The Unforgettable Hero(5)

CHAPTER FOUR



It smelled like roses. Fresh roses. It had been so long since she’d smelled fresh roses. She took a deep breath and sucked in the sweet, cool air. She stretched and then winced at the pain in her back. What was that about? She carefully blinked open one eye and focused on the unfamiliar fresco ceiling. She stretched her arms above her head, luxuriating in the delicious feel of the soft, clean sheets beneath her and the obviously high-quality mattress upon which she lay. She pushed herself up and winced again. Her head felt as if it had grown two sizes too big. She gingerly touched her scalp. A large knot had formed there. And it was sore. She poked it, clenched her teeth, and hissed. Slowly, she pulled herself up against the headboard and glanced down. She was wearing a decidedly dusty gray gown, but her slippers and bonnet had been removed. Where was she? She glanced around the large, well-appointed bedroom decorated in hues of lavender, spring green, and white. The pink roses she’d smelled earlier were artfully displayed in a glass vase on the side table near the bed. Big fluffy down pillows supported her head, and the room was cavernous with a large, comfortable-looking upholstered chair—perfect for reading—atop a luxurious rug placed in front of a wide fireplace.

Before she had more time to study her surroundings, the door opened and a beautiful, smiling lady with black curls wearing a sapphire-blue gown floated into the room. As the lady approached the bed, her smile grew wider and she noticed something else. How interesting. The woman’s eyes were two different colors, one green, the other blue.

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” the lady in blue said, still smiling. “Are you feeling all right?”

She rubbed her head. “I … I think so.”

“I’m awfully glad to hear it. You gave us quite a scare.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She clutched the bedspread nervously.

“Don’t worry about a thing. The doctor is coming. The duke’s doctor is the best in London.”

The duke?

“That’s … encouraging.” She poked at the lump on her head again. And winced again.

The blue lady nodded so vigorously that a black curl sprang loose from her coiffure and bounced against her forehead. “Yes. Dr. Archibald is highly skilled. You took quite a bad fall. But we’ll make sure you’re all right before you leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yes, return home, I mean. Although I suppose all of this would make better sense if we began with the obvious.” The lady pulled a delicate chair out from beneath an intricately carved white writing desk. Arranging her expensive skirts, she took a seat.

Another poke on the head lump. No wince this time. “Which is?”

“Well, you might begin with telling me your name,” the lady in blue said with another irrepressible smile. Whoever she was, she was quite friendly indeed.

“My name?” She searched her memory. Good heavens, what was her name? She glanced about the room, the ornate wooden mantelpiece above the fireplace, the obviously costly rug, and the fresh, glorious pink roses. The mention of the duke. It was quite obvious who she was.

“My name? Why, it’s Lady Magnolia Makepeace.”





CHAPTER FIVE



“She’s awake,” Lucy informed Adam minutes later when she emerged from the patient’s bedchamber. Or more correctly, one of the many guest rooms in Derek’s town house. “And her name is Lady Magnolia Makepeace.”

Adam stopped pacing and swiveled to face Lucy. After gathering all of the papers he could retrieve from the street and depositing them in a large, dusty, crumpled pile on a table in one of the drawing rooms on the main floor, Adam had been pacing in the corridor outside of the mystery woman’s bedchamber. The pages were not in order, of course, and while he’d scanned several of them, it was quite obvious that they were part of some sort of a romantic novel. There was nothing in them to indicate the lady’s identity. Thank God she’d woken and could tell them herself who she was.

“Lady Magnolia—?” Adam frowned at Lucy. The name seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place it.

“Yes. It’s an odd name, to be sure. I’ve never known any Makepeaces, either.” Lucy tapped her cheek and began pacing where Adam had left off. “I suppose she might be someone’s distant relative, but I don’t know that family name.”

Adam scrubbed his hand through his hair. He was only glad to know that the lady was awake and obviously speaking. “Is she all right?”

“She’s got quite a bump on her head, but I suppose we won’t know for certain how she is until Dr. Archibald examines her.”