Page 79 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
He stood and paced the length of the room several times, trying to burn off his excess energy. When he sat again, he removed the cloth from her forehead. She was no longer quite so sweaty, and he didn’t want to chill her.
“Longley and the horse, Trident, were the best parts of my life, growing up. Don’t tell Longley that, though, or I’ll never hear the end of it. My parents were… shall we say, absent?”
Technically, his father had been physically present more often than not, but mentally and emotionally, he was far beyond Vaughan’s reach. He’d been obsessed with his wife. Buying her the perfect gifts, showering her with jewels, and knowing where she was at every moment.
Not that he actually did anything about it if she was with another man. He just seemed to enjoy torturing himself with the information.
“What am I going to do about you?” Vaughan mused.“I don’t want to hurt you. I did make it clear at the beginning that I wasn’t looking for love.”
She shivered, and for a moment, he thought she’d heard him. But then she shivered again, a full-body shudder that rolled through her so violently, he feared she was suffering a seizure.
“It’s all right,” he murmured, drawing the bedspread up to her shoulders. “You’re going to be fine.”
She’d damn well better be. He’d gone to the effort of getting a wife and caring for her through her sickness. She couldn’t give up now. He reached beneath the blankets and clasped her clammy hand in his, and at some point, he fell asleep.
A knock at the door woke him.
“Your Grace,” Dr. Edmund called.
“Come in,” Vaughan replied, blinking himself back to full consciousness.
The doctor strode inside, his gaze already seeking out Emma. As he drew closer, he scrutinized her from head to toe, then he grabbed her wrist and took her pulse.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but she’s doing as well as can be expected,” he said. “Another day or two, and the fever should be gone.”
Vaughan slumped. God, he hoped so. He was tired. Sleeping on the chair beside her bed had left him quite unrested, but he’d never have been able to abandon her in order to get a proper night’s sleep. He couldn’t let her down like that when he was already disappointing her in other ways.
The doctor left, and Vaughan continued his vigil for another long day. His only company was Daisy, who brought him meals.
When there was no change by nightfall, he requested his evening meal be served in the duchess’s bedchamber and he didn’t take his eyes off her while he ate.
Eventually, he moved to the chaise and huddled beneath a blanket in an effort to get some sleep—even a little bit would help. But almost as soon as he’d left her side, Emma began to thrash.
He rushed to her, moving the candle on the nightstand closer. Her forehead was damp, and the bedclothes around her were saturated with sweat.
She whimpered and threw her head back. Vaughan reached for her, but then stopped himself. He didn’t know whether it would be best to try to wake her or to let her sleep. He sent for the doctor.
Dr. Edmund appeared in his nightshirt. He frowned when he saw Emma, which didn’t bode well. He checked her over and shook his head.
“I’m afraid all we can do is wait to see if the fever breaks,” he said.
Vaughan’s jaw clenched. He hadn’t missed the fact that Dr. Edmund had said “if.” Previously, it had been “when.”
“Is she getting worse?” he demanded.
The doctor shrugged. “As I’ve said, it’s difficult to tell. The fact that she’s taken a turn like this could mean she’s getting through the worst of it and expelling the fever from her system, or….”
“Or?” Vaughan prompted grimly.
“Or it could mean that the fever has got its claws into her,” Dr. Edmund admitted.
Vaughan felt rooted to the spot. He stared at the other man, his stomach rock hard.
“No. She’ll be all right.” He flopped onto the chair beside her, his heart racing frantically. “Do you hear that, Emma? Youwillbe all right.”
Wisely, the doctor left.
Vaughan couldn’t look away from the pale countenance of his wife. A voice in the back of his mind whispered that if he did so, he might lose her.
