House of Secrets by Darcy Coates

Author:Darcy Coates [Coates, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Owl Books
Published: 2016-05-12T07:00:00+00:00

Divided

The inside of Sophie’s chest felt raw, as though someone had dragged a pumice stone across her most sensitive organs. Her heart ached, and her eyes burnt, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. Now is not the time to be weak.

Her fears—the very anxieties that had pushed her to accompany Joseph to Kensington—had been realised. She’d come to keep him safe, but her presence had only brought him harm.

Joseph lay on the chaise lounge in the parlour. He was sheet white and his breathing shallow. Garrett knelt at his side, tight lipped and gaunt, his hands still caked with blood from where he’d bandaged his nephew’s leg.

Sophie had tried to help, but her hands had shaken too badly to be any use, so Garrett had told her to talk to Joseph and keep him conscious instead. She knelt beside his head, stroking his black hair and murmuring anything kind that came into her mind. Joseph’s eyes were closed, but his expression was tight, and she couldn’t tell if he was still awake.

Her gaze drifted back to his leg. From the foot to midthigh was a swath of bandages. Crimson patches appeared in the white cloth and grew larger with each passing minute.

He’s going to lose the leg. The phrase, spoken in her uncle’s voice, echoed through Sophie’s mind. Her uncle, a hardworking physician who had catered to merchants and those gentry who couldn’t afford the expensive doctors, had spoken the words one morning when Sophie and her father had visited him. He’d been saying goodbye to a patient when they’d arrived, and, as he’d closed the door behind them, her uncle had casually voiced the phrase that would haunt her. He’s going to lose the leg.

That man’s injury had been nowhere near as severe as Joseph’s. Sophie squeezed her eyes closed as she ran her fingers over her husband’s forehead, brushing the thick hair back and murmuring anything she could think of. “It’s going to be all right. You’ll be fine. It’s going to be all right.”

If we have to lose his leg, please, Lord, let that be all. I couldn’t survive losing the rest of him too.

“Could you stay alone for an hour or two?”

Garrett’s gravelly voice startled Sophie. She lifted her head and saw the older man frowning at his blood-caked hands.

“I-I—”

“There’s a plant that would help close the wounds and keep them clean. It sometimes grows in this sort of forest. I want to look for it if you think you would be safe here alone.”

“Of course.” Sophie sat straighter, relieved to have a course of action. “I can help look too—”

“No. It would be too risky. Stay with Joseph.”

Sophie looked back at her husband. His expression was still tight, but his breathing had become even, telling her he was asleep at last. She nodded.

Garrett rolled to his feet and left without another word. Sophie waited to hear the front door open and close, but it didn’t. Instead, Garrett re-entered the parlour after a moment. He laid two objects onto the floor beside Sophie.

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