The Rakehell Regency Romance Collection Volume 2(187)

"Can you fetch her a clean gown, please? Something with green in it if you can find it."



Vevina went through the dresser and found a lovely nightgown embroidered with a vine leaf pattern. She shivered as she recalled the trellis.



She brought the gown into the bathroom and put it over Elizabeth's head. She thrust her arms through the long sleeves, and then Will lifted his wife and tucked her into the freshly-made bed.



"You need to get cleaned up too," she said quietly, staring at her naked, blood-smeared brother. "Someone might come in."



She had nursed him before, seen things during the war which she had dealt with head-on. But now she was almost afraid of him and felt shy, reserved, as if she had seen something truly too private.



Will gave her something resembling his old boyhood smile and she saw that the familiar scar upon his face which had been so like her own husband's was also completely gone.



"Come help me cut my hair and get cleaned up. I don't want to scare her when she wakes."



"You mean she isn't awake now?"



"No. But soon."



Elizabeth's gaze moved slowly until they rested upon Will. He smiled again.



"Come, help me."



She sponged the dried blood off him, scrubbed his long hair, and washed his back, while he sat with a hot steaming towel over his face. She shaved him, and trimmed his hair until it was well above his ears and collar.



"Throw my hair into the fire, please?"



Vevina did as she was told and went in search of some clean clothes as he finished soaking. By the time she came back he was already out of the tub and dry. He took the drawers, shirt and trousers from her, and donned each in turn.



"Thank you, Sister. You don't know what all your help means to me."



"I want to understand, though, Will," she said with a sigh. "Please, can you tell me what happened here tonight?"



"I think you already know some of it."



"Yes," she admitted. "We've always been very close. Almost like twins ourselves. But how… Why now?"



He shrugged. "Because we're home now at last, and we've endured all of our trials of fire. But there will be more."



With that dire warning, he led his sister out of the bathroom and went over to the outer door and unlocked it at last.



All was silent in the house.



Will looked at Vevina and took her hand. He led her over to the bay window and seated her on the trundle bed which she had been sleeping on ever since the accident.



She lay down upon it without demur. He stroked back her auburn hair from her brow and kissed her tenderly on her forehead.



"Will! Look! A black moon."



"The eclipse will be waning shortly. Sleep now, Sister."



"It's so lovely."



"Sleep."



Vevina struggled to keep her eyes open, but her leaden lids refused to obey her commands.



Her last sight before she slept was of her brother glowing gold and silver in the dim light of the eclipse like the statue of a god.





Chapter Twenty-six



Vevina came awake with a start. Then she heaved a huge relieved sigh and relaxed upon the pillows. Her husband was pressed tightly up against her back as always.



The bright sunlight streaming in through the lace curtains bathed everything in a golden glow. She sat up more slowly a second time, trying not to wake Stewart, and moved over to her brother's bed.



Will was lying on his back, his face in peaceful repose. Elizabeth too seemed to be deeply asleep. Their fingers were laced together tightly, and for a terrifying instant Vevina was reminded of the effigies on the medieval tombs in the Church at Ardmore.



Then their eyes opened and relief flooded through her.



"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Will asked in a whisper.



"Yes. But what of you?" she asked with a worried frown.



"We are well, as you see."



Vevina scrutinized her brother closely. He looked perfectly fine apart from his silvered hair. Elizabeth also looked well apart from the fact that her raven tresses had been shorn and she seemed too still.



"What does Doc say?"



"That she's mending well. We need to be patient."



"Do the others know she is awake?"



He swung his long legs out of the bed.>



No cast, she noted with a start.



"They will soon. We need to feed her. Some porridge and cider, I think."



She nodded. "I'll ring for the servants then."



"Good. I'll get dressed."



When the food arrived a short time later, Will tucked a cloth around his wife's neck and fed her like a baby. She opened her mouth to eat, but never once did she say a word.