by Jilian Rouge
But her heart was telling her that Alex was who she was meant for and she him, and this time, she was through with worrying about what others in polite society would think of her for choosing Alex over Christian. It was ultimately her choice after all, and everyone be damned when it came right down to finding her own brand of happiness.
For almost a decade, she had no reason to think that Alex could ever be hers. With that once farfetched dream now her reality, she strongly believed that she had earned and completely deserved to be blissfully happy with Alex. In contrast, she realized that a future with Christian would be just settling for a life of not being alone rather than finding her grand passion in life. And for her, Alex was her grand passion.
A small smile colored her lips as she reached the top of the stairs leading down. Heavily engrossed in her happy reverie, there was no time for her to react to the suddenness of a heavy shove at her back. The movement propelled her forward too quick for her to plant herself against the force of the shove, and her flailing arms could do no more than protect her face from contacting the wooden stairs. Falling headlong down the stairs, she could no more stop her descent than she could prevent a brutally hard knock to her temple against the bannister. She blacked out before her fall saw her crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, but not before she witnessed a blurry figure at the top of the stairs fleeing the scene.
It wasn’t long before Captain Griffiths had come along in search of Alex only to find Rue unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. While he was well acquainted with injuries that can be sustained while working on a ship, an unconscious gentlewoman was beyond his realm of experience. Kneeling down, he inspected her for the rise and fall of her chest and was relieved to see her still breathing. The lump on her temple, however, was sizable enough to cause worry, and he glanced at the fearful height and length of the stairs from which she most likely plummeted. Shocked beyond words, he bellowed loudly and called for someone, anyone, to come help as he quickly scooped her up from where she lay.
20
With some difficulty, Rue opened her eyes, moaning against the pain as her head hurt worse than her worst megrim, to find Alex hovering close above her. Since her last memory was of tumbling down the stairs, she was unsettled at finding herself in bed and she gasped at the incongruity of her surroundings. Alex drew closer and made shushing sounds at her, while softly saying, “It’s all right, love. You’re safe now. Just lie back and let the doctor take a look at you.”
Alex’s presence calmed her somewhat, and she did as he bade her by lying back against the pillows. She was in her borrowed bedchamber in Ravenscroft, and she shut her eyes against the sudden stab of pain that was sharp enough to bring tears to her eyes. Seeing the tears glistening at her lashes, Alex continued in a soft, assuring tone, “I know it hurts, Rue. Once Doctor Prynne examines you, I am sure he will know what to do for your pain. Just lie still.”
From the furthest corner of the room, Rue heard Georgie say, “Dearest, just breathe slow and deep. Yes, that’s it. You needn’t tax yourself.”
Following Georgie’s instructions, Rue found the pain a little tolerable than before and she opened her eyes once more. She met eyes with a worried Georgie, who stood wringing her handkerchief as a small sign of the amount of worry she had caused her friend. Behind her stood Ernest who stoically gazed back at her with a frown of concern at both his brow and lips.
Doctor Prynne, whom she didn’t notice was in the room, was at the moment trying to get closer to examine her, except Alex was in the way. She could see that the doctor was much younger than she anticipated, and by the dark look on Alex’s face, she could see that Alex took issue with the doctor’s comely, handsome appearance.
In a firm but kind voice, Doctor Prynne addressed Alex formally, “Begging your pardon, my lord, but I cannot make a thorough examination of the patient if I cannot get close enough. If you would step aside, I can do as you bade me do and her ladyship can continue her convalescence in peace.”
Alex shot the doctor one belligerent look before moving away from Rue’s side, but the look on his face also told the doctor not to try anything with Rue, not with him present in the room. The doctor ignored Alex once he drew closer to Rue’s side and began his careful inspection of Rue’s injury. While Doctor Prynne methodically examined Rue, Alex continued to shoot black looks at the doctor’s back while keeping a watchful eye on the pair of them. The doctor asked her several questions about how she was feeling and what she could remember before the fall. Throughout the questioning, Rue could feel the tension roiling off of Alex, and she would have rolled her eyes at how ridiculous he was being towards the kindly doctor if that small action wouldn’t cause her any pain.
Doctor Prynne, being highly observant, was aware of the earl’s protectiveness over Lady Rumina and was astute enough to realize he should not goad the earl into a bout of jealous temper. He was careful to only touch Lady Rumina when absolutely necessary and when he did, he ensured that the action was done in full view of the earl.
Although he was young and just starting in his chosen profession, Doctor Prynne instinctively knew that keeping the earl happy would go a long way towards advancing career in the vicinity. And so, he kept his touches to a minimum and concluded his examination by announcing, “My lord, Lady Rumina seems to be in perfect health other than the nasty lump there on her temple. She doesn’t seem to be experiencing any other ill effects that such an injury would bring, but I recommend a few drops of laudanum for the pain to help her sleep which I have just administered. I will be back in the morning to see how she is feeling then.”
Dismissing Doctor Prynne with a curt nod, Alex swooped towards Rue’s side and further ignored the poor man as the doctor made his exit. With concern heavily laced in his voice, Alex asked Rue, “How bad is it, darling? Is the pain too fierce?”
