He nodded after sitting down.  He was relaxed and at ease, though noticed that she was not at all at ease.  "There is nothing wrong, truly, lass. Please relax yurself.  Nothing tae fash."  He smiled.  "Just a curiosity I found in a week-old newspaper that I was reading in."  He pulled it out and unfolding it to open it to the image and article he had found. 

"I thought this looked something like yu.  Though the artist doing it made a bad job of it."  He added with a frown at such low quality as he handed it over to her.  "There is an article about it there beside the image.  Interesting story, I thought."  He commented.

Giving her a moment to look it over and read, looked over at the waiter that came to the table.  "Tae teas please, and a few biscuits."  The waiter nodded and headed off to gather the items requested.

She looked down at the paper as it was passed over to her and she swallowed heavily. Sweat soon dotted her brow and she pushed the paper away after only reading the names of her parents and brothers. "That's my family," she said. "I see the rumor mill followed me anyway." She gave a humorless laugh and then turned her face away.

He took the paper with a frown of concern.  Tucking it into a pocket of his jacket, he glanced up as the waiter brought a tray back with two cups of tea, a generous plate of various kind of biscuits, and a steaming teapot.  He poured them each a fresh cup of tea and placed the sugar and cream next to the teapot.  Then setting the plate between the two at the table, the waiter looked to Douglas.

"Anything else, Mi'lord?"  He asked, having served the Earl previously.

"Nothing at this time, thank you."  Douglas smiled.  As the waiter left with the tray, Douglas looked back at Pip.  "Dr. Wells gave me a basic sumarry of yur situation.  Would yu mind telling me more aboot it?  If it woold nae make yu too upset?  The way the papers tell stories expand them more than the truth would 'old, most of the time.  Sae between the Doctor and the paper, I would prefer tae have a bit more information."  He added a liberal amount of sugar and cream into his tea.

She was silent as the tea and biscuits were served. She took the tea and drank it without sugar or cream. Her hand shook a little. She took a biscuit, slowly ate that... then another, and... that one was gone a little faster. So she was hungrier than she thought. She looked up when he was asking her about her learning more. Pippa almost choked.

Swallowing the suddenly sticky substance, she felt it go down like a lump so sit in her stomach as if a rock. Her eyes met his then and she said quietly, "They're dead and I have nothing, what is there to know?" She had not read the whole article, only the names, so she didn't see the part where she was an heiress.

He gave an empathetic expression.  "I remember yu had just lost them."  He pulled the newspaper back out to the article.  "The part that concerns me most is it says yu may be in danger?  Is that true?"  He asked the real concern clear in his tone.  He would not have the lass in danger.  He would talk to Tristan about protection for the girl should it be true.

She looked away and didn't answer his question. It was clear that there was something she had been hiding and he had hit the nail on the head. "It doesn't matter," she said after a time and she reached over to push any food and beverage away from her. She patted her lips then with a napkin and said, "Thank you for the tea and biscuits, but... I..."

Douglas frowned and interupted her.  "Lass if yu are in danger, please let me 'elp keep yu safe.  I am sure Dr. Wells will want tae 'elp as well."  He looked at the article again.  "It says 'ere yu are an 'eiress.  That will make for some people tae do most anything tae get it.  I would nae want anything tae 'appen yu."  Or anyone for that matter.

She had a wide look in her eyes as she stared at him. "It doesn't matter, he won't find me... I didn't use the money from the bank... I couldn't anyway." She closed her eyes and swayed in her seat. She was starting to feel dizzy, her face visibly pale. "I think I'm going to be ill..." she murmured and stood, stumbling toward the door. The moment she opened the door and felt the air on her face, she took deep, gasping breaths. Between the babe she didn't know she was carrying and the news article, she felt faint.

Douglas tossed out some coins for the tea and biscuits and rushed after her.  He put an arm about her hip to support her.  "Let's get yu 'ome tae 'ave the doctor take a look."  He suggest already urging her in that direction with his arm.

"What?" She found herself being steered off toward home. For some reason, that idea worried her. What if Dr. Wells took this the wrong way? "Please...?" she asked, imploring him to slow down. And then the world went black, The girl went down like a bag of bones unless he caught her.