Page 41 of A Courtesan Countess Worth the Scandal
“Hm… that is a rather intriguing turn of events.” Lord Hudson said nothing more. He did not have to.
Evidently, those highwaymen had not attacked her carriage by accident. Someone must have known where she was going, and why she was going there. Someone who had good reason to put spies on her, to follow her every move. And that someone must not have wanted her to reach her destination. But which of the gentlemen in her memoirs would have gone so far as to wish her dead?
The list was as long as the manuscript itself.
Chapter Eighteen
There was to be no arguing about Nora continuing on to Northcrop to meet with the mysterious publisher, nor did Liam feel as though he could part ways with her to carry on to his estate in the Lake District, when she was in such a dire condition.
I should have seen she was in pain. I should have seen that she was suffering sooner, but she is so… unbelievably strong that I missed it, at first.
“There must be a physician in one of these villages,” Nora broke the silence that had settled upon the quartet within the carriage. “You may leave me in their care, if you wish to continue on your journey, Lord Keswick. Or, perhaps, your acquaintances can see me safely delivered home. We must stop to return the horses anyway, so I could ask at that inn, and see if they know of anyone who can aid me.”
Liam looked to her. “The issue at my estate is of no great importance.”
“It is not?” Carlton chimed in, with a curious smile. “I have never seen you rush out of your townhouse faster. Surely, it must be ofsomeimport if it urged you to ride again. You hate riding, these days.”
Liam gave a resigned shrug. “I will write to my Uncle regarding the matter instead.”
“Why did you not do that in the first place, instead of acting rashly?” Denninson sounded curt, but there was a friendly worry in his stern eyes that belied the truth. Evidently, Liam’s actions had alarmed them both, which had only worsened when his horse had returned to London.
If I had not acted impulsively, I would not have been there to save Nora.
He did not say so out loud, for he knew it would sound uncharacteristic. Besides, he could not have known that his excursion, prompted by his uncle’s odd letter, would have been fortuitous for Nora’s wellbeing. His friends would merely use it as an opportunity to tease him mercilessly and accuse him of going against the vow he had made.
“My Uncle said, in his letter, that I did not have to concern myself with the problem. He instructed me not to come, but that, for some reason, made me feel inclined to visit the estate,” Liam explained instead. “Now, I see that I behaved hastily. It is likely as my Uncle said—nothing to be worried about, and nothing that he cannot contend with alone.”
Nora mustered a small, sad sigh. “I feel awful for interrupting your plans, Lord Keswick.” She dabbed at her perspiring brow with a handkerchief. “Truly, if you must go to your estate, you may abandon me in any village you please. The motion of the saddle was causing me pain, but… I am feeling better, now. Any village physician or apothecary will be able to remedy my injury.”
Liam observed her closely and could see the agony still written upon her pretty features. It was there in the runnels of her brow and the slight pursing of her lips, and the somewhat unsteady swaying of her figure upon the squabs. There was something almost drunken about her gaze, also, though he knew she had not taken a sip of anything that might produce such an affect.
“You must be seen by a proper physician, Miss Black,” he insisted. “Your cheeks are pink with fever, and you… do not look well. I cannot help but feel responsible. Ergo, I will ensure that you return to London, where you can be treated by someone with actual qualifications.”
I would not abandon you, as you have asked. You have made that impossible.
Nora gave a faint nod. “As you wish, Lord Keswick.”
Her bleary gaze met his for just a moment, before she looked away again. And in that fleeting expression, he saw confusion and contemplation of a different kind.
Thanks to the arrival of his friends, he had not had much time to dwell on the kiss that he had shared with Nora. It had not been his intention to touch lips with her, and yet he had not been able to stop himself from kissing her back when she had reached for him. Even before then, when she had fallen into his arms, he had not been able to prevent himself from gazing upon her lips and wondering—
I will not make the same mistakes again. Nor will I say that I regret feeling as though you were mine, for just a moment, but… it cannot happen a second time.
It was not merely a matter of principle, pertaining to the vow he had made with his friends. It was self-preservation of the highest order, for though Nora was unlike any woman he had ever encountered, he did not think himself capable of overcoming the fact that she was accustomed to bewitching men. Worse still, he could not ignore the idea that her kiss had been nothing more than a gesture of gratitude.
I do not want to be thanked in that way, for it does not end well. I do not want to think myself a savior again, only to find that I am nothing more than a fool.
“I think she is asleep,” Carlton whispered. “What the devil happened to her?”
Liam glanced at Nora, to find that she was, indeed, asleep. “She was cut with a blade, and I believe it may be festering.” Looking to his friends, he told them the rest of the story, in minute detail… though he did not mention the night they had spent in one another’s arms, in an icy outbuilding, while the snow fell down around them.
And, as he finished, he could not help but feel as though he had also been inflicted with some contagion. If he did not find a way to remove it from his body, he feared it, too, might fester into something he could not endure.
“There is something else we must tell you, Westwood.” Denninson lowered his voice, his eyes flitting warily toward the sleeping woman in the corner.
Liam narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“Your horse was not the only thing found in London this morning.” Denninson took a shallow breath. “The thoroughbred was discovered, tied to the back of a horseless carriage. The driver, meanwhile, was dead upon the box.”
