Page 43 of A Wicked Duke's Redemption
“Do you?”
“I thought the bite might be far more serious than it is.”
“I did, too,” Leo said. “It certainlyfeelslike it ought to be serious.”
Violet opened the jar and coated her fingers with the strange substance. A sharp, medicinal scent filled the room. Leo tensed as Violet’s fingertips grazed over the snake bite. Searing pain shot up his leg, and he clenched his jaw.
“Are you all right?” Violet asked. “Did I hurt you?”
Leo sighed. “No, keep applying the salve. I am unsure if there is any way you can do it without hurting me.”
Violet’s face softened. “I am so sorry,” she said. “If I had been careful, you would not have had to pull me away from the snake.”
Despite the pain, Leo felt a warm rush of fondness. “You do not need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. Anyone could miss a snake, and besides, it is not as if you pushed me towards it. It was just bad luck that the snake bit me.”
“I still feel terrible about it.”
She rubbed more of the salve onto his ankle, and Leo tilted his head back. He squeezed his eyes closed and forced himself to steady his breath and to focus on the feeling of Violet’s fingers and the salve rather than the pain from his injury. Steadily, the pain faded and was instead replaced with a cold numbness. It felt like touching ice. He opened his eyes.
Violet closed the jar again and smiled. “It seems that there will be no more walks for some time.”
“Indeed. I suppose that is no great loss. I already spend most of my days in my study anyway,” Leo said.
That was not entirely true, though. Over the past month, he only went to his study when it was necessary to work. He spent the rest of his time with Violet. Leo winced when he thought about losing all of that. The two of them had come so far with one another, and now, it seemed that snake bite might very well reopen that distance between them.
“Nothing makes one so inclined to activity as finding out that one cannot be active,” Violet said.
“You sound as if you know that.”
“I do,” Violet replied. “My mother, at the start of her illness, was like that.”
“I see.”
“And like when my mother was ill, I suppose I shall have to keep you company,” Violet said, “especially given that you are unable to walk. Poor Leo.”
She placed the salve onto a nearby table and pulled her chair nearer to him. Leo shifted a little, putting his weight on his forearms. Laying on the settee for any length of time did not seem like a comfortable prospect, but he also was not eager to walk to his room—especially when Violet had just resolved to keep him company.
“And how do you intend to entertain me?” he asked.
“With my charming conversation, naturally.”
“Naturally.”
Violet hummed. “You have mentioned London a couple of times now, and I have wondered where else you have traveled.”
“Ah,” Leo said. “All over England. Wales and Scotland. I have also spent some time in Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. For a brief period, I stayed in Greece.”
“Greece! It sounds like a marvelous place,” Violet said.
“What do you think sounds so wonderful about it?”
“Everything,” Violet replied. “I have always wanted to travel. I am thinking about all the literature which comes from there, though. All the poets. When I read, I want to see the places which inspired such beautiful words.”
Leo slowly nodded. “I understand that.”
“Which place was your favorite?”
Leo shrugged. “I have pondered that question myself, but I have never been able to find a suitable answer. Every place has its own appeal, its own heartbeat. Comparing cities and countries is like asking a man to decide if he prefers the autumn or the summer. Both are equally beautiful in very different ways.”
