Duchess by Chance (27 page)

“Light!” he roared. The fire was lit in minutes and jugs of steaming water and clothes where carried into the room by silent servants. Branches of candles placed around the bed gave Daniel the light he needed.

“Molly, we must get her out of these clothes to see if she has other injuries.”

“Yes, your Grace.” Ashen faced the maid nodded.
 

Daniel’s eye remained on Eva’s face as he and the maid eased her clothing from her body. There were bruises starting to form and he knew they would be the color of grapes by the morning. His fingers were unsteady as he brushed hair from her cheek.

“Open your eyes now, Eva.”

“Set her shoulder while she sleeps, Daniel,” Simon said, coming into the room.

Lifting her into his arms, he reached for the shoulder and gently pushed it back into the joint. She didn’t even flinch.

“Do you have any smelling salts?”

Molly nodded at Simon and then hurried from the room.

“I won’t live without her.”

“She is unconscious, not dead, Daniel.” Simon said. “Find that calm you are famous for before she wakes and sees the terror in your eyes.”

“Christ, Simon, she could have been killed!”

“I know, my friend, but she was not and we will be making bloody sure nothing like this happens to either of you again.”

Molly came back with a small bottle, which she handed to the duke. He pulled out the cork and placed it under Eva’s nose.
     

      
“Again,” Simon urged when she did not respond.

This time, she flinched and then her eyes sprang open as she screamed his name.

“I’m here, love.” Daniel’s hands held her so she could not move.

“A-are you hurt?”

“No, Eva, but you are hurt.” He looked down into her eyes. Filled with pain and tears, they smote his heart.

“I was so scared.” She grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer as she began to cry. “I thought you were dead when the carriage turned and I knew you were on top and it is all my fault.”

“Ssssh, love,” Daniel soothed her. “I am here.”

“The doctor has arrived, your Grace.”

“Thank you, Molly, please let him in.”

Daniel watched as the doctor examined Eva thoroughly, then pronounced she suffered from a knock to the head and a few bruises. Her shoulder would ache but she would make a full recovery, given time. He gave her something to ease the pain and help her sleep.

“Please see to my driver now, doctor,” Daniel said, signaling Simon to see to the task.

“Of course, your Grace, and I will return tomorrow to check on the duchess.”

Between them, Daniel and Molly put her into a nightdress. He tried not to flinch every time she winced and moaned.
 

“Daniel?”

“Yes, love.” He ran a finger down her cheek. He could have lost her tonight and he realized if that had happened, his own life would have ended alongside hers.

“Daniel?” She yawned and her eyelashes fluttered shut. “I…I must talk - “

“Sleep now, Eva.”

“I-I love you,” she said so softly that had the room not been silent, he would not have heard her.

Daniel closed his eyes briefly as her words surrounded him. She loved him.

“I will sit with her for a while until you return, your Grace,” Molly said.

Nodding, Daniel stood and quietly left the room.
 

      
Simon was pacing around his study when he ran him to ground minutes later. “She sleeps.” Daniel took the drink his friend handed him. “I don’t know why you were following our carriage tonight, Simon, but I will be forever in you debt,” he added, sitting on the edge of his desk.

         
“Claire went home with her aunt who was at the theatre, therefore I decided to go to my club. It was purely coincidence that I was following your carriage.” Simon refilled both their glasses before continuing. “I heard the gunshot and when I looked out the window, I noticed your carriage tearing down the street ahead. Christ, Daniel! My heart nearly gave out when I saw you thrown and then watched as the carriage flipped onto its side.”

 
“Was it deliberate? Was I the target or Eva, or was it just a random act of foolishness by an idiot?” Daniel ran a hand over his face.

 
“Who are the possibilities?”
 

 
“Her family, Gilbert Huxley - dear God, there are plenty of possibilities if I give it thought.”

“Claire’s sure Huxley spoke to Eva tonight when they went for a walk with Lady Dunbar. She saw him pause briefly behind her, and then by the time Eva had turned around, he had walked on.”

“I’m certain he and her father have some sort of hold over her but she will not talk to me about it.” Daniel paced the room. “I will not allow her to be threatened or hurt again, Simon. We must get to the bottom of this.”

Nodding, Simon rose. “I will leave you for now, but I think in the morning we should send out a few men to enquire over tonight’s events.”

Daniel agreed. After Simon left, he went back to his rooms. Dismissing Molly, he stood, looking down at his duchess. The gentle rise and fall of her chest was the only movement. Her cheeks were pale and he wanted to take all her pain and make it his own. How was one small woman to shoulder so much anguish? A life spent with angry, abusive men, and then to suffer the unwanted attentions of Lord Huxley and whatever threats he and her father were holding over her. He would get her to tell him and then he would make them pay for her pain.

Removing his clothes, he then washed. After ensuring the laudanum was where he could reach it, Daniel blew out the candles and climbed into bed. As if sensing he was with her, Eva edged toward him in the dark.

“I will protect you, my love.” He gathered her into his arms and then, wrapping her hair around his fist, he tried to tell himself she was safe now, but the night’s events ran endlessly through his head and it wasn’t until the grey fingers of dawn filtered through his window that he slept and finally the tension eased from his body.

...

“Hello, Grandmother.” Daniel looked up as she stomped into his breakfast parlor.

“You did not send word that my granddaughter was injured!”

“That is not exactly true, Grandmother. I sent around a note saying she was indisposed,” he said, climbing to his feet and holding out a chair for her so she could join him, which, of course, she refused and instead, stood glaring at him.

