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Why did her stomach drop to her toes at his answer? And why did she even care what he thought?
* * *
What had possessedhim to bring up the subject of love? Timothy tried to focus as the room spun before him. The vertigo intensified as he had stirred the chicken stew. Something was definitely wrong.
Surely it wasn’t the mention of love, but the mere thought of it constricted his chest. Love was for fools and dreamers, and believing in it only ended in disappointment and pain.
He’d been the recipient of that hard lesson from the beautiful, but betraying, Merilee. He vowed never to lower his guard again, instead shielding his heart by avoiding any romantic entanglements.
Yet he hadn’t expected the jolt of energy shooting through him when he touched Emma. Her eyes had been wide and trusting as he’d cleaned her scratched face and hands, and his gaze had drifted unbidden to her lips more than once.
The ringing in his head muddled his thoughts, but he ordered himself to fortify his defenses lest he be subjected to a sneak attack. He brushed it off as simply physical attraction and shifted away from her, putting more space between them. His reaction would be the same with any beautiful woman. Would it not?
“Don’t you intend to marry?” she asked, drawing his attention back to her.
“Of course. Someday.”
“And don’t you wish to love your wife?”
“Love isn’t a requirement for marriage. Mutual respect and an understanding of what’s expected is sufficient. Many people have less.”
Her blue eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I asked you.”
Damnation!“No. I don’t wish to love my wife. As I said, I don’t believe love exists. Oh, there is attraction, and I hope to have enough to produce children. But love? I have no desire for such a weakness. People who believe in love have their hearts crushed when they discover that their idealized view of the other person is false.”
His buzzing head now pounded, and he rose again, more to end Emma’s interrogation than to check the stew. He only managed two steps when he stumbled and the overpowering vertigo sent him crashing to the floor.
So hot. Had the fire escaped the hearth?
“Timothy, Timothy. Wake up.” Emma patted his cheeks. Her face spun before him.
Wake up? What is she on about?He blinked, trying to clear his blurry vision.
“Thank goodness. You were lying there so still for several minutes. I thought you died.”
He braced himself on his elbows and tried to rise, but the vertigo returned. “Dizzy,” he croaked.
Emma slipped her arm around his waist, and pulled him to his feet, returning him to the settee. She placed a cool hand to his forehead. “You’re burning up with fever.” Her touch was soft and gentle as a kiss.
Kiss.His fevered mind focused on the thought, and his eyes drifted to her lips.
“Here, lie down.” She lifted his feet, attempting to stretch him out on the short settee, but his legs protruded over the arm. As uncomfortable as the position was, at that moment, he didn’t care. He would curl up in a bog as long as he didn’t have to move.
“Tell me what to do,” she said. Genuine concern covered her face, her blue eyes expressive with worry.
“In my bag, there are several small pouches of medicine. Find the one that says willow bark.” His words sounded muffled as if spoken from a distance. He watched her through half-open lids, scrambling to find his bag and digging through it.
“Aha!” She held up the pouch. “Now what?”
“Find a pot to boil water, then make a tea from it. Two spoonfuls of the bark per cup of hot water.”
Sounds of Emma rattling around in the kitchen drifted in, the clanging of pots and pans like a hammer to his head.
Most definitely, something was wrong. Sharp pain pulsed in his ear accompanied by the infernal ringing. He struggled to self-diagnose, remembering the theorem presented in medical school about particles called animalcules that could be transmitted via the soil or even the air. Although he personally discounted the touted miasma theory, perhaps a tiny particle had blown into his ear from the punishing wind of the storm.
Then he waited for Emma to return, hoping the tea would at least reduce his fever and pain.
* * *
