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"Oh, God, Belle," he said with a ragged cry "Please, please hold on If you cannot do it for me then do it for your family They love you so much You wouldn't want to hurt them, would you? And think about all the books you haven't read yet I promise I'll sneak Byron's next one to you if they won't sell it in your bookstore There's still so hout John's passionate soliloquy Belle re shallow Finally, in utter desperation, he broke down and bared his soul "Belle, please ," he begged "Please, please don't leave me Belle, I love youI love you, and I couldn't bear it if you died God help me, I love you so much" His voice broke off, and like a man who has suddenly realized the fruitlessness of his situation, he sighed raggedly and laid her gently back down on the bed

Unable to hold back the lone tear that rolled down his cheek, John tenderly pulled up the blankets and tucked Belle in Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward God, it was torture to be so close to her He lightly brushed his lips against her ear, whispering, "I love you, Belle Re that "always" would last longer than the next hour

Belle was lying in bed a few hours later when she felt a co warmth suffuse her body Funny how her toes had been cold for so long, even when the rest of her had been going up in flames But now they felt warm, even-pink Belle wondered if toes could feel pink, and then decided that they must, because that was precisely the word to describe the way her toes were feeling

In fact, her entire body felt kind of pink Pink, and cozy, and a little fuzzy, but ood For the first ti she'd been ill

Gingerly, she hoisted herself into a sitting position, surprised at hoeak herher eyes a few tis She was back hoht How had she returned? All she reht Her awful fight with John

She sighed, bone tired She didn't care any longer if he didn't want her to say that she loved him She would take him any way she could have hie Spencer and go back to the country, back to Bunford Manor

Bunford Manor? No, that wasn't right

Drat She'd never remember the name of that place She tilted her head to the side Sore She flexed her fingers Sore She pointed her toes and groaned Her entire body ached

As she sat there testing out various body parts, the doorknob quietly turned and John entered the room He had finally forced himself to take a fifteen minute break so that he could splash some water on his face and shove some food down his throat Noas terrified that he'd find Belle had lost her tenuous hold on life while he was gone

To his great surprise, when he reached the side of the bed, he saw that the object of his desperate worry was sitting up, shrugging her shoulders Up, down, up, down

"Hello, John," she said weakly "What's the name of your house in Oxfordshire?"

John was so stunned, so completely thrown off balance by her bizarre question, it took him several moments to reply "Bletchford Manor," he finally said,

"That's an awful na a face Then she yawned, for the sentence had taken a lot of energy to get out

"I've-I've been e it"