Page 67 of A Rake's Redemption
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“Where is Inis?” Alex asked Jameson the next morning when he went to the stable to take Xenos for a gallop in the park.
The stallion needed a workout, but Alex was also using that as an excuse for not allowing the filly—and Inis—to come along. After her fall yesterday, she probably had bruises that would hurt bouncing in the saddle. Alex grinned to himself. His cock started to stand to attention at the thought of examiningwherethose bruises might be, and he pushed it—the thought, not his cock—aside. He hoped Inis had a good night’s rest.
“I haven’t seen her this morning,” Jameson answered as he led Xenos out.
Alex frowned. “It is thirty past nine o’clock. She has not come out?”
Jameson shook his head. “One of the stable boys took care of feeding Goldie.”
That was strange. Elsie had told him last night that Inis had wanted to see Goldie and make sure the horseunderstoodthe accident was not her fault. Elsie had nearly rolled her eyes when she said it, but Alex knew how strongly Inis felt about such things. How very odd that she hadn’t been out here first thing this morning.
“Don’t saddle Xenos just yet,” Alex said as he turned back toward the house. “I want to check on something.”
Not wanting to walk all the way around to the front, he went in through the kitchen door. Mrs. Olsen turned to him in surprise. “Yes, my lord?”
“Have you seen In—Miss O’Brien this morning?”
“No,” the cook said. “I thought she might be sleeping in after yesterday’s accident.”
She probably was, but he wanted to make sure. He could hardly go up to the fourth floor and barge into her bedchamber without causing gossip among the servants.
“Would you have Elsie go check on her?”
“Elsie is feeling a bit under the weather this morning,” Mrs. Olsen replied. “She said she cast up her accounts last night, so Mrs. Bradley told her to stay abed.”
“One of the other maids then?”
“Mrs. Bradley’s got them all cleaning rooms.” She looked at one of the young girls who’d stopped chopping vegetables to listen to the exchange. “Annie could go up and check.”
Before he could even nod, the girl grinned and was gone, obviously eager to please. Alex helped himself to an apple from the bowl on the counter. He could share it with Xenos and Goldie later. He turned at what sounded like a herd of horses descending the servants’ steps. The hair at his nape prickled as Annie burst into the kitchen, her eyes round as an owl’s and her face pale in spite of her mad dash.
Mrs. Olsen frowned. “What—”
“’Tis… Miss… O’Brien,” Annie said, gasping for air. “She ain’t movin’. I think she’s dead.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Alex bounded up the back stairs, taking them two at a time, bracing himself for something he didn’t want to see. Lord Almighty. Had Inis been more seriously hurt than the physician had thought? Alex would never forgive himself… He rushed through the door and stopped in his tracks.
Inis lay on her back, the sheet covering everything but her face. She was pale, but at least her lips weren’t blue, nor were her eyes open and staring sightlessly at the ceiling.
He moved closer to the bed and felt for a pulse on her slender neck. He nearly panicked when he didn’t detect it, but he moved his fingers and finally picked up a faint beat. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. She was alive, but her skin was cold. He shook her shoulder gently but got no response. No moan. No groan. Not even a little twitch. He turned to where Mrs. Olsen hovered in the doorway with the housekeeper and his butler behind her.
“Fetch Baxter,” he told Evans and turned to the women. “I want blankets and warm bricks.”
“Right away,” Mrs. Bradley said.
Alex turned back to Inis after they’d gone. He moved the sheet and sat on the edge of the bed, lifting her into his arms to warm her. Her head fell against his shoulder, and he inhaled the faint scent of heather soap that still lingered in her hair. Very gently, he kissed the purplish bruise on her forehead.
“My sweet Inis,” Alex whispered. “Do not leave me.”
An emotion stirred deep inside him that he hadn’t felt for nearly two years. An emotion he thought had died with Amelia’s betrayal. He’d resolved never to care for another person so deeply again, but apparently his hardened heart had begun to soften.
He thought he felt Inis’s head move a bit, but it was probably only his own shoulder twitching since she didn’t stir. “Hold on, my love.”
Alex drew her closer and did something he hadn’t done in a long time—he prayed.
