Page 42 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

“Mama…” she whispered, her glassy eyes finding Annabelle’s. Then they brushed closed again, and she turned over on her side.

Cassandra looked at Ewan. Her eyes were very wide. Ewan gazed back at her, and although he did not speak, he hoped his eyes communicated what his words could not: Annabelle was right. She was becoming her mother.

They stayed like that for a long time, the two of them sitting by Annabelle’s side, Ewan holding her hand, Cassandra wetting the rags and ringing them out before placing them over Annabelle’s warm body. They were just beginning to grow tired, Ewan’s eyes brushing closed as sleep settled over him, when they heard a small sound from the bed.

“Papa?”

Ewan was awake at once. He stood up and bent over his daughter. Her eyes were open, and for the first time in what felt like hours, they were not glassy.

“Papa?” she murmured again. “What happened?”

Cassandra let out a long sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God,” she whispered. “The fever has broken.”

The relief was so strong that before he could even think about it, Ewan reached across the bed and took Cassandra’s hand.

They were holding hands like that, smiling down at Annabelle, when the doctor finally arrived. But by now, Annabelle was out of danger. Thanks to the gentle administrations and tender care of Cassandra.

Chapter 16

“And Annabelle is entirely out of danger now?” Lillian asked. She and Cassandra were strolling through the gardens together the next morning, the cool morning air refreshing after spending much of the night in Annabelle’s room.

“That is what the doctor says,” Cassandra said. “He thinks it was just a brief fever, the kind children often get.”

She tried to sound unconcerned, but it was difficult. Every time she remembered how it had felt to see the child feverish and sweaty, she felt the same knot of fear in her stomach. Never before had worry engulfed her like that, making her completely single-minded. Then again, she had never had someone to worry over like that before.

Lillian, of course, read through her right away.

“You must still be worried,” she said softly. “I know I am.”

Swallowing, Cassandra nodded. “She just looked so helpless and vulnerable. And I felt such a deep need to keep her safe, to watch over her. And she is not even my…”

She trailed off, unsure if she wanted to share with Lillian what Annabelle had called her the night before. As much as shewanted to talk about it, to revel in it, to hear Annabelle call herMamaagain and again, she knew that it was probably just a symptom of the fever. It was too soon for Annabelle to consider Cassandra her mother.

“You love her, though,” Lillian said. “Even if she is not your child, you love her.”

“Yes,” Cassandra admitted. “I do. Is that odd? I have only been here a few weeks, after all.”

“It is not odd,” Lillian assured her, taking her arm and squeezing it. “Annabelle is the most lovable child in the world. And she is part of your husband, as well.”

Cassandra made a small noise of dissatisfaction. “That is not the reason I love Annabelle,” she said. “It is not as if the duke and I are in love.”

Lillian eyed her, a small, skeptical smile on her lips. “And yet, when I came in with the doctor last night, I saw the two of you holding hands across Annabelle’s bed.”

“We were worried about her,” Cassandra said indignantly, although her cheeks did flush as well. “It was nothing more.”

Lillian laughed. “Whatever you say.” She was quiet for a long moment after that, and Cassandra gazed sideways at her. Herfriend’s expression had dimmed considerably, and now she was staring moodily ahead at the perfectly trimmed hedgerows.

“What is it?” Cassandra asked.

Lillian shook herself. “It is nothing,” she said quickly. “Only that…”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “Tell me. Whatever it is, it cannot be as awful as all that.”

A long moment passed, during which Lillian looked as if she were fighting whether or not to say something, then at last she set out a long sigh and turned to Cassandra.

“Last night, Alaric—Mr. Greybourne—he told me that he… he cares for me.”

Cassandra tried to look surprised, although she was not actually at all.