Chapter 24

The Duke gradually emerged from the fog of unconsciousness, his senses returning one by one. His eyes were the first to open, and he looked around the room to find himself alone in his bed.

Confusion overcame him as he slowly attempted to sit up, his muscles aching, a sense of weakness lingering in his limbs. He had a noticeable gap in his memory as the last thing he had remembered was going up to Sophia’s room.

What had happened? How was it morning already? Did I really fall asleep without even knowing?

The doorway to his chamber was cracked open, and outside, he could hear the distant murmur of voices.

“I came as soon as I heard the news,” a worried voice stated. The Duke knitted his eyebrows together as he tried to figure out who the voice belonged to, and then he realized that it was Barbara.

Barbara?

What business did she have being here and what was this news that she was referring to?

“It is very kind of you to pay a visit, Lady Barbara, but I am afraid that I cannot allow you to go inside.” It was Jacob’s voice that answered.

“I understand. I did not know if it was even appropriate for me to visit like this, but the news of the Duke’s sudden loss of consciousness had us all worried. The Duke’s well-being is of utmost importance, and we cannot afford to have anything happen to him,” Lady Barbara urged, her voice tinged with concern.

“The physician has assured us that he is on the path to recovery, so there is nothing to worry about.” Jacob’s tone was measured and diplomatic, but Duncan could immediately tell that he was trying to make her leave in a polite manner.

“I understand,” Barbara replied. “I was wondering if I could have a chance to meet with the Duchess. Surely, she must be worried sick at a moment like this. I wish to offer her some consolation.”

“Sophia is visiting her aunt currently, and therefore is not available,” Jacob answered.

“Her aunt? I see. Well, then I must also take my leave. I hope that the Duke recovers soon.”

“Thank you, My Lady, and good day to you.”

Memories began to return to the Duke, and he recalled how he had lost consciousness. His dress had been changed, and he had grown a significant afternoon shadow.

“How long have I been unconscious?” he asked himself, his voice still weak.

He looked over to the calendar on his bedside, scrunching his nose in confusion. Slowly, he mustered enough energy to sit up straighter in the bed.

His own memory was drawing blanks, and he needed answers.

Jacob stepped into the room with a mix of surprise and relief etched on his face.

“Duncan, you are awake! Oh, I must alert mother immediately.”

“Hold on for a moment, brother,” Duncan replied. “Sit with me for a moment. There is a lot that needs to be explained to me.”

Jacob sat by the side of Duncan’s bed, looking genuinely happy to see his brother awake.

“Of course, I am sorry. How are you feeling? We were all so worried about you.”

“I feel much weaker than usual,” the Duke observed. “My muscles are stiff, and I can barely move them without catching a breath.”

“That is to be expected. The physician warned us that you would be weaker upon awakening. Of course, we were not sure when exactly that would happen. It is a great relief to see you talking and aware after two days of you lying still on that bed.”

“Two days?” Duncan was visibly shocked. He had felt as though he had slipped into a night of sleep, not knowing how much time had truly passed. “What transpired in my absence? You must tell me. I saw that you were speaking to Barbara outside. What business does she have visiting?”

“Oh, mother informed some of her friends that you were ill. Barbara came to visit just now, but not to worry, I sent her away. I knew you would not want to be disturbed by her of all people.”

“You are correct. It is a different kind of horror to wake up and have Barbara’s voice be the first thing that enters your ears.”

Jacob laughed at that.

“I am happy to see that at least you still have some of your sense of humour intact.”

“You still did not answer my first question, Jacob. You must sympathize with me. I have woken up confused in a bed with half of my strength. I do not recall something so drastic happening that landed me in this position,” Duke said.

“You collapsed in the hallway two days ago and landed on broken glass, injuring yourself. The physician told us that you had been poisoned.” Jacob’s voice dropped low.

“Poisoned?” the Duke repeated, aghast. “I am not sure if I am following you.”

“Someone laced your tea with poison. I assume you must have drunk it sometime in the evening. It took a few hours for the effects to take place,” he explained.

Duncan scrunched up his nose, trying hard to recall his memories from the day.

“Tea… well, I remember sharing a cup with Sophia. She had made it for me specifically. Are you telling me that it was laced with poison?”

“It knocked you out for nearly two days,” Jacob replied with a frown. “But Sophia is not to blame. She was sent the tea in a package from her aunt, but we suspect that it was not her aunt that actually sent it. Someone out there is trying to cause you harm.”

