Lord Deverill's Heir by Catherine Coulter (best books to read all time .TXT) 📗

The earl nodded and turned his attention to his wife.

The earl took a deep drink of the strong black coffee Lady Ann handed to him. He set the cup in the saucer, never looking away from Arabella’s face. He said finally, forcing himself to look away from her, “You look very tired, Ann. Why don’t you go rest for a while? I’ll be here. I’ll fetch you if there is any change at all.”

“No, Justin, I can’t leave her, not yet. Just look at her—so utterly still. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Arabella still in her life. Even sleeping, she is so brimming with life, that you can practically see her moving even though she’s really not. Her father once said that if she were a military man—and she would have been a general—soldiers would follow her even in her sleep. But now—oh God, I can’t bear it.” She broke off and lowered her face to her hands.

“Paul said she would survive, Ann. Both of us must believe him. Go rest.” She got control of herself. She was not a woman to collapse. She wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I’m all right now. It’s just that I love her so very much.” She rose and walked to the windows. She flung open the long dark blue velvet curtains, tying them back with the thick golden cords. Sunlight flooded into the earl’s bedchamber.

She turned to let the warm sunlight shine upon her face. “You know, Justin, Elsbeth has surprised me. I had thought that she would be quite upset, distraught really, for she is very sensitive, so delicate, yet she has been strangely calm. Until Paul came down, she sat in front of the fireplace gazing silently into the flames. It was Grace who was twitching about behind her. I thought the poor girl would weep when I came into the room, she was so relieved. It was Elsbeth who told me what happened, that Gervaise had come to Evesham Abbey to steal the emeralds, and for no other reason. She also told me that he had been her lover, but that he had told her she was merely a diversion for him, that she should just consider this summer as a brief affaire de coeur, nothing more. She said he told her that she must grow up now. She finished by saying that he’d been right. Now she was well on her way. I couldn’t tell her that I’d already known, but it was difficult. I hated the pain in her, Justin. But it wasn’t pain for herself, or for the mistake she’d made, no, it was something deeper, involving Arabella.

“And that’s because she still believes it’s all her fault that Gervaise shot her sister. That gave me something to sink my teeth into, let me tell you.” Lady Ann told him the rest of it, thinking as she spoke back to the previous night, with just her and Elsbeth alone together. “I am proud of you, Elsbeth. You’re strong, much stronger than I had ever imagined. You will live your life now a much wiser woman. You will accompany Dr. Branyon and me to London. There is life awaiting you, Elsbeth. You will do whatever you wish to do. Now you will look at people differently. You will judge them according to your new insights. But you mustn’t be afraid or feel guilty, or any other destructive emotion. No, you must ready yourself to embrace life, only now you will perhaps see things a bit differently than you would have before.”

“And do you think she will, Ann? Do you think she will recover from this and move ahead? Heal?”

“Yes, I do. As I said, Elsbeth seems stronger to me. She also told me she wasn’t pregnant, thank God. That would have posed a problem even for me.” He smiled at that until he realized he was smiling and it fell from his lips.

Lady Ann just shook her head at him and took a turn about the room to stretch her stiff muscles. She poured herself a cup of tea, disliking the black coffee, and walked to the bedside to look down upon her daughter.

She placed her hand lightly on Arabella’s brow. “Thank God, there is still no fever. I would dread Paul bleeding her, for she has lost so much blood already.” She laughed, an actual laugh. “Do you know that Paul must have reminded me at least three times last night that Arabella has the constitution of a horse—a Lucifer-type horse?” The earl said more to himself than to Lady Ann, “She was braver than most men I have seen wounded in battle. The pain was dreadful but she held herself in control. She was remarkable, Ann. I’m a very lucky man. And you are a very lucky mother.”

Lady Ann said slowly, a reminiscent smile in her eyes, “She was always brave. I shall never forget the last time she was seriously hurt. Her father was in a black rage, ranting at her for falling like a clumsy idiot from her perch in the barn, yelling at her that it was unsafe and she wasn’t ever to go there again.”

The earl, who she had thought was not paying any particular attention, suddenly looked up. “The barn, Ann? You mean that private place of hers?”

“Ah, has she taken you there yet, Justin?” He shook his head. “Not as yet, but she will. She has told me a little bit about it.”

“It’s one of her favorite haunts, as I’m sure you know. She never took her father seriously in his order and she was right, it was his fear that had made him try to protect her.

“It’s this special hideaway in the very top of the barn. There is this ladder just inside the front barn door that leads up to the crawl way.

She used to say it was the most perfect spot for being alone—even better