Devoted to You

“I know you don’t want to, but the master has promised to ensure that Edwards poses no threat to you. I don’t know what he is planning. He is rather out of sorts at the moment. I think he has been in collusion with that brother of his. They have cooked something up between them in an attempt to get rid of her, but they won’t confide in me. I can’t ask what it is, but that brother of his is always here and they are always having whispered conversations. I have informed the master that there was to be no maid designated to his room for a while, but he insists you are the one who sees to his room. He has also asked that you resume reading to him.”

Petal felt the now familiar ache in the region of her heart weigh heavily upon her. She wanted to; so very badly, but she knew it was a very foolish thing to do. Still, this was her job. There was no way out. If the master requested it then she had to comply. It wasn’t her position in the house to object.

“If Edwards does give you any trouble, tell master, me, or Rollo. We will deal with her,” Mrs Kempton reported kindly.

It was clear that both Rollo and Mrs Kempton considered her reluctance down to her worries over Edwards’ sniping rather than affection for Aidan.

Suddenly, as if he had been listening in on the conversation, the bell to the master’s room rang.

Petal closed her eyes and said a silent prayer as she left the table for the strength to get through the forthcoming meeting.

“I had better go and see what he wants then,” she sighed reluctantly.

“It will be alright,” Rollo assured her.

Petal smiled absently, but deep inside she knew that it couldn’t possibly be.

Aidan waited impatiently for someone to answer the bell.

After his conversation with Rollo, he felt more buoyed than ever. Matters had, for once, fallen in his favour. It had been a very long week; one whole week since there had been any sighting of Petal, but he had forced the break. Just to see if she was as important to him as he thought she was.

He had missed her; especially being able to listen to her wonderful voice while she read to him. He had missed the way she fussed over him. He wanted to see her warm smile and the mischievous twinkle in her eye whenever she laughed.

He had missed, well, all of her, desperately.

Now that the rather timid maid who had been attending him had fallen ill, he fully intended to take advantage of the situation to see Petal again. If it helped him make a decision once and for all on what to do about the future then he could at least achieve something during his convalescence.

Since his conversation with Jerry, he just hadn’t been able to get the mental image out of his mind of young children playing in the garden, and running about the house. It was something that had haunted his dreams, and worried him to the point that if he didn’t see Petal soon, he was going to go downstairs and find her. He knew that if he saw her again, and felt absolutely nothing, she was definitely not the one for him. If, when he saw her he couldn’t bear for her to leave then he had to take matters into his own hands and damn the consequences.

Over the past week, the rather stupidly ignorant Edwards had taken it upon herself to launch a charm offensive that was sleazy to say the very least. The way she insisted on only lighting one candle at night, and seating herself on the edge of his bed

made him realise he had to make a decision – and soon, before matters were taken out of his hands. He knew that besides climbing into bed with him there was nothing else Edwards could do. He could only hope and pray she wouldn’t go that far. As far as he was concerned, he would rather be a eunuch than dabble in the sins of the flesh with the chilling nurse who had matrimonial bells ringing in her ears.

Minutes ticked by. When none of the servants appeared, he sighed deeply and wondered if Petal was avoiding seeing him. He waited a few moments more, but she still didn’t appear. His impatience grew to the point that he threw the covers back from the bed and stood up. This time, he was pleased to note that he didn’t wobble, his knees didn’t tremble, and the room didn’t sway. He made it over to the bell pull without issue and tugged several times on it to reiterate his impatience.

Rather than return to the bed as he was supposed to, he began to wander around a little. It was good to be free of the bedclothes for a while, and he savoured the opportunity to stretch a little. While he waited, he wandered over to the window and stared absently outside. Once again, the thought of his children racing around in the gardens like he used to do with Jerry at Castlecrede, intrigued him. To the point that he felt determined to ensure that idea actually came to fruition.

“Where the hell is she?” he snapped to himself when nobody appeared. He glanced at the clock behind him and wondered if he should go and find her after all.

“Yes? Oh my, you are out of bed,” she gasped breathlessly when let herself into his bedchamber. She was panting slightly from the exertion of racing up the stairs as quickly as she had. Her haste had no reason behind it, though, other than eagerness to see him again.

It was the first time she had seen him standing upright. Her first thought was that he was so incredibly tall.

When Aidan turned to face her, everything changed.

His eyes devoured her.

God, I have missed her, he thought, a little stunned at the force of the emotions that swept through him. She looked wonderful, if a little tired. Unsure what to make of the strong reaction to her presence in his bedchamber, he carefully blanked his thoughts and gave her a dour look.

“It is about time you got here,” he grumbled.

“There is chaos downstairs,” she said. She had to force herself to tear her gaze away from the broad muscular shoulders, and piercing gaze, and look at something else. To her consternation, her gaze landed on the bed. “Was there something you wanted?”

While she waited for him to reply, she hurried over to the bed and quickly began to make it. She tried desperately to ignore just how right it felt to be with him again. However, the bittersweet emotion that brought forth the tears warned her that she had to maintain her distance, for the sake of her battered heart if nothing else.

Yes, you, Aidan thought, but didn’t say the words out loud. Instead, he forced his attention to what she had just said.

“Why is it carnage? What’s happened?”