They helped her back into bed which had new clean sheets and Lydia came over with a concoction, and asked, “May I put this on your leg?”
Rhia bit her lip, “What is it?” Lydia smiled, “I made this out of some Evening primrose oil and ginger, it helps with stiff muscles.”
Rhia nodded, “Yes, please.” She desperately needed some relief in her muscles.
Lydia sat down on her bed and lifted the hem of her nightshift and bared her leg so she could see the horrible scar there.
Lydia looked up at her with compassion in her eyes, “You poor dear. What you have suffered. How hard you must have worked to regain the proper use of your leg.”
Rhia looked at the Duchess. “I did. I still limp, quite noticeably, as you have seen. But it is nothing compared to not using my leg. Some days, it’s hard. I miss not having the attention on me when I go places. I’m just the lonely crippled girl that lost her mother and her father. I wish that everyone would stop feeling badly for me. Stop treating me like I am going to give them a disease. I just want to get to Scotland and start over.”
Lydia looked shocked. “My sweet dear girl. I had no idea you felt this way. But I am glad you told me. You need to get it off your chest.”
Rhiannon was shocked as well. Never expecting to say so much about, or anything about her leg. She never had before. Not to Julia, not to her father. No one that had mattered or had asked.
Rhiannon grabbed the Duchess’s hand, “Thank you for listening. I really appreciate it. I am sorry if I ever say things I shouldn't. Sometimes my brain works slower than my mouth.”
Lydia nodded, “Nothing you say will upset me. You are a kind woman for worrying over offending me. I am not so easily offended. Trust me when I say our family is not conventional in the least. That is the truth and you will come to find out for yourself just how unconventional we are.” She started rubbing the medicine on her leg. “This should help with the swelling as well.” Rhia nodded, grateful for the help.
After she was finished, she helped Rhia to fix her nightgown into place and to situate the blankets over her lap.
There was a knock on the door and Rose stood to open it. When it opened, Aidan stood on the threshold with Cole at his side.
Rhia smiled. She couldn’t help it. The most handsome man she had ever seen was here. Wanted to check on her. She loved it. Loved seeing him.
“May we come in?” Aidan asked. Rhia nodded and so did Lydia.
Aidan and Cole entered and Aidan smiled and spoke up. “I just wanted to see how you are doing after your bath?”
Rhia blushed and looked down. “I am well. Your mother put some medicine on my leg. It hurts terribly to bend still. I think lying in bed for that long without moving it, wreaked havoc on it. I I don’t do well without stretching it daily.”
Aidan made it to her side and looked down at her before kneeling down in front of her.
With her sitting in the bed and him kneeling, it was almost an intimate thing, as he was similar to her height, and she could see every laugh line around his eyes. And that he had flecks of gray in his green eyes.
He averted his scarred cheek away from her, “Is there anything I can do to help you? I can help you to walk and stretch your leg if that is what you need.”
Rhia smiled. He was so sweet and thoughtful. “I would really appreciate that. I need to get moving. I feel if I stay in this room or bed too long it will keep making it worse.”
Aidan nodded and Cole spoke up from behind him, “I can help you also when Aidan is busy.”
Rhia blushed again, “I would like that. Thank you, Cole.”
Rhia yawned and try to cover it behind her hand. Aidan however, noticed. “We should probably leave you to rest. You are still recovering.”
Rhia frowned, “I am so sorry. You are all more than welcome to stay.”
Lydia jumped in, “Absolutely not. You need rest. Today took a lot out of you. We will leave you for tonight, but maybe tomorrow, after you have rested you might want to have dinner with us?”
Rhia nodded, “I would love that.”
Rose and Lily both started speaking at the same time and Lily said, “We can come help you get dressed and fix your hair.” They both looked at each other and laughed.
Rhia laughed as well and nodded. “I would love that too, thank you.”
Lily and Rose came and grabbed her hand in a quick squeeze and then they left.
Lydia gathered her herbs, medicines and her bag and gave her hand a squeeze as well, “I will come with the girls to give them a hand.”
