The Wedding Runaway (17 page)

Chapter Seven

At Victor
'
s exclamation
,
Keene ran toward them. Victor grabbed Leonard—that wasn
'
t a name for a female—not-Leonard
'
s jacket and pulled it over the bared flesh of his—no, her—breast. Comprehending that Leonard was a girl confused Victor. How could he not have realized? All the signs were there.

"
Is he bad?
"
Keene
'
s hands were stained with blood.

The surgeon grabbed his satchel and started toward them. Victor waved them off and told not-Leonard to hold the wad of material against his shoulder. Keene kept approaching and Victor fought off the urge to throw himself across the girl
'
s body to protect her—from what? He was the one who had shot her.

Victor scooped not-Leonard up and headed for Keene
'
s carriage. He couldn
'
t allow her to be examined in front of all these gentlemen and their coachmen too.
"
Not bad.
"

"
Did my shot hit...?
"
Not-Leonard asked.

Keene appeared relieved to hear her speak.

"
Hit Sheridan
,"
said Victor.
"
You could have at least hit me.
"

"
Oh, no
,"
wailed the girl.

Keene turned his inquiring gaze to Victor as if looking for an explanation for his startled reaction when he pulled back the boy
'
s shirt.

Victor shook his head as if to tell his brother to give him a bit of privacy. But he too needed to know how bad Sheridan was hit.
"
How is he?
"

"
Nicked a vein
,
but he says it is just a flesh wound
,
and he
'
s survived worse.
"
said Keene.
"
If you don
'
t need me, I shall go hold pressure on his bleeding.
"

"
Do. Seems to me Sheridan suffered the worst wound.
"
If he could keep them focused on Tony
,
mayhap they wouldn
'
t look too closely at not-Leonard.

Although Tony sat talking to the surgeon
,
Victor swallowed hard at the sight of blood staining the buff-colored unmentionables.
"
I
'
m taking h...the cub to your carriage
,
have the surgeon come examine—do an examination there
,
once he has Sheridan
'
s wound bound.
"
Victor was having a damnable time
,
phrasing things so that he didn
'
t reveal the girl
'
s secret.

"
I
'
m so sorry
,"
she said, straining to look back at Sheridan.

"
Me too
,
pet
,"
whispered Victor.
"
Me too.
"

He set her on the seat of Keene
'
s carriage and began easing the jacket and waistcoat off her shoulders.

"
Will he be all right?
"
she asked.
"
I didn
'
t intend to shoot at all
,
but when I fell...
"

"
If he says it is survivable
,
I
'
m sure it is. He
'
s seen enough wounds to know.
"

She blinked.

"
He fought at Waterloo. Who the hell are you?
"

She recoiled and he left off learning her identity and concentrated on her wound. Once he had her free of the jacket, he gave her the carriage blanket.

"
I have to take off your shirt
,
Lenny.
Use the blanket to cover yourself.
"

She lowered her eyes and held the blanket in front of her chest
,
while he pulled the ruined shirt and undershirt over her head and right arm
,
then gently eased them both down her left arm.

A larger gash on her upper back showed that the bullet had passed through. That no pieces remained inside her shoulder to make the wound fester was a blessing. He stripped off his own cravat
,
folded it
,
then pressed it against her back.

He helped her drape the blanket over her right shoulder and gathered the folds so she could hold it closed with her right hand. What did she have on
,
pillows around her waist? He tried to look at anything other than the expanse of her bared skin. Such a beautiful long kissable back.

His fingers along her collarbone found no imperfections. She watched him out of those big blue eyes
,
without a single moan or tear of protest.

"
You will tell him
,
Mr. Sheridan
,
I am very sorry.
"
Her voice crested up on the Mr. Sheridan.

"
I
'
ll tell him.
"

Then the surgeon climbed in to examine her. Victor waited outside
,
giving the man room to work.

Half bewildered
,
he drifted over to the other two men. With his arm draped over Keene
'
s shoulders
,
Tony stood on his good leg. A slowly reddening bandage bound his thigh.

"
Felicity is going to kill me
,"
Tony said.
"
She hates those pistols.
"

"
Then I suggest you offer her my neck instead. It was all my fault
,"
said Victor.
"
My friend sends...an apology.
"
Thinking before he spoke had to be the hardest thing for him.
"
I never expected this turn of events.
"

"
No
,
you expected everyone to miss.
"
Keene said.
"
You never listen to me when I express doubts about your safety.
"

"
You have doubts all the time
,"
countered Victor.

"
Not about you.
"
Keene said.

Tony interrupted their spat
,
which was well and good because Keene had confounded Victor with that odd cross between an reassurance that he cared about him and that he most of the time respected his abilities.

