by Monica Burns
“My lord,” Mickey called out behind him.
Gently, he pulled Victoria off the stallion and glanced over his shoulder at the young stable hand running toward him. With Victoria cradled carefully in his arms, he limped toward the front steps of the manor.
“Take care of Zeus, Mickey.”
“Is her ladyship—”
“Do it, Mickey,” he growled as he climbed the marble steps and crossed the manor’s threshold into the foyer.
“We were beginning to wonder where—dear Lord, what’s happen?” Anna’s cheerful greeting became one of horror.
“She fainted,” he growled as he carried Victoria toward the stairs. The rest of his guests hurried out of the dining room and into the hall at Anna’s exclamation of fear. Sebastian strode past his wife and hurried toward Nicholas.
“Nicholas, spare your leg. Let me take her upstairs,” his friend said with a dark frown of concern.
“No,” he rasped harshly. “She’s my wife. Have one of the servants fetch Dr. Bertram.”
“Right away,” Sebastian said as he turned away to complete his task.
Nicholas nodded before he continued toward the staircase. Pain shot up his leg into his hip as he climbed the steps with Victoria in his arms. Last night he’d witnessed vulnerability in his wife, and for the second time in two days, she was exhibiting a death-like state that emphasized she was far more fragile than he thought. A visceral fear struck at his heart as he carried Victoria down the hall to her room. Behind him, he heard Roberts clucking like a mother hen as he followed Nicholas into Victoria’s bedroom.
“If you continue abusing your leg like this, my lord, you’re going to be laid up,” Roberts said sternly.
“I’ll be fine,” he replied in a terse voice as he bent over Victoria and debated whether or not he should undress her. A knock on the bed chamber door made him look over his shoulder, and Molly entered the room.
“You should let Roberts see to your leg, my lord. I’ll tend to her ladyship,” Molly said in a quiet voice. About to chastise the maid, he turned around too quickly, and his leg gave way beneath him. He barely escaped a fall as his hands grabbed the edge of the mattress for support.
“God damn it,” he bit out fiercely as nerve endings fired off pain signals in his head. Roberts was at his side in an instant, but Nicholas waved him off with a sharp gesture as he balanced his full wait on his good leg. “Bring me a chair, Roberts.”
“Molly is quite capable of ensuring her ladyship—”
“Bring me a God damn chair.”
Nicholas turned his head back to Victoria lying so still on the mattress. Why the devil didn’t she wake up? She’d not been unconscious this long yesterday. He leaned forward to ensure she was still breathing. Relief surged through him as the soft breeze of her breath brushed his face. Her cheeks were still pale, but he was certain there was a hint of color beneath her skin. At least that’s what he wanted to believe.
Roberts placed a chair beside Victoria’s bed, and Nicholas sank down with relief. He leaned forward and took her hand in his. Despite the pallor of her complexion, her hand was warm. As he studied her features, he contemplated their discussion on the way back to the manor. Clearly her mind was confusing reality with fantasy. A sudden, intense fear made him go rigid as he considered the possibility she might not wake up.
The thought filled him with a foreboding unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He tried to dismiss the emotion, but it remained. How was it possible that in less than twenty-four hours, Victoria had managed to make him feel things he’d never felt for Vickie? Not once in his marriage had he ever experienced such a sense of fear and helplessness where his wife was concerned.
“Nicholas…Nicholas.” Anna sounded as if she were far away. He slowly looked up at his friend to meet her sympathetic gaze. “You need to let Roberts tend to your leg.”
“My leg is fine,” he lied. Until now he’d managed to ignore the fiery pain shooting up his leg and into his side. “I’m not leaving her until she wakes up.”
“Will you trust me when I say she’ll be fine?” Anna studied him intently.
Behind her, Sebastian nodded in silent confirmation of his wife’s words. Nicholas wanted to vehemently reject Anna’s request, but the certainty in her brown eyes made him nod his acquiescence.
