‘No, no—do not apologise. Your laughter has eased me, and despite a little exaggeration to your sister, the fact remains. Robert does have a nasty fever—and such fevers have been known to kill even strong men.’
‘Not when my sister is in charge,’ Amy said confidently. ‘She has such plans for Christmas, because she is determined to make up to us for all the sadness we have endured these past months. I am certain she will bully the poor man into getting well. Selina can be a very dragon when she likes, you know.’
‘And there was me thinking she was an angel,’ Henry said, and laughed softly.
‘Oh, she is that too,’ Amy said, with the affection that never lay far from the surface. ‘But do not make the mistake of thinking she is as mild and gentle as she appears. The earl will discover that when she says “swallow your medicine”, he will swallow if he knows what is good for him.’
Henry laughed. ‘I almost pity him,’ he said. ‘Yet again I think it may be exactly what he needs to bring him back from the shadows.’
CHAPTER SIX
‘SHE is worse than Major Barton,’ Robert grumbled when Henry brought water to shave him some days later. ‘I tell you, Nor, you have no idea what she’s put me through this past week. I have been forced to swallow the vilest stuff imaginable, made to wake up and eat gruel when I wanted to sleep—and refused decent food. If I don’t get out of this bed soon, I shall murder her.’
‘That’s better,’ Henry said, and grinned at him. ‘You are feeling stronger at last. Shall I tell her I can manage alone now? I know she can be a dragon at times. I have it on the highest authority.’
‘Who told you that? Miss Millie or Amy?’ Robert scowled at him. ‘Do you know that she has been bathing me with cool water—stripping me off and washing my body while I was in that fever. Damn it, I wasn’t wearing a stitch. What does that say for her modesty?’
‘Did she not cover your … er … private parts?’
‘Well, yes, she said so when I told her she was behaving in a most improper way for a spinster lady.’
‘So you came to your senses at an awkward moment, did you?’ Henry’s eyes sparkled with humour. ‘What did she answer you?’
‘She said that I need not fear for my modesty and implied that she was indifferent to my person, for a patient has no sex and they are all the same to her. Apparently she has nursed her father, her mother, her sisters—and one occasion one of the male servants.’
‘I trust you will not repeat that in company?’ Henry said. ‘What Selina may have said to you in confidence she would not wish known to others.’
‘Selina, is it?’ Robert glared at him. ‘Just what has been going on while I’ve been out of it?’
‘Nothing untoward,’ Henry said with serene indifference. ‘As for Selina—she is a perfect angel. I daresay you might have died if she had not been so devoted in her nursing.’
‘Nonsense! You would have pulled me through. You’ve done it in the past.’
‘You’ve never been quite as ill as you were that first night. I was truly worried until Selina took charge, but you soon rallied once she had cooled you down. Your fever came back three times, but between us we sat with you every moment of the day and night.’
‘Well, it was generous of her to give up so much time,’ Robert conceded grumpily. ‘I daresay she would have rather been preparing for Christmas.’
‘Yes, I imagine she might—especially since you started to get better and complained nonstop every time she gave you medicine.’
‘Well, it stops today,’ Robert said, a grim expression in his eyes. ‘I refuse to be treated like a naughty boy. Do you know what she said to me this morning?’
‘Pray enlighten me. I know you will …’ Henry turned away to hide his smile.
‘She said that I was a selfish man to be ill, and she was not going to let me spoil Christmas for her sisters by dying on her.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard her tell you that a few times,’ Henry said, and nearly choked as he tried to hide his amusement. ‘Sorry, I’ve got a tickle in my throat, I think.’
‘Well, don’t be ill,’ Robert warned. ‘She will make you pay for it, Nor. I’m telling you …’
‘You cannot mean it,’ Henry said. ‘At one time you were calling her your mama.’
‘I was off my head—and she scolded me just the way Mama did when I was ill as a child, after I went swimming in the river and caught a chill.’
‘I thought you didn’t catch chills?’
‘I don’t—haven’t for years.’ Robert glared at him. ‘You can take that grin off your face and help me get up. I’ll shave myself. It seems she’s got you all under her thumb.’
‘If you feel able to …’ Henry invited, and stood back.
Robert pushed the covers off, swung his legs over the edge and put his feet to the floor. When he stood up, he felt a most unpleasant sensation, as if the floor were rushing up to him, and sat down abruptly, cursing.
‘I’m as weak as a kitten.’
‘The doctor said you should stay in bed for two weeks.’
‘Damned if I will. It’s only just over two weeks to Christmas, and I’ve things to do, Nor.’
‘Miss Selina said that was rubbish. She thinks you should try sitting in a chair by the window today and see how you are tomorrow,’ Henry said gleefully.
‘Oh, she does, does she?’ Robert threw him a look calculated to kill at ten paces. ‘Well, as it happens, I don’t feel like getting up today. I shall stay in bed—and you may shave me this time.’
‘Whatever you say,’ Henry said, and hid his smile. ‘Shall I bring you something to read? Or would you prefer to work on your accounts?’
‘Trying to give me a headache? You can bring me a book—poetry or history or something of the kind. It’s ages since I bothered to read anything other than the news sheets.’
‘I’ll see what I can find,’ Henry promised. ‘And when I’ve shaved you, I’ll get you a plate of good beef and some pickles, if you fancy it.’
‘Thank you,’ Robert said, and laughed. ‘How do you put up with me, Nor?’
‘When you’re ill, with great difficulty,’ his friend said. ‘I’ll bring you some food, but you must eat it at once so I can take the tray away, or Selina will have me put on a court martial …’
‘He wanted to get up but decided to stay in bed for at least today,’ Henry said when he took the empty tray back to the kitchen and found Selina there, in the middle of stirring a rich cake mixture. ‘He has cleared his tray, as you see.’
‘How did you manage that?’ Selina looked up and smiled. ‘I am relieved to hear he is being sensible at last. When he banned me from his bedchamber, I thought he meant to get up to spite me.’
‘Oh, it was easy enough,’ Henry said, but refrained from telling her how Robert had grumbled about her. ‘I think he will begin to get stronger now, and I daresay he will be down soon enough.’
‘We’ve had several visitors asking after him,’ Selina said. ‘I was obliged to say I wasn’t sure how he went on and to tell them that you were his nurse, as you have been much of the time.’
‘Very sensible of you,’ Henry said. ‘I think the reason he was so annoyed was because he thought he might have compromised you. Should it become common knowledge, you might suffer