A Stranger's Touch (16 page)

Regret swamped him, shaming him.

‘I swear I shall make you happy,’ he said as he bent over her, touching his lips to her fevered brow. ‘Please do not die, my love. Live for me, I beg you.’

‘Rupert.’ The sobbing cry smote at him like a heavy blade. ‘Why does he not come for me? He does not love me … he does not love me …’

He had hurt her so badly by his carelessness. Whatever her brothers, she was a gentle lady and he’d treated her as if she were a whore.

‘I swear I shall make reparation,’ he said as he sat by her bed and watched her struggle for breath. ‘Give me a chance, please let me show you how much I love you.’

Could she forgive him for what he’d done? He had killed her brother and nothing could change that fact, but would she see he’d had no other choice, or would she hate him?

If she could not bear the sight of him, he must make certain she was provided for. Yet how could money pay for what he had taken so carelessly?

* * *

Morwenna cried out as she tossed feverishly on her bed. Her body ached all over and she felt so ill. She was hot and she threw back her covers, but then she was shivering and someone covered her again. She felt cool hands touching her head, stroking her, talking to her in a soft voice she knew, but could not name.

‘Mother …’ she cried. ‘Please help me. I need you. I need you so much …’

‘Your mother cannot come,’ the voice said. ‘I am here, dearest one. You are safe now and I shall care for you. I shall always care for you. I give you my word. You have to get better for my sake, my love.’

‘Rupert?’ Morwenna struggled through the fog, tears on her cheeks, but she could not see him. ‘Rupert, please come for me. I won’t let him take me away, but it’s so hard. Please come for me.’

‘I’m here now, my love. You are safe with me.’

Her eyes opened and she looked up into the man’s face. It was Rupert and yet he looked so different … gaunt and haggard, as though he hadn’t slept in an age. ‘Rupert … you came for me.’

‘Of course I did, my love,’ he said and stroked her brow with his gentle hands. ‘You’ve been very ill, but the fever has broken. You must eat now. Just a little broth to start and then everything you like. We are going to make you strong and well again, my love.’

‘You were so long finding me.’ She sighed. ‘I thought you would never come.’

‘I came as soon as Jacques told me where to find you. It was he that discovered where you were, dearest one.’

‘Where is Michael? He was so frightened. We have to help him get away, Rupert. You will help him, won’t you?’

‘I’ll do what I can, but you need to rest now. You shouldn’t worry about Michael after what he did to you.’

‘Poor Michael. He was so unlucky, he lost everything. He never meant to harm me.’

Her eyes closed and she fell back against the pillows, somewhere between waking and dreaming.

‘I told you she wouldn’t want him dead,’ a voice said, but she didn’t know what came next for she was asleep. The fever had broken at last and she slept from exhaustion, peacefully and without dreams.

* * *

‘It is not our business what Rupert does, Mama,’ May said and looked at her mother anxiously. At times the Dowager Marchioness had a fearful temper and when she felt herself thwarted there was no telling what she might do. ‘If this woman means so much to him, he will surely tell us of his plans soon. Besides, Sir Henry had no right to tell you.’

‘Sir Henry spoke to me in confidence. She is the sister of a traitor—a man involved in that terrible plot against his Majesty and Parliament. Would you have your brother marry such a woman?’

May’s bottom lip trembled, but she faced her mother bravely. ‘Rupert’s life is his own, Mother. He must be allowed to choose—’ She broke off with a cry as her mother slapped her across the face.

‘Silence, Daughter. You will show me respect. I knew your brother was ashamed of what he did, otherwise he would have brought her here to us. He has hidden her away and now he speaks of wedding her. I shall not allow him to shame us so. He must give her up or I shall not see him again.’

Holding a hand to her cheek, May was silent.
To say the things in her mind would only bring her mother’s fury on her once more, but she could not think that Rupert would give up a woman he loved for such a threat. All she could hope was that her brother would not turn his face from her.

‘Well, I have done something about it,’ the Dowager Marchioness said. ‘A marriage has been arranged and Rupert will not dare to go against what I have done or he will never be able to show his face in London again.’