Rue’s eyes shot straight towards her friends, aghast that Alex would use such an endearment in front of them. From the surprise written on their faces, she forlornly deduced that they had heard what Alex called her and came to the correct conclusion that Alex was making a vested interest in her.
Resignedly, she answered, “Other than the monstrous pounding in my left temple, I’m fine.” And she proceeded to sit up higher against the pillows, only for her to hiss against the sharp pain lacing through her head at the movement.
Seeing the outright evidence of her pain caused Alex to grimace, and he gently said, “If that is the case, we will leave you to rest. I’ll be up in a little while to see whether you’ll be needing another dose.”
At the utterance of Alex’s words, Ernest was herding Georgie towards the bedchamber door to leave, but not before Georgie called out, “We, too, will be back if only to keep a closer eye on you.” Rue could not possibly fail to miss the meaningful glance her friend directed at Alex, and Rue weakly smiled at her friend’s attempt to safeguard her from any untoward behavior on Alex’s part.
Alex glowered after the Montagu siblings, realizing that his relationship with Rue was no longer a secret and that any moments alone with his soon-to-be wife would be hard to come by if those two were about. Brusquely, he pecked Rue on the nose before saying, “Sleep, Rue. We will talk when you are feeling better.”
Feeling the effects of the laudanum pulling her heavily into sleep, she drowsily answered, “Yes. I need to tell—you…” Her sentence hung unfinished in the air, and Alex doused the lamp before leaving the room. Outside, Rue’s own maid stood at attention, waiting to watch over Rue as she slept. Alex reminded the maid, “Keep a close eye on her and report to me if anyone other than myself or the Montagus come to her door.”
“Yes, my lord,” the maid said, nodding once, then entered the room and shut the door.
Alex made his way towards his own room, his face hardened with barely-contained frustration with the situation. He checked off a mental list of the ’incidences‘ that had occurred within the past forty-eight hours, and concluded that none of it could have been
coincidental.
Too much has happened in his own past that warranted some kind of retribution for his sins. But with Rue involved, it was more than likely that he was being targeted and Rue’s tumble down the stairs was anything but an accident. No one could talk him down through his anger, not when Rue was hurt and was trying to sleep through a vicious headache.
Although no one was around to witness what had happened, it aggravated him to no end that he couldn’t even question her at the moment, at least, not until she was feeling better. Rafe was no help either, since he had come upon Rue’s unconscious form only after the deed had been done when he was arriving back from using the convenience.
Alex himself wasn’t gone long from her side since their encounter by the stairs, and he had no reason to think that any of the houseguests were milling about the halls while they were otherwise occupied. He badly wanted to know if she had been pushed; he could remember countless times when Rue had raced down those same stairs in a devil-may-care manner since they were both children. And even then, she had always avoided taking a frightful header down those stairs. It was unlike Rue to have a sudden bout of clumsiness and take a terrifying tumble that could have resulted in something worse than a sizable lump on her temple.
Rather than stay and try to battle his anger in front of Rue, he decided that leaving the room was necessary for him to properly stew in his own anger, giving him the required fuel for the right time that he could direct it towards the responsible party.
Until then, he would war with his need to go on the rampage looking for someone to blame for the harm directed at himself and his future wife.
The next day, Rue was sitting up in bed as Doctor Prynne stood at her bedside, asking her questions about how she was feeling. Alex roared as he entered her room, startling both Georgie and Ernest who sat in chairs on the other side of Rue’s bed. Captain Griffiths also entered the room at Alex’s heels and smothered an amused chuckle at his friend’s uncharacteristic behavior.
“Why didn’t you call for me to let me know you were awake!” he bellowed, pinning Rue with an accusing stare. Rue looked at him as though he was demented, her eyes wide and a slight frown at her lips. She peeked around Alex to glance at Rafe, who only smiled kindly at her. But for the time being, Alex remained solely focused on the doctor, and Rue decided that introductions would have to wait.
Doctor Prynne calmly said, “My lord, I am happy to say that Lady Rumina has passed with a clean bill of health. While her head may still ache, she has not experienced the other serious side-effects that can be caused by a blow to the head. While I wouldn’t confine her to her bed, she is well enough to go about her regular routine, but she must take care not to strain herself.”
Rue piped up, “The doctor had already discussed this with me, and I am ready to leave the confines of my bed.” She threw back the coverlet as if to jump out of bed, but Alex leapt to her side to throw the coverlet back up to her shoulders.
“For god’s sake, Rue. Have a care for the doctor who doesn’t need to see you in your nightgown,” Alex said indignantly. Rue gave Alex a look, telling him in a glance that he was being unreasonable, but she remained silent. Looking to her friends for help, Georgie gave a slight shrug as if to say I have no idea what’s going on in the earl’s head and don’t know how to address this. Ernest treated her with a slight shake of his head and a sigh. Rafe reddened further, the unfortunate result of his herculean effort to hold in his laughter.
