Mask of Nobility by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Author:Tracy Cooper-Posey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Victorian Historical Romance
Publisher: Stories Rule Press
Published: 2019-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

When Rhys stirred, Annalies put the book she was not reading to one side and pocketed her spectacles. Her heart gave another of the funny creaks and squeezes it had been doing ever since Rhys’ attack. She ignored it and bent over her husband’s sickbed.

Rhys’ skin had always been pale. Now it seemed transparent, tinged with a bruised gray about his eyes.

His eyes opened. “Anna…my love.”

She picked up his heavy hand. “Rhys…” The tears threatened. Anna breathed through them. It would distress Rhys to see her cry. It always did. “You’re awake again. Do you remember waking yesterday?”

He swallowed. “I’m alive.”

“Yes, you’re alive.” She couldn’t help but touch him. She pressed her hand to his face. “Rhys, my darling…Doctor Mortenson is most anxious to know something. Can I ask you a question?”

He licked his lips. “Yes.”

“Did you have rheumatic fever when you were a child, Rhys? Do you remember being ill?” She held her breath, waiting for the answer. The heavy book she had put aside had told her why Mortenson was eager to know. Rheumatic fever weakened a person’s heart, to the point where bad shocks like Rhys had suffered could kill them. It explained to Anna why Sharla’s mother-in-law had dropped dead, last year, when presented with the facts of her son’s marriage.

Rhys frowned. “No…” he breathed. “Never ill.” His voice wavered.

Anna’s relief was so great, she sank onto the bed next to him, her knees buckling. “You are quite sure?” she whispered.

“Yes. Mother proud of me. Robust, she said.” Rhys lifted his hand, moving it as if it weighed heavily. He pressed his fingers to her cheek. “Don’t.”

She realized she was crying after all.

The bedroom door opened and Mortenson sailed in, his big bag in his hand. “What’s this? What’s this?” he demanded. “You shouldn’t be here, your Highness. You’ll put too much stress on his heart and upset him. Out you go! Out! Out!”

Anna rose to her feet. “I was just…”

Mortenson dropped his bag, his expression grave. “Do you not understand, your Highness, how emotional upsets can impede your husband’s recovery?”

“I wasn’t upsetting him!”

Mortenson squeezed her shoulder, his expression kinder. “You’re distraught yourself, your Highness. A man of any empathy, and that includes your husband, will naturally feel a corresponding worry. For now, your duty must be to withhold from him all worry, all concerns, any hint of responsibilities and duties. Hysterical relatives, children, even concerned friends…their greatest kindness would be to leave him alone. Do you understand?”

Anna wiped her cheeks with her knuckles. “I’ve sent for our sons and daughters…” Although, with Sadie in America, it might be weeks before she saw them once more. Even Bronwen was in Yorkshire, at least two days away.

“You must be firm with them, when they come,” Mortenson said. “Rhys must not be excited in any way. Not for a good long while yet. Now…out you go, your Highness. I would tend my patient, if you please.”

Anna moved out of the room, her mind turning, working hard, for the first time since Rhys had fallen.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.