Tenacious Trents 02 - A Perfect Gentleman (34 page)

Grace’s arm burned as if someone had set it
on fire. What had happened and why was Matthew holding her? She
tried to push away from him, but pain shot through her arm. He
lowered her to the ground and covered her body with his. She would
object but her arm hurt too badly and she was rather confused.

Another shot rang out and Matthew brought his
head down, covering hers.

Then there was silence with the exception of
his breathing in her ear. It was difficult to breath with him lying
on top of her, but Grace wasn’t sure she should object. Had someone
just shot at them? Was that why her arm hurt? Slowly everything
around her became clear.

She had been shot right after Matthew
declared his feelings for her. Could she not have one moment of
happiness without someone trying to ruin it?

“Matt?” His brother was calling. Grace turned
her head in that direction and Matthew lifted away from her.

“Are you hurt? Is Miss Cooper?”

Mr. Trent stopped and looked down at
them.

“I am fine. Grace has been shot.” Matthew sat
on the ground beside her and bent to examine her arm.

“I am otherwise fine.” She tried to sit, but
pain shot through her again. Matthew grasped the hand of her
uninjured arm and snaked a hand around her shoulder to help her
sit. “Who did this?”

“Draker,” Mr. Trent answered. “Elizabeth shot
him before he could get away.”

“So that was the other shot we heard.”

We spotted him right as he took aim. We
couldn’t stop him in time, but Elizabeth didn’t hesitate in going
after him.”

“Is he dead?” Grace found herself asking.

Mr. Trent grinned. “No.”

“Bring him to the house. I need to get Grace
home. Ask Elizabeth to go for the doctor.” Matthew ordered everyone
about as he stood and lifted Grace into his arms once again.

“Matt, you don’t have a carriage?”

“I’ll take yours and send someone back for
you and Draker.” He paused and looked over his shoulder. “Do you
think Elizabeth will mind taking my horse into town?”

“No,” she called out.

Grace looked in her direction. Elizabeth
stood over a prostrate Draker, who was moaning and holding his leg.
Her pistol was still in her hand aimed at the man.

Matthew just nodded and continued marching
toward the carriage. The driver rushed to open the door and Matthew
slid into the seat, cradling Grace on his lap. As the conveyance
set into motion, Matthew leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Once she
looked in his eyes again, she had her answer. They shone with love.
No one, besides her parents, had ever looked at her with love in
their eyes. “That you may be falling in love with me?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “I was
wrong.”

The pain in her arm might as well have shot
through her heart.

“I
know
I have fallen in love with
you.”

The pressure in her chest released.

“I can only hope that one day you can return
those feelings.”

Her heart swelled and happiness burst inside.
Until he voiced his feelings she hadn’t know how she felt about
him. Or, maybe she did, but kept the emotions buried.

“But I do.”

“Do what?” he prompted, hope in his
voice.

“Love you.”

Matthew had never been so terrified in his
life as when he heard the shot and Grace collapsed against him. Now
all that fear was replaced with happiness. He was bordering on
giddy, something he had never experienced before. If she weren’t
injured he would pull her close and kiss her in a way that left no
doubt to his feelings for her or his desire. However, she was
injured and he could only pray that it was minor. If it were
serious wouldn’t she be unconscious?

The carriage rolled to a stop and the door
swung open. Matthew lifted Grace in his arms and moved toward the
house. The door was opened by John. “Take the coach back to the
church, or hitch a wagon, if there is one, to bring Jordan and
Draker back.

“Draker?” John asked. “What about
Elizabeth?”

“Draker shot Grace. Elizabeth took my horse
to go for the doctor.”

Matthew continued up the stairs, not looking
back to see if John did as he ordered, assuming his brother had. He
carried Grace into her chamber and once she was settled on the bed,
he ripped the sleeve from her dress to better view her arm. Matthew
examined the wound, careful not to move the arm too much. The
bullet grazed through the flesh of her upper arm. “I think you may
need a few stitches.”

Grace strained, trying to see the damage. “I
am sure a bandage is all that is necessary.” She relaxed back on
the bed. “I am just grateful Draker is a poor shot.”

“As am I,” Matthew chuckled. “I hope to be
married quickly.”

“The banns need to be cried, and you need to
ask my father.”

“I will ask your father, of course.” He
smiled. “But, we are going to Scotland the moment you are well
enough to travel.”

“We will not.” Grace tried to push herself up
off the bed.

Matthew grasped her shoulders and gently
pushed her back down. “Yes, we are.”

“But my father won’t be there. I want to be
married in my home, so he can be present.”

“I don’t know how that is possible. It could
take days to obtain a special license.”

“It will take days to get to Scotland and I
won’t be separated from my father. Not right now. If he were better
I would. But what if something happens? What if he suffers a
setback?”

“Hush.” Matthew leaned forward and brushed
his lips against hers. As much as he wanted to rush Grace off to
Scotland and be married immediately, the entire trip would be spent
with her worrying about her father. He would not make her suffer in
such a way. Besides, he hadn’t planned on spending his wedding
night with a fretful bride. Though he was confident Mr. Cooper
would recover in due time, he was selfish enough to want to spend
the first night of his marriage in the most pleasurable way
possible, which meant Grace should not have a worry on her mind. “I
will see about obtaining a special license.”

“Thank you.”

“Isn’t it situations like this that has the
town wagging their tongues about you?” Dr. Norton walked in
chuckling.

Graces face took on a lovely rosy hue and
Matthew removed himself from where he sat on the edge of the
bed.

“I am sorry I wasn’t in church, Vicar Trent.”
The man stifled a yawn behind his hand. “I was up most of the night
over in the next county delivering a baby. Stubborn child didn’t
want to make an appearance until the sun was rising.”

