Thank you for reading the last chapter! This chapter Mother Miranda is on the move. Thank you for reading!
Chapter: 8
Lord Quentin had left two days' prior, and surprised Alcina as he picked her up and placed a kiss to her cheek.
"Father kissed me," Alcina kept repeating over and over. "He never does that. Is he leaving us forever?"
"No, Alci," Lady Daciana had said. "It all has to do with the business. Your father will be back soon."
Yet despite her strong front, Lady Daciana found his absence to be a hard one. Quentin was a man of few words, he was the rock she knew she could always fall back on. As he had proven with the shipping debacle.
As the week continued to pass her by, she found herself turning away from Quentin and to Thursday. Magnus would be arriving and they would have a lovely lunch with Alcina.
She had made sure the staff had the proper meal for him. Two dishes that were his favorite: Lamb ribs served with potatoes, parsley butter sauce and mashed roots. The other was a succulent smoked salmon fillet served with dill sauce and lemon. She had also purchased for him a bottle of Punsch that was flavored with dark chocolate.
Lady Daciana sat in the sitting room, keeping her eyes peeled out the window for Magnus. He had called earlier to inform her he would be arriving earlier than one.
After ten more minutes, she spied his vehicle. She ran straight for the door, flinging it open and stepping out on the stairs. The car had stopped, the driver opening the door for him.
She could not stop smiling at him.
"Daciana," he said, taking her hand and kissing the top of it.
"You do not need to be so formal," she said.
"Would you rather I shake your hand?"
"Of course not," she said, looping her arm around his and leading him inside. "Lunch should be ready soon, would you like to see Alcina? I have yet to check on her to see if she is ready for lunch."
"I would love to."
"Quentin will not be joining us. Unfortunately there was an issue with the shipments."
"What happened?" Magnus said concerned.
"Some barrels did not get shipped out and others were shipped to the wrong places. Quentin does not believe it was intentional, but I would not be surprised to find out there was some foul play going on in the warehouses."
"If this persists Daciana," he said firmly. "Please inform me. I can find out who is doing this and prosecute them."
"Really?" Lady Daciana said.
"I can," he said.
"Thank you," she said, stopping in front of Alcina's door. "We have arrived."
"Do you think she will know me?"
"I do not think so, which is why I am most curious about her reaction to you," she said, knocking on the door. "Alcina?"
There was no response.
"Odd, I did not see her outside," she said. "Alcina I am coming in."
Lady Daciana opened the door, her countenance shifting from confusion to fear.
"Alcina!" she found her child laying on the floor, she was laying on her side breathing hard. Sweat glistening on her forehead."I need to call Doctor Andrei. He is our family physician."
"You stay with Alcina, I will call him," Magnus said.
Lady Daciana told him the number. "The phone is in Quentin's study. It is just down the hall and to your right."
Magnus ran out the door while Lady Daciana carefully picked up Alcina and set her down in her bed.
"Alcina?" she raked her fingers through her sweaty hair. "Alcina can you hear me?"
Alcina opened her eyes.
"Mother?"
"Good girl," Lady Daciana kissed her cheek.
"I do not feel well," she said.
"Tell me what you are feeling."
"I feel tired and dizzy. I- I was playing and now I am in bed."
"Do not worry, my love, the doctor will be here soon," she said, watching Alcina start to close her eyes again.
A few minutes later and Magnus had returned to the room.
"He said ten minutes."
"Thank you," she whispered.
Magnus nodded turning his gaze onto Alcina who had started to open her eyes. He gave her a kind smile.
"Is that a prince?" Alcina said.
Lady Daciana turned her attention over to Magnus.
"No, this is Baron Kerg. A friend of mine."
"He looks like a prince," Alcina continued. "Like from the story Phoebe read to me."
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Alcina," he said, giving her a bow.
She began to smile at him.
The doctor arrived in the time he said he would. Lady Daciana remaining by Alcina as he examined her.
"I will need to take a sample of her blood for evaluation," he said to Lady Daciana. "I fear it may be what we have both discussed."
Lady Daciana's face had dropped.
"My mother had it and it skipped me. I feared this would happen…"
"I will draw the blood now that she is asleep," he said quietly, pulling out the needle from his bag.
Lady Daciana lay right beside Alcina now, turning her child's head to face she in case Alcina were to awaken and see what was happening.
"All done," the doctor said. "I will leave her these pills to keep her temperature down. I do not want her doing anything too rigorous the rest of the day."
"Thank you," she said.
"I will call you to inform you of the results from her blood when they return from the lab."
Lady Daciana thanked him again and remained with Alcina in the bed. Magnus entering once the doctor had left, took a seat in a chair to the left of the bed.
