You Think I Won't Talk?-Chapter 57

The time kept moving on naturally, but terribly slow for Orland.

He stayed fixed to his place next to Marianne, without a hint of intentions to move.

At some point, Paige entered the room and found him seating on the edge of the bed right next to the sleeping Marianne.

She was bewildered by the situation. The lady she has served for years was acting what could be considered "lively" until she left to see the Duke merely an hour ago. Yet, when she came back, the young lady seemed to be fainting as she was being carried by her father, who rushed with a long and alarming pace towards her chambers.

All that previous vitality was unmistakably gone from her now weak body.

Paige felt scared to see the lady fall ill so often in such a short time. She kept thinking that this has never happened before, and that, even though she looked frail, it was in the delicate sense of the word, not in the healthy sense. What bothered her even more, was the fact that, although it was obvious she was ailing... her expression concealed all that suffering under a dead visage. It made her uncertain of the extent of her pain and got her even more worried after seeing how no sign of regaining her consciousness was apparent.

’Is she... hurting?... She’s not moving..... my lady... is– Is Miss Marianne going to be alright?...’

Once the Duke noticed her presence, as she announced it while arranging the water she had been asked for, Orland asked for a favour in a lifeless tone.

"..... Paige, could you bring a chair?"

"... Yes, Sir."

She quickly glanced at him before answering. In that split second her eyes fell in his direction, the one thing that explained his current request and his whereabouts, immediately came through.

In between his hands, the hand of the young Lady rested.

The scene would have made her happy if not for the circumstances. Ever since she entered the Sylfinnier’s Castle, she was put under Miss Marianne as the Duke instructed. Paige wasn’t sure about why the Duke had assigned a girl like her, who lacked so much, in charge of taking care of such a special lady a daughter of a Duke is.

The things he had said then were quite simple.

"I might call on you to inquire about her demeanour from time to time... Please take good care of my daughter."

At the time, Paige had never seen the Lady. So the report he asked for in a roundabout way, conceived the idea of the Duke being a controlling parent. It made her somehow reluctant to do as he said, however, he was her new boss and she truly needed the job. Hence, she decided to ignore her reticent will and came to an agreement with herself to do as she was asked to.

Nonetheless, it all made sense once she met the Young Lady.

When the moment to greet Miss Marianne came, Paige compared the Lady to a beautiful painting. With a marvellous beauty, her expression would never change, no sound would come out of her, and she would rarely move to change positions.

’... Although the Duke said he would call me from time to time... He ended up asking for a daily report on the Miss.’

Paige could see in the atmosphere surrounding the Duke, how he battled the grief that was eating away his energy every day she told the monotonous same reports. And now, that same grief was gnawing at her.

Orland sat on the newly brought seat, without losing sight of his daughter’s countenance. He had no clear notion of how much time had passed since he arrived in Marianne’s bedroom, but for him, it felt like hours had gone by.

"... Where is the physician...? Is he not here yet?"

In the meantime Paige soaked towels on the water, the Duke pressed for an answer.

"... Mister Thomas has already sent word to Doctor Deslys..."

"..."

Orland kept silent for a moment.

"Give me the towel."

Paige handed the freshly crumbled towel with both her hands, showing him her respect.

Reaching it with his free hand, Orland gently placed the folded towel on Marianne’s forehead. The fever persisted in increasing and her pale complexion was blazing. Little pearls of sweat kept emerging from her skin. Even the hand that refused to loosen her grip on his was burning hot and soaked in a cold sweat.

Orland felt restless for the doctor’s delay. Regardless, he was convinced that Thomas would have made the appropriate preparations when he sent word to the doctor.

Not long after, just as he predicted, Doctor Deslys arrived at Marianne’s bedroom.

Without moving from his spot, Orland turned to the physician.

"... I can’t say it’s nice to see you Rémi..."

"Of course it is not, Your Grace."

