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OLIVIA woke after sleeping for about three hours. She gently slipped out of bed, away from Arthur, who was still sleeping. She then quietly added wood to the fire in the stove in the kitchen and started making breakfast, careful not to wake Colin and Charlie, who were sleeping in front of the fireplace in the restaurant.
She made an egg soup loaded with barley and winter vegetables, slices of bread fried brown in butter, and a side of spinach sautéed with her homemade bacon. The full menu was to restore strength to the two adults who had come face-to-face with disaster last night.
“Good morning. I’m feeling much better, thanks to you,” came a voice.
“Oh, Charlie? Did I wake you?” asked Olivia.
“No, ma’am. I didn’t sleep very well out of concern for Mr. Darleys. I imagine the lady will be feeling the same.”
“He must be in poor condition.”
“He is. He’s been unwell for some time now, but it seems to have gotten much worse recently. If something happens to him, I’m not even sure what I would do…”
“Um, if you’d like, maybe I could help? A royal apothecary has given me permission to work as an apothecary. I’m sure you already have doctors looking after Mr. Darleys, but, please, if there’s anything I can do, just say so.”
Charlie just gave a noncommittal nod. He seemed uncertain.
Obviously, he’s not going to want to entrust his master to me, a young restaurant owner from the sticks who calls herself an apothecary…
Olivia didn’t say anything else on the subject.
Once the sun showed itself, Bethany came downstairs carrying the baby.
“Feeding a baby makes you hungry, I’m sure,” said Olivia. “Please, eat as much as you like.”
“Thank you. Everything smells so lovely that I woke up feeling hungry,” said Bethany.
Her eyes were red. She must have been crying last night. She and Charlie ate, raving the whole time about how wonderful the food was, but then she immediately said, “I’m sorry, but I want to leave as soon as possible,” once they were done.
“I understand,” said Olivia. “I’ll take you to the capital in our carriage. Let’s head out soon, since we can only travel in this snow when the sun is out.”
“I cannot thank you enough. I promise I’ll repay you for this,” she said.
Olivia just said, “I don’t need any reward,” then went about getting ready to go.
The restaurant was left in Lara’s care again, and Colin went back to Marlowe for work, even though he was concerned for Lara.
As usual, Arthur insisted he go with Olivia, so they asked Colin to let Freddy know about what was going on.
“There’s so much snow, Olivia, I doubt many customers will come into the restaurant,” said Lara. “I can handle a few people on my own. Don’t worry about things here.”
Rob seemed to understand he couldn’t come along without even being told, but he looked at them with dejection and thought, Lonely. Sad.
Dale had disappeared when the unknown people appeared in the house in the middle of the night, but he watched from the top of the stairs as they were leaving. Going? Come back fast, he thought with annoyance.
It was cold outside, despite being sunny. All four of them, even Charlie, gathered inside the carriage, dressed in thick layers. The carriage ran easily through the snow, pulled by three horses, and they arrived in the capital after three days of travel.