Two Loves

Chapter 24

ATTICUS

Cymbeline is going to kill me.

Isaac keels sideways from his chair and pulls the tablecloth with him - plates, cutlery and a glass fall down with loud clattering, next to his lifeless body that hits the floor. Flora Hawlthorne shrieks loudly, her mother does the same, my mother cuts off Percival and jumps upwards, someone cries "Payton!" and I am on my feet and by Isaac's side before I can even think about it. A curse escapes me when his head feels hot and damp in my hands, his eyes flutter open and closed uncontrollably, and his breathing is uneven. The brow is covered with sweat. My God, what am I supposed to do now? What did Cymbeline do at the premiere? But my panicking brain can not really process anything useful, except -

"We need some cold water!" I cry towards one of the footmen at the back of the room. "And something to lay him down onto - Haywood, wake up, please - Miss Flora, could you please be a little more quiet?! We need to concentrate."

Flora stops wailing dramatically and flushes like a tomato. "'Course" she whispers. Another anecdote for her.

A hand lands on my shoulder and gently shoves me aside. It is Doctor Payton, an old friend of my mother and a retired physician, an unhurried elder man with a moustache, small round glasses and a round face. Even now, he only looks concentrated, not concerned.

"Let me take a look at him, Atticus, will you?" he says and kneels down next to me. Payton's movements are routined and controlled - completely opposite to me and my racing heart. He lays one hand on Isaacs forehead, opens the collar and checks his pulse and breathing with quick, fluid hands.

"Mmm - mmh - Good - yes - hmmm - take him up, he needs to lay down somewhere."

Thomas and Albert, the footmen, both still look confused and shocked but take Isaac by the ankles and shoulders and heave him upwards before I can do the same.

"Where to, Doctor?" Albert asks. Payton turns around to me.

"I will show you" I blurt out, thankful to have a task. "Follow me." As we march out of the dining room, Mother already calms the guests again. "Please, sit down" I hear her say, "I am sure it is nothing serious, the gentleman will get well again. Lady Crowley -"

"He will, won't he?" I ask as soon as we carry Isaac up the stair-case onto the second floor. "Or is it something grave?" My voice wavers at the last sentence.

The small doctor looks up to me. "He has a fever, the poor boy. Must have been caused by being too much in the cold rain - rotten weather. With plenty of rest and sleep, he might get well soon."

"A fever?" I say surprisedly. "Oh. I thought he merely fainted."

Payton shakes his head as if he was unstressedly explaining something to a student. "No. See, when a person faints, as from shortness of breath or exhaustion, they turn pale and cold. Mister Haywood, on the other hand here, is boiling with heat. But well thought out!"

As if he had heard his name, Isaac moans quitely and weakly shakes his head. His arms hang down slackly, and the head is bowed forward in an unnatural angle when Thomas grips him tighter. I feel so helpless.

"Does Mr Haywood have any pre-existing conditions?" the doctor asks, carefully observing Isaacs reddening face.

"He suffers from hysteria" I say, recalling Cym's words from the premiere. "Since he was a child."

We reach the first floor. The noise from the hall dies down.

"Hysteria?" Payton wrinkles his nose. "I am quiet sceptical if such an illness even exists - but obviously a generally weak condition - mmh."