Page 102 of While You Were Spying

“Mrs. Priggers usually supplies me with strips of old linen. Can one of you go to the house and find her? Tell her Lino’s hurt.” Her voice faltered as she said it, and she felt panic rising. She tamped it down. Lino would be all right. She’d save him. If she could just save him...

Ethan stepped into the hospital, Selbourne taking his place in the doorway. “Francesca,” he repeated. His voice was soft, concerned. “Areyouhurt?”

She shook her head impatiently. Why was he just standing there? Didn’t he see that Lino was injured? That she had to save him?

“I’m fine.” She waved away his concern and turned back to the puppy. “Tell me what happened to Lino.”

Lino was on his side, his breath coming quickly. Her hands were buried in his fur, feeling for broken bones, swellings. Ethan didn’t answer right away, and she glanced up at him expectantly.

He was frowning at her. “Francesca, I don’t care about the damn dog.” He moved toward her. “What about you?”

She took a step back, and he paused, face full of concern and worry. She didn’t have time for that now. Lino was all that mattered.

“Ethan.” Her voice held a note of pleading. She was near tears. “Please. I have to save him. I have to save him.” The world went dizzy then, and she crumpled to her knees beside the table. Hysterical sobs wracked her body, and she gave into them, crying with the abandon of an infant.

She was vaguely aware that Ethan went to the door, spoke softly to his brother, then closed it after him. A moment later, he sat beside her and gathered her in his arms.

She cried more tears then she knew she had, Ethan stroking her hair and whispering unintelligible words of comfort to her. When they finally subsided, she looked into his eyes and he kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

She saw a flicker of movement behind him and craned her neck to see Lino trotting over to the bunny’s crate.

She sighed with relief. “Lino will be all right. Except the blood—” She tensed, but Ethan’s touch soothed her again.

“It’s not his. We went after the attacker. The dog too.” He stroked her hair. “But he made it into the woods before we could catch up. The dog went after him, barking like mad, but when we found the pup, the bastard was gone.”

Brave little Lino, Francesca thought.

Ethan grinned. “But the dog had a scrap of material in his teeth. I think it was part of a hood, so the blood on his muzzle must be your attacker’s.” Francesca nodded, shakily took a breath. His hold on her tightened. “Now, tell me what just happened.”

She shuddered. “I’m all right now. It was just the attack and—”

“It was more than that, Francesca.” He leaned back, looked into her face. She clasped her hands. “You were in a frenzy. I couldn’t even—”

“Lino,” she interrupted. “I had to save him. I had to make sure he wasn’t hurt. That no one can ever hurt him. I’m fine now. Everything is fine.”

“The devil it is,” Ethan said, and she tensed. “Nothing is fine, but I understand now.”

She frowned up at him.

“You save these animals”—he gestured toward Lino, now curled up in the corner of the hospital near the bunny—“and save yourself.”

His words were arrows, hitting far too close to their target.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered. “They needed help. I did what anyone else would.”

Ethan’s penetrating gaze was on her, and she squirmed under his seeming omniscience. He cupped her cheek with his hand.

She forced herself to stand her ground.

“Tell me what happened to you,cara. Who are you saving yourself from? Protecting yourself from?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t think of it now, the implications behind his words. If she tried to think of it, she’d go mad. Her mind was already too full. If she allowed another thought to enter, it would break.

“No one.”

His stare was too intense, too perceptive, and she had to look away. She concentrated on the bunny’s cage. His hand on her cheek brushed at a tear she hadn’t been able to quell.

“It’s Roxbury again, isn’t it? Did he hurt you when you were betrothed?”

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