The Mischievous Bride (8 page)

Jane pressed her hands over her stomach. “I am a bit tired. I think the festivities have taken everything out of me. It’s so silly, is it not?”

But the next moment, the color drained from the duchess’s face, and she slumped against the wall.

“Jane!” Marcus hurried to her side and helped her into one of the nearby chairs.

Milli touched Jane’s arm, concerned for the baby. “Should I, uh, fetch Roderick?”

Jane looked up, then shot a worried gaze toward Marcus. “No, no, I will be quite all right. It’s just that—”

Milli gasped as Jane swayed, almost falling off the chair. Three horrified gazes dropped to the floor.

Marcus cursed. Milli froze. Jane started to cry.

Marcus swallowed. “Devil take it. What the...She’s bleeding.”

Milli fell to her knees and grabbed Jane’s hands. She glanced up a Marcus. “Fetch Roderick. Quick. It’s the baby. She’s losing the baby.”

“Baby?” Marcus stood in shock.

Jane cries turned into deep, aching sobs.

Milli felt her heart crumble. No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening. Not to Jane. Not again! “Dearest. You are going to be all right. I’ll see to it.”

Jane lifted her teary blue eyes. Her defeated expression said it all. “I won’t be all right. Don’t you understand? Roderick needs an heir.”

Milli patted her friend’s hands. “There, there. He loves you.”

Jane sobbed harder.

Milli turned to Marcus, irritated that he hadn’t moved an inch. His face was almost as white as Jane’s. “Fetch Roderick, then fetch the doctor, but on your way, close these doors and instruct the servants not to let anyone in but family.”

She rose and leaned toward him, whispering, “I fear for Jane’s life.”

Marcus nodded, his face grim. All thoughts of what happened between Milli and him had fled for the moment. The little princess had taken charge like a general.

“Hurry, Marcus! Hurry!”

Marcus’s heart hammered in his chest. Hell’s teeth! Jane was losing another baby. Roderick would die if he lost her and the child.

Happiness was draining out of him like a sieve. Loving someone when they could be gone tomorrow was too much torture, and he wasn’t ever going to go through that again.

Lady Madeleine may not have died when she had left him for other men, but to him she had. The lady had been a flirt and had stomped on his heart as if it were garbage. Eight long years ago, he had learned that loving a woman only meant heartache, especially loving a flirtatious female. For him, a marriage of convenience would be the only way he would wed. And if he did marry, it would be a long ways away. If ever.

 It was morning and Milli stood outside the hall to Jane’s bedchambers. She held her cat Cleo close to her breast, praying to God that her friend would live. The duchess had lost the baby, and now, she was very weak. She had almost died last night, and Roderick was beside himself.

Milli and her sister had stayed the night at Elbourne Hall, doing all they could to help the doctor and ease Roderick’s fear. Stephen had gone to his townhouse, which was a block away, and sent them enough clothes to last them a week. He had returned earlier that morning.

“She is not much better,” Milli whispered to Lizzie who sat on a chair outside Jane’s bedchamber. “She looks so frail and weak. I’m scared.”

Lizzie leaned her head against the wall and sighed. “Losing a baby takes a lot out of a woman, dearest. But Jane is strong.”

Milli bit her lip as a wave of anxiety swept through her. Jane couldn’t die. She just couldn’t.

Milli knew that her sister was better than most doctors in many things. Surely, Lizzie could help Jane gain her health.

A few minutes later the door opened. The doctor stepped into the hall, holding his bag. He had been in and out of the room for the past twelve hours.

Milli looked up. “Can we go in now?”

The doctor nodded. “It’s best to keep things quiet in there. The duke is still by her side. He is not willing to let go of her hand. If one of you can pry that man loose, I think he needs to eat, then rest.” He frowned, buttoning his cloak.

Milli’s heart turned. “Is she,” she swallowed past the pain, “going to die?”

The doctor pulled off his spectacles and frowned. He had been up all night. At least she and Lizzie had taken turns with little naps here and there.

“I don’t know,” the doctor said. “It will be touch and go for a few days, and then we’ll see.”

Milli felt a queasy shudder snake through her. She clutched Cleo tighter. The cat purred in her ear. “We can get her through, can we not, Lizzie?”

