Page 51 of A Momentary Marriage

James cast a jaundiced eye at the cot Owen had set up for Laura on the other side of the room. It seemed a very poor place indeed for her to sleep while he took her large, soft bed. But she would never let her patient take the cot.

It wasn’t really the inequity of the sleeping arrangements that bothered him. The thing was . . . he enjoyed waking up with her in his arms. He’d liked turning over in the night and feeling her beside him. He wasn’t sure why, for he was a man who had always preferred to sleep in his own bed. Alone. He made it a point to leave a woman’s bed, not linger through the night. He had no need to cuddle and utter honeyed, meaningless words.

But these past few nights had been different. Even though he had been in and out of consciousness, half the time not knowing what was real and what was not, he had been aware of Laura’s presence. The slow gentle sound of her breath. Her softness. Her warmth. It hadn’t been sexual. Or, at least, it had not been until this morning. James had the feeling he’d ruined things.

His less-than-happy thoughts were interrupted by a bark outside his door. James knew that particular bark, accompanied by several thumps of a large tail against the door. James turned, unsurprised when, after a short knock, Graeme opened the door.

More unexpected, however, was the square woman beside his cousin. “Lady Eugenia!”

“You needn’t sound so surprised, James.” The dowager countess stepped past Demosthenes, who was occupied with letting Graeme rub his ears. “One would think a beast like that wouldn’t have a place in a sickroom.”

“He keeps out unwanted visitors.” James sketched a bow. “Naturally, that would not include you.”

“Hmph.”

“James . . .” Aunt Mirabelle rushed into the room and engulfed him in a soft, sweet-scented hug. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“No need to worry, you know nothing can kill me.” He gave her an affectionate squeeze and kissed her cheek. “Though, promise me, you will not tell the others I am better.”

“I won’t, dear, I swear. Graeme already warned me they’d all be in here bothering you if they knew you were on the mend.” She looked at him searchingly. “Oh, lovie, how thin you are.” Mirabelle steered him toward the bed. “Come, sit down.”

She fussed over him as the dowager countess took a seat on the chair and Graeme came over to shake his cousin’s hand. “You look well, James.”

James gave him a sardonic look. “No need to lie, coz. I look like I have one foot in the grave, but fortunately I’m pulling it out now, I think. Thanks to Laura.”

“I knew she was the perfect wife for you,” Mirabelle told him, patting his hand. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I must say I was surprised when I heard you’d married her,” Lady Eugenia said. “But I agree, she will make you an excellent wife.”

“That’s not what you said when I wanted to marry her!” Graeme protested.

James cast a jaundiced eye at his cousin. Graeme obviously was the sort of man Laura did want.

“Of course not. She wouldn’t have been a suitable wife for the Earl of Montclair.”

“But of course I,” James drawled, “am lowly enough in station to make it perfectly acceptable.”

“Don’t be impertinent.” Lady Eugenia fixed him with a gimlet eye. “The fact that you are ill does not give you license to be rude.”

“Of course not.” James bowed his head, properly chastened. “I beg your pardon.”

“As for Laura’s worthiness,” Lady Eugenia went on. “She is of good family and quite unexceptionable in manner. We all know where her lack lay, and since James is swimming in money, it will not signify. She’s a sensible girl. No doubt she has come to realize that marriage is a contract, and security is a far more important consideration than love.”

Her words, James reflected, were frighteningly similar to the argument James himself had made to Laura. He wondered why it sounded so irritating when Lady Eugenia said it.

“I feel sure she will be an admirable influence on you, James,” Lady Eugenia went on.

“No doubt.”

“She already has been a wonderful influence,” Mirabelle said, patting James’s hand. “She saved his life.”

“Indeed. I owe her a great deal.”

Mirabelle smiled and gave him another pat. “I’ll leave you to talk to the countess now, as I’ll have many other opportunities to visit you, but Lady Eugenia will be here only a short while.” From the look on his aunt’s face, James suspected that the brevity of the dowager countess’s stay was more a wish than a fact.

“Where is Laura?” James asked, looking toward the door.

“I am sure, quite properly, Laura is giving us the opportunity of a private conversation with you,” Lady Eugenia told him.