Rhia nodded, “Thank you, for everything.” Lydia nodded and left, Cole nodding goodbye as well. Aidan stood there all alone in her room.
It was quite improper, him being in her bedchamber, just the two of them, but she knew Lydia was probably in the hall waiting for Aidan.
Aidan cleared his throat, “I can escort you to dinner. I know your leg is probably going to give you a hard time, so I want to make sure you get there without any problems.”
Rhia smiled, “Thank you Aidan, I would like that.”
Aidan’s cheeks went red and Rhia smiled again. Sweet man. He looked away and nodded. “I will be here to escort you when it’s time for dinner.”
Rhia nodded again. He looked her way, “Well, I will let you rest. Do you need anything?”
She shook her head and smiled again. “No, thank you.”
Aidan held her gaze for a minute and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Rhia gave a small laugh. She couldn’t believe how tongue tied that man made her. He was so handsome and she didn’t have much interaction with men, handsome or not.
Her sweet servants would go to the market for her most of the time, and her father’s associates were all older men. She had only been to a few things with men her age and had never spoken with them, nor had she gotten close enough to speak with one. They hadn’t made a move to speak with her either, so she had let it go. She had never had a caller or had been courted by anyone.
After her both her parents died, she was practically a spinster; and she had no fortune, barely a home, nothing to offer anyone. This deflated her spirit a little bit.
She knew Aidan would need to marry someone more suited to his station. Not someone like her, who had nothing and no one in the world. She hated even thinking that thought, but it was the truth. Julia and her parents were her only family, but they weren’t really. She couldn’t let herself get attached to anything or anyone here.
She could enjoy his company while she continued to get better and then she would go to Scotland to live her life.
She had to just get through the next few days or weeks without falling for the sweet and handsome Duke.
Chapter Ten
Aidan
Northumberland, England Sept 1812
Aidan walked as quickly as he could to the stables. He needed to let off some steam. To do something to get his mind off of the woman upstairs. The woman who very quickly had gotten under his skin.
There was a gorgeous female in his home. Yes, she had been here for a few days, but she was awake now, and aware. She wasn't afraid to speak to him. Like he wasn't a Duke, like he was just a man.
He finally got to see her up and about and to look into her eyes when she spoke to him. It was his favorite thing. Seeing how beautiful she looked when she had just awoken. How she never seemed to flinch from him. Lord, she was beautiful.
He had seen a few women he would say were pretty, but after this? None held a candle to Rhiannon.
She was tiny compared to him. Her head reached his chest, not quite to his shoulder. And he loved it. Her beautiful hair was neither red, nor brown but a mix of both. Her eyes were a perfect color of blue. He bet that they changed colors when she wore different shades of blue. He smiled. He couldn’t wait to see it.
But then he sobered. She was just here to recuperate and then she was off to Scotland. He didn’t like that thought. Sending her off to live all alone in Scot
land. Trying to find someone to give her work, or to marry her. He didn’t like that thought at all. It made him see red. He had just found her. She couldn’t leave him. Not now. She was his.
He would just have to try to change her mind. He had never felt this way about anyone, and it wasn’t that he hadn’t been around enough women, he just knew something was different about her. Knew it down in his soul. Deep inside he knew she was his.
He made it to the stables and saddled a horse. He needed a ride, but before he made it out the door, it opened and Cole walked in. “Going riding?”
Aidan smiled and nodded. “Of course, do you want to join?”
Cole smiled, “Let me just get my horse ready.”
Aidan nodded, “I will wait out the door for you.”
He checked the saddle and the horse before Cole walked out and they both mounted with ease.
Cole said, “Race you to the first ridge.”
Aidan leaned down over his horse and kicked her into a gallop and raced his brother across their land. He pulled ahead at the end and came out triumphant.
The brothers were laughing when they finished and Aidan turned to his brother.
“I knew Star Dancer would beat your horse. She always has.”
