Cast in Shadows

by Laura Landon

  “Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked when they reached the spot where they would part.

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “Good.” He took one step closer to her. “Don’t stay up too late reading those files,” he said. “You need to get a good night’s sleep.”

  “As do you,” she answered. Then turned. But he couldn’t let her walk away from him just yet.

  “Eve?” he said, stopping her.

  She turned and he placed his hands on her arms. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

  He only intended to kiss her once, briefly. But once his lips touched hers, he forgot his intent.

  A torrent of desire erupted inside him. He wanted her. He had from the first time he’d kissed her. The effect she had on him was mystifying and powerful.

  He deepened his kiss and she answered his demands. She leaned into him and opened her mouth beneath his.

  Their tongues met and battled to answer the need building inside each of them.

  Gideon wrapped his arms around her, wanting to feel her close to him. Needing to feel her next to him.

  He kissed her once more, then lifted his mouth from hers. But he didn’t release her. He couldn’t.

  “I won’t apologize for what just happened between us,” he said. His voice was raspy and his breathing heavy.

  She tilted her chin until her gaze met his. There was a sheen of wetness in her eyes and Gideon lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers.

  “Trust me, Eve. There are some things we can’t control. This is one of them.”

  She reached up and placed her palm against his cheek. Then she lowered her arm and took her first step away from him.

  “Thank you for today,” he said before she’d gone too far. “It felt good to do something useful.”

  “You were immensely helpful,” she answered, then continued on her way home.

  Gideon watched her leave. He knew he was the heir to the Duke of Townsend, but he wasn’t the same as any of the other heirs to dukedoms. His seizures made him different. He hadn’t attended the prestigious schools the other lads his age had attended.

  He hadn’t gone to London to take part in the social Seasons. He hadn’t met and hadn’t formed strong friendships with the sons of other nobility. Ben had done that. During the past few years, Ben had spent more time in London than he’d spent at Townsend Estate. And according to Winnie and Anne, he had more females falling at his feet than any male needed. But that hadn’t been Gideon’s life. And it never would be.

  Now, if he could just get Eve to see that. And believe it.

  CHAPTER 15

  Eve read one file after another, then set them aside and reached for yet another. So far, she hadn’t found anything that mentioned Gideon’s mother.

  The next file fell open in her hands. She’d been so sure that Dr. Milton had discovered something that might give at least one clue as to the cause of the duchess’s seizures. Something that might shed a glimmer of light on why Gideon suffered from the same malady. If only the answer could fall so easily into her hands.

  She dropped the brief file and opened another, but as her scan reached the top of the second page, she stopped reading for speed and took in each word. Not only was Her Grace mentioned, but so was Dr. Milton’s assumption that the Duchess of Townsend’s seizures might be caused by an outside source.

  Eve quickly read to the bottom of the page, then turned to read the next page. Listed were some of the experiments Dr. Milton had tried in an attempt to discover the reasons for Her Grace’s seizures. He indicated that there was a possibility that the seizures might be caused from the foods the duchess ate. Could that be the cause of the seizures? Could Gideon have the same deadly reaction that his mother had to something they ate?

  Eve wasn’t sure how that could be possible, but she had to admit that Gideon’s seizures had stopped when Lettie had started preparing his food. But what was the difference?

  Eve turned to the next page. She began reading the entry and stopped. Her heartbeat increased and a gnawing sensation ate at her insides. She swallowed hard, then began reading Dr. Milton’s words again.

  Something about his words troubled her. Something about the desperation in the words he’d chosen alarmed her. Although she knew she shouldn’t be afraid, she was.

  Eve tried to tell herself Dr. Milton’s notes didn’t make sense. But in a terrifying way, they did. After the attempt on Gideon’s life they made perfect sense. It was the conclusion he drew that frightened her most. A conclusion that was unbelievable.

  Eve flipped through the pages, scanning the entries to find anything that might indicate that his previous assumptions had been in error. But there was nothing.

  She closed the folder, but as she placed it back on the desk, an envelope fell to the floor. She reached down and picked it up.

  She opened it carefully, then pulled out the single sheet of paper inside. The note was dated the day before his death. The day before Her Grace, the Duchess of Townsend, supposedly killed him.

  It read:

  Met with Her Grace again today. Imperative that I remove her from Shadowdown. That is the only way I will know for sure if what I suspect is correct. I pray to God it is not.

  Eve took several deep breaths, then held the paper in front of her eyes again, thinking that if she read the words more carefully, they wouldn’t say what she’d thought they had the first time.

  She was reading the note for a third time when her father walked into the study. The noise at the door startled her and her heart seemed to skip a beat. She tried to relax as he walked toward her.

  “Are you still up, Eve?” he asked, holding a lamp high. “It’s after midnight.” Just then the mantel clock struck one. “Even later,” he said, taking a chair in front of where she was working.

  “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d go through these papers I found in one of the storage closets in the basement of the asylum. They were files from Dr. Milton, and were written about the time the Duchess of Townsend died.”

