Chapter 6

A pain in Audrey's temple throbbed whenever she moved. Her body felt limp and heavy, as she struggled to wriggle her fingers or move her toes.

What's happening? I need to get up and check on Sasha. Why can't I move?

Her eyes flickered open and she didn't recognize the room. She liked it, the mural of a forest on the wall opposite her bed, the tree trunks, leaves, and birds helping her imagine she was in the countryside, walking in the woods.

At times she could feel the weight of the heavy blanket pressing down on her body, paralyzing her limbs, before she welcomed the darkness and faded into unconsciousness.

Once, in what she vaguely perceived must be the depths of night, she felt a hand holding hers, urging her to return and live. She tried to reach out to touch the hand, but the pull of the dark, warm place without pain was too strong.

Audrey awoke briefly and, as she did, she met the gaze of the duke, his hand pressing hers, a comfort and lifeline in the darkness. The hand did not let go of her and she relaxed knowing she was held firmly by someone willing her to return.

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, Audrey felt the pull of the dark, warm embrace of oblivion, where she did not need to be brave and fight against illness or tyranny. However, something inside her kept pulling her back. The thought of the Duke of Clairville, urging her to stay strong, and Sasha—motherless and alone—what would become of her?

In one awful dream, her brother loomed over her, and as she turned to face him, she saw a man's face on a dragon's body, surrounded by an army of goblins. He spoke to her, but she could not hear his words, and he then raised his scale-covered wings, ready to breathe the fire of fever onto her body.

Recoiling in fear, she could see the duke, as he appeared out of the mist, dressed as a knight in armor, ready to do battle with the fire-breathing dragon. The goblins hissed in fury before dissolving in front of her eyes. As the dream faded, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that for now, she was safe.

Later, she found herself standing in a meadow, with a stream of crystal-clear water, flowing into a lake.

Was this another dream? If only she could walk into the clear water to cool her body, which burned with fever.

A forest stood on the horizon, all the greens of the trees blending together.

Was it the wall of the room or was she really in a meadow?

The figure of a man emerged from the lake, water dripping from his body, rippling the surface. She ran toward him as the sun's rays cast a shimmering path across the water, and a feeling of calm coursed through her body as he took her in his arms and enfolded her against his bare chest.

"My love, my light, you must live. Hear me. Fight this fever," the voice of the duke urged.

Words of strength and encouragement broke into her consciousness, willing her to fight the darkness and return to him. And for the first time, she found the energy to move her hand, to raise it slightly under the crisp linen sheet.

What was real? What was a dream? If only she could find the pathway, through the forest and over the lake towards the voice calling her to return.

Audrey's grip on reality grew stronger, even though she still drifted in and out of consciousness, struggling to prevent the fever from pulling her back into that peaceful, quiet place where there was no pain.

She heard the voice of the doctor telling Nurse Walters to keep making her drink water and keep applying a cold compress to her head.

"It's looking better, Nurse Walters, I've seen cases like this before. She got through the crisis when the fever was highest, and it's stayed down since then. I'm hopeful she'll recover, but we're not through the woods yet" Dr. Carstairs said.

"Absolutely" came the confident voice of Nurse Walters. "I don't know Miss Banks well, but from what I've seen of her, she is strong-willed and feisty enough to overcome this fever."

"I'll visit again tomorrow, unless I hear from you that her condition has worsened," Dr. Carstairs replied.

They are discussing me. I've been ill and could have died Audrey realized. I must be strong, I must recover for Sasha's sake.

More voices loomed close to her, and she felt a cool compress placed on her forehead. "Now Jude, you hold that compress on her head. We need to keep her temperature down." Again, the voice of Nurse Walters permeated her consciousness.

The voice of the duke, which she had come to recognize in her dreams, seemed to falter, choked with emotion. "The doctor isn't sure she will survive. She could still deteriorate. What can we do?"

"Your Grace, I'll hear no more of that sort of talk in my sick room. As I told that doctor, I know how to nurse others and have seen more illness than most people." It appeared that Nurse Walters was determined she would not lose her patient.

"None of us would have made it past the age of ten without you," agreed the duke.

"There you are. We have to be positive. There is every hope she will come through this illness. Now, keep applying that compress. I'm going to see if she will take a little of one of my tisanes, and then I'm going to ask Mrs. Driscoll to get more ice from cook."

As the hours passed, Audrey could sense the duke at her side. Occasionally, her eyes flickered open for a few moments to see him reading quietly by the fire, or she would hear his voice reading poetry to her. Although she did not know how long she had been there in bed, of one thing she was sure: the duke was never away from her side for long.

Audrey was finding it difficult to separate dreams from reality, but she instinctively knew how much he cared, his voice urging her to escape from the tendrils of illness, which clawed and gripped at her body.

Once more, his voice broke through into her foggy mind, a positive force of energy, giving her the strength to defy the tide of fever that had engulfed her.

"Please come back to us, Miss Banks, we need you." His voice was carrying her on a wave to the beach, to rest on the warm sand.

"I think she's through the delirium" came the voice of Nurse Walters. "Her forehead is cool. She is definitely through the worst now."

"You're sure, Nurse?" The duke sounded unsure.

"Now, my dear Jude, I've seen many an illness in my day. I told you this young lady is strong; she fought the fever and returned to us."

"Nanny, you are a wonder!" The gratitude in his voice was obvious.

Audrey could also hear relief in his voice. They"re talking about me. I must have been very sick, but I'm going to recover.

As she drifted back to sleep, she heard Nurse Walters telling the duke to go and get some rest. She could manage. That all she needed to do was watch her patient.

He cares for me!was Audrey's final thought before sleep overcame her.