Chapter 147 - Secret Conversations

Delaney, Vincent, and the others ate a light breakfast before quickly changing and going down to the beach. They decided to spend their last day swimming and enjoying the sun. The men raced, swimming from one rocky outcrop and back again as fast as they could. The women wandered along the beach picking out the most beautiful shells to take home with them as souvenirs of their wonderful summer.

Around midday, the servants brought down blankets and baskets of food so the nobles could have a picnic on the beach. After they ate they sat talking. Vincent laid down on the blanket and rested his head in his wife's lap. Delaney smiled lovingly down at him and absently brushed her fingers through his long black hair.

He had put his shirt on once he'd gotten out of the water as he normally did. Despite all Delaney's trying to convince him otherwise, he still felt he shouldn't make the others uncomfortable by seeing all his scars for longer than they had to. The collar of his shirt hung open wide though and she found herself distracted, studying the marks she was able to see and trying to judge if they had grown.

Some of the bigger, more prominent lines Delaney could see had grown, at least a little. The smaller lines she had never paid much attention to so she couldn't tell with them. She wondered if Violet's urgent words had made her more worried than she needed to be. Surely if his marks were getting worse Vincent would have noticed.

Watching the servants gathering their dishes from lunch an idea suddenly dawned on her. There was one other person who would have noticed if Vincent's scars were indeed getting worse.

Unable to wait until after her friends were gone and not sure when she would get another chance where Vincent would be distracted, Delaney excused herself to go back to the house to check on things. Thankfully no one bothered asking what she needed to check on so she didn't have to make something up.

Walking quickly up the stone steps, Delaney glanced behind her and saw her ever-loyal bodyguard was coming as well. She smiled at Ian and slowed until he could catch up.

"Where are you off to?"

"I just need to talk to Harris alone for a moment."

"Oh?" Ian looked surprised, "What about?"

Delaney hesitated, glancing over at him. Today alone she was going to have talked to Violet and Harris about Vincent's scars. She didn't know if she should add Ian to that list as well. Her husband wouldn't appreciate knowing she'd talked to so many people about his marks.

"I'd better not say," she answered.

She would have liked to talk to Ian about it but at least this way if Vincent found out about the scret conversations it would only be with two people instead of three.

Ian frowned, "Is something wrong?"

Delaney swallowed, "I hope not but that's what I will find out once I've spoken to Harris."

"It's about Lord Adair then?"

"Ian," Delaney smirked at him, "I shouldn't talk to you about this but I promise if something is actually wrong I will tell you."

The young pirate nodded and didn't press her further on the matter. They were quiet until they were close to the house.

"Why don't you go on ahead to your sitting room and I will send Harris to you?" Ian suggested, "It will be more proper than speaking to him in your bedroom and more private than trying to do so in the servants' area."

"Alright," Delaney agreed, "Thank you."

They went their separate ways then, Delaney heading to the main entrance of the house and then to her sitting room while Ian went in the door by the kitchens to look for Vincent's valet.

-

Delaney paced back and forth in the sitting room while waiting for Harris. She was anxious to ask him her questions and nervous about being caught. She didn't have a good excuse for talking to the man and she would hate to lie to her husband. If Vincent found her she would have to tell him the subject of their meeting and then there would be no avoiding the discussion of his scars. She hoped it wouldn't lead to a fight.

The windows in the sitting room didn't face the ocean and she found it maddening not being able to keep watch for someone coming towards the house. At last when a light knock came at the door she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Ian opened the door and stepped back to allow an apprehensive and confused looking Harris to enter.

"Ian could you... could you let me know if my husband or any of my friends head towards the house?" she asked, looking at him pointedly.

The man nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

Delaney turned to Harris then and forced a smile to her face. The red headed valet smiled tensely back and gave a quick bow.

"How can I be of service, my Lady?"

"Well," Delaney took a deep breath to build up courage, "I want to ask you about something but the subject is a bit... delicate."