  “Have you found anything interesting?”

  Eve looked at the paper in her hand and her fingers tingled, as if the words written by Dr. Milton were more important than she wanted to admit. Her heart raced. “I may have.”

  She looked at the paper, then back to her father. “First,” she said, “I’d like you to tell me everything you know about Dr. Milton. And how he died.”

  Her father relaxed into his chair. “Well,” he started, “Howard Milton was one of the most well-known doctors of our time. His death was a great loss to all of us.

  “He specialized in diseases of the mind, and when the Duchess of Townsend was struck down with her seizures, His Grace brought in a number of renowned physicians to evaluate his wife. Every doctor said there was nothing to be done and suggested that he lock her away. But His Grace couldn’t bear to lock his wife in a cell, so he built the cottage at Shadowdown. He also brought in the most renowned doctor in the country to care for her.”

  “Dr. Milton.”

  “Yes.” Her father shifted in his chair. “You know how the hospital at Shadowdown came about, so I won’t explain that again. At first, however, the main purpose of the grounds was to provide Her Grace with the freedom to roam where she wanted, to tend her flowers, which she loved, and ride her horse—she was quite a horsewoman, I hear—without feeling as if she were in a prison. Dr. Milton’s main responsibility was to care for the duchess, which he did until his death.”

  “How did he die?”

  “He was found stabbed to death inside the cottage.”

  “Was the duchess with him?”

  “Yes. She was still holding the knife.”

  “Did she admit killing Dr. Milton?”

  Her father shook his head. “According to the report, she couldn’t remember anything. The authorities assumed she’d killed him during one of her seizures.”

  “Where did she get the knife to kill Dr. Milton?”

 
A frown etched her father’s forehead. “What?”

  “Where did she get the knife? Surely Dr. Milton wouldn’t have allowed keeping a knife in the cottage. We don’t allow there to be one near Lord Sheffield or any of the other residents.”

  “I’m not sure I know,” her father said. “I never heard it mentioned.”

  “Did you ever meet Her Grace?” she asked after several moments.

  “No. She died before I arrived. She suffered several seizures quite close to one another after Dr. Milton’s death, and died during one of them. It was quite tragic.”

  Her father leaned forward in his chair. “Why all the questions, Eve? Have you discovered something?”

  “Yes.”

  “Something that pertains to Lord Sheffield and his mother? Something that might shed a light on their seizures?”

  Eve breathed a heavy sigh, then handed over the paper.

  “It’s always dangerous when you allow me to draw my own conclusions without you interjecting your opinion first.”

  “You’ll see why when you read this.”

  Her father took the paper and scanned the words. He sat forward in his chair before he finished reading it the first time, and his eyes opened wide. He glanced at her, then lowered his gaze and read the paper a second time. “Where did you find this?” He held the paper in his hands. His fingers were trembling.

  “It fell from the back of one of the folders.”

  Her father read the notation again. “What do you think the words mean, Eve?”

  “I’d rather hear what you think they mean, Father.”

  Her father pushed himself from his chair and paced from one end of the room to the other. It was now nearing two in the morning, but the two lamps that were lit on the corners of the desk put out an adequate amount of light in which to work. They also shifted her father in shadows as he moved from one end of the room to the other.

  Finally, he stopped pacing and stepped close to her. “I’m afraid to voice what I think Dr. Milton might have meant.”

  “I know. Me, too.”

  Her father sat. “There could be something innocent in his meaning, Eve. We always have to keep that in mind.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, “except the tone of the message doesn’t sound innocent, does it, Father?”

  Her father breathed a deep sigh. “No, it doesn’t. It sounds as if Dr. Milton thinks Her Grace might have been in danger. It sounds like Dr. Milton thought someone was trying to kill the duchess.”

  “And they succeeded,” Eve said. “What if Dr. Milton discovered the plot to kill the duchess, so they killed him and made it look like Her Grace committed the murder during one of her seizures? And, without Dr. Milton to stop them, they succeeded in killing the duchess, too?”

  “Do you know what this means?” her father asked.

  “Yes, it means that whoever killed Gideon’s mother isn’t done killing. They want Gideon dead too.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Eve couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the discussion she’d had with her father two nights earlier. She’d made a list of several possibilities, several actions they could take. But all of them seemed so drastic. Yet not drastic at all if Dr. Milton had been right and someone wanted to kill the Duchess of Townsend. And Dr. Milton had been murdered because he discovered the plan.

  But why?

  Why would someone have wanted Her Grace dead? Why would someone want her son dead?

  A wave of panic consumed her and Eve grabbed her hat and gloves from the table behind her desk and rushed out the door. She needed to warn Gideon to be on the watch. She needed to tell him that he was in danger and that he needed to take every precaution.

  She made her way to Gideon’s cottage nearly at a run. She couldn’t get there quickly enough.

  The path from the main building on the estate where the other patients stayed wasn’t that far from Gideon’s cottage, yet today it seemed like it was on the other side of England. She breathed in relief when the cottage came into view and she saw Thomas pacing the ground nearby.

