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“I am?” she said in surprise, darting her eyes back to meet his.
“You were fortunate that the shot clipped your thigh only. We call it a flesh wound. It will be painful and take a while to heal, you might even limp for a few days, but you will be as good as new soon enough. Shall I tell the Duke the good news?”
“We should,” Rachel said with a mischievous smile. “Or he might break down that door at any minute.”
As the physician stood to his feet and moved to the door, Sophia looked down at her legs. One leg was exposed, revealing a bandage around her thigh. Rachel hurried to lower the skirt for her.
“Goodness knows why I’m trying to keep you modest in front of that man.”
“Are you here to cause mischief?” Sophia said, finding her own playfulness returning to her.
“You can count on it,” Rachel promised.
“She’s awake? Let me in, please.” Jeremy’s voice begged form the doorway.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” Rachel kissed Sophia on the cheek. Sophia could see the relief in her expression as they clasped hands briefly, then Rachel walked off. As she passed Jeremy in the doorway, she issued a warning. “Nothing too exciting, Your Grace. I’ll be standing on the other side of this door.”
Sophia sat forward, almost off the chaise longue as Jeremy hurried in. He came to a sudden stop when he saw her, with the door closing softly behind him.
His complexion was wan, and his hair was mad, as if he had pulled on it that much that he’d made it wild himself. Then he smiled. The effect was so sudden that Sophia reached forward, nearly falling off the chair in her effort to be beside him.
“Sophia.” The word escaped him in a rush. He crossed the room toward her and dropped to his knees, clasping her hand and lifting it to his lips. When he kissed that hand, Sophia indulged in the touch, closing her eyes. She wanted more than that touch. She longed for a real kiss from Jeremy. “You saved my life.”
“What?” Her eyes shot open again.
“You pushed me out of the way of that shot,” Jeremy said, shaking his head in amazement. “Never do that again.”
“I beg your pardon?” she said in amazement. He lifted himself up to sit on the chaise longue beside her, their bodies near to one another.
“Never risk your life for mine!”
“I couldn’t help it. It just happened.” She was aware he had not loosened her hand from hers. “Jeremy, I couldn’t see you hurt.”
“And you think I can bear to see you hurt either?”
“But I…” Sophia trailed off, uncertain what was happening here. Jeremy looked driven to distraction, as if the mere thought of her in pain was enough to make him crazy. His clothes were ruffled, and his jacket was gone, with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Look at you,” she pointed out, gesturing to his clothes. “You look quite mad.”
“I feel it.” He lifted their hands to his lips again. Rather than kissing across her knuckles, he turned her hand over and kissed the inside of her wrist. That intimate touch made her breath hitch.
“What was that for?”
“To begin to tell you what I was scared to tell you before.” When he lowered their hands, he reached for her other one too, so that they sat there, with their palms flat together. “Now, I’m not scared. I have spent the last half an hour terrified that you would not wake again, but the physician tells me it was just the pain and blood loss that made you faint, thank God. Sophia, I cannot teel you the fears I’ve had.” He closed his eyes then opened them again.
Sophia sat forward when she saw a wetness there, glistening in his eyes.
“Jeremy,” she murmured, leaning toward him. “Do not cry. I am well, the physician has said so.”
“But I did not know that. It is for that reason now that the prospect of telling you everything does not scare me anymore, for I know what true fear is like.”
“Everything? What do you mean, everything?” Sophia was confused. She felt Jeremy’s hands fidget against her own, as if earnest and in anxious need to speak of something. He looked down at those hands and breathed deeply.
“When you said I had your heart…” He paused, with that breath catching in the middle. “It triggered a memory for me. A moment long ago that I have tried to forget.”
Too stunned to speak, Sophia sat there, not moving an inch.
“Have you never wondered why I have my rule not to spend a night with a woman I know, Sophia?” he asked, lifting his eyes to meet hers. “It is because I am terrified of falling in love again.”
“Again?” she murmured in surprise. “You loved before?”