“Being hurled around in a carriage after said carriage was shot at does not constitute being indisposed!” she snapped at him.
 

“She is all right, I promise. I would have alerted you instantly if that was not the case, Grandmother.” Daniel saw the genuine distress in her eyes and realized that she cared a great deal for Eva and most probably him. He’d just never really taken the time to look before.

“I don’t understand, Daniel. Why would anyone want to shoot at either of you?”

Dear Lord, his grandmother had tears in her eyes and her shoulders had slumped. Taking her arm, he hugged her. She resisted at first and then leant against him. He could feel her tremors and realized he had underestimated her and it humbled him to have her love when, in all honesty, he had probably not done a lot to deserve it.

“Come now, I will pour you some tea, Grandmother. We are unsure why we were shot at but I have men investigating it as we speak.” Daniel talked steadily until she had regained her composure. “It could just be a random act of stupidity that we were unlucky enough to have been caught up in.” 
           
“But you are not convinced.”

Shaking his head, Daniel continued, pleased to have an ear to voice his thoughts, thoughts he had tried to hide from his duchess.
 

 
“It could be her family or someone else.” He went on to explain about Huxley’s infatuation with Eva and his visit with Eva at Stratton.

“Scoundrel!” she roared. “I’ll ruin him!”

At least the color has returned to her cheeks,
Daniel thought as his grandmother proceeded to explain in detail what she would do to Gilbert Huxley.

She swallowed her tea and grimaced. “You did not follow the correct procedure for pouring tea, boy!”

“Forgive me.” Daniel realized her moment of weakness was well and truly behind them.

“Grandmother?”

The breakfast door opened and this time in came his wife, followed closely by Furban, who had not left her since the accident. Dressed in pale lemon with her hair drawn back in a matching satin ribbon, she looked about fifteen. Her movements were slow, which told him she was stiff and sore and she wore a sling, which both he and the doctor had insisted upon.
 

I could have lost her
.
 

“What are you doing out of bed?” the Dowager Duchess snapped, once again on her feet. “And what is that?” she added, glaring down at the puppy, who was sitting on his haunches, staring up at her.

“I am pleased to see you also, Grandmother.” Eva kissed her cheek. “And this is Furban.”

Daniel watched as his grandmother wrapped her arms around Eva and gave her a gentle hug. He heard both of them sniff and then pull away from each other and move to join him at the table.

“That dog is not fit for a duke and duchess,” the dowager declared, looking at the puppy who had followed Eva and was now seated at her feet.
 

“He is our dog, Grandmother, and someone I am sure you will come to love in time,” Eva said as she reached for the teapot.

“Harrumph,” the elderly woman grumbled. “Shall we postpone the ball, Granddaughter?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Are you sure you will feel up to it, love? It is only four days away,” Daniel added and how the hell was he to protect her at such an event.

“It is only my shoulder that pains me and I will wear my sling if it tires, I promise.”
 

“I think we should wait.” He looked not at Eva but his grandmother. Just thinking about Eva surrounded by so many people made him sweat.

“Oh, please, Daniel, I want to continue with the preparations.” Eva forced a smile onto her face. She did not want to delay the ball. Just thinking about it made her nerves flutter and if they put if off she would have weeks of anxiety. Not that she wasn’t already anxious. Eva knew that whoever shot at their carriage had to be connected with her father and Lord Huxley, and she had no doubt the bullet had been intended for Daniel. He could have been taken from her and the thought of life without him was not to be borne. Through her own foolishness in trying to protect him, he could have died. Therefore today, when she was feeling stronger, she would tell him everything.

“All right, the ball will go ahead but you will not leave my side on the night.”

Nodding, Eva snuck a crust under the table. Daniel lifted one eyebrow but remained silent.

“We have had most people reply, my dear. It will be a fabulous crush,” the Dowager Duchess crowed.

“Wonderful,” Eva replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
 

“And now I must leave you both to plan as I am to fence with Simon this morning and then visit Tattersall’s horse sales.”

“Oh, but Daniel, I need to talk to you.” Eva rose to grip his hand.
 

“Can it wait, sweetheart?”

Eva nodded when she saw the concern on his face. She didn’t want him to leave without hearing her confessions but they could wait a few more hours.

“You are not to leave this house today, Eva.”

“Of course.”

“Good girl.” He kissed her softly and then he was gone.
 

…

“Interestingly enough it appears Gilbert Huxley and Spencer Winchcomb have been seen in each others company a lot more of late.” Simon flexed his foil several times as he spoke.
 

Daniel paused in his own preparations to look at his friend.

“Supposedly, they were seen talking with some rather unsavory characters not four nights ago.”

Cursing soundly, Daniel swiped his foil through the air, venting his rage. He had left Eva and his grandmother and met Simon at their fencing club. He needed the release of physical exercise - anything to relieve the tension inside him.

“Perhaps we should wait until your temper has cooled.” Simon eyed his friend’s furious movements.

“Don’t be ridiculous. The points are tipped and I would never willingly hurt you!” Daniel snapped.

“Not willingly, no,” Simon muttered, pulling on his gloves.

“En garde,” Daniel snarled.

Daniel lunged at Simon, who, in turn, managed to parry the attack by jumping to one side with a rather unmanly yelp.

“Fight, you lily livered bastard!” Daniel roared. His vision was suddenly filled with a red haze as he imagined Eva at the hands of Huxley and her father. His patience had finally fled and he wanted to kill someone or, at the very least, maim them and Simon was in his line of sight.