Page 18 of Sacrificing the Untamed Lady Henrietta
“Yes, General.”
In her weakened state, Henrietta had not noticed the abigail had also entered her quarters.
“Well?” Aaron demanded of his daughter. “Was this a man you knew?”
“I…I did not see his face,” she mumbled.
“I thought you did see his face.” He was attempting, quite unsuccessfully, to keep the exasperation from his voice.
“I…I saw the profile!” Henrietta exclaimed. “A man…”
“What of his hair? His eyes?”
“I…” she thought about the man in the window. “Blue…like my own.”
“But I thought you did not see him clearly,” Aaron replied, and exasperation almost overtook her feeling of fear.
“Father, I swear it—there is a man running from the house as we speak! Why would he be looking through the windows if his intentions were pure?”
Aaron sighed and adjusted the covers about her as though she was a small child.
“Henny, when one is sick, oftentimes, one’s mind will play tricks. I believe you thought you saw such a man, but I assure you, he was not there.”
“Oh, my poor darling,” Tabitha muttered. “All will be well soon. You rest now.”
Her parents did not believe her, that much was clear, and no matter how much she tried to convince them otherwise, they remained steadfast in their belief that she was simply babbling from the fever.
“Shh,” Tabitha murmured, touching her face with cool hands. She gave her husband a worried look. “Aaron, she is rife with hot.”
He rose from the bedside where he had perched and moved toward the door. For the first time in her life, she thought she saw a glow of fear on her father’s stern face, but of course, that could not be so. Her father was an army general, one who had seen battles all throughout England and France—he did not know fear. Henrietta, however, could not shake the terror that the face in the window had brought along with it.
“I will go for Dr. Slater myself,” Aaron told his family. “Tabitha, remain with her until I return.”
He disappeared into the corridor as Tabitha turned back to her daughter, murmuring comfortingly.
“Close your eyes, darling,” she cooed. “All will be well.”
Henrietta had little choice to oblige her mother, but when she did close her lids again, the image of the wide-eyed stranger instantly surfaced in her mind’s eye.
Who was he and what did he want?She wondered, her heart thudding in her chest. She tried desperately to get a clearer picture of him in her thoughts, but it was futile, her faculties cloudy.
It does not matter,a small voice whispered at her.You will see him again.
Chapter 7
Two Weeks Later
It was the night before the wedding, and Ewan found himself surrounded among noblemen whom he had not seen in over a year. While he was there in body, his mind was anywhere but on the imbibing and boisterous laughter of the bachelor party around him. While he sported a drink of his own, Ewan could not bring himself to enjoy the festivities around him. He was vaguely aware of how the Duke watched him with intensity, perhaps anticipating some production of emotion, but Ewan was unsure of how he felt. In the morning, the Olivers would come with Miss Oliver, and the wedding would proceed as planned.
To Ewan, it seemed the time had snuck upon him, that he had not had enough time to prepare for the nuptials, but of course, that was not the case. A month was ample time for him to get himself right for the inevitable union.
“You seem rather deflated for a bridegroom on his wedding night,” Lord Averson declared. “You must have another drink.”
“If I have any more, I will sleep through my wedding day,” Ewan quipped, but he did not refuse when the earl handed him a glass of port.
“I have, on occasion, laid eyes upon Miss Oliver,” Averson told him conspiratorially. Ewan found himself staring at the man who, in mid-life, still considered himself a youngster. The words piqued his curiosity.
“Have you?” he asked, attempting nonchalance but failing terribly. He would be lying to declare he was not interested in the woman he was to marry.
