Her Counterfeit Husband (32 page)

A
fter dinner that evening, Anna slipped into Appleton’s room.
  Despite the footman’s protests that she needed to stay away from Appleton in case she caught his illness, she knew better.  She’d never caught it from her first husband, and
s
he wouldn’t catch it from Appleton.

T
hough the maid had cleaned the
bowl he’d vomited in, she
caught the foul smell in the air. 
But the smell mattered little to her compared to the sad state he was in. 
She shut the door softly behind her and approached his bed.
 
After all he’d done for her…all he’d saved her from…  He d
idn’t deserve this.

He opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction.  Forcing a smile, he said, “I was hoping you’d come.”

She grabbed a chair and pulled it up to his bed.  Grabbing his hand, she pressed her forehead to it and cried. 
“Appleton…”

With his other ha
nd, he patted her hair.  “Your G
race, I’ve lived a full and happy life.  I’m grateful you’ve been the duchess of this estat
e and that you found love with His G
race.  He’ll return.  There’s no doubt in my mind about that.  And when he does, he’ll comfort you.”

“No!  Don’t talk like that.  You can’t leave me.  You must hold
on.  There has to be a way we can get you better.  There must be some medicine we haven’t tried.”

“
I have no regrets.”

She lifted her head.  “Stop talking like that!”

He sighed and looked at her with his caring eyes.  “It might not be my time, but if it is, I need you to know I’m all right with the way things ended.”

She shook her head and bolted to her feet.  “I can’t believe you’ve given up.  You need to fight this thing.  You have to try.”

“I am trying, Your G
race.  I
just want you to know
I only wish the best for you.”

Wiping her eyes, she turned her back to him.  Would she ever stop crying?  It seemed all she could do was cry.  Surely, at some point she’d have no more tears.  Her gaze fell to the empty pitcher by his bed.  Taking a deep breath, she picked it up.  “Do you think you can drink anything?”

“I might.  Sometimes I can keep liquids down.”

“I’ll bring more water.
”

She headed out of the room and placed the pitcher on the kitchen table
.  Since the kitchen was vacant for the moment, she retrieved a fresh pitcher and filled it with water.  When she returned to Appleton’s room, she reached for the glass on the bedside table but knocked it over by acci
dent.  It shattered on the floor
. 
With a sigh
, she left the pitcher on the table and cleaned up the broken
glass.  Afterwards, she returned to the kitchen and asked the maid for a glass before she returned to Appleton’s room.

Fortunately,
she was able to pour him a glass of water this time
.  After she helped him sit up, she gave him the glass.  “If you sip it, it might stay down.”

He nodded and did as she
instructed.
 
He took a few sips and
pushed the glass away.  “I’m done.”

She set the glass back on the table and helped him settle back into bed.  “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

“Your G
race, there’s no need for that.  You need your rest.”

“I can rest as easily here as I can
in my bedchamber
.”

“But you need sleep.”

“No.” She shook her head.  “I haven’t slept well since Jason left, and I can’t sleep at all now that you’re ill.”

“You have a child on the way, Your G
race.”

With a sigh, she pulled the covers up to his neck.  “I know, Appleton.  I haven’t forgotten.  I can’t will myself to sleep, but I feel better when I can be here with you to see how you’r
e doing.  Do you want me to close the curtains
?”

“Yes, but I also want you to rest.  The footman and maid have been coming in to help me.”

“Then I won’t do much more than keep you company, much like you kept me company when I
had given up on everything.”

She didn’t want to say any more about the night she tried to kill herself, and she didn’t have to.  He understood.  She saw it in his eyes.

“You don’t want to give up on life
, do you?” he softly asked.

“No. 
I deserve what I’m going through.  I shouldn’t have hid my first husband’s death
,” she whispered.

“You mustn’t feel that way.  You did the only thing you could do.  It was the best decision you could have made.  We both know what Lord Mason would have done to you and to this estate
if he’d taken over
.”

She inwardly shivered.  “I don’t trust him.
  Even now, I can’t help but think he’s up to something, and if I knew what that something was, I might scream.
”
Turning from him, she went to the curtains and pulled them closed, casting the room into darkness, save for a single candle that was lit on his bedside table.  She returned to him and sat by his bed.  “Is there anything you need?”

“No.  I expect it to
be a long night.”

Probably.  She wouldn’t expect it to be an easy one.  Her gaze went to the cleaned bowl within his reach.  It was a stark reminder of how ill he was, and it filled her with dread that he might need it.  But there was nothing she could do exce
pt stay with him and help him, which was exactly what she’d do.

***

“Your Grace?  Your G
race?”

Anna slowly came out of sleep, barely aware that someone was gently shaking her shoulder.  She l
ifted her head, wondering when she’d drifted off.  She recalled the clock chiming midnight and watching Appleton as he slept after he finally managed to drink a full glass of water.
She straightened in the chair and faced the laundry maid.

