Page 29 of A Touch of Charm (Miracles on Harley Street #3)

C loverdale House was full of patients, and with the other doctors back, Andre finally had time to see the patient Thea had mentioned before, a woman reluctant to receive the discharge order required before her husband would come to pick her up. Odd, truly, because patients were usually eager to go home after extended recoveries.

The aroma of freshly brewed tea wove through the air, blending with the soft sounds of birds chirping in the garden. Andre ran a hand through his hair and shifted the leather medical bag. As he stepped further down the hall, he heard excited women’s chatter, and when he recognized Thea’s voice, he couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps he could say hello to her before retreating into the exam room with the next patient. Much had remained unsaid between them, and he didn’t know how to forge the future he so desperately wanted with her, but, at the same time, the most important words had been uttered. With those words, Andre had a newfound hope that life would turn out alright.

He followed her voice into the south-facing parlor room and noticed Thea sitting beside a woman with her back toward the door. Both had delicate porcelain teacups cradled carefully in their hands. A flicker of warmth washed over him as he caught Thea’s optimistic words floating toward him.

“Once your leg heals, I shall take you for a stroll through the gardens,” Thea said, her voice brimming with hope.

Andre felt the familiar pull of emotions as he turned his gaze to the patient’s leg. She sat with a bandaged leg propped on a cushioned stool, a grateful smile lighting up her face. Sunlight caught her golden hair, framing her like an ethereal vision.

In that instant, Andre felt his heart tighten; it had been too long since he had seen her. The recognition struck him like a lightning bolt, illuminating a past he thought was forever lost.

His gaze remained locked on Anna for a moment longer, sensing her struggle to anchor herself amid the conflicting emotions. He instinctively glanced at Thea, catching her furrowing her brow in concern; she must have realized something was underway. Then, his eyes returned to Anna, and when they met, a jolt of recognition surged through him. It was as if the air crackled with unspoken words, heavy with the weight of their shared past. In that instant, everything shifted—time seemed to hold its breath—as they stood on the precipice of rekindling a bond tarnished by silence.

As he stood there, frozen in the moment, he first noticed how the sunlight glinted off her hair, reminiscent of his father’s. It was a striking reflection of the von Dürer lineage; only the von Dürer side of the family sported such blonde locks. She looked so familiar yet different—a hauntingly older and sadder version of the sister he had cherished in his youth. It was as if the weight of the years had etched sorrow into her features, revealing the toll of sleepless nights and tears shed in sorrow.

Andre watched as Anna’s chest rose, and she held her breath. A growing drumbeat from his heart echoed joy and apprehension when he realized she’d recognized him, too. The corners of her mouth twitched instantly; then she pursed her lips as if to say something. Instead, she inhaled deeply, and a warm and inviting smile appeared on her lips, yet it felt almost foreign to him. It was a smile that hinted at shared memories and the companionship that had anchored her through tough times. But as quickly as it emerged, it faded, replaced by a wave of uncertainty that washed over her.

“Anna,” he whispered, almost inaudibly.

In her gaze, he saw echoes of their childhood—but the years of separation had weighed heavily upon them, infusing the air between them with unvoiced pain and an undeniable sense of loss. Andre felt a deep ache in his heart, recognizing the distance that had formed in the absence of their shared lives.

As Anna’s smile slipped away, a painful twist of emotion knotted in his stomach. Memories of their last encounter flooded back. His mind raced, but time felt inexplicably slow. A flood of vivid and poignant childhood memories surged through him. But now, as he looked at her, she had transformed into a lady—a stranger yet undeniably his sister. The emotions churned within him, a storm of joy and disbelief.

Then, in a moment that felt like a scene from a dream, she dropped her teacup with a clang, the sound sharp against the silence that enveloped them. The hot liquid nearly spilled onto her lap, and without thinking, Andre instinctively reached out, catching the cup with the saucer just in time.

“Andre,” she said, her voice a melody that stirred something deep within him, a connection that transcended time.

It was then that Thea broke the spell, her curiosity piqued. “You know each other?” she asked, her eyes darting between them.

His heart tightened. “I thought I’d lost you forever.”

