A/N Boredom is beginning to outweigh the pain, from the ruptured ligament in my right ankle. Pain meds are helping slightly so i thought I would post another chapter. Thanks as always for the reviews, and for your patience while my foot heals. 12 weeks on crutches sounds too long :(

Chapter 6

Julia sighed as she sank into the sofa in the drawing room at Collinwood. She leaned her head back, and closed her eyes, as she finally allowed herself to relax. The problem over a cure for Barnabas, had been a thorn in her side for months, but she felt, finally, that she was at last on the right track.

"Would you look at that?" said a voice suddenly, making her open her eyes. Dane stood in front of her, looking down at her fondly, smiling that easy smile of his, that had drove all the local girls wild.

"Dane!" she'd completely forgotten about him. She began to rise, but he gently pushed her back. "Stay right were you are," he said, sitting himself down beside her, and looking at her intently. "How's Mr. Collins today?"

"Mr. Collins? Oh, you mean Barnabas. He's much better today," she said, suddenly feeling awkward in discussing him.

Dane watched her intently, as she rose from the sofa, and walked the distance to the window, her arms folded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't return when you left, last night. Barnabas and I had a few things to discuss," she said from the window, after a few minutes silence.

Dane rose, from where he was sitting and came up behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she tensed under his touch. "Come and sit down, Julia," he invited gently. "You're all tense and that's not like you. Besides, we have a lot to catch up on. Or aren't you as pleased to see me, as you were last night?"

She turned and smiled wearily at him. "Of course I am. I'm just a little tired. Barnabas thinks I've been working too hard."

"And looking at you, I'd have to agree with him," agreed Dane, seriously. "I take it, that your research isn't going well?"

"Research?" asked Julia sharply, suddenly feeling defensive. "What do you mean?"

Dane frowned, at a loss as why Julia should be so cagey about her work. "Roger said that you and Barnabas were working on some history or something. I assumed that it wasn't going well? Am I wrong?"

She sighed again, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dane. You're right; the research hasn't been going well. But, I think I might have found a solution."

"Well that's good. Isn't Barnabas with you?" he asked, quickly changing the subject, and looking around for the man himself.

"No, he's in Bangor today, checking on some of our findings," said Julia, in explanation. "But he'll be back some time tonight."

Dane quickly hid his relieved expression that Mr. Barnabas Collins, wouldn't be bursting in on them unexpectedly. He's instant dislike of the man, was no longer a concern for him. Let Barnabas Collins watch out for himself.

"So, what have you been up to, all these years?" asked Dane jovially. "Apart from becoming a doctor that is?"

Julia laughed, her smile brightening her face. Dane suspected that she hadn't laughed for some time, and he promised that he would find a way for her to laugh a lot more.

"It took hard work and dedication to get where I am now. I had to fight just to be taken seriously. But I'd do it all again." She said, returning to the sofa. After a moment's hesitation, Dane followed.

Dane took her hand in his, and she gripped it, with a fierce intensity.

"You're amazing, you know that?" he said, his dark eyes, sparkling.

Colour rose in her cheeks, and she looked away from the intensity of his gaze. "Now, I've embarrassed you," he said, apologetically.

"No, you didn't," said Julia forcing herself to look at him. "I'd just forgotten how much of a flatterer you could be." She smiled at him again. "I have missed you, Dane."

"Not as much as I've missed you," he said quietly, reaching out to gently touch her cheek. She quickly got to her feet, and moving a few steps away from the sofa.

"Have I done something wrong?" he asked, bewildered.

"It's nothing to do with you," she turned to face him again. "It's been years since we saw each other, and people change. I've changed. I'm not the same person you remember."

"You could never change, Julia," he said coming to stand a few steps away from her. "But I understand what you're saying. There's some one new in your life."

"Yes, there is someone," she said sadly, and turned away from him.

Dane detected the sadness in her reply, and was both concerned and alarmed. Why would the acknowledgement cause her such sadness? What kind of man, was he, to treat her this way?

"Does he know you love him?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Dane, if you don't mind."

"I see," he said, tightly. "I didn't mean to cause you pain, Julia."

"You haven't. I've accepted long ago, that I'll only be a friend to him."

"Then he's a fool," said Dane simply.

Julia smiled wanly. "It's a little more complicated than that, but maybe he's not the only fool." She was silent for a few moments, a wistful look in her eyes, and then she visibly brought herself back to reality, and asked, "So, what about you? Isn't Diane with you?"

Now it was his turn to be silent. "Diane and I divorced a few years back.

She took Julian with her."

"Oh, Dane I am sorry," she said, her own despair over Barnabas forgotten.

"The only thing I'm sorry about is not seeing my son," he looked up at her, his eyes showing what she wanted most to see in another, "or marrying the girl I should have."