“I do, in fact, like you a great deal...Lady Fiona.”He cleared his throat again.“You’ll want a bath drawn, I imagine.And a warm fire as well.I’ll see it done immediately, my lady.”
That was how he showed his care, she realized.By caring for her needs.She’d never understood that before.It just went to show that love in its many forms was more often demonstrated by more than mere words.
This realization could also be applied to the motives of others: Glenrothes, who thought to shield her from the world at large, and Harry, who protected her from danger.It was a notion that deserved some deeper consideration.
But not just now.
She was bone weary and ready to relax, forget and regroup.
“Thank you, Hobbes.”
“I will give instructions for your meal to be brought to your room,” he continued, practically babbling for him.“Shall I...shall I have a maid to escort you as well?”
“I shall do it, Hobbes.”Ilona had been lingering with Eve at the head of the stairs, waiting for Fiona.She glanced at Eve, who might have meant to protest.“I haven’t been hungry anyhow; you know how it can be?Perhaps I might be able to take a bite or two...if another tray is sent up?”
“Of course, ma’am,” Hobbes bowed, the proper butler once again but still he met Fiona’s gaze briefly once again and almost—almostsmiled before leaving.
* * *
Ilona hooked her armthrough Fiona’s as they went up another flight of stairs together.“I nearly thought he was going to hug you or something equally shocking,” her sister-in-law whispered conspiratorially as they climbed.
“The day has had too many surprises already,” Fiona answered with a grin.“That might have been more than my poor sensibilities could handle.”
They laughed together as they made their way to Fiona’s chamber, where Ilona fussed over her, drawing her bath and adding chamomile salts to help soothe away her troubles.All the while, she chatted about the kidnapping and Ramsay’s suspected involvement in it all.
As she helped Fiona undress, her no-nonsense conversation calmed Fiona’s nerves in the way a dozen expressions of sympathy could not.It was just the facts as they were.The facts Fiona could handle.The emotion of it all was useless and even debilitating, better pushed aside to deal with at a later time.
Sliding into the steaming bath, Fiona let the water wash over her and whisk away the troubles of the day.The heat relaxed her muscles, and she sank deeper with a contented sigh.
But as straightforward as Ilona was with one subject, it was a simple thing for her to work her way to other topics.Other matters Fiona had already rejected as beyond immediate consideration.Things she didn’t want to think about.Leave it to Ilona to make the entire issue impossible to ignore.
“And Aylesbury!”
Fiona opened one eye, watching her sister-in-law warily.“What about him?”
“Imagine him coming to your rescue so precipitately!I gather his timing couldn’t have been better.If he hadn’t been there...”Ilona trailed off, letting the possibilities weigh significantly in the silence before adding the question no one had thought to ask.“Why was he there, I wonder?”
“He wanted to speak to me, I suppose.”Fiona took a washing cloth and soap from the tray next to the tub and began to lather the cloth with undue focus.
“And all the other times as well?”
It wasn’t a question.Nor was she ready to provide much of an answer.“I suppose,” she repeated evasively as she continued to lather the already sudsy cloth.“I mean, who can say?”
Ilona studied her for a long moment.Her warm brown eyes burrowed effortlessly into Fiona’s soul.She didn’t say anything, though.Instead, she took the soap and began to wash Fiona’s hair much as her nanny had done when she was but a wee lass.Her fingers worked through Fiona’s long hair, massaging her scalp and relaxing her almost to the point of unconsciousness.
Fiona should have known Ilona was waiting until her guard was down to add something more.When it was brought up, the subject was even more shocking than the bucket of water Ilona dumped over her head.
“Two years ago?What happened between the two of you that night?”
It was a softly spoken entreaty followed by forbearing silence.Ilona didn’t press nor prompt but allowed Fiona time to wipe the water from her eyes as if she understood the struggle Fiona was fighting internally.
The need to speak of what happened aloud for the very first time.
The desire to forget it ever happened at all.
After all, it was far more humiliating than when Harry had found her in his bedchamber, something far more devastating.Unlike that incident, Fiona was pretty sure Harry wouldn’t be able to offer a different point of view that might make it any less upsetting.
“I think I fell in love with Harry the first time I ever saw him,” she began almost inaudibly as she lifted the soapy cloth and began to wash her arms and shoulders.“It was right after Francis and Eve wed.I was staying with Richard and Abby for a few months.You might not remember, as you and Colin were off on your honeymoon by then.Richard brought Harry home for dinner...You have to understand, Ilona.He was...”