‘What have you done, Mother?’ May was aghast. ‘Rupert will not thank you for interfering in his life.’

‘Go to your room and stay there. I will have obedience from my children.’

May turned and ran from the room. Her mother was unkind and she longed to escape her bitter tongue. She had never been the same since her elder son’s death. Surely she could not still blame Rupert for what happened to Richard? She must know it was not his fault?

Yet what else could all this be about? Tears were falling as May escaped to her room. If only Rupert would come home and rescue her …

Rupert broke the seal and read though his mother’s letter, tossing it aside with a grunt of
disgust. She had been busy interfering in his life again, though he had told her to desist. Her letter spoke of her disquiet. She had learned from an unimpeachable source that he was consorting with a woman of undesirable birth and standing and she exhorted him to come home and tell her that it was merely a liaison and that his intentions were not marriage. She was certain that her informant had been mistaken, for she could not believe her son would bring shame on his family name—a name that had gathered lustre down the years.

Rupert swore, looking up anxiously as Jacques entered the parlour.

‘Is she worse? Should I send for the physician?’

‘He has just this moment seen her. It is his opinion that she is through the crisis at last. All she needs is good food and nursing and she will be well again.’

‘The fever broke once before and then returned. Is he certain now that she is recovering?’

‘As certain as he can be. She seems cooler and is sleeping peacefully now.’

‘Thank God for it. If she is truly well, I must leave you for a time, Jacques. I have been summoned home by my mother and must attend her. I shall give you my direction and you will send for me at once if Morwenna takes a turn for the worse.’

‘Of course.’

‘I have your word on it? I would not leave her, but this business will not wait. My mother has begun something that may lead to more trouble. She is foolish and meddlesome, but she does not understand what harm she does.’

‘I shall call you if Morwenna needs you, but I hope the worst is over. It should now be a matter of rest, good food and recovery at her own speed.’

‘I shall return as soon as I can. Tell her that I would not have left her were it not important.’

‘She will understand that you have business, sir. You have hardly moved from her side in days.’

‘I would not leave if you were not here, but I know you love her—and there is something important I must attend without delay.’

‘You do not need to explain yourself to me.’

‘My message is for her. I would not have your sister think I left her without a second thought.’

‘Do you wish me to tell her of Michael?’

‘If she asks, you must tell her the truth. I pray that she can find it in her heart to forgive me, but there was no choice.’

‘You felt you had none, but had I been alone I might have acted otherwise.’

‘Had you been alone you would have died. Michael showed you no mercy so why should you mourn his death?’

‘Had you a brother you would know how it feels.’

‘I had a brother once. He was older and would have inherited the estate, but he died when we were young.’ Something flickered in Rupert’s eyes. ‘Excuse me, I must go before my mother commits me to something I cannot reverse.’

‘Go with God. I hope that you return soon. My sister has suffered enough and I would not see her break her heart for you.’

‘She shall not do so if I can prevent it. You have my word. It is my intention to change things for the better, but say none of this to her. I would tell her myself.’

Rupert looked down at the face of the woman he loved as she slept. She had been burning up with a fever for days, but now she looked peaceful. Yet even as he bent to kiss her forehead, she threw out an arm and called something.

‘Michael,’ she sobbed. ‘Michael, please do not hurt me. Rupert …’

She was crying in her sleep. He cursed and bent to stroke her head, torn with regret that he must leave her. Despite being through the fever, she was still not well—and he loved her.

It was because he loved her that he must leave her to her brother’s care. His mother had begun marriage negotiations that must be stopped before they went too far. He had no intention of wedding the girl his mother had chosen, but he must act quickly for all their sakes or more harm would be done.

‘Take care, my love,’ he said and kissed her
brow. ‘I shall return as soon as I may. Forgive me for hurting you, my dear one. I love you and I shall return soon to claim you.’

