Willa scrubbed the travel dust off her skin and hair, then dressed in her night rail and dressing gown. She didn’t care to dress appropriately for the interrogation.
Willa braided her wet hair and coiled it into a bun on her head, pinning it in place. She looked around her room, her knees sagging with exhaustion and relief at finally being in her own space. The comforts of her own bed. Poor Wesley, he had none of these things. She straightened and left her room, returning to the drawing room, but he wasn't there. Josie and Patrick were, as well as Georgie and her husband Mr. Cage. Georgie embraced her in a hug.
“She's already told me. I somehow approve and disapprove, and I am very confused,” Georgie said.
“Where is Wesley?” Willa asked.
“He's in his room with Luna. Nic sent this.” Josie handed her a letter.
Willa opened it, saw her sister’s angry scrawl, and closed it again. “I'll read that tomorrow. I'm going to find Luna.” Willa turned and left the room to the stunned glares of her sisters. Edmund directed her toward the room he'd given Wesley. She wondered where his parents were, and Ned too. The door was partially open, so she walked in, and Luna had unbandaged Wesley's head and was dabbing at it with the cloth.
“Dr. Smith did a fine job,” Luna said to Wesley.
Willa drew closer. “But I'm glad you now have the best physician in London,” Willa said.
Luna twisted to glare at her. “You've got explaining to do.”
“Can’t it wait for tomorrow? As you can see, this wasn't intended to be some lark.”
Luna sighed. “All that matters is that you both are all right.” Luna always got right to the heart of the matter. “I’m fascinated to hear more about your memory loss, Wesley. I’ll come by again tomorrow with Dr. Hadley and consult with him, but you say some of it is already returning?”
He nodded. “Dr. Smith said the more my wound heals, the more my memory should return, and so far he's been correct.”
“How much do you remember?” Luna asked.
“Glimpses only. Faces are familiar to me, but I don't know why.”
Willa’s stomach knotted. There was still so much he was missing. His whole life before the meadow. What would happen when his parents arrived? Would it all come flooding back, or would he not know them at all?
As if summoned from her thoughts, Patrick entered, followed by Sir Thomas and his wife. They rushed to Wesley’s side and embraced him. Willa stood, anxious to see if their presence would spark more memory.
“I know you,” Wesley said to his father. “The first time I looked in the mirror after the helmet was removed, I saw my own face and then I remembered you.”
“What are you talking about? Of course you know me. I’m your father.”
His mother covered her mouth and whimpered.
“He's lost his memory,” Patrick said. “He took a blow to the head. It’s a rather compelling story.”
Willa rolled her eyes. “But it's coming back to him,” Willa reassured them, “slowly.”
“You’re my father,” Wesley said, his brow furrowed as he stared at his parents, “and you’re my mother.”
Lady Parker hugged her son, nearly toppling him back on the bed. He peeled her arms from his neck. “And I have sisters, Moira and Rose,” he said.
Emotion rushed at Willa. Was he remembering, or only repeating what she’d told him? She stepped back into the shadows, inching her way closer to the door, but that's when Sir Thomas turned to her.
“Miss Marsden, what on earth happened to my son?”
Did he mean to sound so accusing? They'd always had a friendly relationship. She swallowed and folded her trembling hands behind her back.
“My carriage was robbed by highwaymen, and they took me. Your son happened to come upon the scene, and he went after us and rescued me.” She retold her story, but only the most vital details that his parents might care to know.
Sir Thomas slowly nodded. “All this time you’ve been together? It’s miraculous that you found each other. Just when you needed each other most.”
She blinked. Her throat grew thick with emotion. Sir Thomas turned back to his son. She backed out of the doorway into the hall and ran back to her room. She didn't know what to do or how to feel. Wesley's memory was rapidly returning and that scared her. Her family, and she would guess his, were already hearing wedding bells. But the more he remembered, the more she might lose the man she fell in love with. Or rather, the more he might remember hedoesn'tlove her.
When she reached her room, just before she closed her door, Georgie push her way inside followed by Josie and Luna.
