Part 17 (1/2)

He was only wearing his breeches. And holding his crumpled s.h.i.+rt over his face.

'Stephen,' she whispered, shutting the door softly behind her and making her way across to the bed. From a new tension that seized his body, she could tell he knew she was there, but he made no sound. She reached out her hand to check for fever. But before she could touch him, his hand shot out and he grabbed her wrist.

'What do you want with me?' he snarled through clenched teeth, as though even the act of speaking caused him pain.

'To help you if I can,' she replied. He moaned, and let her go, pressing the s.h.i.+rt more firmly over his eyes. 'I know you probably only came here to cause me trouble...'

A ragged laugh escaped his pale lips. 'I am already paying for what I planned to do to you. You can leave now.'

Instead of leaving, Midge went to the bell pull and tugged hard. She did not care what he thought of her. She would not abandon a chance acquaintance in an inn where n.o.body cared for anything but how his bill was to be paid, let alone her only true blood brother.

'Tell me what you need,' she insisted, pulling a chair up to the side of the bed.

'Nothing,' he spat, his eyes still fast shut. 'n.o.body.'

Tentatively, she laid her hand on his shoulder. His body was warm, but not burning as though he had a fever.

'I can tell your head hurts,' she said. He could not bear to open his eyes, though he had deliberately darkened the room, nor speak above a hoa.r.s.e whisper. 'I am going to order some coffee,' she said briskly. She did not usually have much sympathy for men who drank them selves into such a state. But he had n.o.body else to take care of him.

And there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

n.o.body else who needed her.

When the chamber maid arrived, she ordered coffee and some oil of lavender so that she could bathe Stephen's temples with it. The maid looked past her at Stephen's p.r.o.ne body.

'How you plan paying for it?'

Midge took a breath, and counted to three before answering. 'I am Viscountess Mildenhall. I am certain that, should my brother not have the money on his person, a bill presented to the estate will be settled without question!'

The maid pursed her lips. 'Starting up again is it? Only 'twas the countess herself used to meet her fancy men here before.' She smirked, then lowered her voice, leaning in as though sharing a confidence. 'If'n you don't want this getting about, dearie, you need to bring the readies next time.' She sauntered off down the corridor, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

Midge shut the door, appalled by the chambermaid's a.s.sumption she was here to embark on a clan des tine affair, and and to learn that the twins' mother had, indeed, taken lovers. In this very inn! When it was so close to Shevington Court. And so very busy. She must have been determined to inflict as much pain and humiliation upon the earl as she possibly could. to learn that the twins' mother had, indeed, taken lovers. In this very inn! When it was so close to Shevington Court. And so very busy. She must have been determined to inflict as much pain and humiliation upon the earl as she possibly could.

Though, having endured that un warranted attack this morning, Midge grudgingly admitted she could actually understand what had driven her to take such a drastic form of revenge.

'You have ruined your reputation in this locale by coming to me,' grated Stephen from the bed. She turned round, to see him staring at her, an unfathomable expression on his face.

She shrugged. The locals would have seen Monty's carriage pa.s.sing by this inn on his way to London. They might very well a.s.sume she had taken the first opportunity after her husband's departure to fly to the bed of her lover.

The earl, she grimaced, most certainly would!

'I do not care,' she said defiantly. The earl had already decided she was wanton, without a shred of evidence. Accused her of crimes she would never have dreamed of committing, judging her on hearsay about her parents and condemning her to solitary confinement in her room.

What was one more crime, to add to all the other charges? She She knew she was completely innocent! knew she was completely innocent!

'You are my brother. And that is all that matters to me.'

He stared up at her, his eyes dark with suspicion and hostility. But presently, he shut them, and said, 'Sometimes, I get some relief if my sister runs her fingers through my hair.'

Midge crept back to the bed, her heart bounding with hope. She stood quite still for a few seconds, gazing down at the proud, shuttered face, and then, taking all her courage in her hands, set her fingers to his temples, and swept them firmly across his scalp to the crown of his head. He heaved a sigh that was almost a groan. But he did not push her hands away this time. Again and again she ran her fingers through his dark, luxuriant hair, until she saw his great scarred shoulders sag into the pillows, as though he was letting go of some oppressive weight. It was only then that the import of his words struck her. He had another sister. One with whom he was on intimate terms. One that he went to, when he was ill.

'My sister,' he had said. Not 'my other sister.'

