Page 13 of Avenging the Earl's Lady
Chapter 4
When she carried a tray up that night for Kincaid, Shaldon was there at the bedside.
“If Kingsley has found that code’s hidden treasure, he’s kept mum,” Shaldon said.
“On the other hand,” Kincaid said, “his daughter’s great dowry had to have come from—”
Kincaid spotted her in the doorway and hastily closed his mouth and pulled the sheet over his bandaged chest.
“Good evening, gentlemen.”She set the tray on the small bedside table and bent over him before he could push himself up and reopen his wound.
“Just leave that dish and I’ll get out of this bed—”
“Stop squirming, Mr.Kincaid.We’ll raise you up.Lord Shaldon, go around to the other side and help me please.”
“I’ll not—”
“If I’m to be your nurse for the next several days, you’ll do as I say.And you, my lord, your strong arm is needed.”
“One of the boys—”
“Can help with your privy needs, but I’m to be feeding you and checking your bandage.”
Shaldon, miraculously, had heeded her instructions and was slipping an arm under Kincaid’s broad back.She propped Kincaid’s other shoulder, making sure to keep her hand out of Shaldon’s reach.
Kincaid grimaced as she plumped his pillows.
“The stitches are pulling, are they?”she asked.“I see a spot of blood or two.Your bandage will need changing.”
“The surgeon can do it,” Kincaid said.
“The surgeon has gone along the coast.He won’t be back until tomorrow or after.But very well.We’ll have Ewan see to the bandage as well.”She settled the tray over his lap and lifted a cover.“Stew.”
“More like a plain beef tea.”
“Which, considering how much you bled, would be good for you.But we’ve added some turnips and beef.”
Shaldon had backed away from the bed and propped himself against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him.
Kincaid grumbled and picked up his spoon.Gray hair and freckles sprinkled his chest.It was the first male chest she’d seen in twenty years, and a fine muscular one it was.Seeing to Kincaid’s wounds had reminded her even more of what she’d missed in her long years of spinsterhood.
But the sight of his chest completely failed to stir her.
“The maid could have brought up the dinner,” Shaldon said.
His bored drawl rubbed on her patience.“You did ask her to see to packing Lady Perry’s things.”
He didn’t need to know that the girl wasn’t doing that.Perry had no intention to go on the morrow, not if she must leave without Fox.
Fox, for his part, was reluctant to anger his future father-in-law.He and Perry were discussing the matter in one of their first disputes.She suspected that by tomorrow at this time, it would just be Jane, Jenny, Kincaid, and whichever one of the men was left to care for Kincaid’s personal needs.
Well, and the prisoner, and his guards.She’d thought through all the possibilities and realized that their presence might complicate her plans.
She stepped back and clasped her hands at her waist.“Are you going to move Sir Richard?”she asked.
“He’s gravely injured,” Shaldon said.“There may be no point if he dies before standing trial.And we’d have to keep him safe on the road.”
“Keep him safe?”