Cole laughed harder at that, “Star Dancer is a natural runner. Of course, but you have worked well with her. She will be an excellent breeder for the stables someday when we find a horse good enough for her. Our stables in London don’t have a candle to these ones.”
Aidan smiled, “True. I should go there some time to check everything, but I trust you so much that there would be nothing for me to check.”
Cole smiled also and dismounted. He gathered the reins in his hands, “Well, I am the Marquess Woodbridge. My title alone should prove nothing, yet I know just how the stables are run because I run them. I help my stable hands, much to their dismay. It was quite funny when I first got there and hired them. They almost fell over in shock that a nobleman would dare to get his boots and clothes dirty, cleaning the stables and helping to train the horses.”
Aidan laughed again. “Oh, father would surely be turning over in his grave at the both of us, acting just like the servants he told us not to be. We should have learned that lesson by now.”
Even though his father beat him almost to death, Aidan still worked as a servant. And he didn’t care. He never cared.
He dismounted as well, and they walked their horses for a bit before tying them to a tree and continuing without them. Aidan wanted to discuss something with Cole, but was nervous about broaching the subject with his brother. He shook his head, and decided to just try.
“Cole,” Aidan began, “Have you ever been in love?” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Every single time I see Rhiannon, my heart races so hard in my chest it feels as though it wants to break free, and my stomach feels like I drank an entire vat of whiskey. Or like I swallowed a bird and it is flapping around inside. My palms sweat and I feel like an adolescent boy again, seeing a beautiful woman for the first time. Not like the man I am now. I have hardly ever spoken to a woman, so I don’t know if this is how it feels or if this is just Rhiannon. But any other girl I have seen has never made me feel like this. Never made me want to make her mine. To keep her by my side for all time. I am out of my element here.”
Cole stopped walking, sitting on the stump of a tree and faced Aidan squarely.
“I couldn’t answer that the way you want Aidan. I don’t have much experience with women either. Regardless of the fact that I live in London, and am around them more than you. I have barely talked to a respectable woman. The women of the ton are so different, not like our mother is. Where she is kind and compassionate, they are sneaky and conniving in a way that confuses me. I don’t know how they think it will win them a husband or even get respect from someone. They don’t see me watching them and hearing their gossip. To be completely honest, I struggle with it. I know I have told you before, but I feel the same today, yesterday and will years from now.” He ran his hand over his face, and back over his queue and sighed.
“There is one woman that I have seen at most functions, she gets disrespected at every ball and function by those ladies of the ton. They talk badly about her, say nasty things, but she takes it with dignity. Never once faulting them, never once saying anything back to their deserving faces. She is beautiful and kind like Rhia, and what I feel for her sounds like what you feel for Rhia. But I’m afraid to go talk to her. Not that she frightens me, it’s that she is just so beautiful, I don’t know what to say or do. I’m out of my element there as well Aidan.”
Aidan looked shocked. “Well brother, seems like we both need some help. I never thought I would see the day that both of us were too afraid to talk to women. I know we haven’t really before, but it is laughable that we are both so scared of beautiful women.” He was truly pleased that Cole had found someone, despite his protests.
Cole smiled and shook his head, chuckling. “You are right Aidan. What in the world is wrong with us?”
Aidan looked at Cole and they both burst out laughing. “The Saint Andrew twins, afraid of tiny women. Ones that barely reach their shoulders.”
Cole and Aidan laughed until they had tears in their eyes. It felt good to laugh with his brother, even though it was silly to laugh at them being so scared to talk to women. Their laughter drifted away slowly.
They both took a moment to compose themselves and Cole sobered, “I keep my distance, and have barely been close enough to see, but I doubt she does reach my shoulder. Her name is Eden Turner.”
Aidan looked at Cole with his eyebrow raised, “Why haven’t you been close enough to her to see if she reaches your shoulder? That doesn’t seem like you.”
