Page 61 of Memories Made At Midnight

She’d improved vastly today. Her chest still ached, and when she coughed, it was difficult to catch her breath, but she was almost certain her fever had abated.

Determined to prove to Cassius that she was well on her way to recovery, she carefully made her way toward the front of the cottage. The air had cooled considerably, and a shiver skittered across her shoulders.

Cassius had mentioned this forest was The South Pennines, and the temperature was always cooler here, particularly beneath the trees’ leafy covering.

He must have heard her coming because he turned.

For an unguarded instant, he gazed at Beatrice with such longing and tenderness that she almost missed a step. In the next second, the shutters fell into place over his face with the swiftness of soldiers securing a bastion against marauders, and she might have imagined the desire written across his chiseled features.

Just as well.

How did two broken, beleaguered people traverse the rocky and uncertain path that was love? Wouldn’t it be like the blind leading the blind?

After he’d assisted her back to her humble bed, he set about shuttering the windows. He’d already gone for water and there was naught else to do but wait until Layton and the others arrived.

He glanced at her before moving to the door. “All set?”

As much as she ever would be.

Beatrice gathered Teddy into her arms and pulled Nala close before giving a brave nod.

He searched her face, and for a heartbeat, she suspected he knew her embarrassing secret.

Thankfully, Cassius said nothing.

The hinges squeaked and groaned as he shoved the uneven door shut and slid a board into place to secure it.

Blackness as dark as the Earl of Hell’s waistcoat enveloped her, and Beatrice breathed slowly in and out to prevent dread from overcoming her. Or at least she tried to. Instead of calm, even breaths, she panted as fear clawed its way up her spine.

Sweet Jesus.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t alone. Curling her fingers into Nala’s coat, she commanded her irregular gasps to subside.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, Teddy licked her chin.

Cassius must have heard Beatrice’s panicked breathing, for before she could blink thrice in the inky darkness, he settled beside her. “Come here.”

Then his arms encircled her, and Beatrice buried her face in his wide, comforting chest.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured against the fine fabric of his shirt. “I know being afraid of the dark is silly at my age.”

“Hmm.” He made that low humming sound in his chest that she’d come to adore.

“We all have fears, Beatrice.” He stroked her back, up and down. “Have I told you about my grandmother, Libby the Dowager Duchess of Latham?”

A blatant change of subject to spare her further humiliation.

She adored Cassius for it.

“You’ve mentioned her.” Beatrice tilted her head back, but it was impossible to see Cassius’s face. Regardless, the warmth of his body and the steady thump, thump of his heart against her cheek reassured her.

“Lie back, and I’ll tell you about her and the rest of my family.” He chuckled, and she imagined the mirth lighting his dark blue eyes. “Grandmama is quite an eccentric old bird, but we all adore her and would do anything for her. She knows it too and isn’t above exploiting our affection.”

Soon, they lay side by side, face to face.

Nala tucked herself behind Beatrice’s back, and Teddy rooted around near her feet before plopping down.

“Grandmama is part Roma, and she believes in all sorts of magical, mystical, unexplainable things…”