“What time is it?” she asked, rubbing the kink out of her neck.

“It’s seven in the morning.”

She studied Appleton who remained asleep and leaned forward.  She couldn’t be sure, but he seemed to have gotten some of his color back.  “Open the curtains.”

The maid hurried to do her bidding.

Anna didn’t recall Appleton vomiting at any point in the night, but to be sure, she checked the bowl and saw it was still empty.
  When she turned her gaze back to his face, she was assured that the color had, indeed, returned to his cheeks.

“Are there any soiled shee
ts or clothes for me to clean, Your G
race?” the maid asked her.

“No.  Everything’s clean.”

Appleton shifted in the bed, and the maid came up beside Anna to study him.  “He looks better this morning,” the maid commented and touched his forehead.
  “His fever is gone.”

Encouraged, Anna waited
until Appleton opened his eyes to ask, “How are you feeling?”

He swallowed and sat up.  She hurried to help him, but he stopped her.  “I
can do it.  I feel better.  In fact, I think I’m hungry.”

Anna’s heart leapt with excitement.  Her first husband never had an appetite when he was sick. 
“You are?”

He nodded, and the maid
headed for the door.  “I’ll ask Cook to make some soup.”

Once she left, Anna took another good look at him.  “Do you really feel well enough to eat?”

“Yes, but not much.”

“That didn’t happen with my first husband,” she whispered.

“I’m aware of that.” He smiled.  “It looks like y
our luck is changing.  Perhaps His G
race will arrive today.”

She wished that were the case, but for the moment, her concern was for Appleton’s improved health.  “Is there anything I can do?”

“I wouldn’t mind another glass of water, and after that, I’d like f
or you to get some rest and eat.
”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”
She reached for the pitcher by his bed and poured him a glass of water.  “I’ll fill this up and bring more water.”

“You might as well have the footman or maid do it.”

“I don’t mind doing it, Appleton, and to be honest, I’m so relieved you’re bet
ter that I suddenly have a lot of
energy.  I need to do something with it.”

He sighed.  “I really hope you’ll get some rest.”

“I will.  I promise.” She held the glass to him, and he took it before she left the room to get him more water.

***

After Anna got some re
st, she ate a full meal
and
went to Appleton’s room
.  She knocked on the door as she entered
it
, and he looked over at her and smiled.

“I hear you were able to keep the soup down,” she said as she sat beside him.

“I did
.  I’m about to have more.”

The tension left her muscles and she return
ed his smile.  “That’s wonderful to hear
.”

The footman came to the door with a pitch
er of water.  “Your G
race,” he slowly stated and glanced at the pitcher on the bedside table.  “I didn’t realize you’d be in here.  I see Appleton already has enough water.”

“Yes, I do.  Thank you for thinking of me, Fieldman,” Appleton replied.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” Fieldman softly stated.  Clearing his throat, he added, “I’ll send more when you need it.”  He turned to Anna.  “In the meantime,
Lord Mason is here to see you, Your G
race.”

Her good mood took a nosedive.  “Is he?”

“Perhaps I ought to get out of this bed and walk around a bit,” Appleton said.

“No,” she quickly replied.  “You need your rest.  I don’t want you to have a relapse.  Fieldman
, send
some tea
to the drawing room
.”

The footman
nodded.  “Of course, Your G
race.”

After Fieldman left with his pitcher, she patted Appleton’s hand.  “I’ll keep him in the room with me, so I won’t have to be alone with Lord Mason.  I hope to be back shortly.”

“Tread carefully, Your G
race.”

“I will,” she assured him before
she stood
up and strode out of t
he room
.

As she entered the drawing room, Lord Mason rose
from a chair and bowed.  “Your G
race.”

She gave the obligatory curtsy.  “What brings you here today, Lord Mason?”

“I came to see
if my brother has returned yet.
”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“That must be some trip to France.”

She shrugged and averted her gaze from his, glad that the footman didn’t take long in bringing them their tea.  “Thank you, Fieldman,” she told h
im as she motioned for him to pour tea into the cups
and sat down
.
  “Have a seat.”

Lord Mason glanced at the footman
before he sat across from her.

“
I notice you’ve been coming by a lot lately,” she told him as she
accepted the cup from Fieldman.

Lord Mason took the cup Fieldman offered him.  “Yes.  That butler of y
ours was a formidable
wall with the way he prevented me from talking to you.”

“He meant no disrespect.  I haven’t felt up to receiving visitors in my condition.  He did inform you that I’m expecting a child
, didn’t he
?”

“Yes, he did.  I suppose congratulations are in order.  I think it’s strange my brother would leave you alone as soon as you told him
the news.  After all the time it’s taken you to conceive, you’d think he would be telling everyone the good news.”