Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke - Tessa Candle Page 0,6
wooden tray and slid them over to him across the floor.
“I know it is unmanly, but I do not think I can reach down to fetch them. Might I beg this one more favour from you?” It was deceptive, but he was growing desperate.
She hesitated, no doubt guessing his motive. Using her foot, she drew the tray back toward her, retrieving the bowl and cup. Then she moved cautiously closer to him, watching for any sign of skullduggery. When she was within arm’s length, she extended the cup first. He took it and drank its contents in one go. He squinted at her as she held out the bowl to him. It was her, he was almost certain, but his vision was still shifting in and out of focus. He clasped the hand that held the bowl and pulled her suddenly closer. It was her. It was his own beloved Katherine.
“Unhand me! Is this any way to repay my kindness?” She sounded infuriated.
He released her, but could not suppress a broad grin as he retrieved the bowl from her hand. “It is you! Dearest Katherine! How can I be so fortunate as to find you again, by such an accident of chance, after searching for you for such a long time to no avail? Surely this is divine intervention!” They would be married by special license of course. He began to wonder with a much greater interest than before how soon he might be well enough to go to the nearest village.
Foxleigh could hear from her breathing that she was not as overjoyed as he was, and it gave him pause. Of course not. She still remembered him as the man whose indiscreet mistress had almost brought a scandal down on her head. No, he had to correct himself. As odious and indiscreet as Marie had been, she did not carry all the blame. It was he who had brought the horrid woman into his life. Certainly, it was before he ever met Katherine, but how could Katherine know that? Whispers about the affair were all over town. The ton loved a scandal and the merry widow Marie Dubois kept them amply supplied. How much had Katherine heard?
“My darling Katherine, will you not say something? Are you not glad to see me? I have thought of you ceaselessly since the day we parted.”
“I am not glad to see you, as you must know. If you thought of anyone’s feelings but your own, you would have surmised how very awkward and inconvenient such a meeting would be for me, under the circumstances. Under any circumstances.” She paused to clear her throat, then stood up straight. “I will do what I can to nurse you until you are well enough to leave, and I will go fetch a doctor to you, if that is what you wish, but then you must go.”
“Never! How could I let go of this blessing? It is the best Christmas present I could ever receive. I will not affront God’s providence by casting aside such a boon!”
“You must and you will. I may not have much, but I still have my say about whom I associate with, and a man who has conducted himself in the manner that you have is no friend of mine.”
In what manner? What was she speaking of? “I know there was some scandal in town with, um, that woman. I was a fool, but she met me in a moment of grief and exploited my mental weakness. I am not proud of our relationship, but it was all over with her before I ever met you.”
Katherine sniffed. “She had a different tale to tell.” Her voice was icy and jagged like the treacherous edge of a cliff in winter.
“She? Marie had the audacity to address you?” Without thinking, he sat bolt upright, and promptly passed out.
When his consciousness returned, the light from the window was growing dim, and she was nowhere to be seen. The wound on his head still hurt like anything, but someone had washed it for him. He smiled. It must have been Katherine.
His bowl of gruel still sat beside him on the straw, and the dog was lying on the floor nearby.
“At least you are still here.” He scooped up some gruel and let the dog slurp it off of his fingers. “Your mistress is not fond of me at the moment, my friend. So you must help me make her see things clearly. I am not the