*

Thea sat in the corner of the drawing room, the light filtering through the lace curtains, casting delicate patterns on the polished wooden floor. Her mind buzzed with disbelief and bewilderment. With trembling hands and eyes wide with shock, she watched as Anna pushed herself up from the floral-patterned chair.

“Andre!” Anna’s voice trembled, barely a whisper yet filled with urgency and surprise. She moved towards him, her steps quick and unsteady, a mix of hope and disbelief in every stride.

Andre froze for a moment, his eyes locking onto Anna’s, a myriad of emotions flitting across his face—astonishment, joy, a desperate yearning. He closed the distance between them in two swift strides, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Thea felt her heart skip, the intensity of the reunion almost palpable in the room’s heavy air.

Was he Anna’s lost flame?

But he wouldn’t reunite with her, not in front of Thea. Not after they’d… and then realization dawned on her.

Anna clung to Andre, her fingers digging into his coat as if she feared he might vanish again. The room seemed to hold its breath, the only sound being the rustle of Anna’s silk gown as it brushed against Andre’s boots.

Thea watched, her brow furrowing slightly.

Yet here he was, holding Anna with a desperation that was raw and unrestrained, just as Stan had when the highwaymen had captured Thea.

“Oh, Thea, please pardon me,” Anna wiped tears from her face. “I didn’t expect ever to see him again.”

Thea’s confusion deepened. She had heard whispers of André’s past, tales of loss and sorrow that had shaped the man she had known. But seeing him now, reunited with a sister presumed lost, she realized how little she truly understood.

“Do you remember the brother I mentioned to you?”

“You mentioned me?” Andre shot a look at Thea as if afraid a secret had been divulged.

It had.

“Yes,” Thea stammered. “The Habsburg brother who was born too early?”

Andre swallowed hard and slumped his shoulders. “That’s me. I’m the bastard.”

Then his gaze lifted to Thea, but there was an ocean between them.

Andre—a Habsburg? The enormity of it pressed down on her, making the fragile hope that had budded between them feel like a foolish misstep. His lineage, so near to royalty, was a chasm she could not cross because she was promised to some other distant relation of his. Yet, no matter how her mind tried to armor itself with reason, her heart would not listen. It betrayed her every time, pulling her thoughts back to him with a yearning she couldn’t quite voice.

It wasn’t just the power of his parentage that weighed upon her; it was what it meant . If Andre weren’t born too early, he’d be a Habsburg, and she could… but he wasn’t, and that was almost worse than what she’d thought earlier, that he was just a commoner.

Her duty, her family’s expectations—those unyielding forces that would make love a reckless impossibility—had he hidden who he was on purpose? Did he even see it? Understand it? She doubted it, not when he looked at her with such disarming sincerity or kissed her as though nothing else mattered. Her chest ached with the memory, fraught with longing and fear in equal measure. She wanted so much to believe and trust the sparks between them at that moment, but doubt coiled around her like an unforgiving chain. How could something so beautiful survive the cold, unspoken laws of society—laws that reminded her of exactly who she was and why he could never truly be hers?

Thea inhaled the soft scent of roses mingling with the faint bitterness of tea, a delicate tether to the moment as she took in the scene before her. She felt like an outsider, an intruder on something sacred, yet she couldn’t stop looking away. The siblings’ reunion was a quiet testament to the strength of love and family—a bond that endured time and loss, a bond that only deepened her own sense of isolation. How cruel it seemed that such love could flourish for them while hers felt doomed to wither before it even began. It had been one thing to love a doctor, a commoner who’d earned an honest living and much respect through skill.

It was another problem entirely to fall for a bastard Habsburg son while she was promised to a Habsburg prince. Scandals at London balls ruined lives. What she’d done could wage wars.

Andre finally released Anna, stepping back slightly but keeping her hands clasped in his. His usually controlled voice was thick with emotion. “I thought you were gone forever.”

Anna smiled through her tears, her grip on Andre’s hands unwavering. “And I believed you to be lost to me.” Her words hung in the air, resonant with the weight of years spent apart.

Thea took a deep breath, feeling the sun’s warmth on her skin as it peeked through the window. She realized that this moment, filled with unexpected joy and raw emotion, had changed everything. For Andre, for Anna, and perhaps even for her.

Aware that she was, for now, forgotten, Thea slipped out of the room and left the happy siblings to share their joy…without her.