  “Is everything all right, Thomas?” she asked when she reached him.

  “Yes, miss. Everything’s fine.”

  She wanted to rush inside. She just needed to see Gideon. Just needed to make sure he was all right. The thought that something might have happened to him caused her legs to go weak beneath her.

  Thomas turned to resume his rounds, but she stopped him with an abrupt hand on his arm. “Thomas, I…”

  “Yes, miss?” He turned back, clearly concerned by her sense of urgency.

  “There…there may be more here than meets the eye, Thomas.” She noted his raised brow and guilt at sounding an alarm about which she could explain little caused her to blush. “Just…just be extra vigilant, please, Thomas. That’s all.”

  She rapped on the cottage door, then stepped back as the door swung open. “Oh, Gideon!”

  She rushed toward him, and when she reached him he took her hand and brought her to him. “What’s wrong, Eve?”

  “Nothing, Gideon,” she lied.

  “Don’t tell me ‘nothing’. I can read you like a book, and I know there’s something wrong.”

  Eve tried to laugh off his worry, but it was difficult. How could she pretend nothing was wrong when she was here to warn him that someone shot him because they wanted him dead? And they were going to try again.

  He took her hat and gloves and led her into the study. “Lettie just left. She put some water on to boil for tea and it should be ready.”

  Eve turned. “I’ll get it. But you can help if you like.”

  “Yes, I like,” he said, and followed her from the room.

  Eve made the tea and put everything on a tray, then Gideon carried it to the study. When he placed the tray on a table, Eve poured. She handed Gideon a cup, and took one for herself. Gideon only took a couple of swallows of his tea before he set down his cup and moved to sit beside her on the sofa.

  “Very well, I’ve given you as much time as I can. What has you upset?”

  “It’s that obvious?”

  “Yes. It’s that obvious.” He set her cup on the table alongside his cup, then took her hands in his and held them. “All right, let me hear what has you so troubled.”

  Eve clutched Gideon’s hands. She knew how difficult what she was about to say would be for him to believe. “I’ve been going through the papers I took home the other day.”

  “From the look on your face you discovered something you wish you hadn’t.”

  “Before I tell you what I found, I want to preface what I say by telling you I’m not sure yet what Dr. Milton’s notes mean.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you found and together we’ll decide what they could mean.”

  She nodded. She had to tell Gideon. He needed to know. She lifted her gaze and looked him in the eyes. “From the notes Dr. Milton made, he had the same idea I had about your mother’s seizures. He mentioned that it was possible that their cause might be something she ate or drank. Something she had a violent reaction to once ingesting it.”

  His eyes brightened. “That’s good news, then. Did he say what he thought that might be?”

  She shook her head. “If he discovered what that might be, I haven’t found that yet. But there’s still another store room to search for any more files he kept on your mother.”

  “Then we should finish our search right away.”

  Gideon started to rise, but she kept hold of his hand. “There’s more,” she said.

  He sat back down.

  Eve worried her bottom lip. “I’m not sure how to say this, Gideon.”

  Worry lines deepened on his forehead. “Then it’s best just to say it quickly.”

  She nodded. He was right. “Dr. Milton indicated that he didn’t think your mother was safe here.”

  He paused. “Why wouldn’t he think she was safe here?”

  “I don’t know. But I think he felt she was in danger.”

 
“What kind of danger?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  “What exactly did he say?”

  Eve knew he would need to see what Dr. Milton had said. She reached into the pocket in her skirt and handed him the letter she’d found in the back of Dr. Milton’s file.

  Gideon took it from her and pulled the paper from the envelope. He opened the folded paper and read it.

  His jaw clenched, his dark eyebrows drew together. His mouth tightened, and he lifted his gaze. The look in his eyes was a combination of dangerous fury and threatening rage.

  He rose from the sofa with the letter in his hand and crossed the room in long angry strides. When he reached the window he lifted the paper and read Dr. Milton’s words again. When he finished, he spun to face her.

  “What do you think he meant?”

  “I think it was a warning.”

  Gideon glanced back at the paper. “Have you shown this to your father?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did he think?”

  “The same as I do. That Dr. Milton thought your mother was in danger. That someone was trying to harm her.”

  “You mean kill her.” His voice was louder, his words contained a vehemence that was different from any tone she’d heard before when he’d spoken.

  “Yes. And they are trying to kill you, too.”

  His eyes widened, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything. There was a knock on the door and Gideon went to answer it. When he returned, her father was with him.

  “Father,” she said when her father entered. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Have you told Lord Sheffield what you found?”

  “Yes, she has.” Gideon lifted Dr. Milton’s note. “Do you share the assumption that Dr. Milton thought someone was trying to kill my mother?”

  “I do. And I think whoever it was wants you dead, too.”

  “But why?” Gideon said, slapping the paper against his thigh. “Who?”

  “That’s what we need to figure out,” her father said sitting in the chair facing Eve.