Chapter 49 - A Night Together

Delaney took off her dress and the layers with it until she was wearing just her underdress. Crossing her arms nervously over her chest, Vincent pulled back the blankets for her and let her slip under them.

Her pulse was racing. She had never been dressed this starkly in front of a man before. Her cheeks burned and she felt self-conscious of every part of herself now.

Delaney's heart beat fast as Vincent pulled the blankets over himself as well, not bothering to change. He groaned as he moved until he was laying down.

"Does it hurt very badly?" she whispered, watching him and trying to relax.

"The stitches just pull," he sighed, "But it will heal quickly I'm sure. Don't let it worry you."

He blew out the candles by the bed but didn't bother with the others. Delaney watched him in the flickering light cast by them. She looked at his scars and worked to not let them frighten her.

Vincent turned to her and saw her studying them. He shifted uncomfortably and pulled the blanket up over his chest.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quickly, looking away now.

"If it were up to me you never would have had to see them in the first place," he said, "I wish Miles had never brought you to the hospital."

"Sometimes I wish he hadn't either," she sighed, "But I'm glad I saw you myself instead of just hearing gossip from others."

He nodded as he considered this, "Do you think it would have changed anything? If you hadn't seen me...like that."

Delaney smirked, "I don't think there was a chance that would've happened. Once I learned you'd been hurt I would've insisted on going to see it for myself. Maybe it would've been better if you'd had a chance to be prepared though. I think it was your... reaction... that scared me the most."

He sighed, "I was in so much pain then. I don't know that there was much more prepared I could've been. I was angry with everyone and everything because I was just miserable."

Cora had said that exact thing, Delaney remembered. She had said Vincent wasn't really angry with them, just angry because he couldn't stop the pain. Delaney hadn't wanted to believe it.

Looking at him now she wondered if she'd just wanted to believe he was a villain. Maybe it was easier to believe that than admit her own faults.

Delaney rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand to study him. He had his arms stretched up with his fingers linked beneath his head. She saw the marks running over his bicep. He was more muscular than she remembered.

Blushing at her own thoughts, she laid back down but stayed on her side facing him. When he turned to look at her it made her heart jump for a moment. The candlelight danced, reflected in his dark eyes. That along with his scars and she felt a twinge of fear in her stomach again.

"You should sleep," she whispered to him, "The doctor said you needed a lot of rest."

"You should too. It's been a long night."

"I'm sorry for everything."

"Me too."

He slid one hand over the sheets to her and she took it in her own.

"You're so hot to the touch," she commented with a soft giggle, "I'm always surprised when I touch you. I don't remember you being this warm before."

"I wasn't," he looked back up at the canopy, his face falling.

"It's... it's from the war?"

"It's the dragon's poison that's still in my blood. At first, the doctors at the hospital thought I was burning up with a fever and tried everything to break it but it never would."

Delaney inhaled sharply, imagining ice baths and all the other terrible things that could be inflicted in attempts to break a fever.

"Does it cause you any pain? The heat?"

He laughed but it was not happy, "I'm afraid I'm always in pain from either my marks, my leg, or the blood in my veins feeling like it's going to boil."

Delaney swallowed and felt her heart ache for him, "I'm so sorry Vincent."

He was quiet then, quiet for so long she thought he'd fallen asleep and she nearly did herself. After some time though he cleared his throat and when he spoke, his voice sounded rough.

"You don't need to tell me you're sorry... You don't need to pity me. I did what I had to do and I don't regret it."

Delaney squeezed his hand and swallowed to keep the tears from her eyes. She didn't know what to say to him. There was nothing she could say to make it better.

"Do you... do you want to tell me about it? The war? ... The dragon?"

Vincent pulled her hand to his lips and pressed another kiss to the back of it.

"Not now," he answered softly, "But one day I promise I'll tell you."

Delaney felt her skin tingle where his lips had pressed against it. She pulled his hand against her chest and held it there.

"Why don't we get some sleep then?" she suggested.

"That sounds wonderful," he yawned then, "Good night my Lady."

"Good night my Lord."

.

The pair were so exhausted that they fell into a deep sleep and did not wake for breakfast. Their servants didn't dare disturb them but gossip and rumors flew through Edgewood about the Lord and Lady's fight and her attempted escape.

The men from the stables gathered all the slain wolves in a wagon and brought them back for the gamekeeper to clean so the hides could be sold as their master had said. 

The servants all took turns sneaking out to see the massive beasts and awe at the number Lord Adair had taken down all on his own. His sword had been cleaned for him and returned to its place in the carriage.

The servants from inside the house told the tale of the great fight between the duke and duchess and the servants from outside the house told of the lady's desperate pleas for help in escaping.

The men that had been on the carriage with them were the most popular, being swarmed to by all to hear the story of the battle against the wolves. After them, the servants went to Vincent's valet to hear about his wounds.

By the time Delaney awoke that afternoon, the entire household knew exactly what had happened between she and Vincent the night before.

When the cook, Mrs. King, announced someone would need to go into the village to pick up a few things, no one cared when a young kitchen girl volunteered. Together with a maid and one of the boys from the stable, they all loaded into a wagon and headed off.

In the village, the kitchen girl waited until the others weren't paying attention and slipped away. She hurried through the streets, almost jogging until on the far side of the town she came to a large, whitewashed house.

The girl knocked on the front door and when a butler opened it he frowned, "You need to go around back to the servant's entrance."

"I'm not here to see a servant," the girl stuck up her nose in defiance, "I'm here to see the dowager duchess."

"Don't be ridiculous. The duchess won't want her afternoon interrupted by a house girl."

"Once you tell her I've come from Edgewood she will," she girl sneered.

The butler's eyebrows raised. "Just one moment," he said before closing the door on her.

The girl waited anxiously, glancing around afraid to be caught.

At last, the butler returned and let her in. She followed him to a drawing room where he announced her arrival. The plain-faced woman stepped into the elegantly decorated room and stood before her host.

On a plush couch, sitting like a queen, sat the darkly beautiful dowager duchess. The kitchen girl trembled before her.

"Yes? My butler said you wished to see me?"

"My Lady, when you were at Edgewood last, you spoke to me in the garden. You-you asked me to come to you and let you know if...if anything happened."

On the couch, the woman sat up, now realizing who she was speaking to, "Oh yes of course. I apologize. Please go on. Tell me what's happened."

The kitchen girl then poured out the entire story from the drunken fight after dinner to her master being bitten by a wolf and a doctor having to come in the middle of the night. By the time she was finished, her host was frowning.

"Thank you for bringing this to me," she said cooly, and stood, walking to a desk and pulling a coin purse from the drawer. She counted out some money for the girl and dropped it in her open hand.

"Now you had better be on your way before your absence is noticed," she dismissed the kitchen girl who was now thrilled by the extra coin.

As soon as the girl was gone and the butler returned to the drawing-room, he was met with angry green eyes.

"Have the men get my carriage ready," Lady Violet Adair spoke in an icy tone, "Apparently it is time I pay a visit to my new daughter-in-law at Edgewood."