“I’m to be told the moment she wakes up. Is that understood?”
Anna silently acknowledged his order. Nicholas looked back at Victoria. He didn’t want to feel anything for this woman, but he did. The realization scared the hell out of him. Slowly, he made his way to the door connecting his room with Victoria’s. He looked back over his shoulder one last time at Victoria’s still form in the bed before he limped his way out of the room.
Chapter 11
Present Day
The wild shrill of alarms jerked Nick out of sleep. In an instant, he was on his feet and beside Victoria’s hospital bed. In the hallway, he heard the frantic squeak of shoes against tile as medical personnel raced toward the room.
“Victoria, can you hear me? It’s Nicholas. You need to wake up, sweet witch.”
The endearment had become a regular refrain in his efforts to awaken her over the past four days. Victoria’s eyes moved beneath her eyelids, and hope welled up inside him. Two nurses rushed into the room followed by Dr. Bertram. As usual, he was shoved to the sidelines as the nurses checked her IV and monitors. Nick stood at the foot of the bed while Bertram leaned over her as if he was listening to her speak. His heart slammed into his chest at the sight.
“Let me talk to her, Bertram.”
Nick met the doctor’s gaze of frustration. They both knew the only real responses they’d gotten from Victoria were when he was talking to her. Bertram looked at the nurse on the opposite side of the bed and nodded sharply. The moment the woman stepped back, Nick took her place. Leaning over Victoria, his fingers caressed her brow in gentle strokes.
“Victoria. I’m not going to leave you. Come back to me.” At his words her lips moved.
“I can’t…find you.” It was the merest hint of a whisper, and he sucked in a breath at the note of confusion he heard in her words.
“I’m right here, sweet witch. I’m right here.” Nick’s heart pounded frantically in his chest. “Victoria, wake up. Come back to me.”
Despite his urgent plea, the alarms immediately stopped shrieking, and Victoria went still again. With a loud noise of defeat and anguished desperation, Nick whirled around and strode out of the room. He crossed the wide corridor and furiously slammed the flat surface of his fist against the concrete wall.
“Fuck.”
Hands braced against the wall, he bent his head and closed his eyes. Each time Victoria seemed on the verge of waking up, she slipped back into her coma. As a hand touched his back in a compassionate gesture, Nick straightened upright and turned to face the doctor. Pressing his back against the wall, he met Bertram’s sympathetic gaze with a sense of helplessness.
“I realize how frustrated and worried you are, Barrows. But every time she has one of these episodes it’s a good thing. It means she’s still in there, fighting to come back. You have to be patient.”
“It’s hard to be patient when there’s the possibility she might not have the strength to come back,” he snarled.
The words struck at something deep inside him that made him want to lash out at the world. He’d just found her again, and the thought of losing her filled him with the depth of a torment he’d never dreamed possible. Nick closed his eyes, and tipped his head backward to rest it against the wall. For the first time he was beginning to doubt Victoria would come out of her coma.
The realization was like a knife cutting deep into his soul. How could he be in love with a woman he’d spoken only a few words to? He wanted to reject the idea, and yet he knew it was true. The pain engulfing him every time Victoria slipped away from him was so intense he had no choice but to believe he loved her.
“For someone who
insisted Miss Ashton was going to surprise everyone, but you—I’m amazed at your sudden about face.”
“You heard what the neurologist said yesterday,” Nick snarled.
“What I heard Dr. Mitchel say was that she didn’t know how to explain what was happening to Miss Ashton.” Bertram met his gaze with empathy. “Just because a medical condition can’t be explained doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless. I’ve seen cases where I thought all hope was lost, but the power of love created miracles where modern medicine failed.”
“And what makes you think this is going to be one of those cases?” Nick bit out in a hoarse whisper.
“Because, you’ve made a believer out of me, Barrows. I think it’s time you start believing again as well.”
