The family doctor had just concluded his assessment on Elena. Lyra couldn't help but pace round the room. The dowager duchess laying still on the bed.
"How is my mother-in-law doing?" She asked immediately, her voice strained.
"She was in a state of severe shock, Your Grace," the doctor replied, closing his medical bag with a soft click. "But her heart is strong. She is stable now and is resting peacefully."
"Thank you, Doctor," Lyra said, a wave of relief washing over her face, though her expression remained grim.
The door to the Dowager Duchess's bedchamber finally opened. The family doctor stepped out together with Lyra into the hallway where Eric, Delia, Philip and Anne, all four of them were waiting in a state of anxious, suspended animation. They had been waiting all afternoon for news and it was already getting to dusk.
"If anything changes, or if she does not wake by morning, do not hesitate to call me, no matter the hour," the doctor said, turning to Lyra.
