The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 74.1

It was not Derrick who responded to the unexpected guest, but Judith:

– Why is he here?

“He said he was worried about the hunting competition.” That’s why the couple arrived together: his wife wants to talk to you.

The Duchess swallowed her saliva, and her heart was beating wildly. A picture of that very day appeared before my eyes. Ruthless ladies attacking her, and in the very center is the Marquise’s wife.

Judith did not think that Hannibal was connected with the Marquis’s wife, because these were only hallucinations that manipulated the mind. And if this is true, then the girl should not have worried at all.

– What should I do? – the maid asked cautiously, looking at Derrick.

Although the Marquis wanted to meet with the Duchess, the girl did not dare ask Judith about it. Everyone in the mansion knew about her not very good condition. That’s why Derrick had the last word. Slowly raising his head, he looked at his wife.

From the moment the maid entered the room, his eyes turned purple again. Judith’s heart felt much lighter. Now she didn’t see the demon as an enemy. That’s how it was in days past.

– What do you want? – he asked the Duchess.

The Marchioness, as Derrick knew, was a close friend of his wife. The girl often helped Judith at tea parties, for which she sent her some gifts. The ladies met extremely often – and without official ceremonies. That is why, from the outside, their relationship seemed very close.

But at the thought of the connection between the Marchioness and Hannibal, Judith’s heart sank anxiously.

“I want to meet,” she answered briefly, because she didn’t want to lose her friend.

***

The living room in the extension was illuminated by the warm afternoon sun.

“Marquise,” she was sitting on a soft velvet sofa, and when Judith appeared, she put the cup on the table and stood up. – I’m really sorry. Have you been waiting long?

The Duchess still felt uneasy, trying not to fall. It had been a long time since Judith had gotten out of bed. That is why today it took much longer to get ready than usual, although the Duchess did not even wash her face and hardly put herself in order. It was very inconvenient for her to keep her guest waiting.

But the Marquise just shook his head:

– No, what are you talking about? “I arrived without a message,” she showed a soft smile, no different from before.

Her appearance contrasted vividly with the memories of Hannibal and the red eyes. The Marquise opened her lips to ask something, but after looking the Duchess from head to toe, she stopped for some reason. And although Judith was bad at reading people, she now knew unmistakably what her friend was thinking.

She probably wanted to know how the Duchess was feeling. But noticing her pale face and dejected appearance, she abandoned this idea. Now Judith looked like an exhausted tree in the middle of winter.

— What happened during the competition? I don’t quite understand: everyone was so surprised by your sudden fall.

And although the Duchess remembered everything completely differently, she could not say it. The ladies, as one, spoke exactly the Marquise’s version. Therefore, blaming everything on hallucinations, Judith pulled herself together and said:

— Before the competition, I was not in the best shape. I thought it would be a good idea to go outside for a day. But this turned out to be not the best idea.

Judith tried to speak as believably as possible, and the Marquise listened to every word, as if trying to understand something. Soon the girl spoke, raising her eyes to the Duchess:

— That day, your husband was very surprised by the loss of consciousness.

Judith, trying to calmly drink her tea, suddenly hesitated when the topic suddenly turned to Derrick.

– My husband?

– Yes. As soon as you fall, the competition is suspended. The Duke, returning from the hunting grounds, saw you in this state and lost his composure.

This was the first story Judith heard about that day. Ever since the Duchess returned to the mansion, all she could think about was Hannibal and his connection to the hallucinations. But Judith completely forgot about the circumstances of her own fall and what happened after it. And Derrick didn’t say anything about it at all. Therefore, the Duchess thought that everything was fine, completely forgetting about it.

When Judith woke up, a long time had passed since the Marchioness left. Therefore, the girls would not have been able to see each other earlier. And at that moment, the Duchess remembered the incident with the Emperor, when the demon was also filled with righteous anger.

And although Marquise didn’t know, Derrick was now standing right outside the door.

“Call me if something happens,” he told his wife just a few minutes ago.