wonder if you could… leave?” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “But we haven’t had dessert yet,” remarked one of Theo’s business friends, who immediately received a cuff over the ear from the man two seats to his left.

  “Of course, Mrs. Longshore.” The Earl of Edenburgh took the lead, standing up, as did his wife. “We should not presume upon your hospitality for another moment when your husband is ill. Think nothing of it. I daresay we all had other places to go following dinner anyway.”

  There was a quiet chorus of affirmations around the table, followed by a scuffling of chair feet as guests stood up to leave.
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br />   Lord Edenburgh took Caroline’s hand. “What happened?” he said quietly.

  “I am not sure,” replied Caroline, speaking through her tears. “But he is very, very unwell. And so suddenly.”

  Lady Edenburgh leaned in. “He fell ill a few moments before he left the table,” she said. “He mentioned the beets?”

  “Yes, he mentioned them to me as well,” Caroline said, frowning. She did not recall beets being on the menu at all.

  “We shall pray for him,” replied Lord Edenburgh, a sentiment repeated by Lady Edenburgh who leaned down to give Caroline a hug.

  To Caroline it seemed to take forever, but shortly all of the guests had been bundled into their coats and hats and the door closed behind the last one of them.

  Then, Caroline, with a deep sigh, climbed the stairs, preparing herself for whatever state she might find her afflicted husband in.

  But nothing could prepare her for the sight of Theo. Having been forced to drink several cups of saltwater with ash, he was now forcibly vomiting, tears streaming from his eyes as he leaned over a deep porcelain bowl. He glanced over at her.

  “You should not be here,” he said thickly. “I do not wish you to see me like this.”

  “Well, that is just too bad, because I am going nowhere,” she said firmly. She sat beside him, in a chair pulled up by Mrs. Benton, and mopped his brow with a cool cloth. “For better or for worse, remember? In sickness and in health?”

  Theo nodded, before his stomach was overtaken by another convulsion, and he leaned even deeper over the bowl.

  Caroline rubbed his back gently. It was going to be a very long night.

  * * *

  “But that is impossible,” pronounced Theo from the confines of his bed the following morning. The doctor fussed around him, checking his eyes and breath, prodding at his stomach, and examining his fingernails.

  “Poisoned?” echoed Caroline, her eyes wide and ringed with black.

  “Yes, with bryony root by the looks of it,” said the magistrate, who had been called by the doctor when he had heard the news from the cook that an unknown substance was found amongst the refuse from last night’s dinner. “It looks much like any other squash, only it is much more bitter.”

  “But why would anybody want to poison Theo?” Caroline asked plaintively.

  The magistrate, a burly man with bushy eyebrows and an equally bushy mustache, shrugged. “Until we know who put it on Sir Theodore’s plate, we cannot even begin to suppose a motive.” He turned to Theo. “Do you have any reason to suspect any of your staff?”

  “No!” Theo sat up in bed, and was summarily pushed back down by the doctor, who was trying to check his heart. “The staff have been with me for years. They are beyond reproach.”

  “We did have several staff who were brought in for the evening,” admitted Caroline. “But what motive would a stranger have for trying to poison Sir Theodore?”

  Again, the magistrate shrugged. “I shall try to track them down, Mrs. Longshore,” he said, “however some of these itinerant workers are very difficult to trace. It may be impossible ever to know.”

  “Well, do keep us informed if you find anything out.”

  With a bow, the magistrate left the room. Caroline sat down on the end of Theo’s bed with a deep crease between her brows. Theo reached out a hand to her and she took it.

  “Why would anyone want to poison you?” she asked again. Theo wanted to kiss away the worry and confusion etched on her pinched face. But inane words were all he could offer.

  “I am at as much of a loss as you,” he said. “But at least I am recovered today.”

  “Lucky you’re not in a box and six feet under,” muttered the doctor.

  “If it had not been for the quick thinking of my wife and our housekeeper, I may very well have been.”

  Caroline shivered. “Do not even jest about that, Theo,” she scolded. “It was such a close call.”

  “And yet, here I am,” he said deliberately, looking her directly in the eyes. After a moment she nodded.

  He still felt dreadful, as if someone had kicked him in the gut, and then rubbed sand in his eyes for good measure. Every single one of his muscles ached and his head pounded like the very devil. But he welcomed the signs. At least they meant he was alive.

  The doctor stood up; his examination apparently complete. “The good news is that you seem to have suffered no permanent damage,” he said. “Heart sounds normal, breathing seems normal. Eyes are clear, stools are returning to normal.”

  Theo caught Caroline’s eye and gave her a wicked smile. He was pleased to see her eyes twinkling back at him.

