“She’s offended—”
“I was present. I know exactly who got offended. But as your soon-to-be-wife, it’s my duty to assist you, and it is your duty to be grateful for it.”
He stared at her incredulously. “You overstep. And you aren’t even correct. I have no duty to you.”
“Well, I will still honor my duty to you.”
She removed the leeches carefully, picked up the red pouch, and went to find water. She walked through the sitting room, which contained a few reading chairs that matched the one next to the wolf’s bed, and a small dining table, to the two other rooms in the suite, which she’d caught a glimpse of when she’d stormed out of here earlier. She saw the valet in one of them folding clothes. She guessed the other was the bathing room.
She was surprised to find a second fireplace inside the bathing room. It wasn’t as grand and ornamental as the one that heated the main room of the viscount’s suite, but it certainly was useful for warming up the room in cold weather and for heating water for baths. A metal bucket of water currently hung over a low fire. And what a tub! A long porcelain tub that had to have been specially made for his size dominated the room. The wolf certainly liked his luxuries.
She went over to a large cabinet with glass doors that contained stacks of towels and an assortment of items, including a supply of clean shaving cups.
She grabbed one and poured water from a pitcher in it, just a tiny bit, then sprinkled some of the powdered herbs in to make the paste. She stirred it with a clean spoon she found in the cabinet and washed her hands.
When she returned to the main room, the wolf was eyeing her and the cup in her hand suspiciously.
“This will only sting for a moment, then you won’t notice it.” She’d dipped her finger in the paste so she could dab it on his wound.
He grabbed her wrist when she leaned toward him, demanding, “Only sting? If it does worse, you may not like the consequences.”
“How much more unpleasant can you be?” she countered, then reprimanded herself. She had to stop reacting to his surliness. “You were shot. Nothing I do will equal the pain of that.”
He let go of her wrist without further comment. Without the leeches on his thigh distracting her, she was suddenly too aware of his body, all of it, and how close she was to such a big, strappinghandsomeman—fully naked under that sheet. And his wound was so close to his...
Her cheeks suddenly too hot, she tried not to think about where she was touching him and quickly applied the salve, saying, “Perhaps I’ll have dinner here with you tonight?” Without waiting for his permission, she glanced up and gave him a brilliant smile. “Yes, that’s a splendid idea, since I will need to apply the salve again come evening. We may even see some improvement by then.” And less churlishness, she added hopefully to herself.
“That soon?”
“It may only be minimal, but, yes, I do expect there will be a little less inflammation and perhaps your fever will go down. We shall hope.”
He merely grunted, so she went to wash her hands. When she returned, his eyes were closed. Had he fallen asleep that quickly? Or was this his way of dismissing her? Likely the latter, she decided, but she left the room quietly anyway.
Chapter Seventeen
“YOU’RE STILL HERE?”JANIEasked when Brooke entered the kitchen.
Brooke was taken aback. Janie wasn’t exceptionally pretty, though she did have lovely red hair and bright green eyes to keep her from looking plain. The girl was glaring at Brooke accusingly. And here she’d thought she’d charmed the kitchen staff over lunch.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because he was so angry when I gave him my aunt’s message about her feeding his children.”
“Ah, that.” Brooke managed not to grin. No, indeed, he wouldn’t have liked hearing that.
But the cook swung around from the counter where she was chopping meat. Knife still in hand, Marsha said angrily, “That’s all you have to say? We’re lucky he didn’t send us all back to the village. We servehim,m’lady, not you—yet.”
“I understand where your loyalty lies. But you need to understand that no matter how hard he tries to push me out the door, I’m not leaving. You also might want to take into account that he’s feverish and in pain, so he probably won’t even remember that you took my side in this matter after I finish healing him.”
“You’rehealing him?”
“Yes. With my maid’s help, we’ll have him back on his feet much sooner than his doctor can manage. So please have two dinner trays delivered to the viscount’s room at precisely seven o’clock this evening. I will be dining with him.”
Both women appeared startled by the news that Brooke would be spending time with their lord. She could even hear them whispering about it behind her back as she left the house through the kitchen door. She hoped they would now stop taking sides, at least in the battle for decent food.
With the rest of the day free, she would have liked a tour of the house, but since Gabriel wasn’t around, she decided to treat herself to a pleasant ride with Rebel instead.
While her mount was brought in from the pasture, Arnold Biscane gave her the lay of the land. The village of Rothdale was to the west, within walking distance, with hills and dales beyond it. The seacoast was more than a day’s normal ride to the east, as she’d guessed, but the distance could be traversed quicker with a heavy hand.
