The Pursuit Of Marriage by Victoria Alexander Read Free Book Online Page B

side. “A lady can always use a bit of extra spending money. Besides, it scarcely matters at the moment. We have much bigger problems.” She gave a heartfelt sigh. “It’s Mother.”
    “What’s mother?” Reggie narrowed his eyes.
    “Lady Berkley has taken to her bed, my lord,” Higgins said in his usual noncommittal way.
    “Why?” Reggie’s gaze skipped from Higgins to Lucy. “She can’t possibly be ill. Mother has never been ill a day in her life.”
    “She’s not just ill. She’s…she’s…” Lucy’s lower lip quivered.
    “Lady Berkley says she’s dying, my lord,” Higgins said.
    “Dying?” Reggie shook his head in disbelief. “That’s impossible. She was perfectly fine yesterday and completely healthy.”
    “But today she’s on her deathbed.” Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. “We’re going to be orphans.”
    “Nonsense.” Reggie turned to Higgins. “Have you called for a physician?”
    Higgins nodded. “Doctor Hopwood has already come and gone.”
    “And?”
    “And he says he can find nothing wrong. The incompetent quack.” Lucy sniffed in disdain. “Mother is obviously direly ill. Any fool can see it.”
    Reggie raised a brow. “Higgins?”
    “It is difficult to say for certain, my lord.” The butler chose his words with care. “One cannot discount the opinion of a highly regarded physician, and although her ladyship’s color appears a shade pale, it is not especially so—”
    “Higgins!” Lucy glared.
    The butler continued. “Yet Lady Berkley has never, to my knowledge, been ill, nor has she feigned illness. I believe it might well be a grave mistake to disregard her claims now as to the state of her health.”
    “I see,” Reggie said slowly. Higgins’s assessment was both sobering and chilling. The idea of his mother’s death was not something Reggie had given much thought to, and it now brought a distinct pang of distress. He had always assumed Marian Berkley would be there forever. Certainly, from a rational point of view, he had known she was getting older and would join his father in the hereafter one day. She’d seen nearly fifty years, after all. If truth were told, well, he rather liked his mother. Lady Berkley was kind and amusing and carried a delightful air of charming confusion about her. Better yet, for the most part she did not intrude upon his life. She had her friends and her activities and the raising of Lucy, all of which kept her far too busy to interfere with her son. While they all shared the grand house on Portman Square in London and the manor at Berkley Park in the country, they never seemed to be under one another’s feet. Indeed, there were days when they scarcely set eyes on each other.
    Still, there was something about knowing a parent was around—should you ever have need of parental advice or assistance or even affection—that was comforting and provided a pleasant bit of security in an insecure world.
    Reggie did not like the idea of losing her, of being an orphan, any more than his sister did.
    “I should see her.” Reggie started up the stairs.
    “She’s been asking for you.” Lucy followed close at his heels.
    “My lord,” Higgins called from behind, “before you go up I should mention something else Dr. Hopwood said.”
    Reggie halted in midstep and turned toward the butler. “What is it, Higgins?”
    “Regardless of the true nature of her illness, the doctor said she should be humored, especially concerning any unusual or odd desires or requests. He advised we provide her with whatever she asks for. Such requests could well be the result of some kind of delirium or diminished capacity, and refusal might only worsen her state. Such aggravation is to be avoided at all costs, at least until he can determine precisely what is wrong,” Higgins added.
    “Very well.” Reggie nodded. “She shall have whatever she wants.”
    He reached the top of the stairs and headed toward the wing of the house shared by his mother and