“I am sure she would be delighted to Sir,” Manvers blank tone belied the very definite twinkle in his eye, and he rapidly disappeared to the kitchens to report the latest piece of news.
“Oh God, was that really Peter?” Isobel gasped, still coming to terms with their discovering in flagrante delicto by the brother who was supposed to be deceased.
“Yes my dear, it was,” Dominic replied, dragging on his breeches before trying and failing to turn his shirt the right way around. “Rupert lied about that too.”
“Why the hell are you smiling?” he demanded when Isobel dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Isobel couldn’t resist the surge of happiness that swept through her. Not only was Dominic here, but Peter was alive too. Could life get any better? She watched Dominic fighting with his shirt, and couldn’t stop the giggles that swept through her.
He paused, his arms only halfway into the sleeves of his shirt, and turned to watch as her eyes sparkled with merriment. It had been such a long time since he had heard her laugh, he hadn’t realised how much he had missed it, until now. A wave of tenderness swept through him as he eased his arms free before tossing his shirt down onto the bed.
Within seconds, Isobel found herself lying back upon the cool sheets, Dominic looming over her intently.
“Now you have to behave,” she giggled eyeing his answering lecherous smile. “My brother is in the house.” She suddenly found herself unable to wipe the smile from her face. The look of guilt that suffused his face made him look almost boyish, and it made her smile grow wider. She eyed his handsome features mere inches from hers, and began to place teasing kisses along his jaw.
“Behave yourself minx, you are still recuperating remember?” he tried, and failed, to make his voice stern as he gave her a mock glare. “We shouldn’t have spent the morning in bed while you are still recuperating. You need to rest,” he chided.
“Oh I am. I am,” she smiled cheekily, tugging his head down for a kiss. “I shall remain in bed for as long as need be.” Her smile deepened at his answering groan.
Later that morning, Dominic finally left the bed leaving an exhausted Isobel securely beneath the sheets. This time, Isobel let him go. “I had better make my peace with your brother
before he returns to the room to find out what is taking us so long.”
He eyed the white sheet she held haphazardly to her chest, and couldn’t hide the smile of satisfaction at the flicker of memory of the last few minutes. Keeping his satisfied smile well hidden, he turned to her with a mock sternness. “Now behave yourself. You shall get no more until you have rested,” he cautioned, sweeping up the remainder of his clothes. Splendidly naked he quickly left the room, closing the door quickly behind him before the pillow Isobel launched across the room, hit him at the back of the head.
CHAPTER SIX
“You had better have honourable intentions towards my sister,” Peter warned half jokingly as a now presentable, if somewhat smug Dominic joined him in the library several minutes later.
“You know damned well I do,” Dominic replied, moving toward the decanter next to the hearth. Pouring them both a drink he sat in the plush brocade chair on the opposite side of the roaring fire. “I trust Cook and Manvers have seen to your needs?” Dominic eyed the empty tray longingly for a second and he sipped his drink.
“Aye they have. I shall steal your Cook before I go,” Peter replied with a deep sigh of contentment.
“You can try,” Dominic argued, letting the silence settle between them for several minutes. “Are you going up to see her?”
“I’ll let her get her energy back first,” Peter replied wryly eyeing the contentment of his friend slouched opposite.
“You know I have every intention of making her my wife. Now I have her, I have no intention of letting her go. She is perfectly safe with me.”
“I know,” Peter paused for several minutes but couldn’t prevent the question. “How is she really?”
Dominic sighed and took a long draught of his brandy before turning his gaze back toward Peter, and away from the flickering flames in the hearth.
“She is as well as can be expected. She was half starved when we found her Peter. It was clear she hadn’t eaten much at all since her escape from Rupert.” Dominic leaned forward in his chair, placing his forearms on his thighs, remembering the bones clearly visible through her wafer-thin skin. “It has taken some time to coax her to eat sufficiently to sustain her, but she is eating well now, but with the condition her lungs were it, her situation has been dire.”
“What do you mean with her lungs? What was wrong?” Peter eyed the solemnity on his friend’s face in alarm.
“She had putrid lungs. They are much better now than when we found her but there were times when I thought they were getting worse. If we hadn’t found her when we did, she would not be alive now, I am certain of it. She definitely would not have had sufficient strength or protection against the winter. She had two halfpennies left in her pocket.”
Peter swore. “What has the doctor said?” Peter knew that Isobel would have received the best of care money could buy.
“Her lungs are on the mend. She needs to be kept warm, and must eat as much as possible. He has given us some tisane for her to drink, which she is still taking. It does help, but it is slow progress. She has been so weak and malnourished that it is taking a lot longer than it should to get her back to full health.” Dominic settled back in his chair with a sigh.
“I should have got here sooner,” Peter sighed, shaking his head regretfully.
“You were stuck in a snow-storm. We sent word as soon as we got her here, but you couldn’t predict the snow would strike when it did. At least she was here,” Dominic argued. He knew Peter well enough to know that he would have ridden hard all the way to Havistock upon receipt of Dominic’s note, and would have been here in a matter of days, if it wasn’t for that wretched storm.
“Have you stayed with her at that time?” Peter felt the brotherly responsibility behind his question, but felt no worry that Dominic would be offended by his forthright inquiry.