The Memory Keeper by C.J. Archer

Author:C.J. Archer [Archer, C.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2014-06-17T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

I awoke in the bed I'd been using since my arrival at Frakingham. Light edged the velvet curtains and brightened the room a little. It was morning.

"Ah," said a man I didn't recognize. "You're awake." The pink lips peeping out between gray moustache and beard smiled in a benignly polite way. He leaned forward and peered into my eyes.

"Thank goodness!" Sylvia came into view beside him. She clasped my hand, resting on top of the bedcovers. "We were so worried, but Dr. Gowan said you would be well enough after a sound sleep."

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fainted from exhaustion," the doctor said.

"Exhaustion? But I didn't feel particularly tired."

"From worry then, after which you merely fell asleep." He nodded and murmured under his breath then straightened. "Fetch me if there's any change," he told Sylvia. "I suspect she'll reach a full recovery very soon. It was merely a nervous condition."

"Nervous condition?" I struggled to sit up. Sylvia tried to stop me, but I pushed her hand away. "I do not suffer from nerves, doctor."

"Ah, well," was all he said. He picked a black bag up off the floor. "Get some rest, Miss Evans. Do not frighten the good people of Frakingham any more than you already have."

I watched him leave then looked to Sylvia. Had I really worried her and the others? She did indeed seem concerned. I shouldn't be surprised; I'd fainted in her house. Me, a usually robust and healthy individual.

Then I recalled why I'd fainted. The master's ghost had possessed someone, and was now after me.

I gripped Sylvia's hand hard. She winced. "Your strength has returned, I see."

I apologized and let her go.

"I am pleased you're going to be well again," she said in earnest. "I received quite a fright when Tommy woke me last night to tell me you'd fainted."

Her kindly words surprised me. They held none of the coolness she'd directed toward me since my arrival. Perhaps her concern had broken through the barrier she'd erected between us. I was beginning to see why Hannah liked her, now. She could be quite sweet.

I tried to recall the events of the evening. I'd collapsed in the scullery surrounded by Samuel, Tommy and Myer. Samuel had caught me. Had he carried me to the bed too? I checked under the covers. I wore only a nightgown.

"Maud helped me undress you," Sylvia said. "You were quite asleep. Tommy went to fetch the doctor immediately. This was his second visit. It's mid-morning."

"Goodness. How could I have slept so long?"

She shrugged. "Perhaps it was exhaustion, like he said, brought on by shock. Tommy said you got quite the scare when Mr. Myer showed up. I can't blame you. I would have been terrified out of my wits too, to see someone walking in our ruins after dark. That place is frightful even during the day! And that man is…" She shuddered. "I don't trust him."

It would seem Tommy hadn't told her what Myer had said about possession. Perhaps it was best she didn't know.

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