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Chapter 6
Later on that night, Louisa was fed a wonderful and rather lavish dinner by her standards, which had been delivered to her room by a kindly servant. She was surprised that Isaac hadn’t returned to give her a report from her family, but she thought that perhaps he had forgotten about his promise to come back and speak with her again. That was not a problem, as she knew that Isaac probably had a great many other things on his mind that were more pressing that visiting Louisa.
Having decided that Isaac had indeed forgotten about his promise to return to visit her, Louisa simply spent the rest of the evening reading. She felt so spoiled taking in all of these books that looked brand new, especially when they were novels that she had not read before. She got so lost in one of the books about a young woman who lost her family fortune to a cruel duke that she did not notice when another young man entered the room.
Finally, when the young man cleared his throat, Louisa nearly jumped out of her skin. “Goodness!” she cried, almost flinging the book she was holding in her hand across the room.
“Its okay,” the young man reassured her, “I’m not as scary as I look.”
Louisa put her hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths, attempting to get it to return to a normal pattern. “Sorry about that,” the young man finally said.
“That’s all right, thank you,” Louisa replied, but she thought that her visitor could have probably guessed that she was still annoyed from having been scared so badly. “Who am I speaking to?”
“Oh, right,” the young man said, running his fingers through his hair. “You were unconscious when I assisted you.” As Louisa watched him, she began to have a feeling she knew who he was. He looked a great deal like Isaac, only more ‘traditionally handsome’.
He was nearly as tall as Isaac, with broad shoulders, a trim physique, and dark brown hair. His blue eyes shone out from beneath his bushy eyebrows, and had Louisa been drawn to this type of a man, she would have nearly fainted at the sight of him. But, as Louisa was drawn to more unique young men, he did absolutely nothing for her.
“I’m Gregory, Isaac’s older brother. But you can call me the Duke,” he said with a pompous smile on his face.
Louisa gave him a hesitant smile. She wasn’t sure if he was making a joke or if he really wanted him to call her that. “Ah yes,” she responded, “I should have recognized you from the family resemblance. Thank you for your kindness this afternoon.”
Gregory nodded and looked mildly uncomfortable. “I did what Isaac asked me to, that was all,” he said awkwardly. “But I didn’t come in here to request compliments, I ... well.” Gregory shifted his weight on his feet back and forth. He looked like he really wanted to say something, but he was unable to.
“Is there something you’d like to ask me?” Louisa encouraged him. “Is it anything similar to what your mother came to ask me about this afternoon?”
A confused look came over Gregory’s face. “My mother? What did she ...” but then he realized what his mother had probably come to talk to her about. “Oh, no. No, I came here to ask you if ... See, it’s just that Isaac ... I didn’t want you to …”
Gregory was interrupted by Isaac entering the room right at that moment. He looked from his brother to Louisa and back again, baffled.
“Good evening to you both,” he said, and the moment Louisa heard the sound of his voice, her heart fluttered with delight. She was very happy to see him, and that wasn’t just because he was interrupting whatever awkward conversation she and Gregory were about to have.
“Isaac,” Gregory said curtly, giving him a nod. “I shall leave the door open and take my leave of you both.”
Without saying another word, Gregory exited the room and left Louisa and Isaac there, stunned. Isaac turned to Louisa and said, “Why ... why was he in here? Did he come to check on you?”
“I’m as flummoxed as you are,” Louisa said, putting her book on the table beside her bed. “He came in here and seemed to have something that he wanted to say to me ... but then didn’t.”
“He’s a character,” Isaac said, pulling a chair up beside Louisa’s bed. “Almost as peculiar as I am, but I believe that I shall maintain the ultimate title until I die.”
Louisa chuckled and tried to get herself a bit more upright in bed. But any time she moved her arms past a certain point, her head began throbbing. She tried to fix things herself a few times before she noticed Isaac looking at her. “May ... may I assist you?” he asked cautiously.
“I would appreciate that very much,” Louisa said gratefully. “I hate being a bother, but I really can’t manage to get myself sitting up.”
Isaac rose from his chair and said, “You cannot call yourself a bother. You suffered a grave injury today, and anything you need in terms of assistance is the least that we can do.”
Isaac leaned behind Louisa and adjusted her pillows, but then when he was about to pull away, he froze. He was so close to her that she could smell the grass on his clothes that had been kicked up during his ride back to her parents’ home. Louisa barely dared to breathe in fear that if she did, she would scare him into moving. His closeness to her was intoxicating.
Isaac turned his head towards her and whispered, “Is that better, Miss Louisa?” There was something about the combination of Isaac’s proximity, the quiet sound of his voice, and the fact that he had just used her proper name that made the hair on the back of Louisa’s neck stand on end. She was suddenly very aroused and knew that she had to control herself very carefully.
“Would ... would you mind reaching the far pillow once more?” she whispered back in his ear. She may have been imagining it but could have sworn that when she spoke, a shiver ran down Isaac’s spine. “It is a little too far down.”
Truthfully, Louisa was perfectly comfortable, but the temptation of having Isaac come even closer to her for another moment was too much to resist.
“I’ll gladly do that,” Isaac said seductively and reached his hand back further to adjust the pillow. This time, Isaac did indeed brush up against her. It was only his cheek against hers, but when she felt the warmth of his smooth skin against her own, it was tantalizing.
“Is that better?” Isaac whispered, his mouth practically pressed against her ear.
Louisa nodded and said, “Mhmm,” because she was so attracted to him that she couldn’t think of anything else more coherent to say. Isaac withdrew himself agonizingly slowly, and when they could both see each other’s faces once more, neither of them made eye contact. Louisa was certain that they were both aware of what had just happened, but neither of them dared to acknowledge it.
