Page 35 of The Seductive Love of a Lady
She was horribly sick, before this man who had lied to her and did not care about her. She could not be more humiliated.
He gave her a towel. She wiped her mouth, holding on to it as he moved the chamber pot. ‘I will wash this out.’ He must have cleaned the floor too.
She lay down and closed her eyes, longing for sleep, to escape the pain. Tears rolled across her lashes and ran down her cheeks. She curled up her knees, wrapping herself up small like a dormouse, as she used to sleep as a child.
Andrew’s weight made the mattress dip close to her.
‘Do you need me to fetch a doctor?’
‘I would not. You never know, I may die and you will be rid of me.’ She hated him –and loved him.
‘Mary?’
She regretted her words. She was not a resentful person like him. ‘I am sorry. You need not worry. Thank you for helping me, but it is only a headache. I always seem to have one now. Please leave me to sleep.’
A warm palm pressed on her forehead. It was the most intimate contact they had shared for a long time. ‘You feel hot. Let me call for a doctor.’
More tears ran. ‘I do not want a doctor. I just need to sleep. Please leave me alone.’
The mattress shook as he got up.
She rolled over so she was lying on his side of the bed, groaning at the throbbing pain.
Then he was there again, his hand on her shoulder. ‘I do not think I can leave you like this, sweetheart.’
Oh Lord, it hurts so much.‘Please do not call me sweetheart, leave me alone.’ She could not bear to hear kind words from him now she knew they were false. But the nausea rose up. She clutched his wrist. ‘I am going to be ill again.’
The chamber pot was placed before her and Mary retched painfully. His palm rested on her shoulder and he whispered soothing words.
Lies, all lies!
‘I will not go out this evening. I will stay with you,’ he said when she had stopped retching, and he put the chamber pot aside.
She did not argue. It felt as though a farrier were hammering a horseshoe on an anvil in her head.
His fingers pulled at the buttons at the back of her dress.
‘Leave me!’ she begged.
‘Mary, darling, if I release the buttons and loosen your stays, you will be more comfortable. The maid cannot do it as she is not due for hours.’
She lay pitifully still, as he worked the buttons free and pulled the laces loose.
‘May I help you take your dress off? You will be more comfortable in your chemise.’
She could smell vomit on her dress too. She sat up and helped him strip off the bodice of her dress and stays, then lifted her bottom so he could slide her dress off over the layers of her petticoats and chemise.
Before she lay down, he untied and removed her petticoats too. Then he helped her climb beneath the sheet and blanket and tucked her in the bed.
Her stomach clenched at the intimacy as misery hollowed out her soul.
The mattress rocked as he sat on his side of the bed, with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out. His fingers pulled the pins from her hair, then they stroked from her temple to a point behind her ear, gently, over and over.
Her headache began to ease, and sleep slowly claimed her.
16
When Mary’s breathing eased to a slow rhythm that implied she had fallen asleep, Drew carefully climbed off the bed. He left the door ajar in case she was sick again.
