Page 38 of The Baron Takes a Wife

“Last night, he shook so hard that he fell from the bed. He broke his other wrist, so one of the doctors is with him right now. He should be back shortly.”

David felt as if his blood began to flow again, his heartbeat returning to normal.

“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Raeburn began. “I should have told you straight away. I did not realize you had become friends of a sort.”

David was about to respond when he saw McDaniel walking back in, his arm in a sling. The man stopped and registered the women and Goliath.

“Who have you got there?”

“My wife, Lady Grayston. And this is Goliath.” He nodded toward Elena, then cocked his head toward Goliath. “Found him the last time we came here. We thought he might like to see the place.”

“My lady.” McDaniel gave a slight bow to Elena, then turned to Goliath. For the first time since David had known him, his craggy face cracked into something of a smile. He suddenly looked years younger, and David recognized they might be around the same age. “He is quite the large fellow. I’d pet him, but…” He indicated his arm. David noted he had broken his wrist on his working arm.

“We could walk if you like.”

“We are very close to a small park.” Mrs. Raeburn pointed to the window. David caught Elena’s eye as she gave him a strange look. Something possibly like pride. Before he could analyze that, she clasped his hand.

“I need to go introduce Sophie to someone. I will see you later, yes? Take Goliath with you.”

“Yes, General.”

She shook her head but shooed him off fondly.

He and McDaniel made their way to the park, enjoying some green after the very gray space that was the hospital. They walked for a few minutes, with Goliath running ahead before McDaniel spoke.

“So, you’re a peer.”

David had forgotten that he would be revealing himself by introducing his wife as such. He couldn’t quite articulate why it had been important that he not tell McDaniel.

“I figured it out the moment I saw you.” McDaniel went on before David could speak.

“Ah. What gave it away?”

“The way you carry yourself. Clothes. Manner of speech.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s a very recent title.”

McDaniel shrugged and kicked a rock as though that distinction meant little to him. “Your wife is lovely. She seemed kind.”

“She is both.”

There was a pause. Then—

“How do you talk about it with her?”

David looked over at him. McDaniel’s pale blue eyes were watching Goliath chasing a squirrel.

“Do you mind if we sit?” David asked. He suddenly felt very old and worn down but continued cheerfully. “I sometimes have a weakness in my legs.”

They sat on a bench in the center of the garden, giving David more time to think about what he was going to say.

“I don’t most of the time, honestly,” he admitted. “She has her own private horrors from the war that she does not talk much about either.” McDaniel could likely tell from her accent she was no Englishwoman.

“There’s not much else to think about, especially here.” McDaniel gestured with his sling to his other arm. “The men I killed. The absolute madness of it all. The smell.”

“No one ever tells you about the smell.” Even thinking of it now brought back memories of the bodies that hadn’t been recovered yet in the summer heat, something he had tried to bury deep in the corners of his mind. “I’m not sure if it is better not to think about it. I have it in my mind that if I pull it out slowly and occasionally, I’ll sort it all out.”

McDaniel nodded, still watching Goliath, who approached him and nudged his knee.