Page 5 of A Duke to Restore her Memory
His eyes flickered over her face for any sign that she could hear him. He realized, quite suddenly, that she was beautiful.
Her skin was as flawless and pale as milk. Her cheekbones were high and sweeping, her lips parted slightly, full and luscious below a button nose, with a tiny smattering of freckles across the bridge. She had long, dark golden eyelashes. He guessed she was in her late teens or early twenties.
Suddenly, her eyes opened, quite dramatically, staring straight into his face. He gasped again. Her eyes were dark green, the colour of moss, with golden flecks within them. Quite beautiful. But they were clouded with confusion and pain.
“Where … where am I?” she gasped in a low, ragged voice.
“You fell into a mine shaft,” he whispered, unable to take his eyes off her face. “You are injured.”
“Oh,” she whispered, her lips starting to tremble. She screwed up her face as if she were about to burst into tears. “I … I cannot remember anything …”
“Ahoy down there! Is there anything amiss?”
Sebastian jumped at the rough male voice, squinting up. He could just make out a dark figure peering over the edge, gazing down at them, but he couldn’t see who it was.
“I am the Duke of Newquay,” he called. “And there is an injured woman here. She fell down the shaft.”
The figure swore loudly. “Your Grace! It’s Abraham Barstow, one of your tenants. I saw your horse and thought that something was not right …”
“I know who you are now, Barstow,” said Sebastian, his heart lurching with gratitude. “We need to get this woman to safety immediately. Can you assist?”
“Aye,” called the man. “I will get some more men. We will find something to gather her and pull her up. And I will send for the physician …”
“Thank you, Barstow,” called Sebastian, almost slumping with relief. “Go now. There is no time to waste.”
“Aye, Your Grace,” said the man tersely. Then he was gone.
Sebastian turned back to the woman in his arms. Her eyes had closed again. Her brief moment of consciousness was gone. A sliver of fear pierced his heart. Would Barstow find help in time? Or was this beautiful woman on the verge of death … and about to slip over the threshold entirely?
Chapter 3
Christina’s eyes fluttered open. She was lying on the ground outside, and faces were peering intently at her. She narrowed her eyes, squinting, trying to make out who they were and where she was.
The blue of the sky was behind the figures and the sun was shining brightly – so brightly that she couldn’t see properly.
She gasped loudly as she felt a searing pain in her head. Her mind was whirring. She reared up as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm her.
“Whoa,” said a deep voice, clutching her tightly. “Try not to move. The physician will be along presently. You have suffered a head injury from a fall.”
She tried to focus on the voice, her eyes fixing on the man’s face.
“Who are you?” he whispered. “How did you fall into the shaft?”
Christina bit her lip in confusion. Her mind was spinning.
“I was … I was …” Her voice was fading in and out. “I … I cannot remember …”
A stab of pure terror gripped her. For she realized, as she stammered, that she really couldn’t remember a thing. Not how she came to be lying here with this handsome man attending her, but who she even was, or what her life was. It was all a great, gaping blank in her mind.
The man’s dark eyes flickered over her face. “Do not push yourself,” he whispered in a kind, gentle voice. “You are injured and have had a great shock.” Suddenly, he looked up, his face crumpling with relief. “Here is the physician now.”
Gently, he placed her down on the ground, taking his arms away from her. She felt the removal of them was a loss. Another man was there now, peering into her face. An older man with steel grey hair and jowls. He was wearing gold-rimmed spectacles.
“My name is Dr Watson,” said the man in an assured, comforting voice. “And you have hurt yourself, young woman, quite badly.” He put his hands on her head, peering at her forehead. “That is a nasty gash. I will clean it up, and then we will get to the bottom of this.”
As the physician cleaned her wound, she winced, gritting her teeth. It hurt. And not only that, but her head was also throbbing mightily.
Covertly, she glanced to the side. The handsome man who had rescued her was there, observing, a look of concern on his face.
