Yes, well you haven’t bothered to find out much about her. Or what life was like with that heartless first husband of hers.
Not that he had started off her second marriage any better.
The way he had treated Bridget was the same as he had done with all the other women in his past—bed and forget them. Or in her case, he had tried to get her out of his mind.
But he was determined that things with her would be different, starting the minute he got back from Monsale House. He had to inform the group’s leader of the events of the past few days. “How angry with me will you be if I leave Gus in your care for a short time and go to see Monsale?”
Bridget headed toward the bed where, after unbuttoning Gus’s greatcoat, she peeled open his torn shirt exposing the bandages. To Stephen’s relief, no blood had seeped through them.
“Just go and then hurry back. He is not the first semi-naked man I have seen in my life,” she replied.
Stephen halted in his progress to the door.
“I swear on the cross of Saint Nicholas that I am incapable of any form of lechery in my current state,” said Gus.
Stephen pointed a finger at his wife. “Just don’t let him try and sweet-talk you. That man has been known to convince women to make terrible errors of judgement.”
He opened the door and was halfway through it when he caught Bridget’s reply.
“When it comes making foolish mistakes, I think it might be a little too late for that, Stephen.”
He kept going. The sooner he spoke to Monsale, the quicker he could be back. And when he returned, Stephen was going to set his wife straight. The fool in their relationship had always been him.
But no more. He was going to become the husband she needed him to be and the man who deserved her love.
Chapter Forty
The top bandages came off relatively easily. The ones which pressed against Gus’s skin, however, posed a more difficult challenge. They required the use of a pair of scissors and the patient gripping the bedclothes tight.
“You do know that the large lump loves you?” said Gus through gritted teeth.
Bridget pulled the last of the dressings away and stared at the angry wound. It was dry but at some point, it had bled through the stitches.
“Not with any degree of certainty. This is Stephen we are talking about. A man who has never known love and struggles with the mere concept of it,” she replied.
Gus placed his hand over hers and gave a squeeze. “You hurt him when you sent him away to France. And I don’t just mean his pride over the wedding night. He missed you.”
Over the past couple of days, Bridget had pondered whether she had been wise to push Stephen away. While she had taken Monsale’s counsel on board, the final decision had been hers.
The idea that Stephen might be finally coming around to dealing with the truth of his feelings for her had Bridget fighting back tears. “Yes, well he is not the only one who has been in pain. I don’t think either of you considered my feelings when you sent that perfunctory note about him not being able to make social calls. That really hurt.”
Gus winced. “The note was my fault.”
She met his gaze. “But the abandonment was his. If Stephen is going to make any effort at a marriage and family, he has to understand that you don’t just walk away from people. And when you are with them, you cannot hold them at arm’s length.”
This was the conversation she should be having with her husband, not his friend. Still, it was good to actually give voice to the thoughts and emotions which had been running almost constantly through her mind since that horrid day. Even now, long weeks after she’d berated Stephen for his lack of care, the hurt had not fully subsided.
I’m going to continue punishing him forever if I don’t give him a chance.
“Stephen has asked for us to talk once he returns. We shall see what he has to say.” She reached for a soft, wet flannel from the bowl beside the bed before dabbing at the dry scabs around the wound. “Hush now. I have to concentrate while I clean the stitches.”
And I need time to think.
Picking your battles was one of the realities of marriage. The outcome of tonight could very well dictate the rest of her and Stephen’s future.
The only fight Bridget wanted to win was the one for their family.
Chapter Forty-One