Though he was no longer the vicar of this
village, Matthew was pleased that Dr. Norton hadn’t succumbed to
the gossip and had a very good reason for missing services.

“I was just about to find my bed when Mrs.
Trent started banging on my door.”

“She can be a bit determined,” Matthew
agreed.

“Now, let me examine Miss Cooper. I’ll come
for you when I am done.”

Matthew moved to leave the room and paused to
glance back at Grace one more time. She simply smiled at him. He
closed the door and made his way to Mr. Cooper’s. The man was lying
back against pillows and alert. Perkins stood by the window.

“Might I have a word with Mr. Cooper,
alone?”

Perkins nodded and left the room. Matthew
took a seat beside Mr. Cooper who watched him with interest. There
was so much intelligence behind those faded green eyes. How could
anyone have ever believed he was incompetent?

“Sir, I would like your permission to marry
Grace.”

His eyebrows rose and a smile formed on his
lips.

Matthew explained to Mr. Cooper the situation
he found himself in, his daughter’s current reputation and the
decision to no longer be a vicar. Mr. Cooper simply watched him
intently. What if he denied him Grace’s hand in marriage? No, he
couldn’t think that way.

Mr. Cooper only showed alarm when Matthew
told him what had happened at the church this morning but relaxed
when he was assured Grace would be fine and her injury wasn’t much
more than a scratch.

“I assure you that I am in a financial
position to take care of Grace. I’ve never needed to work, on that
you have my word. If you are in doubt, confirm what I am telling
you with Lord Crew. He knew my father.”

The man gave a slight nod. Was he going to
ask or did he accept what Matthew was telling him. Now had come the
time to ask the question once gain and hope for the right
answer.

“Mr. Cooper. May I have your blessing to
marry Grace?”

The man smiled broadly and nodded his
head.

Relief flowed through Matthew. There was
nothing to stop him now from making Grace his wife.

“Your brother has arrived with Draker and is
asking where to put him,” Perkins announced from the doorway.

Matthew’s first thoughts were Hades, then the
barn, but he didn’t want the man to die from infection setting in
before they had answers. “Put him in the most secure bedchamber
upstairs. I then need you to send someone for Lord Crew and Lord
Brachton.”

“Very good, sir.” Perkins left and Matthew
stood. “I need to go learn what I can.”

Mr. Cooper nodded and Matthew quit the room.
He hadn’t noticed until there was a crisis that it is deuced
inconvenient not having servants around to do ones bidding. He had
lived simply as a vicar with nothing out of the ordinary every
occurring. Since Grace and her family came into his life he
realized how necessary they were from the basic meal, to milking
cows and summoning lords.

As he reached the landing Dr. Norton stepped
out of Grace’s room. “How is she?”

“She talked me out of stitches. Her arm
probably could have used a few, but if she refrains from using it
until it is healed all should be well.”

“Can I see her?”

“She is changing and complaining about
someone ruining a perfectly good dress,” the doctor chuckled. “I
understand I have another patient.”

“Yes, Draker. He was shot after he shot at
Grace.”

Dr. Norton merely shook his head. “None of
this makes any sense to me. I’ve known them both since they were
children. Why would he shoot at Miss Cooper?”

“That is the exact answer I hope to have
eventually.”

Dr. Norton and Matthew followed the sounds of
moaning until they came to an open door. Draker lay on top of the
bed. John and Jordan were on either side of it watching him.
Matthew entered the room and stood at the end of the bed. “Why did
you shoot Grace?”

The man looked at the gentlemen surrounding
him. “I am not telling you anything.”

Dr. Norton shrugged. “Call me if Miss Cooper
needs anything. I will stop by and check on her father on my way
out.”

“Thank you Doctor.”

“Wait,” Draker called out. “You have to get
this bullet out of my leg.”

Dr. Norton paused by the door. “I will in
good time. I’ve been up all night. I am tired. I don’t really want
to help you right now.”

“You took an oath,” Draker cried.

“Yes, I did. I can’t recall it exactly now.”
Dr. Norton shook his head and began to leave again.

“Wait. I can pay you, now.”

The man turned. “It isn’t payment I wish.
When you give these gentlemen the information they requested then I
will tend your wound.”

“You can’t do that.” He looked up at Jordan.
“He can’t, can he?”

“I don’t believe so,” Jordan shrugged. “But I
don’t believe I will tell anyone either.”

Draker looked at John, who simply shook his
head. Finally, his eyes met Matthews. “Why did you shoot Miss
Cooper?”

“Bloody hell.” Draker looked around the room,
not focusing on anyone. Matthew waited patiently.

John reached down and pressed his hand
against the wound. Draker cried out in pain.

“This is torture,” he said after a few
moments, beads of sweat dotting his brow.

John leaned down. “This is nothing.” His
voice was low and cold making Matthew wonder exactly what John had
been doing as a spy besides working in the stables in Paris.

Draker looked to Matthew. “You are vicar. How
can you allow him to do this?”

“I resigned this morning. I am simply a man
who happens to be in love with the woman you shot this
morning.”

Draker paled further.

John pressed harder on Draker’s leg. “Do you
really wish to find out all that I am capable of?”

“It was Stillwaite.”

John eased away and Dr. Norton stepped back
into the room.

“I need the money and this land is rich with
ore.”

“How could killing Miss Cooper benefit you?”
Matthew asked.

“If she were dead, then Stillwaite would
inherit it all, when Mr. Cooper died.”

“Are there further plans for his demise?”
John asked.

“No, and I had nothing to do with him being
pushed down the stairs.” He turned his head, looking at each of
them. “I swear, I knew nothing about that.”