Read Online Persistent Earl : Signet Regency Romance (9781101578841) by Gail Eastwood - Free Book Online Page B

bedside lamp that Devenham’s bed was quite empty.
    â€œI believe you have been avoiding me since this morning,” came his deep voice, startling her. How jumpy she was! Perhaps her nerves were more overset by old friends roaming Oxford Street and strange men lurking in bushes than she had thought. She took a breath to calm herself.
    The earl was seated in the wing chair by the hearth, clad in a dressing gown with a blanket covering his legs. As Phoebe approached, she noted that the glow from the fire in the grate lit his face and emphasized the whiteness of his shirt collar against the deep blue of the brocaded silk wrapper.
    â€œYou should be in bed, my lord,” Phoebe chided. “Whatever was Mullins thinking?”
    â€œNonsense,” replied the earl in a dampening tone. “If you are any kind of a nurse, Lady Brodfield, you should know it is important for a patient to change his position whenever possible. Demmed if I’ll suffer bedsores on top of everything else.”
    Phoebe ignored his language. “But you are so weak! You need to rest.”
    â€œI have been resting all day, waiting for you.” He gave her an angelic smile. “I wanted to apologize.”
    Phoebe did not know whether to sit down or stay standing. She did not know whether he was being sincere or starting a new game with her. She looked at him dubiously.
    â€œYou surprise me,” Devenham said. “I thought you would deny avoiding me. Have I been punished sufficiently for my bad behavior? Please, Lady Brodfield, since you are here, sit down.” He indicated the straight chair that was already so familiar to her, now drawn up by the hearth opposite the wing chair.
    She perched uneasily on the edge of the seat. “Had you not considered the possibility that I am charged with other duties besides yourself?” she asked testily.
    His attractively lopsided grin appeared, gleaming in the dim light. “Indeed, I had. But I am a man, with a man’s vanity. I found that I preferred to think I was being punished, and that I was at least that much on your mind.”
    Disarmed by his candor, she stood up again and moved a few steps toward the fire. She could not possibly admit to him that he was so completely right or that he had read her so well. What an aggravating man! Aggravating, yet at the same time dangerously charming.
    The earl continued when she did not respond. “As I said, I wish to apologize to you for my behavior this morning. I often act the scoundrel without thinking—it is a role that comes easily to me. I am sorry I offended you. Especially you, of all people!”
    She turned around at that, her question in her face. “Why me, of all people?”
    â€œMullins has told me how faithfully you attended me in the throes of my delirium. I am greatly in your debt. I am sure you must be tired, and I shall not detain you long. But I must make it clear to you how much I shall still need you, now that I appear to be recovering.” He sighed and suddenly looked as weary as Phoebe knew he must be.
    â€œShall I call Mullins?” she asked quickly, making a move toward the door.
    Devenham waved a hand vaguely as if to detain her. “No, let me finish first.” He interrupted himself, serving her with a penetrating stare. “
Will
you sit down, woman? You are very restless and unusually quiet tonight. I hope it is not on my account.”
    She shook her head and sat down again meekly. Her discomfort was not on his account alone, at least. But she was not about to confide her troubles to him.
    â€œBetter. Now, I will still be needing you as a nurse, I know, but I shall need a secretary while I am here, as well. Since I have not shown sense enough to die, there is a good deal of business that I must attend to. Mullins will have to serve as my legs and my presence about Town, temporarily. He will not always be able to spend entire days at my side as he did today.”