Far Beyond Scandalous (7 page)

Looking at Amy, her expression so
sad and forlorn, Gibson felt his heart twist painfully in his chest.
 
She was so frightened and alone.
 
She needed help, but he could not be the one
to give it.
 
It was not his place.
 
He was merely the physician.
 
At best, he was a friend.
 
Anything more than helping her write out a
simple message to her father would create a scandal that neither one of them
would live down, and could potentially cost him his practice.

Then, he remembered how Amy had
felt in his arms, the way she had savored his caresses that day at Seldon Park,
as if she truly relished being touched by him.
 
She had openly invited his caresses, begging him for more.
 
He remembered the longing in her eyes the
moment they had parted, and the way she had made him feel - as if he were her
equal, a man worthy of her and not the son of a man so low that no one spoke of
him.
 
In that one afternoon, she had
been both friend and lover - the only true one of each that he had ever had.

Since the day he had discovered
that she had returned to London for the season, he had done his best to avoid
her, and other than one night at the museum, he had succeeded.
 
He hadn't wanted the temptation, the
powerful longing to break convention and flout the rules just so that he could
have her.
 
It would end badly for both
of them.
 
He didn't want to risk causing
a scandal.
 
She deserved better than
that.

On the other hand, his heart could
not deny her when she so obviously needed help.
 
In short, she needed him, and he owed her more than mere assistance
with a note to be sent north.

Here in the Cheltenham's drawing
room, Gibson knew he could not turn away from her, scandal be damned.
 
He cared for Amy too much to allow her to
suffer through this alone.
 
If she
needed him, he would be there for her, no matter the cost - professional or
otherwise.
 
These stolen moments out of
time would be as close as he would ever come to having her in his bed
temporarily or, preferably, his life forever.

He could no more abandon her than
he could willingly allow her to marry a man like Drake.
 
He simply could not do it.
 
He cared far too much.

Slowly, Gibson guided Amy back to
the settee, her hands gripped tightly in his.
 
He needed her to be calm if he even had a slim hope of getting her to
agree to his next suggestion.
 
"Here is what we are going to do.
 
Send a footman out tonight with a message for Michaels.
 
Inform the steward that it is urgent that
you speak with him first thing in the morning.
 
Before breakfast, even.
 
Crack of
dawn if the man will agree to it.
 
Whatever
you can manage."
 
When she said
nothing, he held her hand tighter, sensing she needed reassurance.
 
"I will not let you do this alone, Amy.
 
I will be here when Michaels arrives, of
course, acting as your mother's physician.
 
I promise.
 
I will not abandon
you."

A wave of relief washed over her,
and Amy was certain that it showed on her face.
 
Gibson would not leave her to fend for herself.
 
Somehow, she had always known in her heart that
he would not be so cruel.
 
He was better
than that, more of a gentleman.
 
She
also wanted to think that it meant that he still cared for her, even in some
small way.

"Thank you.
 
More than I can even express.
 
I would not have it be otherwise."
 
She could not imagine allowing someone else
to administer to her mother, nor could she dream of attempting to manage the
affairs of Cheltenham on her own.
 

Then she paused, for she knew that,
logically, there had to be more to his plan.
 
For she had no doubt that he had one.
 
He was more intelligent than that.
 
"What then?"

"Have a maid or someone else
with you so that I may remain in the room without giving the man reason to
suspect anything is amiss or improper.
 
We do not want gossip to spread any quicker than necessary, for I have
no doubt that it will."
 
He didn't
want to mention what type of gossip, precisely, was likely to spread.
 
Amy would be intelligent enough to figure
that out on her own.
 

"I will tell Michaels that it
is imperative that I learn the details of what business your mother has been
conducting in your father's stead so that I know best how to treat her.
 
That the type of business might have
affected her brain or some other rot."
 
It was a devious plan, certainly, and any man well-versed in medicine
would know the claim was utterly ridiculous, but quite honestly, Gibson didn't
care.
 
Nor did he think Michaels was
smart enough in the ways of medicine to know any differently.

Frowning, Amy fidgeted with the
fabric of her evening gown, pleating it back and forth, uncertain now.
 
The plan sounded foolish, even to her.
 
"Won't he be suspicious?"
 
It seemed logical that the other man would
ask such a question.
 
It was also a
great risk to take. Perhaps too great.

Shaking his head, Gibson couldn't
resist drawing her just a little closer, though not as close as he would have
liked.
 
Just enough so that their knees
brushed ever so slightly.
 
"To most
people, medicine is like magic, so no, I doubt that he will question anything.
 
But if I am to help you through the next few
weeks, I need to know what is involved with the running of the estates and your
life here in London.
 
There are many
fine details, and if I leave you alone with the steward and a maid, you may
think a matter trivial when, in fact, it is extremely important."

"You're truly going to help
me?
 
Help me run the estates and make
the decisions my mother did?"
 
Gibson nodded and Amy looked skeptical.
 
This was a great risk for him, and, from her perspective at least, he
received nothing but aggravation in return.
 
"What if someone finds out?
 
What shall we do then?"
 
He
had mentioned the possibility of gossip a moment ago, not that she particularly
cared.
 
She had endured far worse, not
that he knew anything of it.
 
Nor would
he, if she had her way.

