He went to her, easing a hip onto the bed, and smoothed one hand over the small of her back.
She turned her head to face away from him as small tremors vibrated through her.
Dread washed through him. What had he done now? Was this because he’d missed supper? Surely not. “Here, now,” he said, “What’s this, pet? What’s wrong?”
In answer, she shifted away from him, toward the bed’s center, effectively shirking his touch, before curling into a ball. “I’m awful. The worst s-sort of human. Thinking I know what’s best, what you need to r-recover. When all the wh-while, if I’d only listened to you…” Her words died as a heart-wrenching sob escaped her.
Not knowing what else to do, he stretched out on the bed behind her and cocooned her body with his, wrapping one arm over her to draw her into him. “Sweetheart, stop this. I’m fine.”
She shook her head in vehement denial. “I know—about the medicine. How you haven’t had a drop since coming here—even though I made you promise me,” she finished on a pitiful squeak.
He had no business feeling guilty. Yet, guilty, he felt. “I see. How did you—never mind. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. It’s only—” He broke off as a shudder went through her.
“I can’t stand this,” he murmured, and flopped onto his back to stare up at the gauzy curtain above. “Nothing is worth this. I’ll take it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her jerk to face him.
Heaving himself up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll go down, now, find Danvers and—”
“No,” she cried in sudden alarm, one hand snaking out to snatch at his shirtsleeve. “You can’t. You mustn’t.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. Poor darling. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and the tip of her nose was pink.
He shifted onto his hip, swinging his legs up, and dropped onto one elbow, body angled toward her. Then he ran his knuckles over hersalt-crusted cheek. “Darling, you understand I’m just a mortal man, don’t you? You’ll have to break this down for me because I’m woefully confused at the moment.”
Her silvery eyes welled with tears and she covered her face with her hands.
“No. No more tears. I’ll make this right. Tell me what I need to do.”
She shook her head. “Do? There’s nothing you can do. Nothing will erase what I’ve done in the name of helping you.” She lowered her hands enough to peek over her fingers at him before rocking herself into a sitting position and issuing a loud sniffle.
Teddy reached into his pocket and, thank heavens, found a clean hanky, which he thrust into one of her hands.
She took it, blew her nose, then looked at him, her expression one of abject misery.
“When I collected you from Bell Haven, I vowed to do anything I could to help you recover, which meant convincing you via any means possible to take the medicine the doctor explained you needed.
“A premise which only was reinforced as you seemed to improve by leaps and bounds, day by day—”
“I have—thanks to you.”
She drew a shuddering breath and ducked her head. “No, not thanks to me. Thanks to your own resourcefulness, and thanks to Mr. Danvers. If not for him, colluding with you, you might even be worse off now. You might even have d-died.” Her last word came out a high pitched keen, and she folded in on herself.
Enough.
He grabbed her, pulling her close, then rose and scooped her into his arms.
Instinctively, she twined her arms around his neck. “Teddy, what are you doing?” she demanded, as he lumbered toward the balcony.
“You’ll see, sweetheart. Dry your eyes, and trust me.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, her tears ceasing as curiosity accomplished in an instant what he had not been able to do through coaxing alone.
He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and opened the balcony door, then crossed to the guest chamber.
Standing outside the closed doors, he set her on her feet, cupped her cheeks between his palms, and gazed down at her, drinking in the sight of her bathed in the silvery moonlight. He had not intended to show her—at least not like this. But, needs must.
He reached for the door handle, swung the door out, and gestured for her to enter.
