Page 83 of Mending the Baron's Sins
“I feel well,” he assured her as she reached his side. Her hand took his shoulder protectively, and he raised a hand, placing it over hers. His strength was there once again, allowing him to press her hand back with the same vigor that she gripped him. “Trust me.” He winked. “I am well enough to leave this room, but you will not have it, will you?” he asked with a small smile.
“Indeed, I will not.” She mirrored his smile. “Aye, what kind of healer would I be if I let you out so quickly?”
“You have worked wonders,” he reminded her, standing from the chair and turning in a circle. She stood back, smiling and tilting her head to the side, examining him in detail. “I have strength again. I can walk about by myself, and I have no dizziness or nausea at all.” He shook his head, quite baffled by it all.
A few days ago, he had thought he was on the brink of death, but it seemed the knowledge that it was camphor poisoning was all Orla had needed to save him.
She tapped her chin thoughtfully now, her smile dropping from her lips.
“What is it?” he whispered. He didn’t even bother casting a wary glance toward the door this time. He was so used to having her inthis room with him, and he was confident that at this time in the evening, his staff would be below stairs.
We are quite alone.
“Colm.” Her voice deepened, and her hands fidgeted. “When I think about what he did…” she faltered, raising her hands and covering her face. “I fear you had something else in your system. Maybe it was an overdose of camphor, or something more, I’m not sure, but if Colm was trying to kill you–”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re apologizing to me!?” she spluttered, dropping her hands from her face and reaching out toward him. He laid his hands on her waist, moving to her. “You realize how mad that is?”
“I have to see him in court for this.” He gestured toward the constables’ reports behind him. “I’m sorry. I know he’s your uncle.”
“Any man should pay the price for his crime,” she said with bitterness in her voice. “I cannot forgive him for this. I thought, like me, Colm felt the purpose of his life was to save others, to help them, not to torture them!” Her breath hitched suddenly. “The only thing I fear from the constables’ searches is what will happen to my parents when word gets out about what Colm has done. They could be tainted by association with him.” She bit her lip.
The sight of her panic made Horace ache. He slid his arm more across her waist, pulling her nearer, trying to comfort her softly.
“Nothing will happen to them,” he assured her. “I’ll ask for a constable to swing by the shop if you like, to make sure they’re well.”
She nodded wordlessly, the pain still evident, then she suddenly capitulated, embracing him tightly.
“I’m so glad you have the strength to get out of that bed again.”
“As am I.” He bent down, resting his head on the top of hers and inhaling the scent of her hair. That vanilla and herbal scent returned that he so strongly associated with her. It made something in his chest practically purr at her closeness.
Don’t go anywhere, Orla. Please.
“I heard you, by the way,” he whispered softly.
“What?” She lifted her head an inch. It was just enough so that he raised his head too and they could look one another in the eye.
“When you were tending to me,” he murmured. “You talked about London.”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted.
“Did you mean it?” he asked, desperate to know that he hadn’t imagined it, that she indeed had chosen to come away with him. “Would you consider leaving this life behind, coming to start again… with me?”
She was already nodding. The enthusiasm made his heartbeat more erratically.
“Without a hesitation.”
“Oh God, Orla.” He picked up her hand from his chest and raised it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand softly.
“I don’t know what our lives in London would look like,” she said hurriedly. The words were so quick that he was convinced she had been holding this in for some time as she attended to him. “I don’t know what you picture it could be, or even what I picture it will be, but all I know is that I do want to come with you. I can’t imagine a life without you in it, Horace, and the chance to start again, far from here…” She exhaled slowly. “It’s a hope that I cannot describe.”
He turned her hand over and placed a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist. It made her tremble.
He knew that tremble. It was a shudder he had only felt from her once before, and it had happened the night he had explored her on that bed, introducing her to what pleasure was like.
I’ll marry you, Orla, if you will have me.
