Page 20 of The Duke and the Enigmatic Governess
Here he was, a peer of the realm, pressing a cold compress on a stranger’s forehead. Yet where else would he want to be?
Miss Banks gasped and turned toward him, her eyes flickering open, but then closing again. The compress applied, he reached for the invalid cup next to him and put his arm behind her to lift her body and dribble a little of the herbal tisane into the corner of her mouth.
Her body felt heavy against his arm, but he held her gently, angling the cup against her lips. Her lips moving, she took a littleof the liquid, showing no signs of awareness of him, or the room around her.
He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until he heard his own words. “Stay strong. Don’t leave.”
Her lips began to move, and he listened closely to her ramblings.
“No, I won’t marry that man.”
“Save that little girl.”
“Where are the toys? My head is spinning, spinning like a top.”
She seemed agitated, writhing almost as if in a spasm, and he reached for her hand to give comfort, gently willing her to fight and come through this crisis.
“Your Grace.”
He stopped, startled to hear her call for him.
“Don’t leave me… what’s that scent? Sandalwood and spice.”
He watched as her eyes flickered open again and she gave him a weak smile. His heart stopped; time stopped in that moment.There was only the two of them in the room with a close connection forged between them. Her blue eyes meeting his and the impression of falling, falling into deep pools of cool water. His body temperature felt hot then cooled as he felt the cooling balm of her gaze, like a cocoon.
Jude took her hands in his, almost close enough to hear her heart beating. He realized suddenly that the pulse in her wrist was a little stronger. Could it be? Was he imagining it?
No, her pulse was stronger. Was It possible she had turned a corner?
Feeling her forehead, perspiration now pouring off her, her pulse felt stronger, and her breathing had become deeper and more regular.
He felt a tear in his eye and wiped it away.
The door opened, and there was Nurse Walters, bustling in, unaware of the scene of intimate, close connection in front of her eyes.
“Look, look,” Jude cried. “I think she may be through the worst.”
Nurse Walters came to examine her patient, taking Miss Banks’ hand and nodding in agreement. “Her heart is beating morestrongly, which is a definite improvement. Let’s hope this is scarlatina and not the putrid throat.”
She busied herself mixing a powder into warm water from the little tea kettle on the stove.
“There’s white willow bark in a draught, you must help her drink it over the next hour. I’m going to rub some herbal ointment on her body.”
Jude spent the next three hours sitting beside Miss Banks, holding her hand, and talking to her about his life, his family, and his estate at Clairville Hall.
He talked of his life with his sisters. How he missed the older two, now living their own lives with their families. Alice, the sister nearest his age, and how he knew she and Miss Banks could be friends, His two youngest sisters, the twins, who had transformed the house with their antics.
Jude then talked about his horse Hermes and his dog Tess. Also, about his mama, who wanted him to marry, and how he vexed her by not complying. He had told her the story of his life.
He had faltered as he told of Papa’s sudden death when he was just fourteen, making him the Duke of Clairville, and how he missed his father every day.
Miss Banks’ pulse continued to strengthen, and eventually Nurse Walters, who had taken a rest, returned to take his place.
Nurse Walters looked at Miss Banks, feeling her pulse and her forehead before looking at Jude.
“The signs are that Dr. Carstairs was right, and Miss Banks has scarlatina, which, though serious, is not the putrid throat. Her pulse is stronger and her breathing more regular. Most importantly, her temperature has come down. I believe she is through that first crisis and the immediate danger has passed. We are not through the woods and Miss Banks is seriously ill, but she has broken through the fever and her temperature has dropped” she said, smiling.
Jude knew now, with certainty, that all he needed was for this woman, who had entered his life, to live, so he could continue getting to know her better. He realized that without her smile, her gentle insistence on how things should be done, he was lost. He remembered the connection he had felt in the library, and how he felt as though destiny had brought them together.
