"Not for her daughter," I said. "I fear that she has gone mad."
"It would seem so! God help me, Jessie, I should have known that she would ill-treat you! I should have seen it coming! Kevin should have seen it coming!"
"Kevin does not know of the bairn in me," I said. "He does not know of our love."
He looked taken aback. "You have not told him?"
"No. I have told no one. Only my mother and father know my condition." My body suddenly ran with shivers as I remembered. "They, and the servants."
I shuddered, and nausea swept me.
He started to speak, then closed his mouth. His hand cupped my cheek; he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
"They shall not take you away, lass. You shall never go back to Gillean. You are safe here."
Tears welled in my eyes again; gratitude swelled in my breast. "Yes, Robbie. Yes.
Thank you."
The rest of the day Robbie was in and out of the room; between my naps he sat near me. Each time I woke it was harder to move; the injuries had stiffened my body and I felt weak and heavy. Rabbit fed me broth from a spoon as I sat propped on pillows. Finally I woke, late in the afternoon, moaning. Rabbit held my head up while Robbie put a glass of wine to my lips. I drank a little and lay back, the ceiling spinning over me, and then retched the wine back up.
As Rabbit sponged my face I opened my eyes. Robbie's face was white, his lips pressed tightly. I closed my eyes again.
"What shall I do?" I heard him say.
Much later I woke to hear Mr. and Mrs. Randall's voices and Robbie's in the foyer. I stirred, and tried to rise up; but Rabbit's cool hand on my brow restrained me gently.
"Sleep now, Miss Jessie," she said. "Mr. Robbie say you sleep. The master and missus will see you tomorrow."
I relaxed under her touch, and slept once more.
When I woke in the morning, I was alone; but soon Rabbit entered with the water pitcher. I did my best to be quiet as she bathed and dressed my wounds; but I could not stop the moans that escaped me. Finally she was finished and I lay back on the pillows. She put her hand beneath my head and lifted it as she held a glass of whisky to my lips. "Master Robbie sent this for you," she said, and I drank.