Page 66 of Mending the Baron's Sins
“I cannot believe he came here,” she managed to whisper after a minute of silence. “To embarrass me like that, in front of all of you. What must your sister think? Or your cousin?”
“Don’t worry about what anyone thinks.” He shifted his hold, taking her cheeks in his hands. “All that matters is you.”
“Don’t say that,” she pleaded, shutting her eyes and blocking out the view of him. He was too kind, and far too loving in that moment. It made her heart ache all the more.
“He will not come near you again. Trust me, Orla. I will protect you from him. I promise you that.” There was a strange note in his tone. For a second, she was certain he would say something more, but he seemed to satisfy himself by pulling her back into his arms.
She went there willingly, curling into his chest.
If only he could keep me safe from Frederick.
She was beginning to think she would only feel free of Frederick if she was far away from Lancashire. If she could go to London, anywhere else, and turn her back on him for good, at least then, that would be freedom.
Yet the thought of leaving Horace made her heart ache again.
“Orla,” he whispered, “about last night, I’m sorry if I pushed you.”
“Ah, no. You didn’t push me.” She leaned back in his hold. Their hands were still upon one another, but they could look intoeach other’s eyes now. “Believe me, Horace. Last night was… amazing,” she said with a sigh.
He smiled and bent down toward her. She was so certain he was about to kiss her again. She held her breath, waiting for the moment, her eyes closing, when–
There was a firm and insistent knock at the door.
“My Lord?” Colm’s voice came from the other side.
Orla leaped back out of Horace’s hold. He held his hands up in the air, too. He gestured to her medicine bag at the side of the room, and she nodded, hurrying toward it, pretending she had been examining the vials inside and not indulging in being in his arms.
Horace opened the door.
“Ah, my lord.” Colm offered a strained smile. Orla paused as she looked at her uncle. She may not have realized it straight away, but she could see it now. His voice was strained. “It is good to see you up and about, but I admit, I am concerned.”
He strode into the room fast. His manner was odd too, almost shaky, as he put his medicine bag down beside Orla’s. “Your sister has been telling me about your active day yesterday. Yourwalk in the morning and your dinner. I hope you have not been exerting yourself too much.”
Orla kept her face averted from her uncle, feeling her cheeks burn red. Horace had done more than that. He’d gone for a second walk with her, then they had rolled together on his bed, indulging in pleasure. Yet as she looked past her uncle, it struck her how much color and strength Horace seemed to have in him. He was perhaps a little tired after the busy day yesterday, but otherwise, he seemed unusually well.
“I think it wise if I perform a full check of your health, my lord. Orla, would you wait outside, please?”
“Yes, of course.” She left the room, exchanging a small smile with Horace as she did so. He winked at her, without her uncle seeing, taking off his tailcoat as he did so.
Her eyes traced his shoulders and his arms, thinking of the way she had admired his chest as he reared above her the night before. She bit her lip as she stepped outside, wondering what more could happen between them if he continued to get better with such strength in him, and they ended up in bed together again.
“Well, I am pleased to hear you have had such a good day yesterday, my lord, but I confess I am worried.” Her uncle’s hurried words made Orla linger outside of the chamber. Sheleaned her head toward the door, listening in. “Has Orla been continuing to give you the laudanum tincture?”
“What? Oh.” Horace didn’t answer straight away. “I took it for a time, but this last week, I have not taken it much.”
“That is my concern.” Colm sighed heavily. “One good day does not mean a full recovery, my lord. I beg of you to continue your medicine.”
“Orla was concerned about a reliance on laudanum.”
“I admit, such things can be a worry, but not in your case. The laudanum is imperative to your recovery. You must continue to take it.”
Orla stepped away from the door. She felt like she had been kicked in her gut by her uncle’s efforts at treatment.
I do not like this laudanum. It is troublesome.
She backed away from the door, quite determined the next time she found herself alone with Colm, to talk to him about it.
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