Her sister slid a hand behind her own neck, looking as tired as Milli felt. “What else can I do while you are away?” Lizzie asked, turning to the doctor.

“I know you are quite skilled in your trade of herbs, my dear. But I fear only time will tell. She has lost a lot of blood, more than I ever let.” He cleared his throat. “And some things will never be the same.”

Milli felt a sudden chill. “Other babies?”

The older man’s tired gaze met hers. “There will be no more babies, Miss Millicent. Not for her. She would certainly die if she tried again. Let’s get her through this.”

“But an heir—”

Her sister cut her off. “Come now, Milli. It will be your job to pry the duke from Jane’s bedside and feed him. He needs his strength. If not for himself, for Jane.”

Milli nodded.

After the doctor left, the ladies walked into Jane’s bedchamber. Roderick looked up. His dark eyes were glassy, and his face was pale. The curtains were drawn with only a thin ray of sunshine peeking into the room.

Milli walked toward the bed where Jane was sleeping. Her face was white as a ghost. Her eyes looked sunken, and her hand was limp as it rested in the duke’s large palm.

“She is not going to die,” Roderick insisted. “I won’t let her.”

MiIli felt her heart crack. “We won’t let her.” She bent down and placed Cleo on the pillow next to Jane. “We won’t, will we, Lizzie?” She looked up at her sister who appeared rather frazzled herself.

“Of course not,” Lizzie said, smiling. “Roderick, you must take some breakfast.”

The duke dropped his head against the bed. “I cannot leave her. She’s my life.”

Milli rested a hand on the big man’s shoulder. He was a duke, but he was also a grieving man. “Your Grace, I vow, Lizzie will take care of her better than that doctor. Lizzie is the best.”

The duke shook his head. “I cannot leave her.”

Milli wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Yes, you can. Lizzie and I will stay here. I have also brought Cleo as you can see. Jane adores her.”

“I cannot leave”

 “Get yourself together,” she hissed in his ear. “You’re a duke for goodness sakes. You need to eat. So devil take it, move!”

Lizzie gasped.

Milli’s mouth thinned at the look of horror on her sister’s face. No one talked to the duke like that, except perhaps one of his brothers. But times were desperate.

Milli shrugged. She mouthed silently to her sister, “Well, I had to do something.”

The duke’s shoulders started shaking. Milli thought he was crying. The poor man.

But Jane needed him, and he was going to listen to her or she would die trying. “Crying is good for the soul, they say, but eating is better, Your Grace.”

The duke turned his face to hers. His eyes, though filled with sadness, held a small twinkle of life. “Devil take it?” he asked, almost chuckling. “I believe you should have stood beside Wellington. I think we could have won the war sooner.”

The corners of Milli’s mouth tipped upward. He hadn’t been crying at all, but laughing. “Do you know the man? I would love to meet him.”

The duke’s gaze sparkled as he considered her. “I will see what I can do.”

“Roderick.” Jane’s small voice lifted from the bed.

The duke grabbed her hand. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I’m here.”

The duchess’s eyes filled with tears. “I will not die on you.”

The duke nodded, too emotion filled to speak.

Jane regarded Milli with a small turn of her lips. “Get him something to eat, please. And don’t let him take no for an answer. I need him.”

Milli raised an imperious brow. “See there. I told you so.”

The duke took in a deep breath and kissed his wife. He whispered something in her ear, then rose. 

Lizzie moved beside Jane. “I will watch over her. Have no fears on that.”

There was a vulnerability in the duke’s expression that Milli hadn’t seen before. A lock of blue-black hair hung over his eyes. Dark stubble blanketed his face. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his clothes were rumpled.

At that moment, he seemed, well, rather boyish. She felt a tug on her heart, feeling as if she needed to take care of him as a mother would her child.

With a twinge of regret, Milli realized that Marcus had similar features when he was exhausted. She wanted to take care of him too, but as his wife. Yet after yesterday, she thought, that dream was long gone.

“Take good care of her, Elizabeth,” the duke commanded. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He regarded Milli with a flash of respect. “My breakfast awaits.”

Triumph settled deep in Milli’s chest. She wasn’t such a fool after all. She had pushed the duke to move, and he was sounding like his old self again. Of course, she admitted, Jane had helped a bit.

