Page 85 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

There was a movement at the end of the corridor, and she looked up to see Lillian walking toward them holding Annabelle’s hand.

“She wanted to check on her father,” Lillian said. “And give him another drawing.”

Annabelle came forward and took Cassandra’s hand. “Is he better?” she murmured, and Cassandra nodded.

“He was sleeping when I left him, but let us check if he is awake yet.”

Back inside Ewan’s room, Cassandra was glad to see that her husband was awake. His eyes were just blinking open as she and Annabelle came into the room.

“Was that the doctor I heard you speaking to?” he murmured.

“Yes.” She smiled warmly down at him. “He says that you will make a full recovery.”

His own smile was slow but happy. “I am very grateful to hear that.”

“We shall have to send him a large pheasant,” Cassandra said. “Or a rack of lamb. Something to thank him for his service.”

Ewan nodded, then turned his attention to his daughter. She clambered up onto the bed next to him, handing her drawing to him shyly.

“I made this for you, Papa.”

The drawing showed a man in bed. Next to him was a young girl and a woman in a rocking chair. It was not hard to see where Annabelle had gotten her inspiration, and Ewan laughed as he took it.

“It is brilliant,” he said. “A very accurate depiction of the last few days, is it not?”

Her lip quivered, and she looked down. “Will you be well soon, Papa?”

“I will,” he promised. “The doctor has assured me of it.”

She examined the deep hollows under her father’s eyes, touching them curiously with her pointer fingers.

“You look dreadful, Papa.”

He laughed, and his eyes were shining as they met Cassandra’s. “I do look dreadful,” he admitted. “But in a few weeks, I will be myself again. You will see.”

“And Uncle Christopher?” She sounded almost nervous, as if she knew the answer could not be good.

Cassandra looked at Ewan, then leaned forward and took Annabelle’s hand.

“Uncle Christopher will have to go away for a while,” she said. “He has acted in a way that is not very nice. But now we are all safe, and your father and I will not be going anywhere.” She smiled at the little girl.

“I am glad Uncle Christopher will be going away,” she said. “He has been scaring me. But now he is gone, we will be a real family. A mama and a papa and me.”

Cassandra’s eyes were filled with tears as she hugged Annabelle close. “Being your Mama will be the greatest gift of my life,” she whispered.

After that, Ewan needed to rest again, so Cassandra left Annabelle and him to nap while she made her way downstairs. Her mother was on the verandah in a wicker rocking chair, drinking tea, and Cassandra joined her. The verandah overlooked the lawn, which was wet with morning dew, and stretched all the way to a gazebo on the far side.

Lady Pembury raised her eyebrows as her daughter sat down in the chair across from her.

“I see that everything has worked out in your favor,” she said.

“You say that like it is a bad thing,” Cassandra said lightly, reaching for the pot of tea.

“On the contrary,” Lady Pembury said. She leaned back in her chair, her eyes sweeping over her daughter as if trying to find something she had been looking for all along. “I am merely… impressed.”

“Impressed?” It was not a word that Cassandra had often heard her mother use to describe her. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I said,” Lady Pembury said. “I am impressed. You have executed yourself very well here. Established yourself as the duchess. Made the duke fall in love with you. Even saved him from a nefarious scheme. Exposed his brother’s lies. It is… Well, it is more than one would ever have expected from one’s dutiful, rule-abiding daughter.”