“Come.” Lord Millerton held out his hand to her and she took it at once, allowing him to pull her from her bed. She was still fully dressed, having simply sunk into her bed out of sheer exhaustion and knowing that she might have to rise again at any moment. “We must return to Miss Sarah.”
“Miss Sarah?” she repeated, as he hurried her towards the door. “You do not think that…..?” She dropped her voice and did not finish her sentence as he opened the door, looking out cautiously.
Lord Millerton glanced back at her, then put his finger to his lips. Nodding, she did nothing other than follow him, her heart thundering furiously as she scurried along the hallway. The guest bedchamber was not more than a few feet from her own but it felt like she was walking a great distance, her legs suddenly aching and a trickle of sweat running down her back.
And then, she heard something. She could not say what it was, but there came a soft, swishing sort of sound, which was then followed by a tiny creak. Thereafter, there came nothing but silence, as though the person knew that they had made such a sound and were forcing themselves to stand quite still for a moment or two. She discovered that she also had stopped walking and it was only when Lord Millerton gave her hand a gentle tug that she forced herself to continue.
A gentle knock at the door had the key turning in the lock, the squeak making her wince. When the door was pushed back to reveal the nurse standing there with a candle and Miss Sarah sound asleep in her bed still, Bridgette felt a rush of relief crash over her and hurried inside.
Lord Millerton closed the door tightly but did not lock it.
“What are you doing?” she asked, keeping her voice low but finding herself rather alarmed at the prospect of the intruder being able to easily open the door.
“We must,” he said, simply, looking at her with such a steady gaze that Bridgette found herself already trusting him, despite her own anxiety. “How else is the intruder to come in?”
The nurse gasped, one hand to her mouth. “You want him to come in here?”
Lord Millerton nodded and then went about the room, quickly extinguishing the candles in the room save for the one by Miss Sarah’s bed. “Of course. We must catch the person in question. I will be waiting close to the door and you both must seat yourselves near to Miss Sarah, although try to hide yourselves in shadow as best you can.”
Bridgette blinked rapidly, feeling herself already a little afraid as to what might occur. “You think the intruder is looking for Miss Sarah?” she asked, as Lord Millerton nodded. “But how would they know that she was present here?”
Lord Millerton opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again, his brows knotting together. “Did you say anything about her presence here to anyone?”
“No!” Bridgette protested, only to be immediately shushed by the nurse. “No,” she said again, a good deal more quietly this time. “I have not said a word to anyone, I —”
She stopped short, her eyes widening. Lord Millerton lifted one eyebrow and looked at her steadily, making her stomach drop to the floor.
“You did say something?”
“I — I did not say anything specific,” she stammered, as he came a little closer to her. “Only to Lady Madeline. I said that there was someone ill within my household and that I was not certain they would recover, or something such as that.” Her stomach twisted hard. “I did not think there would come any consequences for such a remark. It is to Lady Madeline, after all, and she —”
“She might well have repeated it to someone on an entirely innocuous basis, only for them to either pass it on or repeat it to another,” Lord Millerton murmured, reaching out to press her hand. “I do not think Lady Madeline has anything to do with this matter, I admit, although I might be —”
A quiet creak dropped the rest of the sentence from Lord Millerton’s lips and he held up one hand, making the room quite silent.
“The door,” he whispered, looking at her as the candlelight flickered shadows across his face. “They are in the next room.”
Bridgette’s heart began to beat at a furious pace as she moved towards a chair, sitting next to the nurse who, given the way she trembled, was quite terrified. Bridgette clutched at her hand, even though the lady was of much lower class than she, finding that they both needed the company of each other at this present moment. The candle was set to one side of the room, the light doing very little to chase away the darkness. She did not see where Lord Millerton went, her heart in her throat as they sat in silence, waiting.
“Miss Sarah is a little recovered?” she whispered, as the nurse pressed her hand. “She is no longer in the depths of fever?”
“No, she is not,” the nurse whispered back, each word sharp and anxious. “That is a blessing, at least.”
Bridgette nodded, trying her best to calm her breathing down but feeling her chest tighten as a few faint sounds came from the door of the room. Someone was turning the handle, someone was pushing the door open. She closed her eyes, as though it would somehow help her to contain the fear that she felt running through her, her heart beating so loudly she was afraid the intruder would hear it and know she was present.
A tiny sound came from the door as it was pushed back and Bridgette gripped the nurse’s hand, forcing herself to remain as calm as she could.
Lord Millerton is here, she told herself, over and over again. He knows what he is doing.
There came the sound of gentle footfalls, moving so slowly, so carefully, and Bridgette knew it would take the intruder a short time for their vision to adjust to the dim light rather than the sheer blackness. What she did not expect was for the person to pick up the candle, her mouth going dry as she saw the light grow ever closer.
Instinctively, she put her head back and closed her eyes, squeezing the nurse’s fingers and praying that she was doing the same. If the intruder came a little nearer, they would see only two ladies asleep, evidently having been taking care of Miss Sarah and now quite weary from their task. The way the light shifted beneath her lowered lids left her panicking, fearing that at any moment, she might feel a stabbing pain, a rush of warm blood and hearing nothing but screams of terror.
“Ha!”
Her eyes flew open and she saw Lord Millerton hanging onto the person who had entered. The candle went flying to the floor as the two men battled, with grunts coming from both of them. Bridgette rushed forward, picking up the candle at once which, miraculously, had not yet gone out.
“The door!” Lord Millerton shouted, only to let out a groan as th