Cole took a breath, “The biggest reason why I don’t talk to her is because I am scared to end up like our father. To be like him in his brutish ways. It’s all we knew growing up. The only example we had of how a man treated a woman. What if I marry this girl and I hurt her? Have fits of anger so bad, I lash out at her? Cause her grief in any way? I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her. I have agonized over this for years Aidan. Even though I am in love with her, I have never even spoken to her. Not once in all the years I have seen her and loved her. I have to physically hold myself in place to not speak to her. To not grab her and hold her in my arms. To protect her from every single person in that room. I remind myself to keep my distance. It is all I can do.”
Aidan didn’t like that Cole felt this way. “I was worried about that too, honestly Cole; I was. It was always on my mind. Still is sometimes. It seems to take up residence there and not give me a respite, but then I had a realization after finding Rhia in the mud. Our father may have been evil incarnate, but we have never been like him. We are nothing like him. Not in the way we act, or the way we speak to people. We would never hurt our mother or sisters the way that he did. Never once have I ever thought that I should hurt a servant for not doing the exact thing I told him to do. I just help them see what is wrong and we fix it. We may look like him, yes. Which is really unfortunate for the both of us sometimes, but our mannerisms and our hearts hold no evil or hate. We may have been raised with his hatred toward us, but we have never hated anyone, only him. Never treated anyone like they were less than us.”
Aidan looked at Cole and made certain his brother was listening. “Just like we haven’t bedded random woman after woman, we made that decision to not do so. Even though not one person would look at us unfavorably if we did. I am certain they would be celebrating each new conquest we made. But we both know how we feel on the subject and have chosen to abstain. I haven’t found anyone that made me want to change that until this week with Rhia. I don’t like that we have had the same thought. That we would ever question the goodness in our hearts. We would never harm anyone. Not like he did. The fact that you care about her enough to stay away from her, to try to protect her from yourself? It says a lot. About who you are. Your character and what a good man you ar
e. We are not our father Cole. We need to spread a new legacy. Start a new chapter. Stop hiding in the shadows and show people who we are as the St. Andrew twins.”
Cole shook his head, swallowing over and over, he then stood and took Aidan’s hand in his own, shook it hard, then leaned over and hugged Aidan.
“Thank you, Aidan. You are exactly right. We are nothing like him. Nothing. We may have the blood of our father in our veins, but we also have our good, beautiful mother too. She never wavered, just kept being kind when it was hard. Hell, hard wouldn't even describe it. But she still is good and kind. When this godforsaken ball is over, I am going to London and I will talk to Eden. Finally. Seeing her in the ballroom, or at the theater or anywhere, being so goddamn beautiful, and not be able to talk to her has been torture for the last three years.”
Aidan let out a laugh. “You are serious when you said you have been in love with her for three years then?”
Cole looked down and Aidan saw his cheeks go red. “Since I went to London for you, not the first time, but just to get something for mother or something. She was the first woman I saw. Riding astride her horse in the middle of Hyde Park like she hadn’t a care in the world. She was so beautiful and didn’t care if people talked about her wearing breeches and riding her horse as good as any man. And then seeing her that night, looking like a fucking queen in the middle of the ballroom, it took my breath away. She still does after all these years. I wanted nothing more than to beat a man bloody for even looking her way. God, she is beautiful.”
Aidan smiled. “Go on. Tell me more.”
They both sat as Cole began again. “I walked into a ballroom that night, aware that any and all mothers of eligible daughters had their eye on me. But, as always, I ignored them. I was walking to stand by my friend, Cabe. And there she was, standing next to a large potted plant, her gown was light pink. It fit her body like a glove. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and she wore elbow length white gloves. God, did I want her. When I saw she had her head held high, not caring if someone whispered anything unkind about her, I knew she was it for me. She stood there, the entire evening not once having someone talk to her, not once having anyone ask her to dance. And I made a rule that I do not dance, ever. I don’t need matchmaking mothers after me, but I have almost gone several times to ask. It takes all my willpower to stay in place and not dance with her. Not take her, and make her mine.”
The Duke Who Loved Me Page 14
