Severine murmured something appropriate, the pain in her head increasing. She glanced at Mr. Brand, but Clive had taken Severine’s inattention as a chance to lean in and hiss at Mr. Brand.
Florette’s voice covered whatever Clive was saying. “I’d have thought you would stay in Paris or travel to London. Why come back to this old place? There’s nothing to do.” There was a pout in Florette’s voice and then her gaze turned to Mr. Thorne and Mr. Oliver. Her lashes fluttered at them. She whispered low so that only Severine could hear, “I think I’ll keep them.”
Her wicked grin followed and Severine felt as though she had seen that expression before.
Severine smiled easily, trying to ignore her headache and the burning in her eyes. “Both of them?”
“Either of them. Grandmère is discovering who has the greater income.” Florette scowled. “I suppose you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t get my allowance until I turn twenty-one unless I marry and even then, it’s hardly noteworthy.”
“Far more than most get.” Severine rubbed her brow. The irritating sound of Florette’s voice was like a knife in the side of Severine’s head.
“Did you meet many men in Austria?”
Severine’s head tilted and she stared at her cousin. “Do you mean single men?”
Florette laughed merrily and leaned forward in a way to let Mr. Oliver and Mr. Thorne see her chest. “Of course, silly.”
“You do realize I was in a nunnery?”
“So there were no men?”
Oh, it was daggers to the head, that squeaky voice. Severine licked her lips lightly and realized her mouth was dry too. Like she’d had sawdust instead of wine with dinner. “No men. An occasional delivery man or woodsman.”
Florette gasped as though Severine had said she’d been whipped daily. She pressed her fingers hard into her head trying to keep her brain inside her skull.
The two gentlemen turned at Florette’s gasp, no doubt her purpose. Severine leaned back to watch as her cousin upped the charm, hoping she wouldn’t be called upon to participate. So often, as children, it had been in a case of contrasts, with Severine always the loser.
Florette leaned in again, letting her hand touch either of the gentlemen whenever possible.
Severine yawned suddenly and then blinked a little rapidly. Her vision blurred with a pressing exhaustion and she realized she was done. “I believe I have reached my limits and will be the first to fade away.” She stood and then stumbled. “Excuse me.”
She dug her fingers into Anubis’s ruff and let him steady her and then glanced around for Lisette. Severine found she couldn’t quite focus. Rather than waiting for her friend, she stumbled from the room. There was a bit of a commotion behind her, but Severine didn’t have it in her to wait. She needed to lie down.
When she was half-way up the stairs, Lisette took hold of her arm.
“What’s wrong?” Lisette hissed.
Severine blinked rather stupidly. “I suspect I’ve been drugged. I’d have realized before, but apparently I am quite dim.”
Lisette cursed and glanced back. Severine didn’t bother. She was too busy clutching at the banister to keep from falling.
Lisette called, “I wonder, Mr. Thorne, if I might have your assistance after all.”
Severine felt herself lifted a moment later and she mumbled a laugh, “‘s like floating,” she slurred.
“I’ve got you,” Mr. Thorne said, and she thought that he might after all.
She felt herself laid down on the bed moments later. Things faded in and out and Severine felt helpless save for the pressing weight of Anubis.
Severine found the envelope in her hand and when Lisette went to take it, Severine said, “No.”
Instead Lisette helped Severine to put the envelope under her pillow. She could hear whispering at the door and then Lisette joined Severine by the bed. “I’ll stay with you.”
Severine was too tired to comment and she had to focus all of her will to say, “Anubis, schützen.”
Knowing her dog was on guard, Severine stopped fighting the drugs.
Chapter Ten
“You’re awake?” Lisette was dressed and sitting next to the bed. Anubis lay next to Severine while the pups were curled into her front and back.
Severine took a deep breath in and then slowly let it out. She pressed her hands to her aching eyes. Kali whined low and then licked Severine’s arm as she tried rubbing her lids.
“Lisette,” Severine groaned. “Would you get the eyedrops from my bag?”
Lisette rose and shuffled through Severine’s things while she tried and failed to gather her thoughts. The headache had only increased since the night before and when Lisette handed her the eye drops, she begged, “Aspirin? Coffee? My heavens, just water? I feel as though I’ve been beaten with a hammer.”
“I believe I was drugged just a few days ago,” Lisette said with humor. “I was not nearly so weak.”
Severine croaked but it was intended to be a laugh. She curled onto her side and then held out her hand until Lisette put two pills in it and handed her a glass. Severine swallowed them with the water, guzzling it down. Did she feel better immediately or was it all in her mind?
“What happened?”
“A member of this household has drugged you.”
“Mmm, yes,” Severine said, far less concerned than she should have been. She forced herself upright and determined that she would survive. “I did realize.”
She rose, her legs quavered, and she grabbed onto the bed until she steadied. “What shall I do?”
“Leave,” Lisette told Severine flatly. “Your parents wouldn’t want you to die to find their killer.”
“Am I dying? I don’t think that I am.”
She left Lisette and made her way to the bathroom, trying not to stumble, and cleaned up and dressed before returning to the bedroom and digging through her trunk. She found one of those black skirts that would reach her mid-calf and were cut full with pockets. She paired it with a blouse that had a scalloped collar, black stockings, black sensible shoes, and a gray sweater. She supposed she rather looked like a school girl, but she