"I am sorry Magnus."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I don't know," Lady Daciana said. "I just…" tears were visible in her blue eyes. "I did not want this to be Alcina's fate. I knew when she was born there would be a high chance she would inherit it."
"Inherit what exactly?"
"It is a family blood disease. It can occur with both the men and women, but mainly it is us females who inherit it."
"You do not have it, though," Magnus said.
"It skipped me, because my mother had it."
"And because it skipped you…" Magnus looked at Alcina sadly. "I understand."
The two sat in silence for a time, Alcina stirring awake to find her mother laying beside her.
"Mother?"
"Alcina, how are you feeling, my love?"
"Better. I do not feel so dizzy now."
"I am glad."
"Is the prince still here?"
Lady Daciana cracked a smile, pointing for Alcina to turn and look behind her.
"We are glad to see you awake, Miss Alcina," he said.
Some color came to Alcina's cheeks as she looked at him.
"Are you hungry?"
Alcina nodded her head.
"Then let us go down and have a bite to eat," Lady Daciana said.
Magnus rose out of his chair, allowing the two to exit the door first, Alcina keeping a firm hold on her mother's hand, continued to cast glances back at Magnus.
How bashful she was in his presence. Quickly glancing away as soon as Magnus looked down at her. Lady Daciana noticed this, but did not say a word. Her mind was now on Alcina. She would have to explain the blood disease to her and the pills she would need once the doctor ordered them for her. This was exactly how it was for her own mother.
{…}
After lunch Magnus stayed for another hour. Alcina seeming to be much better after eating, the three went out for a short walk to the vineyard and back. Lady Daciana not wanting Alcina to overdo it and collapse.
"Thank you for a wonderful lunch," Magnus said, standing on the front steps with Lady Daciana.
"Thank you for coming, Magnus," she said. "And for your help with Alcina today."
"She reminds me a lot of you," he said.
"Hopefully all the best parts," Lady Daciana said teasingly.
"I see the mischief there," Magnus said.
"She has plenty of mischief. Sometimes a little too much," Lady Daciana agreed, walking with him to his car as it pulled up. "I would like to see you again, Magnus. I know you are not to be here long…"
"No, I," he faltered, unable to meet her gaze. "There is something I was meaning to tell you, but never got the chance… or rather I never found the nerve to."
"What is it?" Lady Daciana said concerned.
"I… I am engaged," he said, looking back at her.
"That is… that is wonderful, Magnus," Lady Daciana took his hand and squeezed. "I am happy for you. Truly."
"Thank you," he said, the butler opening the door for him. "When would you like for me to visit again?"
"Whenever you like," Lady Daciana said, still holding on to his hand. "Perhaps we could have dinner and play a game of cards like we used to."
"Saturday night?"
"Saturday night."
Magnus kissed the top of her hand, giving it one final squeeze before releasing his hold as he climbed into the car. Lady Daciana watched the car disappear down the drive with a bittersweet heart. She knew this would happen. Had prepared her heart long and hard for it, but it still rattled her. Pained her. She knew it must have been the same way for him when she married Quentin.
Lady Daciana returned inside soon after to find Alcina. Her child in her quarters in bed with Phoebe beside her.
"Thank you, Phoebe," Lady Daciana said, taking a seat on the bed. "Alcina, I must speak with you about what happened today and why the doctor came to see you."
"Would you like me to leave, my lady?" Phoebe said.
"No, you may stay," Lady Daciana said, turning her focus back to Alcina and telling her of why the doctor had come. "So if you ever feel that dizziness, you must tell me."
"What if you are not nearby?"
"Great question," Lady Daciana said. "Then you will tell the closest adult and they will come find me."
"Will I need to take the medicine for the rest of my life?"
"Yes, my darling, but do not fear; it will make you feel better and you will not become sick."
"Do you have it too?"
"No, but your grandmother did," Lady Daciana said, dabbing her on the nose.
She started to smile at that.
"Will you tell Father?"
"I must," Lady Daciana said. "After all he cares about you just as much as I and Phoebe, too."
Alcina looked over to her maid, who gave her a quick wink.
"Mother?" Alcina said, crawling up to her and wrapping her arms around her neck.
Lady Daciana enveloped her in a firm hug, placing a loving kiss to her cheek.
"Will the prince come back soon?" she whispered into her ear.
"Yes, my love…" Lady Daciana squeezed her tighter.
{…}
The next day Lady Daciana watched Alcina from her bedroom window playing by the peach tree. She kept a closer eye on her now. The doctor having called her that morning to inform her of the pills Alcina would have to take.
"I will have her take small doses, but she must take them in the morning and night," the doctor had explained to her. "You may cut the pills up and place it in her food rather than attempt to get her to swallow them."
