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"I’ll sit with him," she told Mrs Wetherby

"Oh, no, miss, you couldn’t It wouldn’t be – "

"Someone should be with him," Honoria said firmly "He should not be alone" She took the housekeeper’s arm and led her to the far side of the room It was impossible to conduct a conversation so close to Marcus He had lain back down, but he was tossing and turning with such violence that Honoria flinched every time she looked at him

"I will stay," Mrs Wetherby said But she didn’t sound as if she truly wanted to

"I suspect you have spent many hours at his side already," Honoria said "I will take a turn You need to rest"

Mrs Wetherby nodded gratefully, and as she reached the door to the corridor, she said, "No one will say anything About your being in his room I promise you, not a soul at Fensave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile "My mother is here Perhaps not here in the rooh to keep the gossip away"

With a nod, Mrs Wetherby slipped out of the room, and Honoria listened to the sound of her footsteps until they retreated into silence

"Oh, Marcus," she said softly,slowly back to his side "What happened to you?" She reached out to touch hiht, No, better not It wouldn’t be proper, and besides, she didn’t want to disturb him any more than she already had

He threw an ar about until he settled into position on his side, his free ar atop the quilt She hadn’t realized he was soIt was obvious He was – She stopped for aActually, it wasn’t obvious She couldn’t re But he see He just had that look about him Capable Not all men had it In fact, most didn’t, at least most of Honoria’s acquaintance

Still, she hadn’t realized that the

She leaned forward a littlethe candle a bit forward What was that muscle on the shoulder called? His was really quite nice

She gasped, horrified by the inappropriate direction of her thoughts, and took a step back She wasn’t here to ogle the poor man, she was here to take care of hile someone, it absolutely shouldn’t be Marcus Holroyd