With an abrupt nod, Bertram headed down the hall to the nurses station. Nick stared after the man before he slowly pushed himself away from the wall and returned to Victoria’s room with its quietly beeping equipment. Drawn to her side, Nick stared down at Victoria as his fingers stroked her hair and then her cheek.
“Come back to me, sweet witch. Don’t leave me again,” he whispered. The soft plea came straight from his heart, and he could only pray she would hear him.
Chapter 12
October 1897
The mist was so thick it reminded her of fat, fluffy cotton balls. She stretched out her hand to test her theory. The only thing that brushed across her fingers was a warm breeze. Somewhere close by she sensed there were other people, but it was impossible to see them.
“Hello?”
A faint noise drifted through the dense fog. It reminded her of a small bird chirping. She took a hesitant step toward the sound and then another. Each step she took was an effort in sheer willpower. It was if there were weights on her feet preventing her from doing anything more than slowly taking one step at a time. Quiet murmurs floated in the air around her, and she turned her head trying to see who was talking. Through the mist a powerful, deep voice scraped across her senses. She took a slow step toward the voice.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
The bird began to chirp rapidly in the way a small chick might when frantically searching for its mother. The man’s commanding voice echoed in her ears again, but this time it was behind her.
“Stand still, will you,” she muttered with irritation. “I can’t find you in this fog if you keep moving around,”
She took one step and then another. Each step seemed to take forever, and she was exhausted after only three steps. She stopped, waiting for the man to speak again.
“Victoria, wake up. Come back to me.” The man’s voice was barely a whisper, and it had changed direction again.
She turned toward the sound and took another step forward. A split second later, she plummeted downward and jerked as her body hit a soft mattress. Victoria opened her eyes and blinked as the hazy mist evaporated to reveal the organza canopy of her bed at Brentwood Park. Disappointment made her heart sink. She was still in the past. Disoriented, she cried out in fear as someone touched her wrist.
“Don’t be alarmed, my lady. I’m simply taking your pulse.”
Her gaze shifted toward the voice, and she saw a young man sitting on the edge of her bed staring intently at a pocket watch. The sharp, stabbing pains in her head had ceased, and just as she had at the cottage, she felt as though she had a bad hangover. Wetting her parched lips with her tongue, she tried to sit up.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Anna said firmly from her position opposite the doctor. Gently, the woman pushed her back into her pillows. “You’re going to stay right where you are until Doctor Bertram says it’s all right for you to get up.”
“Could I have something to drink?” she whispered hoarsely.
A moment later, Anna held a glass of water to Victoria’s lips. The cool liquid soothed her throat, and she drank until the inside of her mouth no longer felt like cotton candy. Outside, the afternoon sky filtered its final light of the day into the room’s floor to ceiling windows. Noting how the sun had dipped low in the sky, she frowned.
“Have I been asleep all day?” she rasped.
“All day?” Anna exclaimed quietly. “You’ve been unconscious since Nicholas brought you back to the house yesterday morning.”
A snap pierced the air as the young doctor closed his timepiece. Shoving it into his waistcoat pocket, he leaned forward to peer into Victoria’s eyes. Next, he pressed the sides of her throat then examined the cut on her forehead. Sitting back, he crossed his arms and smiled at her.
“I understand from Lord Guildford that you’ve had several of these troubling headaches.” The doctor eyed her carefully, and she nodded.
“Yes,” she murmured.
“I’m not surprised that you’re having headaches given that nasty bump you have there.” Dr. Bertram nodded toward her forehead. “Do you always faint with these headaches?”
“No, only sometimes.” Suddenly aware that she needed to guard her words, she didn’t volunteer any unnecessary information.
“His lordship also tells me you don’t remember anything prior to your return to Brentwood Park,” Dr. Bertram said in matter-of-fact tone. “Although that’s not uncommon with a head trauma, I have limited experience with the disorder, but I’d like to call in a consultant as a precaution.”
