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He turned toward her, and she noticed a dark bruise on his temple. Giulia gasped and her hand flew to the bruise, grazing it lightly with the tips of her fingers. “Did I do that? Oh, please forgive me. I feel terrible about tripping over your head.”
His startled eyes held hers, and she tore her gaze away, focusing on her task. She managed to help him swallow four more spoonfuls before he went back to sleep.
Giulia set down the broth and sighed, settling in for the long and tedious process of nursing Nicholas Pepper back to health.
* * *
Tedious was an understatement, but Giulia knew what she had agreed to when she asked for the nursing position.
Furthermore, no one could quite figure out where the gunshot wound had come from. Nick—Giulia had come to know him as such in her own mind for he did not look at all like a Nicholas and calling him Mr. Pepper reminded her too painfully of her own father—had left Halstead in the early afternoon of that fated day to attend to business in Town and planned to be away for at least a fortnight. His horse was discovered in Graton by the innkeeper and brought back with Dr. Mason on his subsequent visit. But the injury had occurred on the road from Halstead Manor, which implied that the man responsible likely knew of Nick’s plans that day.
Giulia spent her days and the majority of her nights looking after Nick with the help of his valet, Jack. She fed him when he would awaken in spurts of lucidness, which was not as often as she would like, and she checked and rebandaged his dressing each day. Dr. Mason came every day to check Nick’s progress and was happy with his improvement.
“Perhaps we should decrease his laudanum?” Giulia suggested as Dr. Mason replaced the bandage and moved away from Nick’s bed.
“Yes, he is healing well. He would probably benefit from more time awake. As long as we can keep him in bed.”
“That should not be an issue.” She smiled at the doctor. “He cannot possibly have regained his strength so quickly, surely?”
“No, but men are stubborn.” Dr. Mason leveled his gaze at Giulia, and she blushed. His smile was warmer than the jest warranted, and his gaze settled on her longer than she was comfortable with.
She cleared her throat and circled the large, plush armchair she had dragged near the bed to replace the small wooden one. The comfortable wingback had been a lot easier to sleep in.
“When he awakens, shall I attempt a more substantial meal?” she asked.
“No, broth is good for the time being.” Dr. Mason glanced at Nick and then back at Giulia. “Would you like me to send my sister to assist you? You must be exhausted, and she is quite used to nursing my patients.”
“You have a sister?” Giulia asked, her voice rising in hope. She had not had anyone to speak to besides Tilly for nearly a week. In fact, she had hardly left the room at all in that time.
The earl had come up a few times to check on Nick, but he usually timed his visits for when Giulia was out. The one time she had come face to face with Lord Hart in the corridor, he had refused to make eye contact with her. She wondered if he was harboring displaced hatred toward her or was just simply uncomfortable. Regardless of his reason, she was happy to stay out of his way. His eyes were haunting.
“I do have a sister, and she would welcome the acquaintance,” Dr. Mason said. “She is recently widowed and would love the company.”
“I do not need the help, but if she has a free moment, I would love a visitor.”
“Lonely here, is it?” Dr. Mason colored immediately, his face growing red and his freckles standing out further. “I only meant—”
“I know what you meant.” Giulia smiled encouragingly. “Yes, it is quite lonely. I would welcome a friend.”
“I will send her along,” Dr. Mason said, his eyes boring into hers. “I do not know how you stand it here.” He stepped back as though recalling his situation and delivered a bow before taking his leave.
Giulia sat beside Nick. Leaning forward, she fluffed his pillows and pulled his blanket up over his shoulders, tucking it in around his sides. These actions had become second nature to Giulia given the frequency at which she did them, but the tingle they left in her fingertips from his warmth was unceasing.
She told herself she could not be attracted to a patient—let alone the heir to Halstead—and made herself picture Ames’s hair falling over his brow and his handsome half-smile. Just imagining the way Ames looked at her with such care was enough to banish unruly thoughts about Nick.
But the lack of any correspondence from Ames thus far was not very comforting.
He was beginning a business in London with the money he had received from her father’s death. Her father had always thought of Ames like a son, and he’d left Ames nearly every penny in his will, aside from Giulia’s dowry. And when Ames’s wood-working shop was running and profitable, he would send for Giulia and they could marry.
That her father did not leave everything to her was not a surprise. He was kind but controlling. This was no doubt his way of making sure Giulia and Ames married so they could both benefit from the inheritance.
She desired answers, naturally, but they would come about in their own time. Though it was in her possession, Giulia struggled to read her father’s journal, the writing and stories a painful reminder of his absence. Aside from Ames’s constant companionship, Father was the only family Giulia had ever had. She had never met any of her grandparents or aunts and uncles, and if she had cousins then she did not know about them; aside from Lord Hart, they were all in Italy.
Neither did she claim a mother. Any woman who would leave her daughter without a touch of correspondence at the ripe age of four years old did not deserve that title.
Giulia closed her eyes to reset the images which bombarded her when she thought of her parents. She had endured her share of trials in life, but she could not say she was ever bored.
A small smile graced her lips at the memory of a Christmas when she was twelve and Father had taken into his head that India was where they were meant to be. Giulia had been stung by a scorpion and laid up in bed while Father celebrated with a few other families of nobility in the area. Despite his family having cut him off financially, Patrick Pepper was still welcomed in the first circles everywhere he went. And Giulia hadn’t minded his absence during the holiday; it had meant she got Ames all to herself.
It was while Ames cared for her during the episode of the scorpion sting that she had first begun to look at him as more than just a friend. Of course, it took years before he returned the sentiment. Long, unrequited, painful years.
The sting had not been fatal, but it had kept Giulia bedridden for nearly a week. When Father returned from the Christmas festivities, he had presented her with a beautiful jeweled pendant—an elephant, featuring nearly every color of the rainbow in its bright, beautiful glory. Father had told her the necklace was meant to be a good luck charm and perhaps he should have given it to her earlier. Of course, she had laughed at the strange local customs and put the necklace on, not thinking much about its proffered luck. But coincidence or not, since that day she had not fallen ill once.
Father had always credited the elephant. Giulia had always let him.
She opened her eyes and found her fingers absentmindedly stroking the elephant around her neck. She dropped it and stilled when she saw that not only were Nick’s eyes open, but they were focused right on her. And they were alert.
