His face was unreadable, but he didn’t seem angry.“And he has left the country, hasn’t he?I would rather you’d given him money.It’ll take some time to replace them.”
“I don’t want them replaced,” she said sharply.They would always be a reminder of a horrible time.
“Don’t you?They looked so well on you.Arabel might like them one day.”
She saw he wouldn’t ask for an explanation, and she couldn’t bear it.She quickly told him what had happened.“It was foolish of me to be taken in by him, but I didn’t want you taken as a traitor.”
To her amazement Nicholas laughed.“The crafty scoundrel!I’m sorry, Eleanor.I didn’t realize you knew anything of the plot at that time.I’ve spent some time wondering what I would do differently, given the time over again.I suppose I would tell you the whole, but it was a trifle difficult.I know someone in London who’ll find replacements, but if we’re lucky your brother will have sold them in one piece and we’ll be able to buy them back.”
“How horrible,” protested Eleanor.“He’s the last person I would wish to finance, and it will cost you a fortune.”
“It’s of no importance,” he said, and seemed to mean it.She was amazed by how little importance he attached to material things.
He drew out a flat case.“I’ve no wish to embarrass you with gifts, my dear, but it is customary for a husband to give his wife a token at this time.”
Eleanor took the case and opened it to see a beautiful diamond bracelet, delicate and unostentatious, but still containing over a dozen flawless stones.For someone so unconcerned about possessions, he had exquisite taste.
Hesitantly she allowed him to fasten it on her wrist.The touch of his fingers sent ripples of excitement up her arm.
She strongly wanted to be held by him.To lie in his arms would be heaven.
She knew she had only to ask.
Somehow she couldn’t.
The next dayEleanor caused great commotion by insisting that she was well enough to leave her bed.As a compromise she went only as far as a chaise lounge by the window, but at least she was dressed and up.
Nicholas smiled when he came in, and she returned it.She did not think it was her imagination that he was looking noticeably healthier every time she saw him.
“A little gesture towards freedom,” he remarked.“Would you like to come downstairs?I could carry you.”
“Oh, no, I…” She saw, deep behind the smile, the flash of pain at what appeared to be rejection.“Yes, please,” she amended.“I was planning how best to get out of this room, but I intended to walk.I suppose everyone would have fits.”
“I gather you’ll fall to pieces if you are so foolish,” he said as he gathered her up.There was really nothing sensible to do except rest her head upon his shoulder.She wondered if he knew how right it felt, how she had missed this closeness.
“You’ve lost weight,” he remarked.
She chuckled.“It’s lying in the cradle.”
“Since I first knew you.”
“You’ve never carried me before.”
“Yes, I have.I put you to bed once.”
She remembered.She’d hoped for more, or at least part of her had.
“You have been ill, haven’t you?”he said softly as he laid her gently on the sofa in the drawing room.
She could not shield him from the truth.“It was the uncertainty, the worry … And the waste, I think.I couldn’t bear to think that you were dead and we had made such stupid use of our time together.”
He sat on the edge of her sofa.“I hoped, afterwards, that maybe that scene at Therese’s might have helped you cope.”
She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment.“I see.You thought it might have made me hate you.”She chuckled.“How could it with you playing silly tricks?My biggest problem then was to keep up the appearance of hating you until we were safely away, as that was obviously your purpose.I’m afraid Amy never quite understood.You may receive a frosty reception from her.”
“I’ll take care that you are close by to defend my honor.We’ll know soon.They should be here today.”
“Amy and Peter?”she queried in surprise.
