“Do you feel in need of another dose?” She picked up a glass from the bedside table and filled it with water from a porcelain pitcher and held it out.
“What does a lady of noble standing like you know of caregiving to the infirm?” he said without heat. He drank the glass dry and handed it back.
She set it on the table, giving him her profile with a pert nose that turned up at the end. “My late husband was ill for a time before he… expired.”
“So, you are not married?”
“Not any longer.”
“That doesn’t explain why you are here.”
“I’m thinking of applying for the position of your new nurse.”
“New position? Where is my old nurse?”
“Currently being sacked, I suspect.”
That tidbit stunned him. “More water,” he choked out.
She complied, handing him a glass half filled, then slipped an arm beneath his head to assist him, inundating him with a soft floral scent of hothouse roses. “My sister is letting the dragon go?”
“That was the impression I received.”
“And you wish to take over the dragon’s position? What on earth would possess—”
She cast him a mysterious smile complete with full plump lips. “You must not remember Lady Ingleby.”
“Lady Ingleby?” The name was familiar, but no image came to mind. And then it did. “Tall, large, loud woman.”
“Overbearing, insistent, pretentious? That’s her.”
Harlowe studied her calm countenance. “What about her?”
“She’s my mother. After my husband’s death, while he provided for me, there were no properties in which I could reside. My father passed long before, and my mother, well, she has a way of leveling guilt that riddles me with remorse. Now she drags me to every rout, soiree, musicale, and ball, parading me before every reprobate in theton.”
“So, she made you feel guilty as mothers are wont to do.”
“Yes. Didn’t yours?”
“I think she was much too lenient on me. It was Lorelei who took on the guilt-laying tasks.” He felt a smile in his chest at her appalled expression, though the muscles on his face didn’t seem to be in working order. “Don’t look at me like that. Lorelei did an excellent imitation of exerting her will over me.”
A grin broke across her face. “Yes, I can see that quite clearly. She’s a harridan for sure.”
For a moment, he stared, mesmerized as the fire cast a soft glow over her skin. “What?”
“Lorelei. A harridan. Everyone knows Lady Kimpton is an absolute shrew.” She picked up the pitcher and poured more water and handed it to him. “So, how do you feel about my taking charge of your convalescence?”
“If you are instrumental in helping me recover my memory—” He stopped as the anxiety seeped back in.
“You can’t remember…?” Her voice trailed off in a question.
“Not much of the past year, at least to Lorelei’s satisfaction.”Or my own.He spoke with a deceptive lightness. “So I should be eternally grateful for your assistance. Besides being much easier on the eyes, my lady.”
“Well, the lighting in here is dim,” she returned with a slight frown marring her brow.
One he found he wouldn’t mind easing away.
Two
