“Royce needs a tutor, as well as a nursemaid.” When she made no reply, he switched his tactics. “Don’t you think my family will wonder why I haven’t brought my wife with me?”

Her cheeks turned scarlet. Her reluctance had to mean they weren’t married. He was sure of it.

But she startled him by lifting her chin. “I don’t care what they think. I won’t go to London with you. Not now. Not ever.” She rose to her feet and strode from the room. The door slammed shut behind her.

She was afraid. And unless he was very much mistaken, Stephen had a grave feeling that his wife knew far more about the night he had disappeared than he’d suspected. It did not bode well for their future together.

Chapter Three

Later that morning, Dr. Parsons checked the bandages and nodded his approval. “Your wife has done well caring for you,” he remarked. “The wounds are clean, and your bruises are healing nicely. I should think you will be back on your feet within days.”

“I intend to go to London,” Stephen remarked. “Three days from now, if possible.”

“My lord, I would advise against undue haste. If I may, I’d ask you to wait another week before you go.”

But he needed the answers—and clearly Emily could tell him nothing at all. “I do not recall anything of the accident,” Stephen admitted. “Nor what happened to me during the past three months.”

“Memory loss can occur with an accident.” The doctor replaced the bandage, tying it off. “I have seen it in many patients, particularly those with traumatic incidents. Often a man’s mind will overshadow the event it does not wish to remember.”

“When will the rest of my memories return?” Stephen demanded.

“To be frank, they might not. In cases such as yours, it is difficult to say. Your head wound and contusions are recent, but I doubt if they had anything to do with your memory loss.” The doctor added, “I suspect that you were the victim of violence several months ago, judging from the knife wound. It may be that you won’t want to remember it. But I can say with all confidence that your headaches and pain should be gone within a few days more.”

Pain was the least of his concern. He was tempted to ask the doctor about the strange tattoo he’d found on the back of his neck but decided against it. For all he knew, he had done something rash.

Like marry a woman he hadn’t seen in ten years.

After Dr. Parsons departed, Stephen thought about his earlier conversation with Emily. He had not questioned her caring for the children, but her claim that he was now responsible for their welfare troubled him.