“Very well, Your Grace. Let us venture to the breakfast room. You are not in this alone. Your entire family is praying for you and Jane.”

His dark eyes danced. “Ah, and you were the one they sent to get me to eat?”

She shrugged, her lips twisting. “I do have that way with men, Your Grace.”

He glanced back at his wife.

“Go, Roderick,” Jane said. “I will be fine.”

Lizzie nodded, smiling as she held Jane’s hand. “I think the doctor is wrong. It will not be a few days until we know. She will be fine now. She just needs her strength. It may take a while, but she will get better.”

“Lizzie is better than any doctor,” Milli replied to the duke. “I daresay if I had to choose between the two, I would take Lizzie every time.”

Roderick’s eyes flickered with amusement. “Very well, let us venture to the breakfast room, little lady.”

His quick smile brought deep contentment to Milli as they walked down the hall. He was quite tall and just as muscular as Marcus. She felt a bit intimidated now that he seemed to gather himself into the duke again.

“So, you have a way with men, do you, little one?” His voice was low and husky, but still a bit daunting.

She nodded, smiling.

He stopped her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.”

She looked up at him with wide gray eyes. “You are very welcome.”

One black brow raised in discomfort. “But for my sake, and the grand facade of my dukedom, I beg you not to yell at me again.”

She giggled. “I will try. That is, unless you need a good shove.”

He rolled his eyes. “Jupiter and Zeus! You are quite like my sister. Proud, stubborn, and too smart for our own good. I feel sorry for the man who marries you, my girl. You will have him dancing circles around you all your life. Just like Stonebridge does with Emily.”

She curtsied, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Thank you for the compliment, Your Grace. I shall do my best to keep him dancing to my tune.”

He burst out laughing, almost forgetting about the lost baby and his wife. He looked at her as if he wanted to say more. Then he shook his head and headed toward the breakfast room.

Milli couldn’t stop smiling. For once in her life, she felt she had finally done something right.

Chapter Seven

M
arcus peered over the rim of his coffee cup as Roderick walked into the breakfast room alongside Milli. Clayton and Stephen sat across from him. Emily and her stepdaughter Gabby, who was six, were eating breakfast too. They were a family, and even thought Marcus knew they irritated each other at times, they were all there to support Roderick and Jane during this hard time.

 Roderick nodded to the table of people as he walked toward the sideboard overflowing with food. “Good to see all of you this morning.”

Gabby looked up from her eggs. “Mama said you were sad, so we should come and make you smile. Is that not so, Uncle Marcus?”

Marcus pursed his lips while Clayton muffled a laugh into his napkin. Stephen  chuckled. But he noticed Milli hadn’t said a word. “That is so, little one.”

Gabby tilted her head toward the duke. “See?”

Roderick smirked. “Ah, Gabby, you always make me smile.”

The little girl giggled and continued eating.

Marcus watch with interest as Milli moved along the sideboard, filling the duke’s plate. “Eggs are good for the brain,” she announced to Roderick. “But you also need some coffee. Marcus, would you pour your brother a cup?”

Marcus blinked. “What?” He stared at Clayton and Stephen whose eyes were twinkling with mirth. Milli was doing a grand job of ignoring him, until now.

Lady Emily smothered a grin. “Yes, Marcus. Pour His Grace some coffee.”

Marcus felt everyone’s eyes upon him, except the duke’s. “What the devil?” he remarked in a hoarse whisper. The duke seemed in another world.

His siblings shrugged, seeming just as surprised as he that Milli was giving orders in Roderick’s home. However, not wanting to upset his brother, Marcus did as he was told.

After pouring the coffee, he set the silver carafe back on the table and frowned. “And where are the servants, pray tell?”

Milli turned and gave him an imperious glare. “They have been removed, so we may speak freely about the situation.”

Roderick swiveled his head as he towered over Milli. “Indeed, Milli is correct. I gave them the morning off.”

Marcus lifted his brows in surprise at Roderick’s attitude.

But his brother’s glum face said it all. Jane had lost their baby, the possible heir to the dukedom. And the young duchess was at death’s door.

Silence blanketed the room.

After a minute of quiet, Gabby finally looked up from her meal. “I would like to go shopping today, Uncle Marcus. But you shouldn’t say bad words. You might have to sit in the corner.”