Chapter 22: The Little Girl (1)
The rest of the day went by calmly with no further quarrel or arguments. The tension surrounding the Duke's mansion eventually lessened, to Frederick's relief. At the end of it, he finally called the family to have their breakfasts in the dining room.
Juliana had stepped out to attend an important event with Richard, using it as an opportunity to come up with some story about how Cassian got married for the people to hear and finally drop the matter. Juliana's sons stayed behind to have their lunch before taking their leave as well.
Madeline dutifully stayed by Cassian's side like she had promised and carefully attended to his health.
Removing the towel from his forehead. She placed her palm there to feel his temperature, and to her relief, his fever has subsided greatly.
"Ahh, thank goodness." Her tensed body was able to relax after confirming he'd be alright. She wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if something worse decided to happen to him. The soup and the medicine did a good job in healing him faster than she thought it would, and she couldn't be more grateful to Inna who brought them at the right time.
The curtains in her room were closed, and only the lamp light on the side table illuminated over Cassian's sleepy face. Instantly drawn by Cas's good-looks, Madeline sank to the ground and propped herself by placing both arms at the edge of the bed. She watched his face, using the opportunity she had to study him up close.
"Such flawless skin." Her index finger trailed the side of his face, feeling the texture of his smooth skin against the tip of her fingers. "Lovely lashes," her fingers gently brushed against the tip of his long dark lashes, and his lips, they were baby pink, looking alluring enough to make one daydream about what they shouldn't.
She's heard rumors of what a fine man Lord Cassian is. Even if the newspaper headline always catches him doing something out of line, the people of Carmarthen easily get distracted by his profile, and now, she doesn't blame them for it.
Afraid he might wake up if she kept touching him, she withdrew her fingers and quickly got to her feet.
Once he wakes up, she'll tell him everything concerning her childhood trauma. It would be very embarrassing for him to wake up one sudden night and find her sleepwalking, so before it happens, she'll have to tell him about her disorder.
Already starting to feel the heat from the room, Madeline made her way to the window, shifting aside the white curtains and opening the window to let the sweet natural breeze of Carmarthen fill the room.
Satisfied by the coolness of the weather, she was about to turn away when something, or rather someone hiding behind the gates of the Duke mansion stopped her.
With her brows snapped together, a look of recognition dawned on her, and she whipped her head to the gate to see who was hiding there.
To her disbelief, it was the same girl she spotted at the lower East quarters, and the girl, as though sensing someone's eyes on her, looked up to meet the shocking stare of Madeline.
'It's the same girl!' Thought Madeline as she backed away from the window.
"What are you doing?" The deep suave voice behind her made Madeline spun around to look at who was speaking.
Cassian was awake. The young lad sat upright and leaned his back against the headboard. He had his eyes fixed on the nonplussed Madeline who didn't respond to his question, and only looked out the window again.
"The..there was_" her stuttering voice trailed off when she no longer saw the girl hiding behind the gate, and her eyes went round.
"She's gone??" The girl's sudden disappearance made Madeline say her thoughts out loud.
"Who's gone?" Cassian's brows furrowed, not grabbing the words of his new wife who kept staring outside the window, like she was looking for someone.
"N_nothing." She moved away from the window after failing to spot the girl. It must be her imagination messing with her. Why would the girl come here?
She saw the girl once and that was yesterday at the Lower East quarters. The girl couldn't possibly be here, and if she was, a lot of people would have stopped to question her.
"It's nothing." Turning her attention to the young lad who wasn't convinced, she smiled his way and walked up to the bed.
"How are you feeling now?" She asked. Seeing him very much awake, her earlier act invaded her head, and an embarrassing feeling surrounded her heart at the mere thought of Cassian having to hear the things she said, or feeling her hand move around his face like that.
"Better." He responded while massaging the back of his neck. Earlier, he really did get a feeling he'd pass out if Inna hadn't brought him his medicine.
"You have your sister and mother to thank for, they brought everything on time."
"I suppose."
An unexpected knock on the door drew their attention, and Madeline got to her feet so she could answer whoever was out there. Opening the door, it was Amadeus who stood at the entrance.
He bowed his head with a warm smile, and Madeline looked happy to see him.
"Come in, please."
Amadeus shook his head gratefully, "no no, I only came to give this to Lord Cassian." He handed the brown file to Madeline.
"I had a feeling he would end up forgetting about the file, so I kept it with me. He'll need this for today, please hand it to him."
"Oh." Madeline took the file from Amadeus, "if you are well rested, I'll send Frederick over to come give you a tour around the mansion, that is if you don't mind."
Madeline felt touched by his kindness towards her. "That is very thoughtful of you sir, I don't mind a tour, and I would love to be shown around."
Amadeus adjusted his collar with a beaming smile, "then I shall send for Fredrick, he'll help you out."
"Okay." Madeline responded and Amadeus left.
Closing the door, Madeline returned to Cassian's side, handing him the brown file.
"Your Coachman asked me to give you this." She handed it to Cassian. He gazed at it for a while before the file became clearer to him.
"Oh, yeah." He received it.
"Can I ask you a question, Lord Cassian?" Madeline requested while Cassian had already opened the file, going through the name records in them.
"Call me Lord again and I'll make you say my name the hard way." His retort left Madeline half-startled. Was that supposed to be a warning or a threat?
"You don't need permission before speaking to your husband, say what you want." All the while he spoke, his eyes never left the file.
"What is this file for??" She finally asked.
"Curious?"
She truthfully nodded, "when I was brought to the church to wed the Barbarian, I saw your Coachman speaking with the sheriff and collecting this file. Does it have something to do with the missing people?"
"You fixed the puzzles yourself, smart." He complimented, causing Madeline to blush unwillingly since she wasn't expecting he'd say something like that.
"That means I'm right?"
"Yeah. Have a look at this." He patted the empty space beside him, telling her to take a seat and Madeline, hesitantly sat beside him.
"These are the list of people who went missing, including their friends and family." He gave Madeline the file so she could have a look, and her eyes scanned the faces of missing people.
"All these people?" She looked mortified by the amount, and he nodded. "The King gave me his orders to work on it secretly, so you mustn't say this to anyone, even if you're threatened with your life."
He spoke casually, and Madeline was starting to regret ever asking him about it. Keeping her gaze fixed on the pictures on the file. Her eyes stopped at a familiar one.
It was a picture of a young girl. "This girl." She pointed at the little girl's picture, "she's not missing."
"How do you know?"
"Cause I saw her myself yesterday when I went into the lower East quarters." Madeline quickly explained. Cassian remained silent for a while before letting out a chuckle like she said something funny.
"Maddie, you couldn't have seen her, you must be mistaken."
She shook her head, "I did see her, I saw her again at the gate." Madeline pointed out the window, "I know what I'm saying, I'm not lying to you."
"I would have believed you." He added, " but I can't, cause it's not possible that you saw her."
"Why isn't it possible?"
Shifting to his side table, he opened it and brought out what looked like a certificate. "Look at this."
Confused, Madeline took the paper from him, and when she opened it, her expression turned aghast by what she saw on the paper.
"Lily Jones, died on the 20th of December 1895, that was last year, so how could you have seen her?"
"She... she's dead??"
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