Side Story:
After the Ball
ONCE FIONA HAD BEEN TREATED after her fall into the lake, Miranda stepped out of the guest room and into the hallway—and immediately saw Giles sprinting up the stairs to meet her. He had been doing damage control with Richard and had just come to a stopping point.
Seeing it was Miranda in the hallway, Giles did not even attempt to regain his composure before he pounced. “Sister! Is Fiona—”
“Calm down, Gil. You losing your head won’t help anybody.” There was nobody else nearby, but they couldn’t lower their guards just yet. Miranda reminded him in a harsh whisper that he could very well get Fiona caught up in something dreadful if anybody overheard them. That got him to shut his mouth.
Miranda sighed quietly to herself as she watched her little brother—who was infamous for controlling his emotions—lose his cool. Good gracious, man, she thought. Though I suppose you can’t help yourself. If her own husband were seriously injured or knocked unconscious, she would certainly have lost her head. She had watched with interest as their courtship developed over the weeks, though it seemed her brother’s feelings for Fiona ran deeper than she initially thought.
“Her wounds have been treated,” she assured Giles. “She isn’t awake yet, but once we’ve kept an eye on her for a little while, we can move her.”
When he heard that Fiona was more or less all right, Giles finally released some of the tension in his face. “Is that so… Thank you. I’ll go see her now.”
He tried to quickly slip past her, but she stopped him and raised her right hand. “Wait, Gil. The wound in her right hand is very deep. The doctor said that if the blade went any deeper, she might have suffered blood vessel or tendon damage.”
Giles held his breath as his sister relayed the rest of the doctor’s report.
“They’ve stopped the bleeding, but you mustn’t let her use her hand until the wound has closed.”
“I understand,” Giles said. Clenching his fist tightly, he slipped past his sister and into Fiona’s room. Miranda watched him until he disappeared behind the door.
The Earl and Countess of Bancroft as well as the Marchioness and Marquess of Heyward had been apprised of all the details. They had returned home as if nothing were out of the ordinary, since the whole family remaining at the White Palace would have raised suspicion.
Fiona needed intensive care. Then, on top of that, there were the crimes to deal with. Miranda had heard that Fiona was planning to return to her barony within a few days, but she would need to stay in the royal capital for a while—and in the center of it, no less. Miranda had come to make the arrangements for Fiona to stay with the Heywards again, just like last time.
She found the Marchioness of Heyward. “Were you still awake, Godmother?”
“Of course I was, you silly girl. How could I sleep? So, Fiona is all right, I take it?”
“Yes. It was fortunate for us that Dr. Meyer happened to be in.” Miranda explained that Fiona’s emergency care at the White Palace had been provided by the court doctor. When the Marchioness of Heyward heard that the trustworthy head doctor was the one who had seen to Fiona, she was greatly relieved. “So, until her wounds heal, we’d like to keep her in your care for a while, Godmother.”
“Well, good! I insist! I’ve already prepared the same room she had last time,” the marchioness declared with her usual girlish smile, proudly puffing out her chest. Miranda’s eyes popped open in disbelief. “Giles is by Fiona’s side, isn’t he?”
“Yes. She hasn’t woken up yet.”
Miranda’s gaze fell as she remembered the look on Giles’s pale face when he saw Fiona wrapped in bandages. It had all happened when the crown prince summoned him, parting him from Fiona. His absence had been the trigger in Fiona’s kidnapping and assault. Giles hated himself for that more than he hated anyone else.
Her family will likely oppose their courtship after this, Miranda thought. Fiona’s family had always had their reservations about Fiona courting the son of an earl, who was so far above their social standing. Fiona having been hurt so badly at a royal ball Giles took her to would only worsen their worries. Is there anything we can do about this, I wonder? Surely there was something she could do as Giles’s older sister, but when she considered the fact that Fiona had been in genuine mortal danger, the whole situation became much more complicated.
“You know, I was having a difficult time choosing her nightwear,” the marchioness giggled. Miranda’s tired head shot up with a start. “Miranda, won’t you help me pick it out? Let’s choose her nightwear before Giles shows up! Something cute in a cheerful color would be nice, wouldn’t you say?”
A coy little wink from the marchioness struck Miranda dumb for a moment…and then she let out a giggle of her own. She’d almost forgotten what the marchioness was like. “Hee hee! Oh, Godmother, you scamp!”
Miranda’s task right then was not to worry herself but to build a relaxing environment—that was the subtext of her godmother’s words. We’ll get Fiona’s wounds healed now and deal with the rest later.
What mattered most of all was what Fiona and Giles wanted. Miranda would find that out first, then make her move.
“You’re right,” Miranda told the marchioness. “We need to dress her cheerfully, if nothing else.”
“Exactly. They say laughter is the best medicine.”
“Um, Godmother, I don’t think that’s what they mean…”
Deep into the night, the women poured over dress catalogues, choosing colorful dresses for Fiona’s convalescence.