“I’m sure it did. But ’twas necessary nonetheless.”
“The laudanum was necessary. The tea was not.” Her lashes fluttered. “Do you know Papa kept a few bottles of brandy aboard the Isobel. For special occasions. Once ’r twice, he let me taste it. When he looked away, I finished half the goblet.” A blissful sigh. “It tastes far better than tea.”
A corner of Slayde’s mouth lifted. “I agree.”
“ ’Tis also stronger. It works faster and disguises the bad flavor of medicine. Next time, I’d like my laud…laudan…”
“I’ll make certain all your subsequent doses are served in goblets of brandy.”
Her lashes drifted to her cheeks. “I’d like that.”
She was asleep.
Silently, Slayde stared down at his patient, oddly moved and more than a bit unsettled.
He had time to contemplate neither.
“Lord Pembourne!” Matilda burst into the room, her eyes wide as saucers. “Come quickly!”
Whipping about, Slayde stared at the white-faced maid. “What in God’s name is it?”
“It’s Lady Aurora! She’s home!”
Chapter 3
SLAYDE SWOOPED DOWN THE staircase like a hawk.
“Aurora.” Taking the hallway in a dozen long strides, he reached the entranceway door, seizing his sister’s shoulders in a grip so punishing, she winced. “Are you all right?”
Indignant turquoise eyes gazed up at him. “Of course I am. Slayde, have you lost your mind?”
He blinked. “Evidently so.” Slowly, he released her, his baffled gaze sweeping her from her head to toe and finding her thoroughly intact. “You weren’t harmed?”
“Harmed? Certainly not. As promised, the viscountess chaperoned me everywhere.” Tucking a wisp of red-gold hair behind her ear, Aurora indicated her companion. “Honestly, Slayde, it’s not like you to become so emotional.”
Slayde’s gaze shifted from his sister to the elegant, utterly stupefied woman beside her. “Elinore?”
“Hello, Slayde,” Lady Stanwyk said. Uneasily, she assessed the tension between brother and sister, her fingers idly stroking the glittering diamond-and-emerald necklace about her throat. “Perhaps I should go.”
“No, you should not go,” Aurora declared with a vehement shake of her head. “And I apologize for my brother’s rudeness.”
“What do you mean, ‘as promised’?” Slayde grilled her, ignoring the excess chatter as the significance of his sister’s earlier words sank in.
Aurora frowned. “The note I left you. I explained where I was going, with whom, and for how long. Certainly you understood my reasoning. For heaven’s sake, Slayde, I cannot remain a prisoner at Pembourne forever—”
“What note? I never received a note. Other than ransom ones,” he added.
Now it was Aurora’s turn to look shocked. “Ransom notes? Why on earth would you receive ransom notes?”
“Because half of Devonshire thinks you’ve been kidnapped, that’s why. Because you’ve been missing from Pembourne for a week, and no one has had a clue as to your whereabouts. Word leaked out that you’d been taken. Notes began arriving posthaste.”
“Oh, my God.” Aurora looked positively stricken. “Slayde, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I truly did leave you a note.” Her nose wrinkled. “I can’t imagine how you missed it.”
“Where did you put it?”
“I propped it on my pillow. The morning I left—one week ago today.”
Slayde’s eyes glittered dangerously. “And where, pray tell, did you go?”