The Fairy Tale Bride

by Kelly McClymer

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  "Curing someone who will not even admit the possibility for cure is difficult, Your Grace." Katherine's tone was grave, but her color was no longer pale. In fact, her cheeks had actually taken on color rather rapidly when she learned what Simon's objections had been. "I didn't realize ... in our discussions he made it seem that he wanted someone with experience." Her mouth twisted with uncharacteristic bitterness. "I should have realized ... everyone thinks such things."

  "I don't," Miranda comforted her.

  Katherine smiled in response. "Thank you for giving me a chance. Ever since my husband died and Betsy and I came back to live with my father, I have known what others suspect of me. I just don't know how to make them realize it isn't true. I've tried speaking the way they do, dressing the way they do, helping them. But nothing seems to work."

  "What happened to you wasn't fair. You went out of your way to be kind to others, you deserve to be rewarded like the good kind sister in Mother Holle and be showered with gold. Instead you are showered with pitch, as if you were lazy and unkind."

  Katherine laughed. "It is not so bad. I am paid for healing, and the money helped Da buy a cow and some chickens. We are better off than many. Perhaps that is why the lies persist."

  Miranda understood too well how that might happen. And it was a worry she must overcome before her house was overrun by those who would delight in her social downfall. "Well, Simon now knows the truth. About you, and about my motives for bringing you to work for me. And, as I had feared, he has forbidden you to concoct any tonic for him."

  Katherine pressed her hand against Miranda's. "I'm sorry."

  "Not that I will let his reluctance stay me — he will die if we do nothing. We shall just have to be cautious."

  "Perhaps we should simply tell him the truth?" Katherine's voice was gentle, and her sojourn as a vicar's wife came through clearly. Miranda squirmed under the patient gaze, unwilling to give up any chance that Simon might have.

  Betsy stirred and whimpered. The child, unaware of the reprieve she and her mother had been given, lay flushed and still upon a chair. It was perhaps for that reason that Katherine's hushed tone conveyed so much concern. "Any patient, duke or no, must want to be well."

  Miranda sighed. "I know. But for now, I shall have to do the wishing for Simon. He is beyond influence about his chances for survival."

  Katherine nodded. "He is a lucky man, if only he knew it." She rose to her feet. "It would help if I knew what ailed him."

  "He will tell me naught. But when we ... " Miranda broke off, blushing. "When we are close, his heart beats impossibly fast, his breathing becomes labored, and his face becomes quite flushed."

  Katherine searched Miranda's face. "More so than usual?"

  Her face must have revealed her confusion, because when she did not answer, Katherine waved her hand dismissively. "Never mind. We shall both watch him from now on. Any unusual behavior, temperament, or daily habits shall be noted down so I may find out what is wrong with him."

  With a tired smile, Katherine scooped her sleeping daughter up into her arms. "I had best get this little one tucked in for her nap."

  "Yes." Miranda smoothed a stray lock of Betsy's hair, as she might have done to a sleeping Kate. "You and Betsy have a place here with us from now on."

  ***