A Victorian Tale Part 9

Chapter Nine (ImFanci) Lord Wayne’s guard had the foresight to rush Ms. Lane to a private hospital owned by the Earl himself. Lord Wayne was immediately informed and rushed to the hospital. He found the guard that he had assigned to Lois this morning pacing in front of the closed door of her room. As soon as the guard spotted the Earl marching towards him, he gave him a summary of what happened and that the doctor was still tending to Ms. Lane. When he was finished, Wayne remained silent and stood looking at the closed door, making the guard nervous. Wayne finally turned to him and said, “You did the right thing by bringing Ms. Lane to this hospital. Smithers will be arriving soon to replace you. You may excuse yourself from duty today, and return first thing tomorrow morning.” The guard looked visibly relieved. With a curt bow, he excused himself from the Earl’s presence. Alone in the hallway, Bruce was trying to figure out why Lois was attacked. He also felt especially responsible for her since she was under his protection when she was attacked. A few moments later, a doctor and nurse stepped out of her room. Dr. Barnes informed him that Ms. Lane was in stable condition and she would recover quickly from her injury. Her assailant missed her vital organs. Apparently, the countless ruffles on her dress cushioned the possibility of a fatal attack. Bruce thanked the doctor as he walked away with the nurse, and stepped into Lois’ room. He took a seat in the corner, and waited to see if she would awake to give him her account of the attack. An hour later, Bruce looked up to find Diana and Inspector Kent standing in the doorway. He motioned for them to come in and stood up to greet his fiancée and her body guard. “Diana, shouldn’t you be getting ready for Lord Luthor’s ball?” In a low voice, Diana ignored his question and said, “We came as soon as we heard. How is she?” Although Diana disliked Lois, she was genuinely concerned that the woman was stabbed by an assailant. Bruce already knew Diana had a very caring nature. Clark Kent had only just realized Diana’s compassion for the life of another human-being, no matter how much she did not care for that individual. On their way to the hospital, he asked Diana, “Why do you care about Ms. Lane’s condition? It was apparent to me the night of Lord Garrick’s dinner that you are not fond of her.” Diana looked at Clark and replied, “Yes, it is true that I don’t like her very much. However, she is another human-being, and a woman, and sometimes even the worst of us don’t deserve to be senselessly hurt by another.” Clark was taken aback by her sincere and earnest response that he could feel himself losing part of his heart to her. He did not say another word on the carriage ride. Diana, Clark and Bruce stood together for sometime in Lois’ room, discussing the possible explanations of her attack. All three concluded and agreed that Lois was attacked because she was acquainted with the Earl of Gotham and that whoever was behind all the attacks wanted to hurt those who were close to Bruce, or that Lois was mistaken for Diana. They were still in discussion when a moan came from the bed. Lois stirred and let out another whining moan. As she opened her eyes, it dawned on her that she was in pain and laying in a hospital bed. She looked around and found Bruce standing at the foot of the bed. She smiled as she was internally giddy that Bruce cared very much for her. Just as suddenly, her smile disappeared and anger reflected in her eyes as she noticed another figure standing next to him. “You! Get out of here! It’s all your fault I’m here! That awful man thought I was you! Get away from me!” Lois remained hysterical until the doctor and nurses rushed in and ushered Diana, Clark and Bruce out the room. Clark cleared his throat and declared, “Well, it seems we have our answer why Ms. Lane was attacked.” ******** Lex stood by the window of his study. Although he appeared to be admiring the view of the setting sun on the horizon of his estate, he was actually absorbed in his thoughts. He heard the soft rustling of silk muslin as the door of the study opened and closed. There was only one in his employ who moved about the household freely. Without turning to greet his employee, he said, “That matter has been taken care of?” It was more of a confirmation than a question. “Of course, my lord,” answered the feminine, yet emotionless voice. “The knife he used on Ms. Lane was the same one that ended his pathetic life. I made sure that Scotland yard will find it on Murphy’s body with a piece of lace that was ripped from Ms. Lane’s dress.” Earlier that afternoon, Murphy stumbled into Lex’s office. He told Led that he killed Ms. Prince in an effort to accelerate his lord’s plans. Murphy’s excitement over the possible rewards he would receive was cut short by Lex’s announcement that Murphy did not kill Diana Prince, but mistakenly injured Lois Lane instead. Lex’s anger over the simpleton’s error and overzealousness was temporarily dismissed when he watched Murphy’s grinning face turn white with fear. Lex informed him that Mercy would assist him of redeeming himself for his error. The fool actually thanked Lex as Mercy escorted him out the door. With a slight smile, Lex finally turned away from the window to face the deadly blonde.  “Excellent work, Mercy.” Walking around his desk, he started heading towards the door. “See to it that there are no more inconveniences the rest of the evening. If you will excuse me, my dear, I have dinner guests I’m anxious to greet.”