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And he should have done it later, when the ax fell, instead of storht have accoht have used the earl’s ood purpose, in scholarly pursuits, for instance, to further knowledge, or perhaps in a political endeavor

Everyone died, so to whiret and if onlys was pathetic

That, Dorian realized, hat had kept him so unsettled for these last months

Now, though, his soul was quiet

Because of her

He nuzzled his wife’s ard hair He had hty forher a woman He smiled He knew that was no small achievement

She wanted to be a doctor Equally important, she would use the Earl of Rawnsley’s ood purpose

Very well, he told her silently I cannot give you a ive you what I can

And that ht conclusion, because his busy mind quieted, and in a little while, he fell asleep

AFTER BREAKFAST, DORIAN took her out to the ht years earlier

He helped Gwendolyn fro himself to but one brief kiss in the process—then led her to a boulder at the track’s edge He took off his coat and laid it on the cold stone and asked her to sit, which she did with a bemused smile

“Last night you said I was not your first lunatic,” he began

“Oh, not at all,” she eagerly assured hihtly’s practice, was particularly interested in neurological maladies, and he let me assist him in several cases Not all the patients were irrational, certainly But Miss Ware had six different personalities at last count, and Mr Boas prone to violent dementia, and Mrs Peebles—may her troubled soul rest in peace—”

“You can tell me the details later,” Dorian interrupted “I only wanted to ht I was not fully attending, I’m sorry to say I have not listened properly since you came”

“How can you say such a thing?” she exclaimed “You are the only man except Mr Evershah at my hospital idea, and you were not horrified about the dissections” She hesitated briefly “You are rather overprotective, true, but that is your nature, and I know it is a very gentlemanly and noble inclination”

“Overprotective,” he repeated “Is that how you see it, Gwen?”

She nodded “You want to shield me from unpleasantness On the one hand, it is rather lovely to be coddled Still, on the other, it is just the tiniest bit frustrating”

He understood how he’d frustrated her She didn’t like being kept in the dark about his illness He had treated her like a silly female, as other men had done

“I have surmised as athering her up and “overprotecting” her in his arms, as he very much wished to do “Yours is a medical mind You do not see matters as we laymen do Illness is a subject of study to you, and sick people represent a source of knowledge Their ailments make you no more queasy than a volu “I fancied myself a scholar once, you see Classics”

“I know” Her green gaze was soft with admiration “You took a first, Bertie says”

“Yes, I ah “I have—had—a brain” Embarrassed, he looked away, toward the moors “I also had plans once, as you do But they were notwell thought out, and it all ended inrather a mess”

His throat tightened

He told himself it was ridiculous to feel uneasy He had prepared hiht She needed to learn the facts—all of theent decisions about her future At present, her attachment to him was probably little more than a new bride’s infatuation, a response to the physical passion they’d shared If, after he enlightened her about his past and what the future held in store, she chose to leave, she’d swiftly recover her equilibrium If she chose to remain, she would do it with her eyes open at least, prepared for the worst To show respect for her ive her the choice, and accept her decision, and live—and die—with the consequences

“Dorian?”

He closed his eyes Hoeetly his name fell from her lips He would remember that, too, no matter what happened—or he would re as his brain functioned

He turned back to her, s as he shoved his windblown hair from his face

“I know you want to hear all the fascinating details ofto decide where to begin”