FREE! In The Arms of My Enemy (Completed!) Book 1

In Sickness and In Health

Fidelia sat up in bed with her back against the rough wood wall and watched as her husband settled another blanket around her feet.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked. She couldn't even force her voice to sound gruff or annoyed anymore. William had quietly cared for her over the last two weeks since she fell ill without so much as a grunt of complaint, bringing her food three times a day, even feeding her when she was too weak to sit up. At night when the chill from the ocean seeped in through the walls and her shivering kept waking her up, William would climb up onto the berth and share his body warmth, his back always toward her.

Now, William paused as he hung up her day dress. "Hang up your dress?" he cocked his head.

Fidelia rolled her eyes. "Yes. And bring me food, sleep on the floor until I get cold... all of it. Why have you been so kind to me?"

"I made a promise to your brother to protect you," William shrugged, turning away to leave.

"Even when I'm sick? Any other man would have counted his promise fulfilled when he rescued us from Baltimore," Fidelia pleated the rough blanket between her fingers and watched him carefully.

William paused. Finally, he returned to the berth as sat near her hip. "No, Fidelia... that was a promise that I made to you. I swore as your husband to care for you in sickness and in health. We may not have married for love, but we are bound together now—" he broke off in a fit of coughing, his shoulders shuddering.

"William?" Fidelia examined him, suddenly looking at him closely for the first time since their wedding. "Are you alright?"

He waved her off, smiling even as his eyes watered. "Very well, thank you. Just a little... tired, is all."

Fidelia leaned forward and took his face in her hands. His cheeks had sunken and the skin was warm to the touch. "You're sick."

He shook his head. "A strapping young lord such as me? Nonsense. You'll ruin my reputation among the ton if you spread rumors like that—" his voice broke and he smothered another cough.

"You are. Lay down," Fidelia ordered, climbing out of the berth. She pressed against his shoulders and, after a moment of weak resistance, he settled in against the wall.

"Perhaps for a moment," he said, his eyes drifting closed.

Fidelia watched him until his breath deepened. How had she missed the way his shoulders had thinned, the way his eyes and cheeks had sunken? Hesitantly, she reached out and touched his hand. Had he worn himself to the bone caring for her?

She tucked the blankets up around his shoulders and left as quietly as she could. She closed the door softly and looked around the ship. What should she do? She had been tucked away in her room for the trip thus far and couldn't even remember the layout. 

She gripped the thin string around her neck, the warm metal of the horseshoe nail ring biting into her skin.  With a shaky breath, she let go.

The string gave way and the ring toppled to the floor with a ting.

The ring wobbled unevenly, the nail-head winking up at her.

She choked down and sob and plucked it from the floor.  Father had given her that ring... and tied the string around her neck.

 Just then, Mr. de Lacy appeared on the stairs coming down from the dock.

"Mr. de Lacy," Fidelia greeted him with relief.  She closed her fist around the ring.  She could find another string later.

Mr. de Lacy paused in surprise and then smiled broadly. "Miss Fidelia! Ah, pardon me, I should say 'Lady Greyville.' It is good to see you up and about."