She groaned. “Rather silly.”
He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Better silly than sore in the head. Lie back and rest now.”
“I don’t want to close my eyes. What if…”
She could wake and be blind again.
“Shh.” He smiled, and cupped her face, his eyes full of warmth. He pressed a light kiss to her lips. “I’ll be here when you wake.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Imogen opened her eyes to darkness. A scream clawed up from her chest and burst through her lips before she could stop it. She was blind again. The world had gone away. She rolled and buried her face into the pillow as a sob tore free.
“Imogen. Imogen. What’s the matter?”
Peter’s strong hands rolled her over again and pried her hands from her face. He peered at her in the darkness.
He peered at her.
Imogen threw herself into his arms as her panic receded. It was night, not the dark of blindness that greeted her. She quickly scrubbed away her tears. “I thought I was blind again.”
He peeled her from his chest and fumbled at the side table. Light flared and Imogen quickly blinked to adjust her eyes to the brightness. She fell back against the pillows in relief as Walter’s tall body squeezed into her room. “Is there a change?”
“It’s all right Walter. Just a nightmare.”
He moved closer. “You can still see?”
She nodded, tearing up when her brother wiped at his eyes and blew into a handkerchief. “I’ll let everyone downstairs know and then send them home until tomorrow.”
She shifted into a sitting position and clutched the sheet to her chest. “Who is here?”
“Everyone, except Miss Merton. Watson, would you mind staying with Imogen a while? I think I might go for a walk for some air.”
Imogen caught the dark expression on Walter’s face before he stumbled off leaving her alone with Peter. Of course Melanie would not come, they had never been friends, but she felt sorry her brother was upset over it.
She turned to her companion, rather pleased he had remained with her through the afternoon and evening. She studied him carefully. His hair was much the same length as a year ago, his coat and waistcoat very finely made but perhaps not so neat as he could have been. “You stayed.”
He caressed her cheek, and moved closer. “There’s no where else I want to be.”
A bubble of happiness welled inside her. After everything she’d done to set him free he was back at her side, wearing a worried frown. She held out her hand and tugged him onto the bed. “People will talk about us.”
“Let them.” He kissed her lips gently and when he drew back, his eyes were lit with laughter. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve ruined me for anyone else so I’ll never make that exalted match you imagined for me.”
All she had ever wanted was for Peter to be happy. As she stared at him, she thought he’d never appeared more content. She touched his face. “Marry me.”
He grinned. “Must you always be the one to ask? Yes. Of course I’m going to marry you. I’ll not let you push me away again. I love you.”
She frowned at how quickly he said it. From all she’d heard, men never liked to admit such deep feelings. “Why?”
His expression grew serious. “You were always the one.”
Imogen blinked. “You loved me before.”
He nodded. “I did, but there is that rule amongst friends not to dabble with each other’s sisters. Terrible rule. I suppose I could have overcome it easily enough and gained George’s permission, yet I was penniless and I couldn’t drag you into hell with me.”
She gaped. “You might have told me.”
“When we were engaged, I tried to be the perfect gentleman and never let you regret your choice, to prove to you I wasn’t a wastrel and deserved your hand in marriage. But you broke it off before I had a chance to show you how greatly I desire to spend every moment of every day in your company.”