Silence ate up the space between them, connecting their hearts in a way that tethered them to the moment, to each other, to a man they’d loved and respected.
“Well.” Amelia straightened her shoulders lest they both tear up. “While I regret it didn’t work out for you to be my brother’s errand boy in London, I was wondering if, perhaps, you might consider serving as mine?”
“Aye, miss!” Nemo bounced on his toes. “I’d like that very much.”
“Good, then after things are settled here, to London we will go.” Reaching out, she tussled his hair.
He ducked away with a laugh.
Betsey poked her head in the door. “Mr. Lambert is here, miss.”
Finally. Though her hair was a fright and she ought to put a cool compress on her eyes to make herself presentable, she rushed past her maid with a quick “Thank you.”
“Oh, miss?”
She turned at the top of the stairs. “Yes?”
Betsey held her hand out to the boy while speaking to her. “You’ll find the doctor in the dining room.”
Amelia angled her head. “Why did you not ask him to wait in the sitting room?”
“The man looks as if he’s not had a bite to eat in days. I told him I’d not summon you unless he first took a bowl of Cook’s porridge.”
A weak smile lifted her lips. “You are incorrigible.”
“I know, miss.” Betsey winked. “That’s exactly what the doctor said.”
Fatigue didn’t just weigh on Graham, it pressed in on every side, wringing him like an old cloth, and not only physically. For certain, the lack of sleep did sap the vigor from his bones, but the grief of losing a dear friend and the worry of how Amelia fared drained him as well. And bleeding him even more was the fact the authorities had not yet recovered the bodies. How was he to tell her that?
He shoved away the now-empty bowl of porridge just as a light tap of shoes pattered into the dining room. Amelia entered, his suit coat folded over her arm.
Graham shot to his feet and in three great strides grasped her upper arms, pulling her near. “I came as soon as I could. How are you?”
“Better than you, apparently.” Resolutely, she lifted her chin. “You look a wreck.”
He smirked. Of course he did. Out all night on the water. Wind and mist playing havoc with his hair. Even now he could smell the stink of river water and sludge fouling the fabric of his trousers. A grin quirked his lips, then as quickly faded. How like her to parry a question about her health.
“Truly, Amelia, as a doctor, I wish to know how you fare.” He pressed the back of his hand to her brow. Warm skin, neither too hot nor too cold. A blessing, that.
She held out his coat. “I am as well as can be expected, but I should ask the same of you, tromping about all night without your coat. I’m surprised you’ve not taken a cough.” She stepped nearer, her voice growing husky. “And I never got to thank you for all you’ve done.”
He clenched his teeth. The truth was he’d not done enough. He’d failed at recovering her brother’s body, failed at stopping the man from tumbling off the cliff in the first place. He’d failed even more by not turning in Peckwood before the doctor’s own madness had spawned such sorrow.
He shrugged his arms into his coat sleeves, turning away from the gratitude in Amelia’s gaze. “Would that I had done more.”
“You did all you were able to. You could not tell the future, any more than could I. We both know it.” A light touch pressed against his shoulder. “What of my brother? Did you find him?”
He sighed. As much as he wanted to spare her added heartache, there was no more putting off his odious task—but that didn’t mean he had to watch the grief well in her eyes. He stared at the slim fingers resting on his shoulder instead. “I searched all night with the men, rode in the boat, pointed out the place where your brother and Peckwood, where they…”
Pah! Did she really need to hear such morbid details? At the very least he could spare her that. He cleared his throat and tried again. “The bodies haven’t been found. Not yet.”
“Oh.”
A single word, yet so emotion-filled it expanded from wall to wall, squeezing his chest, his heart, his soul.
Pulling away, he snatched his mother’s Bible off the table. “You have lost much. We have both lost much. In light of that, I’ve brought something to share.”
Her eyes shimmered. “How thoughtful of you.”
