Lily and the Duke (Sex and the Season #1)(80)

“Yes, yes, of course.” Daniel sat back down, his anger at Amelia giving away to fear and grief. “How did you get it back?”

“I made her give it to me,” Rose said. She gave a light smile. “I punched her in the nose.”

“You did?”

“Yes, I did. She had it coming.” Rose sat down beside him. “Your Grace, Lily cares for you very much. I want you to know that.”

Daniel closed his eyes, trembling. How he hoped Lily’s sister was right. “Thank you.”

Rose sat beside him, and he continued to pray silently, until Evan entered.

“Lady Lily’s out of surgery,” he said. “The doctor wants to talk to all of you.”





Chapter 17





“Good, you’re here,” Blake said, when Daniel and Rose entered. “Everything went well. I have stopped the bleeding. It wasn’t necessary to remove the womb.”

“Oh thank God!” Lady Ashford said.

“I want to see her,” Daniel said.

“Of course, in a moment,” Blake said. “I need to explain a few things. She has a concussion. She will drift in and out of consciousness for the next day or two. I have her sedated right now and on morphine for the pain. She may develop a fever. It’s quite common after a surgical procedure.”

“Oh dear,” the countess said.

“She’s young and healthy. We’ll keep her cool as best we can.”

“Is there any risk at this point?” Daniel asked.

“There is always risk after any invasive procedure, Your Grace, but I have every reason to believe that she will recover nicely. May I speak privately to you for a moment?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Daniel sighed with relief as he moved with Blake to the other end of the room. “What is it?”

“You’ll need to stay away from her, Your Grace. She can’t engage in…intimate relations for about six weeks. She needs time to heal.”

“Will she be able to have children?”

“Assuming everything heals as it should, yes.”

Daniel sighed again. “I want to see her.”

“You may sit with her, but she’ll be unresponsive.”

“I don’t care. I need to be with her.”

“Of course. I will go rest at the bachelor house. I’ll check in on her later. Meanwhile, have a servant fetch me if I’m needed. I won’t venture off the estate.”

“I’d prefer you stay here in the main house, if you don’t mind. I’ll have a chamber made up for you on this floor and your personals brought over.”

“That’s fine. Just direct me to wherever I’m staying. I’m exhausted.”

Once the others all left, Daniel sat by his bed, Lily’s hand in his. She slept soundly, though a bit fitfully, breathing irregularly with small beads of sweat forming on her forehead. He had dismissed the maids and the housekeeper, preferring to tend to her himself. He rose, dipped a cloth in a basin of cool water, wrung it out, returned, and placed it on Lily’s head. Exhausted, he lay down next to her, clasping her other hand in his, and drifted off.

He awoke to someone nudging him. “Daniel, Daniel.”

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he recognized his Aunt Lucy.

“It’s time for her morphine.”

“What time is it?” Daniel sat up abruptly.

“It’s one in the morning, dear.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I need to watch over her.”

“No one expects you to stay up all night after what you’ve been through. She needs her morphine every six hours. Dr. Blake says the pain will be excruciating for the first day.

Daniel hugged Lily’s hand to his chest. “I can’t stand the thought of her being in pain.”

“She’s strong. She’ll be all right. Here, I’ll show you how to give her the medicine, and you can give her another dose in six hours.” Lucy sat down beside Lily and felt on her forehead. “She’s warm. I’m afraid the fever is starting. Let’s give her the medication, and then I’ll show you how to cool her.”

Lucy took a packet of powdered morphine and lifted Lily’s head from the pillow. With her other hand, she opened Lily’s mouth, poured the powder on her tongue, and held a glass of water to her lips. “Come on, sweetheart, take a drink,” she said. Lily’s head shook slightly and her eyes remained closed, but Lucy managed to pour some water down her throat. “Daniel, call for some ice. We need to cool her.”

“Shouldn’t we get Blake?”

“I think we can handle this. But if you’d feel better, I’ll summon him.”

“No, I’m sure he’s exhausted. I’ll get the ice.” He quickly rang for a servant and dispatched the order. When the ice arrived, Lucy crushed some in a cup and gave it to Daniel.

“Hold her head up and feed her some ice chips, one by one. They’ll melt quickly in her mouth because she’s so hot.”

Daniel did as he was told, while Lucy dropped some ice in a basin of cool water. She dipped a cloth in, wrung it out, and placed it on Lily’s forehead.

“Daniel, I need to undress her. We need to cool her body.” Lucy uncovered Lily and began to unbutton the nightdress that covered her. “If you’d rather…”