Page 59 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
They lay facing each other, the sheets tangled around their waists, comfortable in this newfound closeness.
Reaching up, Niall brushed an errant curl from her face. “Tired?”
“Yes,” she breathed, turning to nip at his fingers when they danced down her cheek. “But happy.”
A slow, devastating smile stretched across his face. “I’m happy, too.”
An intimate silence descended upon them, and Alicia relaxed into the moment. Gone was the tension that had ebbed like a tight string between them since their wedding, and her heart rejoiced that she could finally enjoy time with her new husband.
“Tell me about your family?”
Alicia shifted, suddenly unsettled. “You want to know about my family?”
“Of course. You know my sisters. My brothers by marriage. I want to know about you, too. About your childhood. I want to know my wife.” Niall paused, then said, “You mentioned experiencing illness when you were young…”
“Oh,” she mumbled dumbly.
Gone was the dreamy feeling that had lulled her into a restful state. Her mind raced, shying away from the memories of that time. Rolling to her back, she focused on the coffered ceiling in an attempt to calm herself.
“I…I don’t know where to begin.”
Niall’s hand settled on her waist and pulled her close, tucking her back against his broad chest. His scent enveloped her, settling her nerves. With his heat surrounding her, Alicia sighed and relaxed once more.
She swallowed convulsively for a long moment. “I grew up in Westmorland, near Grasmere. I was my parents’ only child until I was seven and my mother delivered a healthy baby boy. He was named Edward, and he was the sweetest, most beautiful baby you ever did see. We all doted on him, but especially my mother and father.”
Alicia paused to shudder out a breath, and Niall pressed a kiss to her hair.
“I had a dear friend who lived at the vicarage in town. Mary had a merry laugh, and everyone liked her because she was kind and funny and friendly. We learned from one of my mother’s friends that Mary and her older sister were both dreadfully ill. It was believed they had cholera.” She sighed. “They had housed a missionary who had recently returned from service in India. We learned that a cholera outbreak had hit the Ganges Delta earlier in the year.”
Niall grasped her hand, and rested their linked palms on her stomach. It gave her the confidence to continue. “My parents forbade me to visit her, but when I learned Mary’s sister had died and it appeared she would as well, I couldn’t stay away. I slipped away one afternoon and was able to spend Mary’s last moments with her before she died. I’m so glad I was able to say goodbye. Unfortunately, I began to feel ill the next day.”
“Oh, Alicia,” Niall murmured, holding her closer.
“I don’t remember much about the next week or so, but I do recall glimpses of my worried parents flitting about me. When I had finally recovered enough to be coherent, I learned the awful truth that not only had Edward contracted it, but so had my mother. Neither survived.”
More than two decades had passed since her mother and Edward had been buried in the little cemetery behind the church, but Alicia could still picture their fresh graves. She still relived the weeks she spent gathering wildflowers to adorn the barren earth of their final resting places.
“That’s how you knew what Edith had when she began to grow ill, isn’t it?” Niall said, his voice muffled by her hair.
She nodded. “As soon as I learned of her symptoms, I knew.”
“And it’s because of your quick thinking that the other children were not infected.” Niall nuzzled into the crook of her neck. “You’re why I’m still here.”
Turning in his embrace, she pressed a kiss to his chin. “Don’t make me regret my decision to nurse you.”
Niall claimed her mouth in a fervent kiss, dispelling the dark memories and all the hurt that came with them. It was sometime later that they finally pulled apart.
“What happened to your father?” He stroked a thumb across the back of her neck. “He didn’t get sick, too, did he?”
“He didn’t…but he was never the same.” Alicia inhaled. “I don’t think I existed to him afterward. He rarely spoke to me, content to let my governess and the staff tend to my needs. When he died, he left everything to a cousin, and provided no settlement for me.”
An awful ringing sounded in her ears. It had been a dozen years since her father’s death, and her memory of that awful time still stole her breath. Thus it took her several moments to realize Niall had grown still. When he pulled back, his gaze was confused.
“Are you saying he left you with nothing?”
Alicia nodded wordlessly.
“Your father died and left you with no way to care for yourself?”
