His heart swelled at the sight and his vision blurred with the tears that seemed never far from the surface with him lately. He came softly to stand behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She finished the song, touching her hand to his where it rested on her shoulder. He turned his, clasping her fingers and squeezed them with gratitude.
Letting go reluctantly, he took his seat in the chair by the bed. He ought to relieve her, send her back to bed, but selfishly he wanted her to stay. In silence, they kept vigil together for another hour or so until Ewen woke, distressed and hot.
She fetched cold water and wrung out cloths for cold compresses, and he bathed his son’s burning body trying to bring the wretched fever down.
Toward dawn, it began to ease again, and he sent her back to her room firmly.
“You must go, it is unseemly for you to be found with me like this. For your own sake go, but know you have my undying gratitude.” He kissed her hand, and she left.
Full daylight found him nodding in his chair, bleary eyed and exhausted, but Ewen slept peacefully, and he hoped the fever was broken.
The promised nanny arrived midmorning. She was a pleasant woman in her forties, with a cheerful smile, restful manner, and generous bosom. She came with excellent references and, upon learning that her youngest charge was ill, took control immediately of the situation. The weary viscount, assured that the woman knew what she was doing and that Ewen seemed happy enough under her care, relinquished his post and sought his bed.
Chapter Ten
Annis sent anote to the girls to say there would be no lessons for the morning and went back to bed upon hearing of the arrival of the new nanny, glad to surrender the responsibility for the children to her for a while. Annis was exhausted from the events of yesterday and overnight.
She slept until just before midday and woke hot and slightly depressed. It took her a while to figure out why. Kicking off the sheets, she lay sheened in perspiration and let her thoughts roam over the events of the last few days. The viscount figured prominently, and she realized with a jolt that she had derived no small degree of pleasure from his company.
Which explained her melancholy mood. The man was so sweet and so hurt, her heart was wrung for him. His devotion to his wife and children did him credit. Many men in his position would eschew the responsibility of the children, palming them off on servants, while losing themselves in drink or gaming, as so many dissolute peers did.
He was not a polished gentleman—his appearance was careless in the extreme. His jackets were clearly cut for comfort not style. His neckcloths, when he bothered with them, were knotted negligently, his boots and shoes were scuffed and dull, and his waistcoats frequently stained and unbuttoned. He seemed to shave only every three days or so, and his hair was too long and frequently looked uncombed.
For all this, he always smelled nice, so he washed daily at the very least. It was just his clothes he didn’t care two pence for.
And under that careless attire, she had discovered yesterday, lay a firm, hard body with impressive muscles. She blushed, recalling the feel of him pressed briefly up against her as he pulled her and little Ewen into his embrace in the water. His body had been shockingly hot in the cold water, and the outline of his broad chest and pinkness of his flesh was clearly visible through the wet fabric of his shirt. He might as well have been naked from the waist up.
At the time, she had been too preoccupied with Ewen to really notice, but the memory came flooding back now in vivid, visceral detail, and her whole body flushed with heat.
A twitch and tingling dampness between her legs made her catch her breath.
No! No, no, no! I cannot not think of him in those terms. I will not.For he was far above her station. So far above that he was completely out of reach. Viscounts did not marry bastards—which was what she was, after all—even if he wanted a wife which, given his circumstances, she was absolutely certain he did not.But he might entertain the bastard-born daughter of a lord as a mistress? Might he not?whispered a wicked voice in her head.
No!She had fought so hard to hide the truth. If the duke and duchess knew, they would turn her off without a reference. One baseborn such as she could not be allowed anywhere near the duke’s innocent sisters.
Exposure was whathehad threatened her with. She shuddered with memory, as the dam wall she kept up between her and her past broke free.
She huddled against the wall in the darkened room, terrified out of her wits, as the figure dressed all in black, with a maskcovering his face, loomed over her and rasped “You shall say nothing, you hear me?”
She whimpered and nodded, flinching as he leaned even closer, crowding her against the wall.
“Because if I get so much as sniff that you have confided in anyone—anyone!—you’ll lose more than your post, my girl! You’ll be branded a bastard and you’ll be snuffed out faster than a candle! They’ll find your body in a ditch so badly mutilated you’ll be unrecognizable! You understand me?”
She made a garbled noise of terror and nodded again.
“Tell me you understand!”
“I-I und-derstand,” she stammered.
“Good!” He straightened and moved away. She sagged against the wall, her legs so weak they threatened to give out.
He turned back, and she tried to shrink away. “Did she give you anything? Some token?”
“N-no!” Her teeth were chattering so much it was hard to get the word out. The ring was all she had; she wouldn’t give it up.
“Are you sure? If you’ve lied to me...”
“I’m s-sure. I s-wear. I have nothing!” Would he believe her? Her heart thudded so hard she thought it would jump out of her chest.
