“I know you must be afraid,” Bernadette said, squeezing her hands before she returned to the basin and rinsed the cloth, turning the water pink.
Flora turned her head. “He came out of nowhere,” she whispered.
“The man who attacked?”
She nodded and then wrinkled her brow. “And Roarke. He came out of nowhere and he…he saved me.” She bent her head. “What if he dies? What if I lose him?”
Bernadette returned to her side and held her gently for a moment before she went back to washing away the blood on her skin. “He won’t die.”
“How can you know that?” she sobbed softly.
Bernadette tilted her chin up. “Because it seems he might have too much to live for.”
Flora sucked in a breath and then leaned forward to rest her forehead on Bernadette’s shoulder. She had no idea if that was true, or if her hopes and fears and will could somehow keep Roarke safe.
All she knew was that she couldn’t imagine losing him for good. She couldn’t imagine anything but being able to go into that room and find him whole and well for her. So she kept hoping, praying as the clock ticked mercilessly in the background.
Roarke’s head was swimming, though he was beginning to have more clarity as he sat on the bed in a fine chamber in Callum’s home, the doctor perched beside him, stitching the gash above his eyebrow.
He winced as the needle pierced his flesh and looked to where Callum and Theo were standing, both watching him with unreadable expressions. “I’m sorry,” he said when the silence felt like it stretched for a lifetime. “For what I did in London. I’m sorry.”
Callum turned away and Theo drew in a long breath. “It’s her you need to apologize to, not us. Though I suppose saving her life goes a long way toward that.”
Roarke gripped his hands at his sides. “I do owe you an apology regardless. Callum, you accused me of using our friendship to get to her, and you were right. I did.”
Callum cursed beneath his breath and shook his head, his disdain for Roarke written all over his face. After the weeks of renewed friendship, it stung to see it here. Stung worse that he entirely deserved it.
“It was bloody awful,” he continued. “I hated myself for it. And if you two hate me for the rest of my life, as well, I will have earned that ire. As for her…I didn’t come here because I wanted to earn back her regard. I came here because I knew my cousins were determined to harm her.”
“Your cousins were behind this?” Theo burst out as both men moved toward him.
The doctor placed a hand against Roarke’s throbbing forehead. “Hold still now. You’re going to make it worse.”
“Hardly possible,” Roarke said. “And yes. The man who attacked her and did this to me was hired by my cousins. It seems that if they cannot ruin her, at least one of them believes the answer is to end her.”
His blood ran cold with that thought. And with the memory of what he had seen that day. “I came here to warn her and found out that there was a man asking about her at the inn. I managed to follow him and that’s how I was able to stop him when he attacked her.”
She had been on her back on the trail, her hands raised, her eyes filled with fear as that bastard loomed over her, knife in his hand and cruel intentions in his eyes. Roarke would have done anything to save her in that moment. He would have sacrificed everything and anything. And perhaps he had.
“Are you almost finished?” he asked the doctor. “I must ride back to London.”
The doctor lifted his eyes with a snort. “You aren’t riding a horse after you lost consciousness from a blow to the head. You need to stay quiet for at least a day or two to recover.”
“I cannot,” Roarke said, and started to shove past the man to get up off the bed. The doctor pushed him back and Callum stepped forward to do the same.
“You must listen to him now,” Callum said. “You’ll kill yourself.”
“That man is not going to stop,” Roarke said, even as his knees wobbled. “And while he would be a fool to try to strike against Flora here while she’s under your protection, I’m certain he’ll go back to my cousins and report what happened. Their ire will turn toward me, and the best way to hurt me is to…to harm my mother.”
Theo let out a breath. “You said something about that to Flora in the foyer. How could they harm her?”
“She…she is not capable of taking care of herself. Her mind is going.” His eyes burned with tears of grief and terror. “And I have very little to maintain her. She lives all but alone, just a companion to assist her. She cannot be left so unprotected now that I know how far my cousins are willing to go. I must go back. I must find some other place to take her…”
He rested back with a moan of both physical and emotional pain. Where? Where could he take her? His little hovel was barely fit for himself. He couldn’t afford to let another arrangement and there would be no money coming from his cousins ever again, he was certain. If they were serious about destroying him, she would burn, too.
“I’ll go back to London,” Theo said gently. “Look at me.”
Roarke blinked to clear his vision and did so. Theo was looking at him evenly, all sparkling humor gone from his eyes. “I will go back to London today, ride as hard and fast as I can,” he said. “I will look into ways to prove that your cousins were involved in this attack that could be used against them. Additionally, I will immediately move your mother and her companion to a safe place. My own home, if need be.”
“She won’t understand,” Roarke said, sitting up again. “She’ll be confused.”
“And I will be kind and gentle and make sure she is a little disrupted as I can make her.” Theo started across the room. “I’ll go get ready to depart and you write a letter explaining my presence to your mother’s companion so she won’t be resistant to my help.”
“Theo,” Roarke called, stopping him at the door. He turned back and Roarke shook his head. “I cannot repay you.”
“Make it up to her,” Theo said. “You’ve made yourself square with me.”
He left then, and Roarke caught his breath. He hadn’t expected forgiveness from any of these people, and yet Theo offered not just that, but help beyond his wildest imagining. The idea that his mother would be unreachable was an enormous relief.
He looked at Callum. “I know you don’t feel the same.”
Callum pursed his lips. “No. But you may make it up to me yet. I’m sure Flora and the other ladies are awaiting news of you. I’ll go tell them you are going to survive. And try to explain to my future bride, who is not so very forgiving, that you will be our houseguest for a few days while you recover.”
He left then and the doctor began to put away his materials and talk to Roarke about what he needed to do for his wound and for the blow to the head that had caused it. But Roarke wasn’t listening. All he could think about was Flora. And that he would be forced into her proximity all over again, only this time without lies between them.
Whether she would allow him to be close to her or make what he had done up to her was another question entirely.