“My sister told me that she wrote to you,” the woman said, her frown deepening. “I take it you are the Duke of Heathmare, Susan’s husband?”
“And you are Leah,” he surmised. “Susan told me she had another sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“We aren’t here for pleasantries,” Leah said, folding her arms.
“That’s right,” Norman agreed. “While Iamhappy to make your acquaintance, I am here for Susan.”
“You aren’t taking her anywhere,” Leah said. “Not while she’s unwell, and not until she wakes up and decides for herself where she wants to be. I won’t allow you to ride off with her against her will.”
“That’s not why I’ve come,” Norman said. “I would never try to remove Susan against her will. But I couldn’t stay away from her. Not right now. She’s my wife, as you said.”
“She’s under the impression your marriage is going to be annulled,” Leah said. “Is that the way of things?”
Norman was beginning to feel unbearably impatient. He wanted to show his regard for Susan’s eldest sister. He really was glad to be meeting her for the first time, and barging past her didn’t seem like the way to show that. But at the same time, she was keeping him from the thing he wanted—needed—more than any other. He had to know that Susan was all right. He had to see her with his own eyes, had to reassure himself that all would be well. Until he’d done that, nothing else would really matter.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of the marriage,” he said. “Susan asked me for an annulment. If that’s what she wants, she’ll have it. But I can’t discuss that right now. I came here because Marina’s letter let me know that she was ill. That’s more important than any of this. You have to let me see her.”
“I don’t have to,” Leah said.
She was watching him. Sizing him up. Norman took a deep breath.
“I will see her,” he said. “You can’t stop me. It’s my wife you’re talking about. I know that you’re trying to protect her, and I’m grateful for that. But one way or another, I am going to get to my wife. I am going to be by her side. I’ll be here to provide anything she might need. When all is said and done, when she has recovered from this illness, she may send me away if she likes. I won’t fight her, if that’s her decision. But I won’t allow anyone else to send me away from her.”
Leah inclined her head slowly. “I see,” she murmured. “I was right about you,”
What that meant, Norman couldn’t even begin to guess. He also found he didn’t care. The important thing was getting to Susan’s side, and now Leah was stepping back to allow him to pass. He hurried into the house, intent on rushing to Susan, and then realized he didn’t know where to find her.
“Up the stairs and to the right,” Leah said. She seemed to have come around entirely and was now determined to help him. “It’s the third door you’ll come to.”
He nodded thanks and rushed up the stairs.
The third door on the right was closed, but there was a flicker of light beneath it that indicated a lit candle. He wanted to barge right in, but of course that would have been the wrong thing to do—he raised a hand and knocked instead.
Marina opened the door. Her face collapsed in relief at the sight of him. “You came,” she murmured. “I’m so glad—and so grateful.”
“Your sister almost didn’t let me in,” he said.
“She didn’t know whether to trust you. I told her we could.” Marina stepped back to admit him. “I’ve known all along.”
She didn’t say what she knew. Norman had a feeling he understood her all the same.
Could she really have known all along that he would fall in love with Susan?
And then he saw her.
Susan was lying in bed, flat on her back. Her cheeks were bone-white. Her eyes were closed.
He felt as if his lungs had given out.
He rushed to the bed and knelt beside her, taking her hand in his, desperate to summon her back to him.
“Susan,” he whispered. “Susan, love, wake up.”
But she didn’t stir. And now Norman was truly confronted with the agony of his own helplessness.
He had rushed to be at her side. He’d felt as though being here would solve the problem—but of course it hadn’t. It couldn’t.
The truth was, there was nothing at all he could do.