Jacob’s answers had only served to confuse the Duke even more. He attempted to get up from his bed, but Jacob pushed him gently back onto it.

“Where do you think you are going?”

“I must speak to Sophia about this, of course. She must be worried sick about me if I have been passed out for the last two days,” Duncan replied.

“Sophia is not here,” Jacob’s stated, short and to the point. He avoided the Duke’s gaze.

“Where has she gone?” Duncan demanded, but then he remembered that he had just overheard Jacob speaking to Barbara and telling her that Sophia was visiting her aunt. His mind was still woozy, and he was not processing information as he normally would.

“Her aunt’s house,” Jacob confirmed.

Duncan raised an eyebrow. “Did she know of my condition?”

“Yes.”

“You are being suspiciously succinct in your answers, Jacob. What is it that you are not telling me?” Duncan demanded, raising his voice.

“Calm down, please. There is no need to react so strongly. Sophia would not like it if I told you the reason why she departed.”

“And how is that any reason to keep it from me?” Duncan asked, growing annoyed with his brother. “You do realize that she is my wife, and I have a right to know these things?”

“Yes, of course, but I think you are not in the right state to know these things,” Jacob sighed. “We have already alerted the police, and they are working on finding out who is behind the poisoning. Once we know for sure, and once you make a recovery, I am sure that Sophia will return to you.”

“I need to see her now.” Duncan tried to get up from the bed again.

“Fine, if you really must know, then I shall tell you the reason,” Jacob said in a hurry. “She told me that the reason she is leaving is because she no longer has any feelings for you.”

Duncan blinked, not believing what his ears were hearing.

“Pardon me? Am I hearing that correctly?”

“Yes,” Jacob stated. “She told me that she…”

“Jacob…” Duncan’s tone was serious now, bordering on threatening. “Is that really the reason?”

Jacob avoided eye contact with his brother.

“Swear on our mother’s life if that is truly the reason,” Duncan demanded.

“I cannot do that.”

“You cannot do that because what you are saying to me is utterly false,” the Duke concluded. “I cannot understand what reason you would lie about this, but it is causing me nothing but distress. I shall go speak to her immediately. Tell the valet to prepare the carriage.”

“I am lying to you,” Jacob sighed in resignation, “but only because I thought that it would stop you from going after her and give you time to recover which you so desperately need.”

“Jacob, I am not in the mood for these games,” Duncan warned.

“It was her idea for me to tell you this as she knew that you would try and go visit her. The real reason why she left so abruptly was…” Jacob struggled with his words. “…she believes that she transferred her curse onto you.”

Duncan was filled with rage at once.

“The curse? I cannot believe that we are still having these conversations. How could you let her leave for a reason as stupid as that?”

“It was out of my control. I tried to stop her, but she would not listen to me.”

“But you have just told me that I was poisoned. Was Sophia not aware of that?”

“Unfortunately, she left before the physician diagnosed your condition. I had been meaning to write to her today, informing her about the real reason,” Jacob muttered.

“Then you did not write to her quickly enough. She must be shouldering all the blame now.” The Duke’s words came out harsher than he had intended them to.

“Brother, I sympathize with you, but you cannot fault me. I have had to deal with the police, and I have been worried about you,” Jacob replied in his defense.

“You are right. I should not be so angry at you,” Duncan sighed. His head was all over the place as so much had happened in such a brief period of time.

“Listen to my advice for now, and let me handle things. I will make sure that Sophia returns as soon as possible. You are still too weak to travel.”

“Are you suggesting that I just sit here and do nothing??

“That is exactly what I am suggesting to you,” Jacob stated. “I know that as the older brother, you are not accustomed to listening to what I say, but just this once, I request you to do so.”

Jacob had asked him in such a sincere manner that Duncan did not have it in his heart to refuse him outright.

“I will listen to you just this once,” he sighed, “but you must write to Sophia immediately letting her know that I am awake now.”

“I will do so.” Jacob patted Duncan lightly on his shoulder. “Rest well now. I shall let mother know as well. She has been worried sick about you.”

Duncan watched as his brother exited the room. Even though he knew that Jacob was right, he still could not shake the restlessness away.

He decided to test his strength and get out of the bed. It took him a few tries, but eventually, Duncan was back up on his feet.

Thoughts of Sophia, the recent attempt on his life, and the pressing need for answers whirled through his mind. All he wanted was for Sophia to be by his side. It troubled him greatly that she was out there, thinking that she was to blame for something she had no part in.

