“Yes, what of it?” Confusion lined the other man’s face.
“You’re Lady Jane’s brother.” Both relief and anxiety clogged his chest. Bloody hell. And he’d just expressed an interest in beginning a carnal relationship with her.
“Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t draw that conclusion sooner.” The doctor shrugged as a sheepish smile sneaked across his face. “It wasn’t as if we were keeping secrets.”
“Of course not, but either of you could have mentioned it in passing.” Though, to be fair, it wasn’t exactly a subject of conversation, not when he was preoccupied with how lush Jane’s lips were or how much he enjoyed holding her.
Doctor Marsden closed his folio, laid it in his lap, and folded his hands atop it. “Now that you know, let me speak with you as an older brother to his little sister’s potential suitor.”
Oh, God.
“While I don’t take issue with Jane finding interest in you as a man who is in a Bath chair, I don’t wish to see her hurt.” His eyes, so much like hers, held a hard edge. “She’s already seen a lifetime of heartbreak. Please don’t add to that.”
While annoyance from the conversation sat like a rock in his chest, Finn nodded. If he had a sister who’d had Jane’s history, he’d show concern too. Bloody hell, there was a good chance this man didn’t know of her… scandal and subsequent failed pregnancy. He rubbed a hand along his jaw, extremely conscious he wasn’t a social equal to this man, this earl’s heir, especially while not wearing breeches or trousers. “I’m not a rake if that’s what you assume.”
“I assume you’re randy, plain and simple.” A warning glint appeared in the doctor’s eye. “Jane is special, the kind of woman that isn’t found often. I’d like to see her happy, not some man’s mistress or lover who’s a friend until someone better comes along.” Doctor Marsden held his gaze. “Or until his demons occupy his full attention.”
Finn frowned. Was it so easy to read him? “You think I’m not good enough for her.”
The other man shrugged. “You tell me. We both know what your prognosis is. If a relationship progresses between you and Jane, can you give her what she’ll need for a fulfilled life?”
Could he? Hadn’t he asked himself the same question every damned day since he’d met her? But again, he couldn’t find fault with this man, for Jane was indeed quite unique. “I rather think that’s between her and I.” He carefully mulled over his next words before he spoke them. “Perhaps we won’t progress into the physical, for what we currently have is enjoyable on its own.” The muscles in his shoulders and neck tensed.
Wellington wandered over to his location, no doubt alerted to trouble by the tone of his voice. She took up guard like a sentinel by his right wheel, her front paws lined up perfectly and her tail curled elegantly around them.
He couldn’t help his smile. At least some living thing in the room believed in him. “However, I ask that you let things alone and leave her to make her own choices.”
Please, God, let her choose to move forward with me despite the challenges.
For long moments, the doctor stared at him. “Father wishes her to marry the Duke of Ballantrae.”
“I am aware.” If he clenched his jaw any harder, his teeth would crack. Wellington eyed him askance. “But as of yet, she hasn’t shown an interest in the duke, and neither has he asked for her hand.”
A half-smile tugged at one corner of the other man’s mouth. “This is so.”
“Is that a match you wish for her to make?”
“It would certainly advance her standing in society and she’d be well cared for…”
“That doesn’t answer my question, Doctor.”
“No, I suppose it doesn’t.” He heaved out a breath. “In my personal opinion—which remains confidential between the two of us—I don’t feel the duke will encourage her unique… talents. Her personality isn’t something that should be eclipsed or forgotten beneath someone else who has a larger part to play.”
“Agreed.” Finn fought off the urge to grin. If her oldest brother didn’t want to see her matched to the duke, then he had a chance with her. Perhaps if push came to shove and they did go far enough in their relationship where he’d might come up to scratch, the doctor would give support. “Before you go, I have been experiencing strange symptoms of late.” Briefly, he mentioned the weird sensations through his leg as well as the traces of feeling.
“Now that is interesting.” The doctor opened his folio and scribbled another set of notes. “Perhaps being more active of late is stimulating or waking up those nerves.” He glanced at Finn with speculation in his eyes. “It’s possible the field doctor as well as the first surgeon you saw in England made an incorrect diagnosis in stating your injury was complete.”
“How so?” A frisson of excitement danced over his skin.
“When someone receives a ghastly injury to the spinal cord, inflammation sets in. It would mask the findings, leading a harried surgeon to list your injury as complete instead of the more likely incomplete.” When Finn frowned, he rushed on while writing notes. “Think of it as the body’s way of trying to protect itself from further trauma.” He met Finn’s gaze. “It takes a good amount of time for said inflammation to reduce itself, for every man’s body and healing timetable is different. Once that occurs, without the pressure, nerves that have healed but were repressed by swelling are encouraged to work again, especially with additional movement or stimulation of the body.”
“Meaning?” Finn nearly held his breath. Would a reverse of his prognosis happen? “Will I retain full use of my body?”
“Do you have the same tingling and patches of feeling in your other leg?”
“No.”
“In your genital region?”