Doctor Prynne, who understood that the earl was being overly protective over Rue, smiled inwardly at the earl’s actions. While Lady Rumina was a beautiful, attractive woman, he had eyes only for his wife of two weeks, whom he had left in their warm bed, pouting that he had to leave so early. If he hurried back now, she may still be waiting for him in the same position he had left her in.
Clearing his throat, Doctor Prynne declared, “If her ladyship has no other need for my services, I will now take my leave. My wife is expecting me.”
Rue was pleasantly surprised at the doctor’s revelation of his marital status, and she looked to Alex, hoping to see if the news had melted his frown from his face. Only, she was to be further disappointed by the deeper scowl marring Alex’s features. Sighing in resignation at Alex’s innate stubbornness, Rue ignored Alex and expressed her heartfelt thanks to Doctor Prynne and bid him farewell. Alex treated the doctor to a single nod of his head in acknowledgement of his services as the doctor hastened his exit.
As the doctor’s footsteps faded away down the hall, Rue rounded on Alex and accused with a deep frown, “You were being unforgivably rude to that poor man. He was only doing his job.”
Alex harrumphed. “And you, my dear, were blind to the way he looked at you. If I had known he was such an inconstant fellow, I would not have sent for him to tend to you. The man clearly had designs on you!”
Rue rolled her eyes at him before she blasted at him, “What are you babbling about? The man is married! He no more had eyes for me than he did for Ernest or Georgie!” Having spoken out of turn without thought to Ernest’s proclivity for men, she shot an apologetic look towards Ernest. He only shrugged and gave her a wistful smile.
“A man can be married and still treat you to lecherous looks. The man obviously lusted after you, and it’s fortunate that you have me to protect you during your time of duress. And I don’t want a young man, even though he is a doctor, looking at you and touching you, not with you being so damned beautiful and vulnerable. For all we know, he could just be pretending to be objective.”
Rue blinked, believing Alex to be delusional. He clearly believed he was protecting her, but from whom? Doctor Prynne had been professional and methodical in his treatment of her, but Alex refused to see to reason, not when he imagined that she was the object of every man’s affection.
“I take it you are also protecting me from your friend who is currently standing in my bedchamber behind you?” she asked him, cheekily.
Alex reached behind him to bring Rafe closer to Rue’s bedside, and said to Rue, “With last night’s pandemonium in the main hall, I hadn’t the opportunity to introduce the two of you formally. Rue, please meet one of my dearest friends, Captain Raphael Griffiths. Rafe, may I present my bride-to-be, Lady Rumina?” As the two nodded to each other, Alex continued, “Of course, his first impression of you was close to that of a corpse at the bottom of the stairs, and that is how I found the two of you, with you in his arms. I didn’t know if you were merely unconscious or dead.”
Sheepishly, Rafe smiled at Alex’s rendition of last night’s events and offered, “My lady, it is an honor to finally meet you while you are fully aware and awake. If I may say, our first meeting nearly scared me out of my wits, seeing you lying as still as you were. Never before have I been treated to such a diverting initial meeting such as ours, but I am glad to see that you are all right.”
Alex added, “When I heard Rafe’s cry for help, I didn’t know what to expect. I certainly did not expect to see you in his arms all limp. Rue, I don’t want to be that afraid again in this lifetime. When I think that you could have endured worse, it makes my blood run cold. I can’t lose you, not when we had just found each other again.”
At Alex’s admission, both Georgie and Ernest perked up and sat straighter in their seats. “My lord, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Georgie asked tentatively.
Alex snorted in response then said, “Before Rue is given the chance to deny it, my intentions are to have her as my wife as soon as she is well again. I would have married her before any other man can lay claim to her.”
A gasp could be heard at the door to Rue’s bedchamber, and everyone in the room turned towards the open doorway where Christian stood. In dismay, Rue quickly realized he must have heard Alex’s announcement. Struggling for the right thing to say to Christian, who was looking visibly shaken, Rue could do no more than look at him apologetically. Christian whipped his head to meet eyes with his cousin, and Alex stared back as if to as
sert his earlier claim to Rue.
Flashing Rue a weak smile, Christian said, “I thought—we—the ball. I’m sorry, but this is all so hard to take. I suppose, congratulations are in order?”
Rue ached for Christian then, who was trying so hard to recover from the blow he had just been dealt. “Christian,” she called, almost pleading. But Alex looked at her warningly.
But Christian refused to meet her eyes, looking down at the floor instead. “I wish you all the happiness, Rue,” he said before fleeing the room awkwardly.
Rounding on Alex, Rue scolded, “I wish you hadn’t blurted your intentions so loudly. I had intended on telling him our news myself.”
Alex shook his head and said, “No, Rue. No matter who tells him or how it’s done, there is no proper way to soften that particular blow. He deserved to have been told the truth sooner rather than later.”
Forlorn, Rue cast her eyes downward, knowing that Alex was right. Nothing she would have said could effectively protect Christian from the bitter sting of her rejection. And it didn’t help that she did not have a set plan for telling him her news without sounding utterly pathetic. She only wished that the explanation owed Christian came directly from her, and not from the brash tongue of his cousin, her fiancé.