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

Chapter 26 - Angela

The next few days passed in a blur of waking to eat and take care of other necessary tasks and then falling asleep, only to repeat the cycle a few hours later. Normally Angie would attempt to interrupt this prison of her illness by asking to be propped up with a book for a few minutes between waking and eating, but each time she awoke, she heard Robert's voice in her mind, telling Derrick that his best option for restoring his soon-to-be lost estate and title is to annul his current marriage and seek a new one with someone less broken. With that thought echoing in her head, she could not find a reason to fight her condition; at least when she was asleep, her dreams were full of a smiling Derrick surrounded by children with her chestnut hair and his chocolate eyes, when she dreamed at all.

The only exception to her surrender to the malaise was when she awoke a day after overhearing the men discussing the impracticality of her marriage. She found herself able to speak and shift her body slightly, and a glance at the bed beside her revealed Derrick deep in slumber. It was clear it was a natural slumber, his breathing deep and even and his cheeks a normal color, neither flushed or pale. Despite her heartache, she smiled softly at this evidence of his improving health.

She did not see anyone else in the room, so she whispered loudly, "Anne, are you there?"

There was the sound of rustling skirts from a dim corner behind her head, and Anne's grinning gaze met her own. "Oh, mistress! It is good to see you at last awake! You worked far too hard to help His Lordship, and I feared that we might need to call the physician for you instead." She paused her own low speech to give Angie a scolding glare, and Angie could not help feeling a little guilty that she had added to the concern of the household with her actions. As soon as the thought occurred, it fled when Anne's face softened with affection. "What can I fetch for you, my lady?"

Angie allowed herself one more glance at Derrick's handsome face slack in slumber and yet still so appealing before meeting Anne's eyes and whispering, "Take me to my own bed, please. I need to rest somewhere more comfortable, now that my husband seems to be recovering." She ducked her head to avoid the searching look Anne gave her after the request. She was not yet ready to talk about why she no longer wished to stay by his side; she felt she might never be ready, should her brothers have their way.

If Anne was curious about her mistress's sudden desire for her own bed across the hall, she didn't speak of it. Within half an hour, Angie found herself tucked into her pile of throws and cushions on her own bed, having been changed into a fresh gown and given a sponge bath. She was exhausted from the activity, but Anne insisted that she must eat to regain her strength. Thus when Theo came in to see her, she was propped up in bed, sipping on a steaming mug of hot beef broth.

His smile was warm and a little mischievous. "You can be so inconvenient at times, dear sister."

She returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Is my waking in the middle of the night so difficult for you, dear brother?"

He sighed and shook his head. "No, that is not the problem. You already know that I enjoy late night hours; why, I only just returned home a few minutes ago to hear the good news that you had awakened at last. No, the trouble is that I never know if I will need to call the undertaker or the physician when you have these episodes. I do wish you would just make up your mind and stick with one or the other." He winked at her, but there was a seriousness about his eyes that revealed he had been deeply concerned for her.

Angie decided to leave him his dignity and focus only on the humor. "Well, brother, I will keep your busy schedule in mind the next time I decide to collapse."

"That's all I want," he replied. He hesitated for a long moment, his expression turning thoughtful. "Though I also would like the answer to a question that is bothering me."