Forged In Love

Chapter Twelve

It wasn't long before Nigel returned with Dr. Brown and Mrs. Smith. Neither of them seemed happy to be summoned with the other. Henry had neither the time nor patience for their quarrels. They were going to work together to save Lottie. As the three of them went into the dining room, Henry stood and addressed them.

"Thank you both for coming. I am sure you are wondering why I wanted both of you. For Lottie to have the best chance, I believe that it will take the knowledge of more than one person. I often saw it on the battlefield. Men would be wounded and die because one man said it was hopeless and another thought differently. I don't want ego getting in the way."

"Anything to help Miss Lottie, my lord." Mrs. Smith was the first to answer. Henry turned his gaze onto Dr.Brown and waited.

"Yes, I am sure we can figure out how best to care for her."

Seeing that was the best Henry was going to get, they all left the room and followed Nigel up to Lottie's room. Her room was done in beautiful lilac and violet. It was light and open and there were ornate tapestries on the walls. On the floor were thick rugs in the same purple hues as the rest of the room but with mint greens woven in almost like vines in a garden. This room suits her, Henry thought to himself. And there in the middle of a large, canopied bed was Lottie. She looked so small and pale. Seeing her there, pulled at something inside of Henry. He found it odd that he could feel a connection with someone he had only known for a day. He wouldn't call it love, but he did care for her. He would explore that thought after she recovered. Both the doctor and the healer went about checking Lottie's condition.

"What did the other healer woman give her?"

"This" Henry said as he gave Mrs.Smith the bag with the tea in it. She opened the bag and examined the contents. She rolled the dried herbs between her fingers, smelled and then tasted them.

"This is what I would have given her to begin with as well. It's a simple tea made up of healing herbs and a mild sedative."

"That is what I would have done as well. She needs time to heal before we try to wake her up." Agreed the doctor.

"How long do we keep giving her the tea and should we give her anything else?" Asked Henry.

"Three more days with broth and water." Said the doctor. The healer nodded in agreement.

"Alright, in three days' time we will need you both to return." They both nodded and left. Everyone could hear the two discussing other ailments and methods of treatment as they left.

"Mary, I am leaving Lottie in your capable hands for the next three days. I am more than sure that you will be the best for it,"

"Yes, my lord."

"Nigel?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"I need you to show me to the former duke's study."

"What for, my lord?" Nigel seemed almost nervous as he spoke to Henry. That struck Henry as odd, that and the way that the butler questioned him. That was very out of character for a servant to do if they wanted to keep their position.

"Not that I need to answer you, but I feel I should acquaint myself with the ledgers and whatnot of the estate. I need something to do to keep busy while I wait for Lottie to recover." Nigel seemed to come to his senses then and paused a moment before he spoke again.

"Of course, my lord. I apologize for my tone and my questions. This is your home now and, of course, you would want to familiarize yourself with it."

"Yes, so shall we?" Henry gestured toward the doorway. Nigel didn't respond, he just led the way out of the hall and up the grand stairs. Once they reached the next floor, they took a right and stopped at a large, solid oak door with polished brass hinges and door knob. Nigel pulled the key out of his waistcoat and handed it to Henry. He then turned and retreated back to the stairs. The key to the study was also brass with a dark hunter green tassel tied to it. Henry wondered if that was an indication of the room colors. So far, he found the whole manor vibrant and colorful. Henry pushed the key into the lock and turned it and with a click the door popped open. The room was dark, and he wondered if they had closed it up after the duke had died. That would make sense, but then who was running this place? Lottie, and doing it the way she always had. That way wasn't going to work on its own anymore. Henry walked over to the large window at the right of the room, and opened the drapes. The room was instantly flooded with warm sunlight. As his eyes adjusted he could see that the room was, indeed, done in dark hunter green with accents of silver. In the middle of the room was a huge cherry-wood desk. The desk gleamed in the sunlight from its high polish. There were papers and quills scattered about the desk, it looked like someone had just walked away from their work. Henry thought about that for a moment. He knew how quickly life could be snuffed out. He had seen it in battle. But that was different from this. He wondered if Lottie mourned her father even a little bit. She acted as though she didn't, but, still he wondered.

"Well that is enough of that. Time to get to it." Henry said out loud to no one. He walked over to the chair and sat down. The leather chair was rather comfortable. He gathered all the papers in front of him and started sorting them by importance. There were invoices and bills due, there were personal correspondences and letters from the bank. Under all of that, Henry found a marriage contract for Lottie and himself. Alvin had filled in all the necessary information and signed it. All that, legally, needed to be done was for Henry to sign it, and he would be married to Lottie. He knew she had already approved the match, but should he wait until she woke up? What if she didn't wake up? It didn't feel wrong to sign it, but Henry was worried that if he did sign it now, it might hurt her. Why would it hurt her? Why was he so worried about that? That last question was easy. He cared about her. Maybe he should discuss it with Mary. She knew Lottie better than anyone. She would give him sound advice. Until then, he placed the document in the middle drawer and locked it. Henry then rummaged around in the other drawers looking for the ledgers for the coal mines. For some reason they were buried at the bottom of the bottom drawer. That seemed very odd to him. Henry quickly set to reading through them. Hopefully, this would keep his mind off Lottie.