He began pacing his room in a restless manner, trying to burn away some of the restless energy that consumed him. As he continued his restless strides, his eyes fell upon a small black notebook on the table. It seemed out of place, catching his attention.

It definitely did not belong to him.

Deciding that it would be a welcome distraction to his otherwise restless mind, he picked it up and began flitting through its pages.

PROPERTY OF SOPHIA WHITE.

His heart skipped a beat as he read her name, and his curiosity got the best of him. As he began to read, he realized that the entries all described the same thing.

Different scenarios of her drowning the water and losing her family.

“What is this?” he asked himself and then realized that they sounded like how she described her nightmares.

Had Sophia been keeping track of her nightmares in this diary? His heart wrenched as he read through the descriptions. It must have been awful to be at the receiving end of them.

He noticed that the last entry that she had made was a happy one. It included him, and a smile formed on his face.

As he checked the date, he realized that it corresponded exactly with when they had their kiss and began to grow closer to each other.

She had stopped having nightmares as a result of their love. The thought warmed his heart thoroughly, and he set the notebook down again.

Now his need to reunite with Sophia grew almost double. He had to see her again.

“Duncan, my dear child!” The door to his room swung open to reveal his mother, who ran over to him and wrapped him tightly in her embrace. “I am so happy to see you standing on your feet. Your mother yearned to see you like this again.”

She kissed the top of his head as though he was a child again. When she had finally calmed down, the two of them sat down on the sofa.

“Mother, I appreciate your concern for me greatly, but I feel fine now,” Duncan tried to assure her.

“Oh, I know your nature is to not cause inconvenience to anyone, but this time, you had a brush with death. Someone attempted to poison you.” Her voice cracked as she said the words.

“I have been informed by Jacob,” Duncan noted. “Is it true that the poison was in the tea that Sophia’s aunt had sent for her?”

His mother nodded.

“Yes. We only found out when we found a letter alongside the package, addressing Sophia. But it is clear to us now that it was not Rose that sent that package. The police are investigating who it could be,” the Dowager replied.

“A letter?” Duncan raised his eyebrow. “Is it possible for you to show it to me?”

“Oh, I am not sure if it is still in our possession. Perhaps Jacob would know better.”

The Dowager summoned her youngest son into the room.

“Do you have the letter in your possession?” Duncan asked Jacob as soon as he entered the room.

“Firstly, a hello would be nice,” Jacob replied. “It is good to see you standing up on your feet.”

“Hello, Jacob,” Duncan replied sarcastically. “Would you happen to have the letter that was sent to Sophia by her aunt in your possession?”

“Yes, I took it to the constable’s station the other day, but they returned it to me since it did not give them any real information other than the sender’s name,” Jacob noted.

“May I have a look at it? It is possible that having a fresh set of eyes view it would give us a perspective that we have not considered thus far.”

“Of course,” Jacob reached into the pocket of his coat and handed over the folded piece of paper to his brother.

The color drained from the Duke’s face as he skimmed through the letter.

“What is the matter?” Jacob asked, noticing the change in his brother’s expression. When he didn’t answer, still too shocked by whatever he had read, Jacob put a hand on his shoulder.

“The poison…” The Duke let out a labored breath. “It was not an elaborate ploy to end my life; it was targeted at Sophia.”

“How on earth did you deduce that just by reading that letter?” Jacob questioned, bewildered by his brother’s claims.

Duncan gulped, feeling a knot form in his stomach.

“Sophia has been suffering from recurring nightmares ever since the accident with her family. The tea was meant to be a cure for her nightmares. Whoever sent the package intended to poison her, not me.”

“Then how is it possible that she did not suffer any symptoms of the poisoning?” Jacob asked.

“That day when we sat together to have tea, she got so preoccupied in our conversation that she did not get a chance to drink her cup.”

The Duke stood up from his place, heading straight towards the door.

“Duncan, you cannot leave in this condition. Let the authorities handle this matter,” his mother heeded.

“Sophia’s life is in danger. Whoever tried to poison her is still out there, and she has no idea. I must go and inform her.” The Duke’s tone was firm, leaving no room for argument.

“Very well then, if that is what you wish to do, then I shall come with you.” Jacob stood up as well, following his brother’s lead. “I will inform the police as well about this recent development.”

“She needs to be brought back home. It is not safe for her to be out there, now that we know what kind of danger is lurking in the shadows.”

The two men nodded once at their mother, whose face sagged with sorrow.

“May God bless you both,” she sighed as she waved goodbye.