The Might of Evil Dreams (A Novel of the Elemental Chronicles)

Nineteen - In Sickness and In Health

Thomas

Our trip to London took two whole days and part of a third. Not an ideal situation, especially when Emmeline was now just over six months pregnant. She could feel the baby kicking almost constantly, and was always rubbing her back or her feet.

It was no better on the roads: They were clogged with snow and ice, and I found myself clambering down from the coach constantly to help clear an obstruction in our path. Finally, when we disembarked at the same Leicester Square address as last time, I took proper notice of her state. She appeared pale, and stumbled slightly as she climbed from the carriage.

"Are you all right my love?" I asked as I caught her and steadied her.

"A bit faint is all," she said, with a fleeting smile. "It's probably nothing."

Still, she held tightly to my elbow as we ascended the front steps, and the door whipped open before we reached the top. Ray was there, looking both relieved and harried at the same time.

"Thank goodness you're here, Tom," he said, when we'd stepped inside and he'd given both of us a proper greeting. "Heard about those beatings...had me imagining horrid things."

"I've been thinking the same myself." The reports unsettled me more than I was willing to let on, for Emmeline's sake. Even so, I felt her hand tighten on my arm. Safe passage was nothing short of a miracle these days.

"We'll have some tea then, shall we?" He motioned us into the sitting room, and then, after a look up and down the corridor, he closed the doors behind us. "I'm sorry Lady Violet was unable to join us, milady, but it seems our little Georgie has the colic."

"Has she tried bouncing her?" Emmeline said, as she eased herself down onto the gold-brocade settee close to the roaring fire. "It gets the gas moving."

"I hadn't thought of it," he said, giving me a perplexed glance as he passed me on the way to the tea service. "Does it work?"

"Eddie had it once. That was what the doctor said to do." Emmeline fanned her face with her hat, and now her face was flushed and covered in a fine layer of sweat. In fact, she looked too overheated for my liking.

I offered to take her tea to her, and as I sat next to her, I pressed the backs of my fingers to her cheek. It was scalding hot to the touch.

"Dear God, Emmeline, you're burning up."

"Am I? It feels a bit chilly to me."

I cursed. She must have picked it up from our stable boy, who I'd caught sneezing into his hand as he'd prepared the carriage. The house had been increasingly drafty as well, because of the repairs I was still unable to make. As a result, the rooms were cold and damp except for the place right in front of the fire. I was used to it. She, however, was not. "We must get you to bed."

"Now?" Her brow furrowed, and her tone was indignant. "But we've only just arrived."

"You've got a fever, Emmeline. You're in no state to do anything at the moment."

She said nothing, only sneezed in reply. In that moment, I could have thrashed that boy and felt absolutely nothing.

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By suppertime, when a few of the men from Elemental Advancement — including Charles Ashbury — were arriving, one of the maids came down to tell me Emmeline's fever had risen. I excused myself from their company and followed her upstairs. The door was already cracked when we arrived, and as we entered I could barely see anything, it was so dark. Only a single candle, on the small table by the bed, lit a small circle around it.