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"Rest," Averill said, standing and leaning forward to straighten the compress for him. He caught a quick glimpse of her face as she did, then the compress was back in place, and she murmured, "Sleep is the best medicine for you right now. We can talk more later...or perhaps I can read to you to help you pass the time."
Kade didn't say anything as he listened to her settle back in her seat. His mind was too full of confusion at the moment. He had woken this morning to find his vision much improved. No doubt that was thanks to the liquids he'd consumed. His sight was almost back to normal, and the face he'd glimpsed just now had been pretty. Not exceptionally so, but certainly nothing to sneer at or turn away from in disgust. It left him a little bewildered and quite a bit angry on her behalf. What was the matter with these Englishmen that they would turn down a sweet woman like Averill? He wondered sleepily, then thought the answer might lie in the question. They were Englishmen.
Chapter Three
When Kade next awoke, it was to find Averill gone and Will seated at his side.
"Thank God you are awake. I thought I should go mad with boredom."
Kade raised an eyebrow at the irritated words and turned his head to better see his friend, his cheek coming up against the almost dry cloth that had previously been over his eyes. He reached up weakly to grab the thing, and Will immediately leaned forward to snatch it from him. He then stood and moved to a chest near the bed to dampen it again. "I came to tell you that Domnall, Ian, and Angus had left, but you were asleep. Before I could leave, Averill insisted I must sit and watch over you while she went below to have the nooning meal. She is fetching back something for you to eat when she returns."
"I dinna need watchin'. I'm fine now," Kade growled, and frowned at how husky his voice still was.
"Aye, well, you were so sick we feared we would lose you. I suspect she will fret until you are back on your feet."
Kade grunted at the possibility, and waved him weakly away when he moved to replace the damp cloth over his eyes. "I dinna need that any longer."
Will hesitated. "Averill insisted you do. She said you were suffering headaches."
"'Tis gone," Kade said, though a slight pounding still lingered on the edges of his consciousness. It was mild enough, however, that he would do without the cloth.
"Hmm."
When Will still stood there, looking as if he were debating whether to listen to him or Averill, Kade tried to distract him by asking the question that had plagued him into sleep. "Why are these men yer father is bringing around rejecting Averill?"
Will's eyebrows flew up, and the hand holding the cloth dropped to hang at his side as he considered the question. Kade saw the irritation marking his features and waited patiently.
"Her hair is part of the problem," Will said at last.
"What the devil is wrong with her hair?" Kade asked with amazement.
"I suppose you haven't really seen it, but her hair is orange," he announced with a grimace that suggested it was less than desirable.
Kade scowled at the description. The quick look he'd gotten of Averill had shown him lovely long hair made up of blond, strawberry blond, and fiery red tresses that all culminated in a bright mass of flame-colored hair he'd quite liked. It was not orange.
"I think it's fine," Will added. "'Tis even pretty in a certain light, but red hair, especially orangey red, is not very popular among the English. There are some superstitions about it being the mark of the Devil and so on." He moved his hand as he spoke, unconsciously slapping the damp cloth he held against his leg in a repeated sign of irritation. "And then there is the birthmark on her cheek, which the superstitious also consider a mark of the Devil."
Kade frowned as he considered the flash of Averill that he'd seen. There had been a red mark on her cheek, a very small, red, strawberry-shaped spot one could almost mistake for a dimple. Hardly something any reasonable man would imagine was the mark of the Devil, but then he'd learned long ago that superstition was rarely reasonable.
"And, of course, she stammers," Will added on a sigh, drawing Kade's startled glance his way.
"Stammers?" he asked with surprise.
"Aye. Have you not noticed?" he asked, showing some surprise of his own.
"She's no' stammered while talkin' to me," Kade assured him.
"Really?" Will asked with sudden interest, the hand holding the cloth going still. "That is odd. While Averill does not stammer around family and friends, she always does when in the company of strangers, at least until she gets to know and is comfortable with them."
"Hmm," Kade murmured.
"Perhaps she does not stammer with you because you have not seen her yet," Will suggested. "If so, that would prove what I have always suspected."
"What is it ye've always suspected?" Kade asked.
"That she goes shy and quiet and stammers when she speaks only because she is self-conscious of her looks," Will said, then quietly admitted, "She was teased terribly as a child about both her hair and her birthmark. So much so that she avoided the other children and would play only with me." He sighed and turned to set the damp cloth on the chest beside the bowl of water. "If so, she will no doubt leave you to Mabs's tender mercies and avoid you, too, once she realizes that you can see properly again."
Kade scowled, not at all pleased at the idea of having only Mabs to tend him and keep him company until he was up and about. Not that he planned to lie abed long, but he had never been a very good patient and had always found an enforced stay in bed bothersome. The idea of spending the next few days with only Mabs and the occasional visit from Will to pass the time was not a pleasing one.
"Give me that compress." Kade held out his hand, only to pull it back with a frown when he saw how it shook weakly.
"What? Why?" Will asked with surprise.
"Because yer sister promised to read to me when I woke, and I'll no have her knowin' I can see and scared off because some stupid Englishmen have made her self-conscious about her looks. Put the damned compress back and let her think I am still havin' trouble with me eyes."
Amusement curled Will's lips as he moved to retrieve the damp cloth. His back to Kade, he asked curiously, "So is it that Mabs is dry as dirt and bossy? Or that my sister is sweet and you enjoy her company?"
"I've hardly been awake long enough to ken whether I enjoy yer sister's company," Kade pointed out dryly, though that wasn't entirely true. The room had seemed a bit brighter the two times he had been awake while she was there. Even the arrival of Will last night, and then him and his men this morning had not been as soothing as the few short moments when Averill was present.
"I suppose," Will acknowledged as he turned back with the cloth. "So I shall ask you that question again in a week or so and look forward to your answer."
Kade merely grunted, then stiffened in the bed at the sound of the door opening. Without thinking, he turned to glance over to see who was entering and caught a quick glimpse of Averill. Her hair was unbound and flaming around her pretty, pale face as she entered, carefully balancing a tray in hand. His attention had just turned to the dark green gown she wore, and he was noting how it suited her coloring and emphasized her plump figure, when his vision was obscured by the cloth Will suddenly dropped over his face.
