The Contract Duchess, a Regency Romance: Key To My Heart Book 1

Chapter 24 - Angela

One Week Later: Six days to the deadline in the will

Angie awoke to the sensation of floating. She had fallen asleep on the lounge next to Derrick's bed again, after another long day sitting beside him, using a cloth to drip broth between his pale lips and patting his burning brow with cool water.

She could not remember eating anything more than a few crackers and sipping some cold tea for the last few days, though she knew neglecting her own health would exacerbate her condition. She found herself gripping his warm hand and constantly focusing on the bedclothes, watching for the rise and fall that indicated Derrick yet lived. Since they had arrived home and he had been settled into the bed in the room across from her own, he had not stirred or opened his eyes, even when gripped in terrible coughing fits that left his breathing ragged and his face a little more white for a few minutes.

She feared that if she left his side for too long, she would return to find the bedclothes still and his hand cold and stiff. It was easier to bear the decline of her own health than to contemplate losing him. Her feelings for him had grown so strong that she thought she would do anything if it would deliver him from this illness. Regretfully, the physician had exhausted all of the treatments he could muster, advocating only that he needed rest and to suppress the ravagement of the fever and its accompanying thirst. And so Angie worked daily to meet those needs, refusing to go to her own bed until he was either recovered or passed on to heaven.

But now she felt her mind must have finally failed her. It was as though she were floating on water, lifted without effort and moving along without her consent. She struggled to move, to protest, as she sensed the distance between herself and Derrick increasing, but she could do no more than utter a low moan and open her eyes a slit. The sensation of forward motion paused before resuming a moment later.

She drew in a deep breath and with it all of the strength she had to speak. "Stop, please. I wish to remain here. Do not make me leave him." Again the motion paused, and to her great relief, the movement reversed course, and through her slitted lids, she recognized that the lounge she rested on was being returned to its place to the right of Derrick's bed. She felt a pinch of alarm that she might fall from the lounge as it was placed back on the floor, but the only sensation she felt was a slight bump and cessation of any motion. As she drifted back into oblivion, she sighed and smiled at her small triumph.

When she next awoke, she found herself unable even to open her eyes. The lingering flavor of lemon in her mouth told her that she had been given some restorative drink, and the lack of discomfort in her body spoke of someone arranging her body while she slept. Panic washed over her like a flood of cold water as she contemplated that she was as helpless as when Sarah had attacked her. Perhaps she was not even still in Derrick's room; perhaps Derrick had died while she slept!

Her breath came fast and shallow, fueled by her agitation and as out of her control as the rest of her frame. Someone must have been standing by her side, for no sooner did her breathing begin to race than a hand gripped her shoulder, and another hand stroked her hair. She felt her anxiety decrease immediately, and as her breathing slowed, she found she could hear voices in the room.

A murmured question was answered by Theo, close by her. "She often is restless when she is in the throes of a bad episode of her condition. When she recovers, she speaks of waking unable to move and becoming frustrated. Her maid Anne and I have found a touch is all it takes to reassure her and calm her. Hopefully she will awake again soon; she will be full of joy that you are awake again at last."

Derrick, awake? Oh, happy day! Would that I could rise and embrace him, or at least hold his hand. Perhaps tomorrow.

Angie's heart seemed filled with light, so much jubilation did she feel.

Theo's voice softened, though the hand on her hair did not hesitate in its motion. "She has not left your side for the last week, barely eating or drinking in her devotion to your care. Her own health caught up to her only last night, and this morning she refused to be moved away from you, though she could barely speak."

The low voice spoke another question, and again Theo answered, "In five days time, you will have been married for one month. There is little time to prepare for the ceremony, not to mention the two of you may not be sufficiently recovered in time."

Robert's confident voice filled the room then. "If I may, Derrick, I believe I may have a solution for your conundrum. You are concerned about retaining your estate and title, and I am concerned about my sister and the ongoing care she will need for the rest of her life. Would you be willing to listen to my idea?"

A solution to the conundrum? Robert, what are you talking about? We only need to call the lawyer for a bedding ceremony, and all will be well. And what is this concern for my wellbeing when I am safely married to a husband who is able to provide for me in every way?

Angie felt a tendril of trepidation wrap around her heart, dimming the light just kindled a short time before.

Another quiet rumble came, this one sounding like assent, and Robert spoke again. "If you fail to fulfill the terms of your father's will, your title and the majority of your estate will become my property, as the oldest son. It would be a fairly simple thing to designate your line as my heirs, as I have little desire to marry or have children of my own. You could continue to live in your family home as my tenant, and I would pay you to do so, significantly more than the allowance in the will. Nothing significant about your way of life would have to change."

Another indecipherable question interrupted Robert's speech before he continued, "As for heirs to the title, you should be aware that the physician is uncertain if Angela can bear children. If your father's deadline passes unfulfilled, there is no need for you to remain married to my sister and be burdened with her care. You could annul the marriage with ease and be free to find someone more suitable for producing a child to be the heir to the title. My brother and I will continue as her guardians and caretakers, as we have been since our parents passed. She will want for nothing, and neither will you and your family."

Angie forgot to breathe, only taking a breath when her body chose to without her conscious thought.

How could Robert even conceive such a plot? Of course Derrick would never agree to this! Even though we have not spoken of love, surely he cares something for me, and he has seen that my illness is not always so burdensome as now.

She waited eagerly for the soft voice that must be Derrick's to speak in clear refusal.

When it came, Derrick's voice was too soft to distinguish even a hint of the words. Robert's answering utterance was softer also, but still clearly fell on her ears like the discordant notes of a child learning to play the pianoforte.

"I understand. I see that you are tiring again. We will speak again on the matter when you have rested more. I am glad to hear you are at least willing to consider my idea." The sound of heavy footfalls leaving the room followed this speech, and Angie felt that each one drove another needle into her heart, puncturing it so that it might never hold light again.