“That is what we all want, I daresay,” the Duke agreed.
As they stepped out in the hall, Kendra caught the flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she felt a jolt of surprise as a creature right out of a horror movie raced toward them. The woman’s skin so pale that it glowed as luminescent as the moon, yet was almost fleshless against the sharp bones of her face. The only color in that bloodless countenance was the dark half-moons beneath her sunken eyes, and the eyes themselves, glittering like black agates. Her hair was the color of dull ash, falling in a tangled disarray down her back. She wore what appeared to be a shapeless white gown, yards of fabric fluttering around her skinny legs as she ran. Her slender feet, Kendra noticed, were bare and dirty.
Kendra heard the Duke’s swift intake of breath, then the woman was throwing herself into Morland’s arms, oblivious to everyone else.
“Oh, Adonis! Where have you been? The harpy is here!”
Morland brought his hands up to grip the woman’s upper arms, trying to disengage himself from her clutching fingers, but she wrapped herself around him like lichen. “Mama, where is Mrs. Marks?”
Shocked, Kendra thought of the portrait in the drawing room. There was no resemblance between that beautiful girl and this old crone.
“My God,” Aldridge breathed.
Morland shot him an anguished look.
“He mustn’t find us,” Lady Anne whispered. “We must flee before it’s too late.”
“Hush, Mama. You should not be out of your rooms. You are unwell.”
She began to pat his face with veined, speckled hands. “Adonis. My Adonis,” she crooned. “We shall flee to Mount Olympus. He shall never know.”
Morland grasped her wrists. “Mama, you must return to your rooms. ’Tis not safe for you to wander about.”
“Oh, sir!” A woman built like a fire station and wearing a maid’s uniform came trotting down the hall. “I’m most dreadfully sorry. She got away from me!”
Morland glared at her. “Obviously. We shall speak of this later, Mrs. Marks. Now, please take my mother back to her rooms.”
“Oh, aye, Mr. Morland.”
Lady Anne glanced around, her eyes widening in fear. “No! No!” She clutched at Morland. “She’s a harpy. Please, Adonis—”
Mrs. Marks’s beefy hands came down on the old woman’s frail shoulders, pulling her away from her son. “Ma’am, we mustn’t disturb Mr. Morland,” she said in a surprisingly gentle voice. “Come along, dearie. Let’s get you back to your rooms.”
The black eyes blinked in confusion. Her face went slack as she stared at her son. “Who are you?” she whispered.
“Mama—”
“No! NO! You are not my Adonis!” Terror rippled across Lady Anne’s face, and she shrank away from Morland. “No! No! Do not touch me!” She began to sob.
Mrs. Marks hauled the old woman to her side. “There now, ma’am. Would you like a nice cuppa chocolate?” She herded her down the hall, casting one anxious glance back at Morland. “We’ll sit by the fire, you and me, and drink our chocolate.”
“He’s not my Adonis! Where is Adonis?” the old woman whimpered against the servant. They turned a corner and eventually Lady Anne’s sobs faded, leaving a stark silence in its wake.
They stood frozen, locked into place by a myriad of emotions. Kendra exchanged a glance with the Duke, and saw horror and pity in his gaze.
“I apologize, Your Grace, for that scene,” Morland said stiffly. He looked so dazed that Kendra actually felt sorry for him. “My mother, as I said, is ill.”
“I had no idea,” the Duke murmured. “I haven’t seen Lady Anne since . . . well, since your grandfather died.”
“Yes. It happened shortly after. She began to forget things. There were days she had to be told to eat or dress. Sometimes . . .” He swallowed hard, and stared unseeingly down the corridor where his mother had disappeared. “Sometimes she mistakes me for my father. Or her reality becomes blended with mythology. Mrs. Marks takes care of her, watches her.” His lips twisted. “Or tries to. Despite my mother’s failing mental capacity, she’s canny enough to escape the woman.”
“My deepest sympathies, my boy. I remember Lady Anne . . .” Aldridge paused and then sighed. “That is neither here nor there. We shall leave you in peace, Mr. Morland. Forgive our intrusion.”
Morland nodded with an air of distraction, accompanying them down the stairs to the foyer. “I would prefer it if you would be . . . discreet about my mother, sir. I would not wish her name bandied about.”
“Quite understandable.” Aldridge hesitated. “If you should require any assistance . . .”
“Thank you, sir. I have brought in mad-doctors from London, but they say there is nothing to be done. I won’t put her in a lunatic asylum.”