“Thank you for coming to get me.”
She nodded, then pointed to a woman who looked to be in her fifties. “Please follow Reid.”
The servant’s lips were set in a grim line. “Come this way, my lord.”
He was led to a large, airy room at the back of the house, then through a door to a bedroom. Pae’s pale hair had been neatly braided, but she lay so still that for a moment he thought the worst.
“We just gave her a draught for the fever a while ago, but she’s worn herself out.” A chair with a footstool already stood next to the bed. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be in the dressing room. Tea and barley water as well as some books and newspapers are on the table by the window. There’s a bowl with cold water and a cloth next to the bed.”
He almost grinned at the bow to propriety in having the maid close by. “Thank you. I hope I will be able to do some good.”
“Anything is worth a try at this point.” Reid left the room.
Richard ambled to the table and picked up a copy of the same paper he’d been reading at Brook’s, then poured a glass of barley water for Pae when she woke, and a cup of tea for himself. Once everything was situated to his liking, he sat in the chair, put up his feet, and waited.
Unfortunately, he did not have to wait long. She began to toss and turn, crying out as if she was in pain. Without bothering to feel her head, he wet the cloth, and wiped her face and neck. It had been a very long time since he’d had to nurse anyone through a fever, but that type of knowledge was never lost.
When she settled a bit, he sat on the bed, lifting her so that she could drink some of the barley water. He made a note to ask for lemonade as well. “Come, my love. Have some of this and you’ll feel better.”
“Richard.” His name was no more than a moan.
“I’m here, Pae. Drink some of this. It will make you feel better.”
She opened her fever-glazed eyes and stared at him, but obediently drank the water. “You’re really here?”
Her voice was so faint he could barely hear her.
“Of course I am.” He put the glass down and held her head against his side. “You didn’t think I’d desert you.”
“You missed my come-out ball. I waited for you.”
His heart squeezed painfully. He wanted nothing more than to whip his younger self. “I’m sorry. I tried to make it. I just got the date confused.” By almost a year. He was supposed to have returned the previous autumn. How stupid he’d been. “I won’t leave you again. You have my word.”
She closed her eyes, but the respite was never for long, and her sleep was fretful. Day stretched into evening. He caught the occasional sounds of soft voices from the parlor, but the only person to enter the room was Reid.
Late that night she offered to shift him, but he refused to leave Pae’s side. He had disappointed her once, with disastrous results. He would not do so again.
Finally, as the gray light of dawn filtered through the windows her fever broke. She had been so restless that he’d taken his boots off and climbed in bed with her, holding her, dosing her, and making her drink barley water and lemonade.
“Richard, what are you doing here?” A single candle was the only light other than the fire, and, even though he couldn’t see her eyes, her voice, though weak, was lucid.
Thank God she is going to be well.
“I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”
When he started to move to the chair, she stayed him. “No, I mean here, in the house.”
“Worthington brought me.” Richard reached over for the lemonade. “You must be parched.”
“I am a bit.” A smile trembled on her lips.
Damn. She was so pale.
He poured her a glass of lemonade. “Drink some of this, and I’ll give you the soup Cook made for you.”
“I am not really hungry.”
“Still, you must eat. Especially after I went to all the trouble to set up a warming plate in your fireplace.”