"
The outcome from yonder guns is never certain.
"
Tony limped forward between them. He seemed in remarkably good spirits for one who had been shot.
"
How is Mr. Hall?
"

"
Not too bad.
"
Was it Miss Hall? Or Mrs. Hall? Or was that part of her name a fabrication too?
"
Very worried about you.
"

"
You look battle-dazed
,"
commented Sheridan.
"
I need my leg elevated.
"

"
By all means.
"
Victor took Tony
'
s other arm across the shoulder.

"
This leg always bears the brunt of any assault. My punishment for insisting the surgeon not remove it the first time I was shot
,
I presume.
"

The three of them lurched toward Sheridan
'
s carriage.

"
My deepest apologies
,
sir
,"
said Victor. Everything he had a hand in went from bad to worse.

"
Think nothing of it. I needed a good blood letting
,"
said Tony.
"
I blame the pistols. What I want to know is
,
why haven
'
t you been injured
,
Keene? Everyone else who has dueled with them has also been shot by them.
"

"
I do not know
,"
said Keene.
"
Perhaps because I refused to keep them.
"

The surgeon descended from Keene
'
s carriage
,
his mouth pursed in disapproval.
"
Lord Wedmont
,
if I might have a word with you.
"

Victor winced
,
but he made sure to shake his head to the surgeon.
"
Yes
,
sir.
"

Keene glanced at him oddly. Tony used concentration to climb the steps to his carriage.

"
I shall call on you later this day
,
sir
,"
said the surgeon to Tony.

"
How is Leonard?
"
asked Keene.

"
That person will be fine. I have administered sedation.
"

Keene frowned as the surgeon stepped away and waited for Victor to join him.
"
Person? Does he disapprove of Americans?
"

Victor shrugged.
"
Will you see Sheridan home? I do not believe he should be alone.
"

"
Of course I shall.
"

Victor reluctantly made his way over to the surgeon.
"
Before you start
,
none of us knew. If she had said
,
I would have called the whole thing off.
"

"
What do you mean to do?
"

"
Take her home and see that she heals. What more can I do?
"

The surgeon pursed his lips.

Victor ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"
My word of honor as a gentleman
,
I shall see that no further harm befalls her.
"

The surgeon opened his mouth to object.

"
No harm of any kind. When I find her family
,
I shall see her safely restored to their care, her virtue intact.
"

The surgeon nodded.
"
I
'
ll call later today to change her dressings.
"

"
Very good
,
sir.
"
It went without saying that the surgeon would be paid triple his normal fee. The man might be willing to patch up hotheaded young men
,
but he
'
d had a problem when one of them turned out to be a young woman.

Victor stared at the carriage. She was a woman
,
wasn
'
t she? Of course she was. That was why she had a maid servant. Leonard having a maid had reassured Victor that the boy was normal and also angered him inexplicably.

Just one little thing niggled him. He moved to the carriage and climbed in. Not-Leonard lay on her right side
,
her long legs folded and tucked up to fit on the seat. Her eyes were closed and eyelashes appeared damp as if she
'
d saved her tears for the doctor. She had her torn shirt
,
jacket and waistcoat back on
,
but she suddenly no longer looked a boy at all. There was just that one thing.

Victor brushed her shoulder
,
but she didn
'
t stir. He leaned down and her breathing was regular and deep. Sedated.

He had to know that she was not an it. Not an accident of nature that had no clear gender. He had glimpsed the outline of a very male piece of anatomy that had convinced him Leonard was a boy
,
more than anything else. Victor reached down and cupped her crotch. Trying to guess what he was feeling
,
seemed like a mad parlor game gone awry. One thing was sure
,
her penis felt nothing like his own. No, hers was too soft
,
and he could squeeze
,
twist and bend in a way that would be painful for any man
,
yet she didn
'
t stir.

Why would she have gone to such lengths to pretend to be a man? How much familiarity did she have with penises? And what in the hell would he do with her?

Not sleep with her. He
'
d just given his word of honor he would not disturb her virtue. If God loved him
,
she
'
d have no virtue for him to preserve
,
but he knew that wouldn
'
t be the case.

~*~

Lady Helena drew on her green gloves dyed to match her riding habit and headed for the front door. A footman opened it for her
,
and she stepped outside where two grooms waited. One held the head of her horse and the other was mounted on one of the older animals from their stable.

Once the season got into full swing
,
and she would be out until dawn
,
she wouldn
'
t be able to enjoy these early morning rides.

A prickle of awareness stopped her in her steps.

The overnight fog had yet to burn off. Nothing appeared out of place in the nearly empty street
,
and the grooms did not act as if anything was amiss. As she neared her mount
,
the fog parted and a giant of a man stood there
,
like an apparition. She shook her head
,
wondering if he was a figment of her imagination or a hopeful memory. His blond hair glistened with diamond drops of dampness from the air. Not real
,
he couldn
'
t be real.

"
Lady Helena
,
that is you
,"
the ghost spoke.