Edith Layton by To Tempt a Bride Read Free Book Online Page B

and found it smooth-shaven. He grimaced again. He was blond, but his beard grew in quickly. And his sister wasn’t a fusspot. If Brenna had sent for a valet to have him shaved, it meant he’d been here long enough to grow a significant beard. His spirits sank.
    His last attack a few months ago had been brief, and he’d recovered from it quickly. He’d begun to hope—and now those hopes were dashed. Being stricken for a long siege meant that coming home to the cooler climate of England hadn’t changed things. He was still firmly in the grip of his disease. The doctors on both sides of the ocean had agreed on one thing besides quinine for the fever and shakes.They’d all said there was no way to know the course of malarial fever any more than they knew a cure for it. The disease might slowly lift, or it could grow slowly worse.
    Eric hung his head. His feeling better now meant nothing. He still didn’t know what would happen next time, or when that next time would be. Even more worrisome, how long could he keep suffering these attacks before they did worse things to him?
    “Lie down before you fall down,” a familiar voice said with irritation “Can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into trouble.”
    “Hello, Rafe,” Eric said without looking up. He lifted a hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t fall. I’m feeling better. The best thing for me is to start moving again before my muscles turn into something like those damnable milksops you were spooning into me. I remember it now. Gads, Bren! You wouldn’t dare if I were half in my right mind. Pretty bad this time, was it?”
    “How did you know I was here?” his startled sister asked as she came through the door behind her husband.
    Eric laughed. “Tick and tock, that’s you and Rafe. If I hear one, I know it won’t be long before I hear the other.”
    “Yes, wonderful, isn’t it? But you weren’t sick that long this time, Eric,” she said eagerly. “Only a few days.”
    His head shot up. “Truly? How many?”
    “Don’t bark at her,” Rafe said. “She was out ofher mind with worry. But yes, only five days, old lad. Much better than the last time you stayed with me.”
    Eric grinned. “That time I almost didn’t wake up, but that was over a year ago. Only five days? That’s no time at all.”
    “Even better than last July,” Brenna said happily, “and since that only lasted a little over a week, we didn’t even tell Mother or Father.”
    “Better than in September too,” Eric said, doing rapid calculations, “This attack is the best one yet. Though it didn’t feel like that when I had it, I promise you.”
    “When in September?” his sister asked. “I thought you hadn’t had an episode since July. You had another and you didn’t send for me?”
    Eric’s cheeks grew ruddy. “Well, no. I’m not even sure it was an attack of the fever, you see, it was over so fast.”
    “Oh, Eric,” she sighed. “We had an agreement. You gave your word.”
    He sat up straighter. “That we did not. My word is my bond. I just said that if I got sick again I’d send if I needed you, and I didn’t. I had Watkins, who’s more than a valet. He’s an old army man, very capable of taking care of me. Speaking of which, if it was only five days, why did you have me shaved?”
    “Watkins,” she said. “He came at once. He’s been staying here. He never left you for a moment, but this morning he saw you were without fever atlast, so he went back to your house to pick out some clothes for you. Well, he didn’t leave so much as we sent him. He needed some fresh air himself. We promised we’d look in while he was gone. He’ll be delighted when he— Oh! That time last summer when you sent word you were going to visit an old friend—that was when you were sick again?”
    Eric shrugged. “So I was visited by an old enemy instead. It hardly matters. I told Watkins that if it lasted above a week, you should be told about it. It