Teddy remained standing beside the couch where Catherine lay, her eyes closed, doing her best to maintain her supposed feint, though her flickering lids showed signs of wakefulness. He knew better than to offer his father assistance, even though he could see the man was at the end of his endurance, thanks to weeks spent abed, under the influence of the very tisane he’d insisted Teddy drink.
Still, the earl managed to send Jonathan a last, ferocious scowl. “Never return, do you hear me? Even in the event of my death, I forbid it. Should you choose to ignore my advice, know that I havemade arrangements to assure your stay is short-lived.”
Evidently considering the matter closed, he turned his attention to Teddy. “What of her?” His thin lips curled in a sneer.
Teddy glanced down at Catherine. “I will deal with her.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Teddy tasked oneof the household’s strongest footmen with helping his father back to his bedchamber. Then, he saw Cousin Jonathan, along with his personal effects—which he had presciently taken the liberty of having packed—conveyed to the shipyard. There, he would join Dr. Shine on a craft bound for America.
Impatient to be done with the business, Teddy returned to the den.
Lo and behold, Lady Catherine now sat upright, for all the world, fully alert. He assumed she’d made use of one of the gilt wall mirrors in his absence, as her fine, light-brown hair looked smooth and sleek, tendrils curling artfully at her temples.
“Awake at last,” he drawled.
Her eyes lit up at the sight of him. “Teddy, darling, there you are. I wasn’t sure what happened. I came-to to find myself lying on the sofa, and that dastardly Jonathan gone. And, am I remembering correctly that the earl put in an appearance?”
Teddy took his time, crossing to the sofa where Catherine perched. He seated himself beside her, folding his arms over his chest.
“You caught that, did you, before it all became too much? Indeed,the earl is, by all appearances, fast on his way to recovery. The family doctor, recently called in, assures us he will make a full recovery.”
“Thank goodness you arrived in time to set things right,” she said with grave admiration.
“Thank you. As for Jonathan, he’s decided to relocate to the Americas, accompanied by, he shall soon realize, Dr. Shine.”
A beatific smile curved her mouth. “Bravo. You know how your father detests a scandal. You managed everything perfectly.”
“Yes,” he agreed dryly. “As it happens, for once we are in agreement. I want this business behind me to get on with more important matters.”
“Oh?” She looked so supremely sure of herself, evidently, misreading the smile curving his mouth at the thought of what task lay ahead. He guessed she expected some sort of renewed understanding between them. Had she always been this unaware? Or perhaps, a better description was arrogant. A bit of both?
Funny enough, he couldn’t even work up a good temper, despite her machinations. In a sense, he owed her his thanks. If not for her and Jonathan conniving behind his back, he might not have landed at Brook Haven, and Georgina might never have rescued him.
“Teddy, it is so good to see you looking so fit. I was beside myself with worry these last months. I missed you horribly during your time away.”
“Really? And yet, I never received the first letter from you during my time away, nor once saw you after my return.”
“I’ve already explained that.” She couldn’t quite mask her irritation at his apparent inability to grasp her position. “I wanted to visit, but Jonathan told me you remembered nothing at all, and that you were behaving in an erratic and often violent manner. I could not bear to see you like that.”
“Georgina didn’t seem to mind.”
Her mouth fell open at the comparison. “Georgina? Do you meanto tell me that pip-squeak, that wallflower, arranged a visit when I was doing my best to keep your condition a secret? How on earth did she…never mind. She’s always fancied you. She would brave anything for a moment in your presence.”
“You have no idea,” he murmured. “But not you, you who profess a longstanding hope of marriage to me. It seems odd, seeing as how you boasted that you had another suitor waiting in the wings. Who was it, by the by?”
She sniffed. “Mere words, spoken in anger, because you were leaving and I feared something dire might happen.”
He decided to voice his speculation as to the man’s identity before wrapping up their conversation. “Was it Prince Rolfe?”
Her eyes widened in shock and he knew he’d hit the nail on the head.
“I have no notion what you mean. He departed London at the end of last season, and soon thereafter, all the papers could talk of was his upcoming nuptials to some nobody princess from a clodpole province in Italy. Anyway, now you’re back and everything can go back to normal.”
Issuing her patently false denial, she inched closer to him, and now gazed up at him with adoration in her eyes.
He beheld her lovely face, and almost felt sorry for her. Almost. “I remembered you, you know, even in my disordered state. Images of you would come to me in flashes. So beautiful. So elegant. The perfect countess.”
