Page 48 of My Highland Rogue
Chapter Eighteen
Gordon knocked softly on the door to the cottage.
Moira opened it. “Here you are with the manners of a duke, I’m thinking. Knocking on the door of your own home.”
The cottage had never felt like home to him. However, since he was carrying his valises and needed a place to stay, it seemed a foolish thing to say.
“Your father’s having a bad night,” she said, her eyes filled with concern. “I’ve had to give him a second dose of laudanum, but it doesn’t seem to help.”
“I thought he was doing better.”
“He was, but that’s how it sometimes goes. The better they do one day is how much worse they are later.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Hot pads,” she said. “They’re the only thing that seems to help even a little.”
He put his valises in the empty second bedroom. The only furniture there was the cot he had used as a boy. He returned to the kitchen area, where Moira showed him how to dunk ragsin boiling water and then wring them out using two sticks.
“Take care that you don’t burn yourself,” she said. “I’m not wanting another patient tonight.”
He promised with a smile, then realized that he shouldn’t have been so quick to reassure her. Getting the rags wet wasn’t a problem. Retrieving them from the boiling water and then manipulating the two sticks proved to be a challenging task. By the time he finished with one, Moira was returning to his side with rags that had already cooled.
Sean’s moans kept him working. Finally, several hours later, Sean fell into a drug-induced sleep. Moira sat at the table and placed her head on her arms. Gordon let her rest while he removed the pot of boiling water from the stove and dumped it out. Once that was done, he wrung out the rags and hung them on the line beside the window.
From what he’d witnessed during the past few hours, he suspected that the end was probably near. Perhaps it might even be a blessing.
He stood in the doorway of Sean’s room for a few minutes, looking at the drawn and pale face of his sleeping father. The soft knock on the door made him turn his head. Jennifer entered and talked with Moira for a moment before approaching him. Her hand reached out and grabbed his arm in wordless comfort.
“I didn’t know what Harrison had done, Gordon. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry. It was best that I was here anyway.”
Together they entered Sean’s room. Jennifer satas Gordon picked up the second chair beneath the window and moved it to the other side of the bed. He covered Sean’s work-worn, gnarled hand with his own, grateful that the Adaire family had cared for his father when he hadn’t.
A moment later he looked over at Jennifer. “Tonight has taught me something. How fleeting life can be. Marry me. Marry me, Jennifer. Be my wife. Be my partner. Be my sounding board and my most trusted ally. Be my friend and my lover.”
She stared at him wide-eyed.
“We would have to live in London, but hopefully that isn’t a problem. If it is, I can make other arrangements. I have a few managers I trust implicitly.”
“London?”
He nodded. “I’ll give you the world. Whatever you want, Jennifer. You won’t suffer for anything. I promise.”
He was babbling. If it had been anyone but Jennifer, he would’ve stopped himself before now. It sounded as if he was begging, and he probably was. Yet he didn’t have any pride when it came to her, not when she looked at him with such radiance in her eyes.
She had to say yes.
“Marry me,” he said again. “I promise you we’ll be happy. As happy as we were all those years ago. Happier, perhaps.”
“Oh, Gordon, don’t you know how much I love you? You don’t even need to ask. You could simply take my hand and lead me to a carriage, andI’d go anywhere with you. These last five years without you have been miserable.”
“You’ll marry me?” He wanted the exact words. He wanted her to say it in such a way that there was no question.
She squeezed his hand. “Yes. A thousand times yes. A thousand times a thousand times. Yes, I’ll marry you. Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of being your wife?”
Sean blinked open his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling, then seemed to realize where he was.