Harris frowned in confusion so she continued.

"A family member recently brought something to my attention that they had observed and then I too noticed it. It's something you would be the only other person to know about besides my husband himself."

"And... and what is it my Lady?"

"His scars," Delaney forced herself to just come out and say it, "Harris I need to know if you've noticed any of his scars growing or looking worse when you help him dress and undress."

The valet stiffened and he seemed to almost go pale. He swallowed and dropped his eyes away from hers.

"My Lady you know I am a very good friend of Lord Adair's," he said quietly, "So you know he would not appreciate me talking to you or anyone about his appearance."

"I'm not concerned with them because of his appearance," Delaney replied, "You know I love him deeply and his marks don't change that. I'm asking because I'm concerned about how they might affect his health."

"Be that as it may, my Lady," Harris still didn't meet her eyes, "You know he wouldn't be pleased with me at all if he found out I'd talked to someone about such things... even you."

"Well I can assure you I wouldn't tell him we had this talk unless he asked me about it directly. The only reason I'm asking you at all is to spare him the pain or embarrassment of me asking him. Especially if it turns out they haven't changed at all and I just imagined it."

Harris swallowed again and glanced up at her, hands clasped behind his back. Delaney was anxious for him to hurry up and tell her something so this conversation could be over.

At last he cleared his throat, "Lady Adair I try not to pay any attention to Vince's scars. We've been friends our whole lives. It truly hurts my heart to see them and know the pain he's in and that there is nothing I can do to take it away. I will say this though, before we left Edgewood to come here he had gone to see a doctor as I believe you know. He told me when he returned that the doctor had said nothing had changed since he had seen him last."

"Yes Vincent told me about that," Delaney admitted, "He only went to the doctor to satisfy me after I thought I had noticed his scars growing once before."

Harris nodded, "I know it isn't my place to say so my Lady but if you are concerned about bringing up the scars to him again and upsetting him, maybe it's best to just keep the report from the doctor in mind."

Delaney swallowed and was quiet as she thought over his words. She felt suddenly embarrassed for broaching the subject with the man at all. He was right. The doctor had reported there was no change. Maybe scars naturally shifted some over time. Maybe she was overreacting.

"Thank you for your time Harris," she said then, lifting her chin and forcing herself to appear in control again, "You're right. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. You can go back to your work now."

Harris bowed again and thanked her before disappearing out the door. Delaney stood with her hands gripping the back of the couch she was standing behind. A few minutes later there was a light knock at the door and she turned to see Ian standing there looking concerned.

"Well?" he questioned, "Is there trouble? Or did everything turn out to be alright?"

Delaney swallowed and forced a smile to her lips, "Everything is fine. Thank you for watching out."

Ian frowned, studying her and clearly not believing her words. He nodded though and held out an arm to her.

"Should we return to the beach then?" he asked.

"Yes," Delaney slipped her arm through his, "Thank you."

They were quiet as they walked back across the yard and down the stone stairs to the beach below. Once they got there Delaney looked out at the water and spotted Vincent throwing some kind of ball to his brother. Mason stood in between them, trying to intercept it. When Vincent caught sight of her he let Bernard take his place and came out of the water to join her.

"Is everything alright Love?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"It is," she looked lovingly up at him before leaning up to give him a quick kiss, "I just love you so much you know."

Vincent chuckled, "And I love you so much."

"I know," she answered quietly before reaching out to run her hands slowly over his wet, muscular, and scarred stomach.

It worried her that the marks could be growing but at this point, Harris knew her husband better than Violet did. She may think Delaney needed to force Vincent to talk about them but Harris had said to leave it be and remember the doctor had said nothing had changed. For now, she would trust him and put her faith in the doctor's knowledge.

"You're so handsome," she said as she let her hands slide up and over his chest until she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss her again.

Vincent hugged her to him and she could feel the hot, raised scars through the thin fabric of her gown.

No matter what happened, they would always be there to remind her that dragon poison still flowed through his body.