“No.” Panic sent Victoria’s heart slamming into her chest as she looked away from the doctor. Fingers digging into the sheets, she shook her head. “My memory will come back when everyone stops all this poking and prodding.”
Before the doctor could reply, Nicholas walked through the connecting door of their chambers. As her gaze met his, she could have sworn she saw an expression of relief sweep across his face before he scowled at the doctor.
“I seem to recall telling you that I was to be informed the moment my wife was awake, Bertram,” Nicholas said in a menacing voice.
“And I recall telling you to stay off that leg,” Bertram snapped rudely. The two men glared at each other for a long moment before Nicholas accepted the rebuke with an abrupt nod
“Since I’m already here, I’ll have a few moments alone with my wife, if you please.”
At the arrogant statement, Dr. Bertram narrowed his eyes at Nicholas before he jerked his head in agreement. Extending his arm toward the door, the doctor invited Anna to join him.
“Shall we give them a few minutes, Lady Starling?”
“Of course. We’ll return when you send for us,” Anna said as she gave Victoria’s hand a quick squeeze then looked at Nicholas. “You’re not to upset her, Nicholas, do you understand me?
Annoyance crossed his face as he met Anna’s gaze then nodded. As the doctor and Anna left the room, Nicholas crossed the room to her bed and she frowned. His limp was more pronounced than she’d noticed before.
“You’re in pain,” she said quietly.
“It’s been worse,” he said in a noncommittal manner. “How are you feeling? Is the headache gone?”
“Yes, but I feel like I just ran a marathon.”
Victoria closed her eyes for a brief moment then jumped as the mattress sagged beneath Nicholas’ weight. Instantly, Victoria’s senses went on high alert, and she swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat as she met his astute gaze. He frowned slightly as if disturbed by something then cleared his throat.
“Everyone’s been worried about you.”
Something in his voice made Victoria believe he’d been concerned for her as well. Pleasure rushed through her at the thought before she quickly reminded herself that nothing had changed. She was still in the past, and she was posing as the man’s wife. A woman who just happened to be a dead countess.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she pushed aside the thought of Nicholas’ wife.
“Do you remember what happened?” His question made her flinch, but she nodded.
“I had another headache.”
“When you fainted in here the other day, did you have a headache then as well.”
&nb
sp; “Yes,” she said with a shrug. “Whenever I try to remember how I got here, the headaches start. The harder I try to remember the worst they get.”
“Then perhaps it would be advisable to refrain from trying to remember,” Nicholas said as his gaze narrowed on her to study her intently.
The assessment in his green eyes set her on edge, and she tried not to blink beneath his penetrating gaze. What in God’s name was it about this man that had her on the verge of screaming with frustration or aching to be in his arms again? Unsettled by his gaze, she looked down to where her fingers were stroking the bedspread’s silken material.
“Dr. Bertram is of the opinion that the injury to your head is the reason for your amnesia.”
“Is that what you’re calling my delusionary behavior now? Amnesia?” she asked in a defensive tone. “Is that why the doctor wants to bring in an expert to poke at me? Someone to see whether or not I’m crazy?”
“I gave my word not to betray your confidence, Victoria.” The air between them was brittle with tension as she saw anger darken his face.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. Nicholas accepted her apology with a brusque nod. His sharp gaze still fixed on her face, he arched his eyebrows. She immediately tensed as she recognized the suspicion in his eyes.
“I’ve been wondering why you came to Brentwood Park, Victoria.”
“What?” Victoria tilted her head at him in puzzlement.
“Why would you come back here? You’ve never cared for Brentwood Park.” Nicholas’ gaze was hard as he studied her carefully. “Why not go to London? Why here?”
“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t know how I got here?” Victoria scowled at him. The man was as hardheaded as they came.
Nicholas glared back at her then reached into his coat and withdrew a letter. He stared at it for a brief second then handed it to her. Puzzled she accepted the letter and looked at him in bewilderment.