Without losing time, the physician strode decisively toward the patient as he greeted the Duke. Taking into his sight the union of their hands as he got closer, the corners of his mouth lifted in delight. Ignoring the lovely display and without asking for the Duke to leave or give him space, He leaned to examine her state.

’For the first time, he’s finally able to observe his daughter’s examinations.’

The procedure was quickly done. Her vital signs were terribly weak and her fever was straining the body to its limits. There wasn’t any sign of other symptoms. The cause was most likely the overwhelming stress she had been enduring. However, Rémi was concerned about how strongly it was affecting her.

’If the fever doesn’t go down in the next ten hours... this girl might die.’

Rémi Deslys had been in charge of treating Marianne for some years now, and throughout the countless visits he had done to examine the young lady, Rémi had constructed a clear view of her body’s constitution.

Hence, he did not fail to notice the great decrease in life within it.

’The Lady is hanging on a thread... How did she become like this in such a short time? My last visit was less than a month ago.’

Rémi frowned slightly at the unexpected deterioration of Marianne’s health. He would never be able to know the source of her rapid decay. How could the doctor know about the repercussions her body went through... after ending her life?

Rémi felt conflicted to say the discouraging diagnosis to her Father. However, it was his duty to inform such prognostics for his patients to their families.

"Your Grace... Please listen carefully... The Lady’s body has become too vulnerable. It does not seem to be something that happened in only one or two days... Her body is too weak for it to happen in such a short time..."

"..."

"... In any case, the next ten hours are crucial... If we do not decrease her fever... I am afraid the Young Lady will not survive."

Orland listened to Deslys’ forecast quietly as he stared blankly at the hand holding his, ignoring how the two servants, Thomas and Paige, gasped in disbelief and grief at the news. Slowly, his eyes went to her visage, and, even though there was no real evidence to support his hunch, Orland mumbled calmly his impressions.

"...She won’t die..."

In his mind, the image of the eyes he saw this morning was clear as water. The eyes full of strength she looked at him with, were not a lie.

"Rémi, give Paige the instructions to decrease the fever. Thomas, bring all that is going to be needed as soon as possible and tell two other servants to come help Paige to attend my daughter... Rémi, I am sorry, but could you stay at the Castle until we see she’s out of danger? It will be troublesome if we need to send for you again."

"... Indeed." — Rémi answered concealing his surprise at the Duke’s calm attitude — "It is me who asks your permission to stay, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Rémi."

Without hesitation, the Duke gave practical orders to his servants. Even though the circumstances permitted him to lose all composure and justified any collapse he could have, Orland’s mind could not be clearest than now. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He was certain that Marianne would not die because of this. Even less if they treated her immediately.

However, his body did not comply with his beliefs. Although his mind was calm and convinced, his body was numb and his heartbeat worked fast.

His body was frightened. Yet, he refused to relinquish to the fear.

There was still more to do. The Duke contemplated on how to approach the situation and as he quickly ran a thorough analysis in his head of anything else that was left behind, one important detail was recalled.

Before Thomas left the room after receiving the indications from the doctor, Orland added one more element to his orders.

"Thomas."

"...Yes, My Lord."

"Inform the situation to my wife and my children. Also... tell them I won’t assist to today’s dinner."

"Understood... Should I bring your meal here, Your Grace?"

"....... No. It’s not necessary."

"... I will do as you wish, Sir. Then... Please excuse me."

Leaving the Father and his daughter alone in the room, the three outsiders walked out in silence.

Now, the sun was gone and the night approached, threatening with its darkness.

A long breath escaped from his nose as he observed the resting body of his daughter. Every blink he gave, was slow. When his eyelids closed completely, he purposely displayed the picture of her shining eyes, every time, without fail. And once they opened again, he would stare at her closed eyelids and the dense long eyelashes sealing them together.

"... Sweetie... don’t take too long to wake up... I want to quickly see your beautiful eyes again..."