Gibson shrugged casually, not
wanting her to dwell on that possibility. "Then we come up with a
plausible explanation.
 
But they won't
find out.
 
We will conduct everything
behind closed doors, if such actions are deemed necessary."
 

He paused for a moment, thinking
hard.
 
"How about this?
 
We will make certain that Michaels believes
that a runner is taking the information to Bath so that Marcus can make the
decisions.
 
If he is your father's
steward, then Michaels already knows Marcus' location, and will not find it an
odd thing to do.
 
In fact, it would be
extremely logical.
 
It will, of course,
also be a lie, but a necessary one."
 

Gibson flashed her a grim smile,
the fact that she hadn't protested the part about being behind closed doors
with him a great deal of the time not going unnoticed.
 
"It has been a very long time since I
have studied the art of estate management and, in truth, have never done so in
practice.
 
I may need time to help you
make the proper decisions.
 
By allowing
the steward to think Marcus is making them, we will gain that necessary
time.
 
No one but Hastings, your family,
and I know the real truth of his condition."

The plan sounded absurd.
 
It was full of holes so big Amy could
probably drive a carriage and four through it.
 
It was also rife with opportunity for scandal.
 
On the other hand, she had little choice.
 
She knew nothing about running the estates,
and, while Marcus was still alive, he was horribly depressed in addition to his
partial blindness.
 
His condition was
something her parents had taken great pains to hide from the
ton
.
 
No one was supposed to know exactly how
badly off her brother was, lest it be suggested that he was fit for no place
but Bedlam.

Amy's father was gone, and while a
message would be sent attempting to locate him, if he did not want to be found,
he would not be.
 
She did not know much
about her father's business for the prince regent, but she did suspect that,
unless the situation here was dire, he would not be recalled home.

That left her to ensure that the
earldom did not fail, no matter how ill equipped she was to deal with the
situation.
 
Still, she was an adult
woman of reasonable intelligence.
 
How
difficult could it be?
 
On the other hand,
if she made a mistake, it could cost her family everything.
 
Then again, if she did nothing, failure
would be assured.
 
That could not
happen.
 
She was stronger than that.

"And my mother cannot be
awakened?"
 
That would simply be
the easiest way to handle the entire situation.
 
Amy felt she had to ask, just to be certain, though she knew
better by now than to doubt Gibson.

"She was not precisely lucid
earlier."
 
Gibson hadn't wanted to
inform Amy of that disturbing fact until he could examine Thea further, but
now, he knew he had no choice.
 
It could
not be avoided.
 
Not to mention that he
did owe Amy the truth.
 
He could not
lie, not to her anyway.
 
"It could
simply be a temporary condition.
 
Or
not.
 
I do not know.
 
What I do know is that she could not form
more than a few words at a time, let alone a complete sentence."

Amy was thankful now that she was
sitting down.
 
Her mother completely
incapacitated?
 
How could that be?
 
And for how long?
 
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
 
It felt as if a knife was twisting in her
gut.
 
"That should have been the
first thing you mentioned to me when you came from her rooms."

"When you were so close to
swooning yourself?"
 
Gibson knew he
should have mentioned the situation immediately.
 
It had been a mistake not to do so.
 
Now he needed to salvage the situation before he completely lost
Amy's trust.
 
"I'm sorry, Amy, but
I did what I thought was best.
 
And
remember, I did tell you that the apoplexy affected her brain."

Gibson took a risk and used her
Christian name, something he hadn't done in months.
 
"I didn't want to hurt you any more than you already have
been.
 
You are dealing with a great many
things at the moment, and your mother's condition might only be temporary.
 
I do not know for certain yet, and didn't
want to cause you undue worry.
 
Tomorrow,
you must be prepared to take the reins of Cheltenham, and you cannot do that if
you are ill or overset with worry yourself."

Amy hated to admit it, but Gibson
was correct in his assertion.
 
There was
an undeniable logic to his words as well.
 
She could berate him for the omission later.
 
In private.
 
Though in her
heart, she had already forgiven him.
 
He
had only acted as he had in order to protect her.
 
For now, she needed to be the lady of the manor.
 
She needed to be the one in charge of
Cheltenham.
 
And for that, she would
need a new mask.

It seemed that breaking free of her
confining life was not possible after all, much to her disappointment.
 
Then again, this was an adventure of sorts,
was it not?
 
She decided to think of it
in that manner, anyway.

"Very well.
 
But this isn't forgotten, Gibbs."
 
Amy used his nickname, letting him know that
she did forgive him - to a degree.
 
"Next time, however, you need to tell me everything.
 
I cannot do this if you withhold information
from me."

"I will.
 
I promise."
 
Amy was stronger than she looked, something Gibson hadn't really
known about her.
 
How many more details
were there about her that he did not know?
 
Suddenly, inappropriate as it was, he wanted to know them all.
 
Then he sobered, needing to make certain Amy
understood everything clearly.
 
"Since we are dealing with truth, I will tell you this as
well.
 
Your mother needs to rest.
 
Undisturbed.
 
She cannot continue on in her duties as she has been or they will
kill her.
 
Even after she is well.
 
There is an underlying condition of some
sort that caused her to faint this evening, and until I know what it is, I
cannot effectively treat her over the long term."