Page 34 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
They entered and took the stairs to the hall while the growing smell of bodily refuse got thicker and more pungent. Eleanor held up a handkerchief to her nose as they came upon the landing and she took in the sight of illness around her. The room was filled with slender-framed, iron bedsteads, narrow and plain and upon them were men and women, writhing in the midst of agony.
“There,” the Duke said while taking her hand and escorting her to a bed flush against a corner. She looked and saw Darcy sitting on a stool beside the constable, who had thick bandages on his shoulder.
As she hurried past the beds, she heard pitiful groans, deep grunts and pain-filled moans. She spotted patients with severed limbs, the ending of which were covered in bloodied bandages. She passed by pallid faces, covered in sweat from fever, saw the thin frames of those suffering from a wasting disease and heard the unending coughs of those with consumption or pleurisy.
Darcy lifted her head and her eyes lit up when she saw Eleanor who instantly broke from the Duke’s grip to embrace her. Eleanor tugged Darcy a little way away to the nearest window. From the corner of her eye, she saw the Duke of Oberton going over to his friend but her focus was on Darcy.
“When I heard the news, my heart stopped for a minute,” she said. “My fear was so deep I knew I could not stay away. How is he?”
Lady Darcy shuddered; her skin was cold. “They took the bullet from his shoulder. I thought…I thought they had shot him in his heart. If he had died…” she broke down and tears brimmed in her blue orbs. “If he had died, I might have followed him.”
Eleanor swallowed over a dry throat.Is this what true love causes…an immediate disregard for life itself? Would I put my life on the line like this? Would I…die for the one I would love?
Looking at her friend, Eleanor felt her heart constrict. This was a lesson in fear for her. The defenses in her mind got stronger. She prayed that love—if she ever found it—would not cause her to lose her mind like this. She knew she could not bear that.
Her eyes flicked up to the Duke and then went back to Darcy.
* * *
Aaron made sure to keep his voice down so the two women at the window would not overhear him and Julius.
“You nearly gave me an apoplexy, Wilcox,” Aaron’s voice was tight but relieved. “And you nearly killed Lady Darcy.”
The constable sighed, “I know and I regret it. The mission was not supposed to end like that. It was cut and dry, Oberton, just corner the men and apprehend them—that was it. But…I suppose this is my wake-up call to get either promoted or to bow out. I cannot leave Darcy alone.”
“If you had died—God forbid—she would have been taken care of. You know that. I would never leave her destitute.”
“I know that…” Julius’ dark blue eyes glanced over to the two women and Aaron’s eyes followed him. One of Lady Eleanor’s hands was on Darcy’s cheek while they spoke. The caring gesture was surprising to him but what startled him was the look on Lady Eleanor’s face; it was open with emotion.
That was the first time had had ever seen such—well any—strong emotion on her usually stoic face. He saw pain, worry, anxiety, and then sympathy on her face. Her eyes fluttered as she hugged Darcy again. He suddenly ached to press his fingers on the tight lines at the sides of her eyes and smooth them out.
Her hair was a breath of wind away from breaking free from their pins and tumbling down her shoulders and the wisps that fluttered at the sides made her look human. There was no perfection about her this time, and there was no cold detached look in her eyes.
Was this the Lady Eleanor that her butler, Mr. Ambrose, had spoken off? Was this the real Lady Eleanor that she kept hidden under wraps? If so, he needed to see more of this Lady Eleanor.
“But that would be it.”
Aaron turned back, “Yes…sadly. I want to string you up for putting me in such a position. She is in love with you Julius, so I advise you to keep living. She collapsed in my arms last night and I thought she was dead.”
“Fall in love and you’ll feel the same way,” Julius replied before his lips stretched into a knowing smirk, “or perhaps you have already had.”
“I am in limbo, Julius,” Aaron admitted quietly. “I want to know her but she will not let me. I can’t push because that might scare her even more.”
“But you won’t get anywhere if you don’t push,” Julius said. “You might have to even fight.”
“The only thing I might have to fight is her stubbornness,” Aaron spoke as he continued to watch Lady Eleanor. With her emotions bared, it was like he was seeing a new person standing there and he drank it all in before the gate slammed shut. “When are you ready to leave here?”
“As soon as the medic says I can,” Julius' voice was laced with frustration. “I abhor hospitals.”
“It’s a necessary evil of your profession, my friend,” Aaron teased while stepping away from the bed to give Darcy room. She came and sat again on the stool and lifted her hand to Julius’ forehead.
“There’s no fever, that’s good,” she sighed. Julius took her hand and pressed it to his lips. “And I take that as a sign that you are feeling better.”
“I am sorry for scaring you,” Julius said tenderly, “I do not want to put you in that position ever again.”
Darcy leaned in and pressed her forehead to his unbandaged shoulder while whispering quietly to him. Aaron quickly realized that the outside world would disappear to them soon, so, clearing his throat, he tapped the bedside beside the two and went over to Lady Eleanor.
She was still at the window but this time she was leaning on the sill and looking out. He joined her and scanned the drab grey stone of the hospital’s east wing.
