Page 18 of An Earl to Remember
The lady hovering in the doorway turned around and hurried inside, the door closing behind her.
“Who is that—” Daniel faltered, pressing a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth.
That sharp pain he’d been experiencing since he woke inched its way up his spine and settled at the base of his neck. His heart drummed hard and fast, and he took a few breaths to steady himself against the feeling of dizziness that stole over him.
“Are you well, my…husband?”
She seemed to choke on that word, and he inferred she had meant to say something else. He cracked open an eye only to slam it closed as the light from the sun pierced his skull.
“What the hell is this?” he hissed.
Miss Heyford leaned against him, pressing a hand to his chest. He peered at that delicate hand that had calluses and a chipped nail, seeing a flash of a manicured finger in its place for a second. Another hand. Whose?
“Are you well? You’ve gone very pale, and you are trembling.”
The soft concern in her tone had him looking down at her. She did appear worried…as if she cared. Somehow this rattled him, and he had to squash the urge to shove her from him. It was damn baffling how familiar yet unfamiliar she felt.
Do I really know you, Miss Heyford?
Yet the moment he had laid eyes on her, he’d been struck by a stunning sense of recognition. And his body had reacted with a carnal thump of awareness, a blistering one that said he wanted her more than he possibly realized. Worse, he could not imagine why she would fabricate a wedding to a gentleman who clearly had poor money management with little in the way of inheritance if this was where they lived.
Throes of love and passion.
Daniel was damn tired, the insistent pain now drummed atop his head, and his body ached all over as if he had gone a few rounds in the fighting pits.
“I need sleep,” he said gruffly, knowing he had to be alone.
The desperate feeling of wrongness crept over his senses again, and his heart started to hammer even harder. Daniel wondered if he had made the correct decision to follow her home instead of staying at the doctor’s. He was a man who deplored weakness, and that he was so reduced now left a bitter taste in his mouth. The only reason he had agreed was because he’d at least thought a familiar setting would jar his memory.
This place felt strange. “Have I been here before?” he said gruffly.
“No.”
“Have I met your family?”
“This will be your first meeting.”
Daniel scowled. “So I have not really met Hetty, have I?”
“I foolishly teased,” she said softly.
He pressed a thumb into his forehead, desperate to stop the agony piercing his skull. He took a step—and a peculiar, weak feeling overcame him. “Allow me the honor of meeting my new family after I have rested for a few hours.”
The gaze peering at him was very worried. “You also need to eat. Food nourishes the body.”
The idea made Daniel feel even more nauseated. “No food.”
“Would you like to return to Cousin Albert’s home?” she queried hesitantly. “You are his patient, and if you prefer to remain there or go to a hospital instead, he will accommodate it. I shall, of course, visit you.”
The heaviness on his head grew worse.A hospital?“God, no. This place will do.”For now.Once I have regained my sense of self, I will damn well be leaving. “I am about to bloody collapse. Take me to our bedroom.”
Her eyes widened, and that becoming flush pinkened her cheeks once more. “Very well. I will take you to the…bedroom.”
Now why did she sound like a croaking frog realizing it was about to perish?
…
Thankfully, Georgianna had a strong relationship with her sister, enough so that Lizzie had not dashed out of the music room to question the identity of the gentleman entering their home. Georgianna had been able to escort the earl up the stairs and to the bedroom her father had used as his own with little fuss or anyone being aware.
