“Yes,” he answered.
“I see. Well, then.” She twined her fingers before her and decided to put her story telling skills to practical use. “That explains why he did not reach out to me upon his return.”
“You don’t say?” Teddy muttered in clear disbelief.
She stifled her annoyance and kept her gaze fixed on the doctor. “You see, we married just before he departed, in secret because…” she paused, searching her mind, “because we did not want to part without speaking our vows, but we also knew our families would be devastated if we did not allow them to…er…That is, they will expect a grand event, you see, when they…we…”
Not looking overly impressed, the doctor held his hand out, palm up. “The proof, if you please?”
“Of course.” She swallowed hard and unsnapped her reticule. With shaking hands—indeed, her entire body trembled—she withdrew the document she had created last night before bed when it occurred to her Teddy might welcome the farce of a pretend wedding held in Gretna Green some two years ago if it meant gaining his freedom.
She handed the forged note to the doctor. The foolscap fluttered with the force of her tremors.
He took it without comment and scanned it, as did the porter who read over the man’s shoulder.
The doctor arched his brows and waggled his head as if to say,good enough.
The porter, on the other hand, scowled and muttered something in the doctor’s ear. Though Georgina could not make out the words, she could almost guarantee he argued against the veracity of the so-calledevidence.
Meanwhile, Teddy’s expression had turned decidedly speculative, as if it had finally dawned on him what this turn of events might mean for him.
She gave him a frank look that she hoped he interpreted rightly asabout time.
He snorted as Dr. Penhurst waved the porter off with an impatient sweep of his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Gill, your opinion is duly noted. Now then, LadyArlington,” he said, stressing her supposed surname, “are you proposing to take your husband with you, or did you merely wish to have visiting rights?”
“I will be taking him.”
“You understand, there will be no refund issued.”
A rush of triumph flooded Georgina as she saw the shifting tide. “Of course,” she hastened to agree.
“We will not be held responsible for any harm should it befall him, or you, while he is in your care.”
She met Teddy’s eyes. His stare was flat. Hard. But there was something else there, too, lurking in the depths of those beloved caramel eyes. Fear, she realized, that the doctor’s words would sway her to leave him.
The sight bolstered her like nothing else could have. “I understand.”
“Then let the two of us convene in my office and make things official before you and your husband go.”
“Now see here—” Teddy began.
“Enough.” The doctor’s voice, though soft, brooked no dissent. “If you hope to depart sometime today with your charming wife, Lord Arlington, I suggest you make no further trouble. I have had quite enough of your shenanigans.” His gaze flicked over Teddy’s ramshackle appearance, then the overturned furniture and spilled tea. “You might make use of the time to clean yourself up and oversee the packing of your belongings.”
Fisting his hands at his sides, Teddy glowered, but nodded once.
A chill skittered up Georgina’s spine. What had happened to her smiling and imperturbable Teddy in the years since she’d seen him? In her wildest dreams she could not have foreseen an eventuality that included this forbidding version of Theodore Arlington.
Dr. Penhurst turned to the porter. “Please have lunch delivered to Lord Arlington. It seems he missed tea.” Aiming a placid smile at Georgina, he gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”
She had feltvery good about her decision to remove Teddy from this place when she’d made her grand announcement claiming to be his wife. But now, seated in Dr. Penhurst’s lavish office across from him on the other side of his massive desk, she began to have doubts.
Dr. Penhurst addressed her as if delivering a lecture. “Lady Arlington, you need to understand that people with amnesia deal with it in different ways. Some are docile, willing to be led about by those claiming a relationship with them. Some express a degree of humor over their situation. Some are fearful and timid.
“And then, there are those like Lord Arlington.”
“Like Lord Arlington?”
“He exhibits paranoia, accusing those attempting to help him of trying to harm him. He harbors anger, which he directs not only at those around him, but at himself.”