  “A day or two in bed would do you good, young sir, however I suspect it would be asking too much of you, considering how difficult it was to keep you there when your ribs were all but poking through your chest.” The doctor raised one scowling eyebrow, and Theo felt like a chastised schoolboy.

  “I can stay in bed for a day or two,” he said.

  “Good. Eat only liquids and purees today, return to solid food tomorrow. Apart from that, there is not much else I can do here.”

  Caroline stood and stretched out her hand for the doctor to shake. “Thank you, doctor, for your time today, and your attendance overnight. It is very much appreciated.”

  The doctor harrumphed. “Hardly anything for me to do, really. You had already administered the emetic by the time I arrived. The bowel had already purged. All that was left was for the contents of the stomach to…”

  “Yes, thank you, doctor,” Caroline interrupted firmly. “Please see Benton on the way out with your bill.” She all but pushed the still talking physician out the door and shut it behind him.

  She turned and leaned on the door. “I am not certain of your feelings in the matter, but I certainly did not require a reminder of all the things that happened last night.” She smiled and came back over to his bed, sitting beside him. “Still, you cannot imagine my relief when he appeared. I had never been so appreciative of seeing someone in my entire life.”

  Theo moved over a little in the bed and Caroline lay beside him, her head on his chest. “I am very gratified to still hear this beating,” she said quietly.

  “As am I to have it beating,” Theo joked.

  Caroline was quiet for a moment. “You know someone tried to murder you, Theo? Intentionally put something on your plate designed to kill you?”

  Theo desperately wanted to quiet Caroline’s mind, to put it at ease, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

  “Perhaps the plate was not supposed to be for me?”

  “Oh, yes, because that would make it better,” Caroline said, mildly sarcastic. “Someone else at our dinner party was targeted for murder.”

  “You are right,” Theo said on a yawn. “That would be no better.”

  “Never frighten me like that again, Theo, do you hear?” Caroline said, although her voice was softening into a murmur, moments away from sleep. “I do not know what I would do without you.”

  Theo smiled when a slight snore escaped her, and he kissed her hair and whispered, “Neither do I,” before he, too, succumbed to sleep.

  Chapter Seventeen.

  Despite the disaster that was their dinner party, invitations to other social events started to pile up for the pleasure of Sir Theodore and Mrs. Longshore. As a young, wealthy couple, they were much sought after for their company at dinners, soirees and assemblies. And while Theo good-naturedly groaned at the necessity of appearing in public, Caroline looked forward to the events.

  The first assembly they attended was several weeks after the poisoning incident. Theo was completely recovered; however, he swore he would never eat beets again, and from the expression on his face when he said it, Caroline completely believed him and had cook remove them from any of her dinner menus.

  The assembly was held at the stately Breckenridge Manor on Regent Street. Lady Breckenridge was an old acquaintance of Caroline’s mother so of course, Mrs. Cheswick ha
d been invited as well. Caroline had been pleased that her mother had looked forward to the event, even going so far as to dress her ragdoll in a handmade ballgown.

  When they arrived, Caroline settled her mother on a chaise lounge at the side of the dancing alongside another old friend, the Countess Thurston, who promised to look out for her.

  “I shall be back shortly, Mama,” she said, but “Very well,” was the only response she got from her mother, who sat up very straight, her hands gripped together in her lap. Her eyes darted all over the place. Caroline was relieved to find she did not seem to be overwhelmed by the party but seemed rather to be energized by it.

  Caroline smiled to the Countess, a stately, wrinkled lady in black and diamonds, who smiled back and made a sweeping motion with her hands. “Go,” she urged. “We shall be just fine.”

  With one last glance backward, Caroline started a slow turn of the room, greeting friends and acquaintances as she did, and soon found herself in the company of Lady Ridgley.

  “Will you be dancing with your husband?” Caroline asked her, indicating the couples that were lining up on the floor. Lady Ridgley laughed.

  “Heavens, no. Ridgley made me promise that once we were married I would not ask him to dance anymore - he prefers the tables you know - and there is not another man in the room that I should wish to spend thirty minutes in the sole acquaintance of.”

  “And here I thought myself an amusing companion.”

  Sir Freddie joined them, expertly carrying three wine glasses, two of which he handed to the ladies. “All this time, Joanna, I had been assuming that I had been entertaining you when in fact, you have been bored out of your mind.”

  Caroline’s sharp eyes noted that Freddie’s cuff was a little frayed and she smiled. If Freddie only knew, he would have his valet fired for sure. He was nothing if not always fastidiously dressed.