He knew that she could not hear him in her sleep and he would not wake her, for she needed her rest. His heart heavy, he took one last regretful look and left her. Surely she would come to no harm in her brother’s care and yet he had a feeling of unease as he walked from the room.

Morwenna woke and stretched. After days of being ordered to eat, having her servant wash her and her brother visit her briefly, she was fully awake for the first time since becoming ill. She frowned as she looked at the fire burning brightly in her chamber and felt its welcome warmth. She frowned, trying to recall what had happened just before she was rescued. In her mind she thought she’d heard shouting and a shot—or was there more than one? What had happened when her brother rescued her—and Rupert, had he been there? She was sure he had been here in her room when she first woke from the fever. He’d ordered her to eat something, but since then she hadn’t seen him. Perhaps he was too busy to visit her. The thought was painful and she shut it from her mind.

‘Morwenna.’ Jacques entered the room. She noticed that he was wearing a sling on his left arm. Had he been injured during the fighting? ‘So you’re awake at last. I was beginning to think you would sleep for ever.’

‘What happened to your arm?’

‘Michael shot me,’ Jacques said. ‘Rupert alerted me or I might have died. As it was, I have little more than a flesh wound. The surgeon patched me up and I’ve almost healed.’

Morwenna nodded. ‘I think I remember a shot. Michael wasn’t himself, Jacques. He was drinking because he was so frightened. He knew they were searching for him as well as the other plotters. In his fear and his drunken state he may have thought you had come to arrest him like the others.’

‘Michael should never have become involved with men like that,’ her brother said with a frown. ‘If the soldiers had found him, he would have been tried and then his fate doesn’t bear thinking of …’ He stopped, his eyes flicking away from hers as he considered how to continue.

Morwenna stared at him. ‘What is it you’re afraid to tell me, Jacques? Did Michael get away? You mustn’t be angry with him. He
wouldn’t harm me intentionally. And please tell me, where is Rupert? Why hasn’t he been to see me?’

‘He was here all the time until you began to recover. I think he had some family business. I do not know for sure, but his mother may have needed him. A letter came yesterday. He asked me to take care of you and said he would return as soon as he could.’

‘What happened to Michael? You didn’t answer when I asked if he got away.’ She pushed herself up against the pillows. ‘I know he treated me harshly, but I wouldn’t …’ A little cry escaped her. ‘Is he dead? There was a second shot. I heard it just before someone came up the stairs and then I don’t remember anything else.’

‘Michael was killed in the struggle. It was his fault. He was acting wildly—a danger to himself and others.’

‘Did you shoot him? Or was it …?’ She closed her eyes briefly as the grief swathed through her. ‘It was Rupert, of course. He thought Michael a traitor and would have killed him without a second thought. You would have disarmed him if you could.’

‘Rupert did what he had to do,’ Jacques said harshly. ‘Had we taken him alive, he would have
been arrested and condemned as a traitor. His fate then would have been terrible. It was a clean death, Morwenna—and he deserved it for what he did to you.’

‘Oh, Jacques—are you in trouble, too, because of what Michael did?’

‘Rupert has promised to arrange a pardon for me. I knew nothing of the gunpowder treason plot. I could still be charged for smuggling, but thus far they haven’t found the caves and unless someone betrays us I doubt they will. Many have tried and failed; it is a secret the Morgans have kept for years.’

‘Yes. If Michael had remained a smuggler, he might still live—and he did it for us, Jacques, for his family.’

‘He was successful and grew wealthy. I know where his money is hid. I will see you get your share.’

‘I do not want his money.’ Morwenna frowned. ‘What will you do?’

‘As soon as you’re well I’m going down to the Melford estate on the Marches. Rupert made me his steward there. The old man is ready to retire, though he’s staying on for a while until I know what I’m doing.’ His eyes dwelled on
her thoughtfully. ‘Unless you would wish me to take you away somewhere else?’

‘Where would we go?’ Morwenna smiled oddly. ‘I cannot leave Rupert. Even though I know he does not love me as deeply as I love him, I won’t leave him. I do not like the thought that he killed Michael, but he had no choice.’