She stopped working on his scalp, imagining a girl who looked just like him. For somehow, she knew this other sister of whom he spoke came from his mother's people. The people he felt he belonged to. Else why would he take such pains to emphasize his origins? He could easily have cut his hair fas.h.i.+onably short. Nor was there any need to sport such a large, showy gold hoop in his left ear. Or wear clothes that were so colourful and cut in such an exotic style.

Stephen carried on breathing steadily, and she saw that the furrow between his brows was gone. He was asleep. She pulled his s.h.i.+rt from his slackened grasp, shook it out and draped it over the back of a chair, wondering if there had been anyone to do as much for Gerry in his last days.

The thought of Gerry sent an immense wave of grief cras.h.i.+ng over her. And now that there was nothing more for her to do and nowhere else to run, she found the urge to break down and weep impossible to with stand any longer. She clenched her fists, and went over to the window which had a broad sill, upon which several frayed and rather greasy cus.h.i.+ons were scattered. She took one and sat down, drew up her knees and buried her face in it. If she could no longer contain herself, the least she could do was m.u.f.fle the sound of her sobs, so that she did not disturb Stephen. From time to time, she raised her head long enough to glance across at him. But nothing roused him. Not even the return of the chamber maid with the coffee, though not the lavender oil. Midge shrugged fatalistically. Sleep was probably the best remedy for whatever ailed him anyway.

She gulped down the coffee herself, between sobs, then drooped her way back to the window seat. She meant to keep watch over Stephen, but she could hardly keep her eyes open. Though that was not surprising considering she had hardly slept a wink the night before. And today, instead of taking her customary nap to make up for it, she had spent the afternoon smas.h.i.+ng pottery, hiking across country and providing land lords and chamber maids food for gossip. And the bout of weeping had drained her of what little energy she'd had left.

She rearranged one or two of the cus.h.i.+ons to pillow her head, and settled into a more com fort able position, feeling like a dish rag wrung out and hung limply over a line.

And woke with a start when Stephen reached over her, to yank the curtains open.

'Good morning,' he said dryly.

Midge rubbed her eyes, then winced at the pain that shot down her neck when she tried to move her head. The cus.h.i.+ons she had so care fully arranged the night before were scattered all over the floor, and she had woken with her face wedged against the window sill.

'Morning?' she repeated groggily. It seemed impossible, yet the sluggish grey light of a new day was definitely oozing through the grimy windows.

Stephen stalked to the wash stand, poured water into a basin, and nonchalantly began to wash himself. Her shocked eyes roamed his naked torso, her heart welling up with pity. She had seen battle scars on her husband's body, so she recognized the suffering that all those crisscrossed silvery lines represented. If she had not known better, she would have thought he had been a soldier. A bullet had most definitely caused the ragged wound on his shoulder. It was so very like the one that Monty bore.

'Why did you come?' said Stephen, his back still towards her as he reached for a silver-handled razor.

Midge did not pause to think about her answer. She had been bereft and alone, and he had sent for her. 'I have n.o.body else.'

'What of your wealthy husband?' Stephen sneered, wielding the razor with frighteningly lethal speed.

'Gone to London.'

He dipped the razor in the water, rinsing away the soap.

'And what now?'

'I suppose,' she said hesitantly, 'you wish me to leave now you are well again. Though...' she pushed at one of the cus.h.i.+ons with her toes '...you came down here to see me. Did you not? You must have had some reason for seeking me out.'

Oh, how she wished he would say he had regretted causing trouble for her at the wedding. And that, because he was her brother, he wanted them to be on good terms again!

But his face, as he turned to her, was harsh, not repentant.

'I wanted to know about what was said at the wedding.' When she frowned in confusion, he said impatiently, 'About your mother. That she told your step father to search for me. That when she heard I had died in the fire...' He turned abruptly, s.n.a.t.c.hed up his s.h.i.+rt and dragged it over his head.

'She made me think she cared for me,' he snarled, jerkily doing up his s.h.i.+rt. 'That she thought of me as her son. And then she tossed me out like a piece of rubbish as soon as my father died!'

Midge leapt to her feet. 'She did not! When our father was murdered, she became very ill. Her father, my Grandpapa Herriard, came and took her back to his house to look after her. He He was the one who sent you away. By the time she was well enough to come to the nursery to see us all, it was too late. You weren't there any more.' was the one who sent you away. By the time she was well enough to come to the nursery to see us all, it was too late. You weren't there any more.'