Angus stared at the compress on Felicity’s brow. “Long time. From the moment I set eyes on her, to be exact. The first day I walked in here looking for a medical book. She was just finishing up with a customer, so I waited. She turned to me and smiled. It was as though I’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. Still happens every time I look at her.”
“Lord, you’re brainless. You may be the smartest man in town, but you’ve loved her all this time and done nothing about it? You’re an idiot. Or a badly damaged soul. I suppose we both are, aren’t we? Why else would we have fled our homes?” Adam left his side to forage through her bureau. “Here’s a nightgown for her. Call me in if you need my help. Keeping her comfortable is most important, so don’t be an arse and cause her pain because you won’t let anyone else touch her. You have no right, you know. All these years, you ought to have said something to her.”
Once more left alone with Felicity, Angus eased the gown and corset off her body. He decided not to remove her chemise. She’d need the extra warmth. Besides, he didn’t think he could handle seeing her without a stitch of clothing on.
He stifled a groan as he unpinned her hair and nudged the soft cascade of curls aside to fall over her good shoulder. She’d feel more comfortable resting her head against the pillow without the bun pinned at the nape of her neck.
“Felicity, love. Almost done,” he whispered when she gasped and let out a sob.
“It hurts, Angus.”
“I know, love. I’ve removed your gown and undone your hair. You’ll feel better now.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“Yes, all night.” She sounded scared. He wanted to take her into his arms and never let her go. Perhaps he would wrap her in his arms as the night wore on, especially if her body turned cold.
He called out softly to Adam once he had her settled again.
“Lord, she’s beautiful,” Adam muttered, looking down at her. “Is she sleeping?” He’d returned with one of the small chairs from the shop and now placed it by her bed. He settled his large frame in the chair.
“Yes, I think so. She’ll be drifting in and out because of the pain and that bump on her head. I can’t give her laudanum for it yet. Too dangerous. I don’t want her slipping into too deep a sleep. She might never wake up.”
“So, we keep her awake?”
Angus nodded. “Something like that. A light sleep is fine or allowing her to keep her eyes closed.”
“I’m staying right here, too.” Adam folded his arms across his chest and stretched his long legs before him. “You’re going to do the right thing once she’s feeling better. I’m going to make certain of it.”
“Don’t lecture me,” Angus grumbled. “You’re one to talk. The women of Wellesford flutter around you like bees to a flower, but you haven’t set your heart on any of them. Not even Lady Poppy. Everyone thought you were in love with her.”
“But you know I am incapable of it.”
“No, Adam. Not incapable, just too damaged to risk a relationship for fear you’ll hurt the one you love.”
“Perhaps. So are you. But you’ve fallen in love anyway. You’re not being fair to Felicity, you know. She deserves better than to wind up alone and a spinster.”
Angus nodded. “I thought keeping silent was the right decision, but lately it’s been gnawing at me. If it were only me, I’d marry her tomorrow. But my family, those who still survive, are straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy. My parents made MacBeth and his wife look like saints. My brothers poisoned everything they touched. One time, they even tried to poison me. Claimed it as an accident. My father did nothing about it.” He laughed mirthlessly. “Well, it’s almost Christmas. Perhaps we’ll have a sign from above. We are both in need of divine inspiration, aren’t we?”
Adam nodded. “Yes, it would be nice. But I’m as cynical a Scot as you are. I don’t believe in miracles, even though I lie about it to my congregation. I tell them to believe when I cannot. I don’t like deceiving them. It would be nice to have my faith restored.”
“Mine, too.” Angus shook his head and sighed. “See if you can find an extra pillow. I want her foot elevated. As soon as the blizzard ends, I want you to go to Sherbourne Manor and let Lady Poppy know what’s happened. The three of them, Poppy, Penelope, and Olivia, will want to help out.”
He received a frown in response, but little protest. “I like her, Angus. I’m giving you fair warning. If you don’t marry her, I very well may offer for her myself.”
“Don’t speak like that, Adam. You make it sound like we’re kicking her back and forth like a little ball. This is exactly what got her enraged.” Angus refused to look up from his ministrations. They were both behaving like a pair of tavern drunks fighting over the same girl. Could Felicity hear them? It didn’t appear so, and that worried him. He wasn’t certain if she was sleeping or if she’d drifted into unconsciousness again. “Felicity, are you awake?”
She sighed. “I think I’ve been dreaming.”
“About what, love?”
“I’m not sure. It’s all muddled. Everyone wants to marry me. It’s just a silly dream. It has to be. In it, you keep calling me love and the vicar wants to marry me, but everyone knows he’s in love with Lady Poppy and his heart is still recovering from her recent marriage to the Earl of Welles. She’s so lovely. They all are. Poppy, Olivia, Penelope. I wish I had sisters like them. I wish I had a family.”
Adam groaned. “Does everyone think I was in love with Poppy? Gad, Felicity must believe I’m a fickle arse to suddenly shift my affections to her and forget all about my previous unrequited love.”
“Don’t fret about it. I doubt she’ll remember anything that is said tonight.” He lifted the cloth packed in ice to peer at the small lump forming on Felicity’s brow. It wasn’t too bad, not nearly as bad as he feared it would be. But it was early yet. The true test would come later in the night.
He kept the cold cloth lightly pressed to her forehead.
“Tell me what you plan to do about her,” Adam whispered, refusing to give up questioning Angus.
Angus scowled at him. “Stop it. This isn’t the time or place for this discussion.”
“I disagree. The time has come to make your decision. She’s beautiful. Smart. Capable. Kind. I think she’d make an excellent vicar’s wife.”
Angus wanted to wring his neck. Was the man purposely provoking him? “She’s too smart for you.”
“How so? I’m considered quite clever. All the women tell me so.”
Angus refused to look up. “She deserves better than you.”
“That may be true, but so what?”
Angus was truly angry now. He wanted to grab his friend by the collar and toss him out into the snow. But that would upset Felicity when she found out what he’d done. “For how long, Adam? She’s the sort of girl you commit to forever, and you’ve already proven you can’t do that.”
“Can you?”
Angus nodded. “Yes.”
“Then why haven’t you?”