"Thank you, Doctor…" Lady Daciana drew from her cigarette. She tried not to smoke in front of Alcina. It was a bad habit, but this was the quickest way for her to take the edge off her nerves. She then shifted her gaze over to a few of the maids walking over to the clothes lines. She observed one of them to be the new girl Sabra. "There is something about that one…" she mused aloud, watching the child place the clothes on the line. "Something I do not quite trust."Lady Daciana continued to watch her as she turned away from the line and up towards her, bowing.
"How did she see me?" Lady Daciana said a bit startled, blowing out the smoke through her nostrils and walked away from the window.
Outside Alcina was blissfully ignorant of the two maids outside. She was too focused on a red squirrel up in the tree chittering at her.
"Did you hear?"
Sabra had been glancing at Alcina the past few moments now, returning her attention back to the red haired maid.
"Hear what, Gene?"
"Miss Alcina is sick. The doctor came yesterday to check on her."
"What was the reason?"
Gene leaned closer to her.
"The Dimitrescu family has a blood disease. Word has spread throughout the house that Miss Alcina has it."
"That is most unfortunate," Sabra said, looking straight at Alcina again. 'If that is the case, she will be useless as a vessel just like the other Dimitrescu's I experimented on. I gambled on them in hopes the blood disease would have no base when it came to the Cadou injections, but that was a failure. Damn it!' she gritted her teeth together in frustration. 'The child is no longer of use, but still all hope is not lost. There is her mother and father that I can use…' she looked back up to the manor. 'I shall start with Quentin first.'
Once they had finished putting up the sheets, the two returned back inside the manor. The two continued working around the manor. Cleaning the floors and dusting the artwork.
"There are a few things to dust upstairs," Gene said. "Let's hurry and finish those. We will need to start preparing dinner soon with the others."
"Lead the way," Sabra said, ascending up the stairs behind Gene.
"I will start here, you go down to the end of the hall."
Sabra walked down the hall, passing by portraits of past occupants of those who had resided in the house. One in particular was of a woman with the same blue eyes as Daciana and Alcina. Her black hair tied up in a high bun to bring out her pale complexion.
'I wonder if this was Daciana's mother?' Miranda continued to pass other artworks of landscapes and scenes. Such fine taste the Dimitrescu's had for décor. Miranda stopped when she had reached the end of the long hall, dusting off a few sculptures made of white marble. She then got to work on a few paintings. She had just reached the first of the three windows in the hall when she heard Lady Daciana's voice. She was in a room directly adjacent to the door.
"I am glad it was not too difficult for you to fix." A pause. "When can I expect your return?" another pause.
Miranda moved closer to the door, dusting off a painting on the wall close to it.
"Sunday. Monday at the latest. Good. I am glad to hear that. Thank you, Quentin. Yes, I love you, too. Goodbye."
Miranda moved away from the door and further down the hallway. Just as she got closer to Gene did the door open. Out stepped Lady Daciana looking most pleased. Miranda stopped what she was doing and bowed her head.
"Good afternoon, my lady."
Lady Daciana turned her attention to Miranda.
"Good afternoon," she said, giving Miranda a double take upon realizing who had greeted her. She shifted her gaze away from Miranda after a minute and continued down the hallway without another word to her.
Miranda watched her go with a smirk.
The day continued on without incident. Night descending over the land. The manor lights dimming down as all turned to bed.
"When will Father come home?" Alcina lay in bed, her mother seated beside her now after tucking her in.
"Sunday or Monday was what he told me," she said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "Now get some sleep. If you need anything, my love, come and see me."
"Goodnight, Mother."
"Goodnight, Alcina."
Lady Daciana rose off the bed, dimming the lights a little before she exited the room. She entered into her own room, stopping just on the lip of the doorway and turning to face back down the hallway. There was something nagging at her. A strange feeling in the back of her mind she could not shake. Quietly she entered her room and closed the door behind herself.
The manor gradually fell quiet. Nothing stirred. A peaceful night. The clock struck midnight and that is when she rose. The figure gliding soundlessly through the halls. Her feet barely touching the steps as she ascended upstairs. She walked straight passed Alcina's room and into the study. There she picked up the phone, her eyes changing color as she scanned the numbers where Lady Daciana had called her husband. She dialed the number and did not expect to hear an answer.
She swallowed as the answering machine came on, the voice coming through as Daciana's.
"Quentin, I need you to return no later than Sunday morning. Alcina has been diagnosed with the blood disease. Please come home as soon as you can." She hung up the phone, gliding back down the hallway and stairs to her sleeping quarters. No one knew that she had left. No one was the wiser.