Raven (Gentlemen of the Order 2)

“About Jessica?”

“Yes, about Jessica.”

“We reduce her medication. We take her out into the woods and gently coax her memory. We treat her like an important member of the household, not like a madwoman who should be watched night and day. We give her responsibilities to restore her self-worth.”

“And did those things work for Hannah?” she dared to ask.

“No.” Finlay firmed his jaw. “Like you, I trusted those I presumed knew better.”

“I trust you over Dr Goodwin.” She would trust him with her life. The only reason she hadn’t told him about Jessica previously was to save him more heartache. “He may take umbrage and leave, but I’m prepared to take the risk.”

“He won’t leave.” Finlay sounded confident in his assertion. “Dr Goodwin wouldn’t travel all this way if he didn’t have other motives for being here.”

“He is always quick to take payment,” she agreed but could think of no other reason for his faithful service other than his loyalty to Mr Archer.

“Then if he wishes to continue treating Jessica, he will need to be more accommodating.”

Dr Goodwin was used to taking charge and would offer some resistance. She scanned the breadth of Finlay’s chest, considered his resolute jaw. The doctor lacked Finlay’s strength and determination and would eventually comply.

“After Dr Goodwin’s session, Jessica becomes anxious. He sedates her with laudanum to ensure she has a good night’s sleep. It’s usually the next day that she disappears into the woods.”

Finlay pursed his lips while considering the information. “And she’s only started venturing to the woods recently,” he confirmed.

“Yes, but I cannot think what sparked her sudden interest.”

The sly smile playing on Finlay’s lips failed to reach his eyes, but anything was better than the permanent frown. “Then we shall leave the doctor to conduct his session privately. We will insist he stays the night, insist he refrains from giving Jessica medicine to aid her sleep.”

Finlay’s distrust of the doctor roused Sophia’s suspicions, too. What had Dr Goodwin put in his paregoric vial? Was he responsible for the sudden change in her sister’s behaviour? His persistence in moving Jessica to a hospital near Oxford might have prompted the man to act recklessly and take matters into his own hands.

“Without the usual dose of laudanum, do you think Jessica will sleepwalk tonight?”

Finlay shrugged. “Who can say? But it’s likely. I suggest you sleep for a few hours this afternoon. Tonight, we shall keep vigil. With luck, we shall discover what Jessica finds so intriguing about Blackborne Wood.”

Chapter 6

“How long are we supposed to wait here?” Dr Goodwin complained. “It must be close to one o’clock in the morning. Miss Draper is asleep in bed and has no intention of fleeing to the woods.”

“Hush.” Finlay glared at the doctor who was pacing before the fire in the grand bedchamber, casting a monstrous shadow on the wall. “You will wake Lady Adair.”

One glance at Sophia sleeping peacefully in his bed sparked the usual ache. She lay snuggled under his greatcoat, the garment swamping her body as he longed to do.

“I have other patients to see tomorrow,” the doctor whispered. “Surely you don’t expect to keep vigil all night.”

Finlay ignored the doctor’s whining and scanned the courtyard for the umpteenth time. One would struggle to see a figure moving through the darkness and so he had opened the window in the hope of hearing footsteps crunching on the gravel. If Anne was true to her word, she would alert them the minute Jessica left the house, unless the maid had fallen asleep on her truckle bed.

They waited.

Sophia’s sweet moan disturbed the silence. She stretched her arms above her head in the sensual way women did when anticipating pleasure, but did not open her eyes.

The muscles in Finlay’s abdomen tightened. He knew her intimately, had made her climax with the skilled strum of his fingers while frolicking in the hay barn. They might have made love there, all those years ago, and he almost wished they had. Perhaps the yearning wouldn’t be so intense.

“When you were sitting with Jessica earlier, I heard you discuss Mr Archer at length,” Finlay said to distract his mind from thoughts of loving Sophia. Although he’d given the doctor privacy, he had listened at the door and tried to follow their discourse. “Are all your methods based on delving into the past?”

“Wallner’s theory on memory manipulation states I must take the patient back to the moment before they experienced trauma.”

Finlay knew of Hans Wallner’s work. “You mean you re-imprint the memory. You have the patient create another outcome in the hope of freeing them from their mental cage.”

“Precisely.” Dr Goodwin seemed surprised at the depth of Finlay’s knowledge.