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house and have a proper meal, Miss Abby.”
    The girl took Abby’s arm and helped her from the stable. Things had come to a pretty pass, she thought ruefully, when she needed help from a fifteen-year-old. Consciousness wavering, she decided to skip the food and go straight to bed.
    W hen Abby returned to awareness, she was in her own bed. No Judith slept beside her, but when she rolled to her side, she saw her friend reading in a chair by the bed. “I don’t have much of a life at the moment,” Abby said, her mouth dry and dusty. “All I’ve done for the last day or two is heal and sleep.”
    Judith set her book aside and poured water from a glass. “Drink this, you’ll feel better. You need food and plenty to drink and no more healing for at least a fortnight. You’re not made of iron, Abigail Barton.”
    Abby pushed herself up against the headboard and drank the water thirstily. “Believe me, I know. I feel ancient and feeble.” She glanced at the window to judge the angle of the sun. “Has another day gone by?”
    â€œYes. You slept for about twenty hours. The other wizards have gone home. I thought I should stay until you were awake and functioning.” She poured more water for Abby, then handed her a piece of bread with a slab of cheese and chutney on top.
    Abby took a giant bite of the bread and cheese, washing it down with water. After another bite, she asked, “How is Lord Frayne?”
    â€œRather better than you at the moment,” Judith said dryly. “Ashby is still here and spends most of his time with Frayne. I like Ashby—he’s a remarkably sensible fellow for a duke. That starchy new visitor, Winslow, is staying at the Old Club in town, but he’s here half the time, too. Frayne’s valet has also moved in and taken over most of the basic nursing work.”
    Abby finished her bread and looked around hopefully, but there was no more food in sight. “There haven’t been so many dashing young males in the house since Richard left to join the army. Did you stay partly to chaperone me?”
    â€œThe thought crossed my mind,” Judith admitted. “With your father away and you an unmarried girl, I thought you needed an aging widow to lend you respectability.”
    Abby snorted. “I’m no girl, and you are no one’s idea of an aging widow, but I appreciate your staying. With me dead to the world, someone needed to defend Barton Grange against the aristocratic hordes.”
    â€œApart from the risk of eating you out of house and home, Frayne’s friends are harmless enough. I’ll stay until your father returns from London. I know you haven’t much use for propriety, but on the whole, it’s better to pay lip service to society’s rules.” Judith’s mouth twisted ruefully. “You don’t want to end up like me, after all.”
    The topic was a painful one, and there was no point in discussing it. As Abby swung out of bed to prepare for the day, she considered telling Judith about the possibility that she might marry Frayne. No, better not to speak of something that seemed so unreal.
    At heart, she realized, she had never expected that a marriage might really happen.

Chapter
VI
    A bby dressed, not surprised to find that her gown was loose. Heavy use of magic used vast physical reserves. The house was quiet now that most of her friends had returned home, and for that she was grateful. Being sociable required energy, and she had none to spare.
    A visit to the kitchen gave her the chance to finally eat her fill. “I feel like a swarm of locusts,” she remarked to the cook as she swallowed a last apple tart. “I have descended on your field and gobbled everything in sight.”
    Cook grinned. “This is why I like working for wizards. You know how to appreciate food.”
    â€œYou have a cooking gift,” Abby said fervently. “And we are all