Page 13 of Not Quite a Lady
Dr Ord tipped Jack’s head and bent to study the bruise on his chin.
‘There was a fight,’ Lily improvised.
‘I see. Well, off you go, Miss France, this is no place for an unmarried lady. If you can send me in a footman – no, make it two – that would be helpful.’
Lily retreated to her sitting room and tried to order her thoughts. What had caused that mêlée? Even now, well into the afternoon, there were still people outside, constables barring the way to her front door, raised voices.
It was a practical joke, certainly. No mistake could account for it. Who disliked her so much that they would go to so much trouble?
A name came easily to mind, now she was thinking calmly: Lady Angela Hardy. And she had certainly succeeded if her intention had been to cause Lily the greatest possible amount of trouble and public embarrassment. In fact, she had succeeded beyond her wildest hopes and had ensured that her cousin was no longer involved with the despised Miss France.
‘Lily dear?’ Aunt Herrick peered round the door. ‘Have they all gone?’
‘Almost. But I think we should stay inside today.’
‘But what was it? I really cannot understand. Had they all mistaken the address?’
‘I believe it was a malicious trick by Lady Angela Hardy,’ Lily said grimly. ‘I upset her a month ago at Almack’s.’
‘Oh dear.’ Mrs Herrick frowned. ‘You must make it up with her as soon as possible. Lord Randall will be most displeased when he finds out that you have quarrelled with a close relative of his.’
‘It is rather too late for that. I have broken off the engagement.’
‘You havewhat? But Lily–’
‘Adrian was angry when he found how my money has been left in trust and he was upset because of the uproar outside – which he seems to blame me for. He behaved very badly, so I broke it off.’
Saying it out loud brought nothing but a wave of relief. She should never have let herself become entangled with him, never let herself be persuaded that it was right to buy a husband and a title like that when she did not even feel liking for the man himself.
It was dawning on her that Papa and her family might bewrong and that her instincts were all too correct. It felt like treason but could it be true? No, surely not. Papa had always been right.
‘But, Lily, whatever will people say?’
Lily got slowly to her feet, staring at her aunt’s appalled face. Fear roiled through her stomach because it was worse than what people might say about the hoax or the simple breaking of her engagement.
She had let Adrian compromise her. For one error of judgment she could be ruined and Adrian, furious with her, would no doubt do nothing to protect her good name.
‘Miss France, Doctor Ord asks if you will join him.’
‘Thedoctor?’
‘Aunt, please, it is merely that a gentleman was injured in the street. None of our household is hurt. I will just go and speak to the doctor, there is nothing to be concerned about.’
Leaving Aunt Herrick lamenting behind her, Lily followed Blake back to the guest room. Thinking about her ruined reputation would just have to wait.
Jack Lowell was lying quite still, his head bandaged and his shoulders bare above more strips of linen encircling his chest.
‘His skull is not fractured,’ the doctor said. ‘In fact it must be as hard as rock to have withstood that blow. His back is a mass of bruises. He must have hit the steps as he fell.’
He began to pack his case. ‘But your man’s no stranger to injuries. I would be a little careful, Miss France, it is hard to guess what his background is.
He has got more scars than the average soldier, but not bullet or sabre wounds. His back has been damaged before, but not, I am happy to say, as a result of flogging. He is well fed and fit and muscled like a navvy. If his knuckles were scarred differently I would guess at a prize-fighter but, although he has worked hard with his hands, they are well kept, manicured even. I cannotmake him out and puzzles make me uneasy.
‘There is nothing to be done for him but to wait until he comes round, then give him plenty to drink. That cordial on the table there is for his headache. Keep him resting. Call me if there is any bleeding from nose or ears or if, when he regains consciousness, his vision is blurred.’
Doctor Ord bowed his way out, escorted by Blake, leaving Lily gazing dubiously at her guest.
She was still standing there, wondering how long it would take Angela Hardy and Adrian between them to spread the news of her disgrace and the hilarious tale of her discomfiture, when his eyelids flickered and she found herself looking directly into a pair of dark grey eyes.
