The estate gardener, who had been lazily hand-watering the blooming rosebushes near the rear stone patio, caught the sudden, unnatural movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head just in time to watch his master's knees buckle, his body collapsing heavily onto the cobblestone path.
Shocked, the gardener dropped his hose onto the grass and rushed over, yelling frantically for assistance at the top of his lungs.
Out of nowhere, before the domestic staff could even assemble, Brown vaulted past the patio partition. Without missing a single beat, he knelt beside the unconscious patriarch, scooped Thomas's frail frame into his broad arms, and carried the old man back inside through the rear glass doors.
Jillyanna, who had been resting quietly in the living room while waiting for Thomas to return from his phone call, gasped in horror. She stumbled back as Brown swept past her, carrying Thomas toward the grand staircase.
