Page 91 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

Her breath caught.

Then Cecily gave a small, unhappy cry.

Honora bent down and lifted her into her arms.

The baby was warm.

Too warm.

Honora stood very still in the dim nursery and felt the night settle around her in a single hard moment.

Then Cecily whimpered again, and Honora turned toward the door.

She was already moving when the worry fully took shape.

That night Cecily ran a fever.

Chapter 17

Leopold awoke to crying. He was out of bed before his consciousness was in agreement with his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and then threw them open, trying to understand what he had heard and what was happening. The sound came again from the corridor, thin and frightening, wrong in a way that dissolved sleep all at once.

Cecily.

He pulled on his dressing gown, opened his door, and hurried down the hall without bothering to light a candle.

The nursery door stood open. Phoebe was on the floor with Cecily lying across her lap. The baby was flushed and restless, one tiny fist opening and closing against Phoebe’s gown. The cry was even more heartbreaking up close. The child sounded uncomfortable, scared, and angry, in a way she could not begin to comprehend. Leopold looked to Phoebe for answers as he stepped through the door. Her hair came loose around her face as she looked up the instant he entered. He saw how tired and worried her eyes were, and his heart raced.

“Your Grace.”

“What happened?”

“She has a terrible fever.”

Leopold was already crossing the room as Phoebe explained. He touched the back of his fingers to Cecily’s forehead and felt the heat immediately.

“I will send for the physician,” he said.

Phoebe nodded. Leopold turned toward the door. “Mrs. Pritchard!”

Footsteps sounded almost at once, much to Leopold’s surprise. But Mrs. Pritchard’s largely dressed and composed appearance told him that she was likely roused by the crying just as he had been.

“Send someone for the physician,” he told the housekeeper. “Tell whoever goes that if he must be awakened, I will pay double for the inconvenience.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Leopold knelt beside Phoebe. “Has she been like this long?”

“Only a little while, I believe. She woke me crying. I came immediately, and I noticed right away how hot she felt.”

Cecily whimpered and turned her face toward Phoebe.

“Is she drinking?” Leopold asked.

“No.”

“Breathing normally?”

“It is hard to know for sure with her crying so terribly.”