Page 19 of Duke in Shining Armor
“Aye, my lady.”
“Which brings me to the next point. I am sure you are wondering why we are here, and why we did not return to Windemere.”
A frown touched her maid’s face. “I wished to speak to you about it, my lady.”
“There are things you are not privy to, Helen, and I am not at liberty to disclose such. Suffice it to say that I made the decision after giving it much thought. It is important for me to go to finishing school in Switzerland and be presented next season. It must be next season.”
“I see,” Helen replied.
“Returning to Windemere would only have caused my parents a great deal of worry so I decided not to cause them concern. Therefore, at the time Dr. Blackwell advised my ankle would need time to recover, I thought this would be the best course of action.”
Catherine glanced at Helen wondering if she understood.
“What did your parents say of this?”
She took a steady breath. “They do not know, Helen. I did not inform them.”
Her jaw slackened in surprise. “You did not?”
“If I had, they would have insisted we return to Windemere. Although these dreadful circumstances were not of our making, I feared letting them down.”
Helen appeared mortified.
“We are both on the mend, Helen, and we will shortly be able to move on. There is no point in distressing everyone now.”
Helen did not argue with her further that day. They had come to a tacit agreement for Helen did not comment on it again, and she seemed dedicated to her recovery.
Catherine’s own progress was moving exceedingly well. The physician had only this morning removed the bandage from her ankle. It remained swollen and stiff so the physician said she should give it more time to fully recover. He left a liniment, and an ointment to be applied, with instructions for her to exercise her ankle. He demonstrated the exercises she should do daily to make her ankle stronger.
Now that the bandage was off, she realized she was well on the way to being healed and thoughts of Switzerland entered her mind.
Catherine had enquired after the library and learned it was on this very floor. She would walk there, thus exercising her ankle while availing herself of a reading volume. She slowly made her way down the hall using a cane the physician had given her for support. She was surprised at the effort it took because there was weakness in her feet.
She entered the library and found it to be spacious and airy. The bookshelves were taller than herself, but not quite to the ceiling, for above the shelves were portraits of James’s family. She moved closer so that she may study them, discerning where there was a resemblance.
As she turned to view the rest of the room, she saw a cozy fireplace, a large desk, leather armchairs and a chaise longue. She inhaled the scent of the books as she slowly moved around the shelves studying the volumes. She felt at peace here. After selecting her volume, she made herself comfortable on the chaise longue and began reading. She read for a few hours and was quite enjoying the volume when her eyelids began feeling heavy. Catherine decided she would rest her eyes, but only for a moment.
Through a sleepy fog she became aware of another presence in the room. Her eyes remained closed, and she realized she had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and found she was looking straight at James, those beautiful hazel eyes gazing at her intently. She felt a tightness in her chest, as she slowly released her breath, only for it to become shallow again. She dared not speak for a moment so her breathing would return to normal.
“I see you are able to move about freely, Catherine. Are you in pain?”
“Only a dull throb,” she said as she sat in a supine position. “The physician advised more time was needed for recovery, and I ought not to exert it, but I am able to move about.”
Catherine decided to ask him what had been on her mind these past several days.
“I have not laid eyes on you for some time, James. I missed our sparring on the going on in Parliament. All is well?”
“Yes, Catherine. I have been occupied with matters of the estate.” Catherine noticed he was watching her intently.
“I see. Is that all? I thought mayhap you did not wish to visit with me because of ... er… well, the kiss.”
He moved to sit at her side on the chaise longue.
“Let me,” he said as he held her ankle in his palm and took full measure of it, prodding and poking.
“Are you ignoring my question?” she asked, her heart pounding.
“No,” he murmured without lifting his head. “I merely need to see how well you are healing.”
