A Wicked Pursuit by Isabella Bradford Read Free Book Online Page A

in such peril, and she feared that by now he must have noticed their absence as well.
    “Do you wish to speak with Sir Randolph now?” she asked. “He will talk to you of your injuries, and his treatment.”
    “All I wish is to have you here with me, sweetheart,” he said. He shifted restlessly and grimaced, squeezing her hand hard as he did.
    “You’re in pain,” she said softly. “Are you certain you don’t want me to fetch Sir Randolph?”
    “No.” With a clearly conscious effort he opened his eyes and tried to smile. “Just . . . stay.”
    “I will, my lord.” She should excuse herself to make arrangements for dinner and Sir Randolph’s rooms, but all of that could wait a little longer. The earl needed her more.
    “Silk,” he said suddenly, surprising her again. “Your skirts.”
    She nodded, wondering at the significance.
    “I noticed,” he said, almost proudly. “Wetherby must pay his serving maids well.”
    “His serving maids?” she repeated. It was, she realized, an obvious mistake to make. From habit she dressed for comfort and practicality, not for style, and she’d none of Julia’s inborn elegance to betray her rank. “Oh, my lord, I’m not a serving maid.”
    “The viscount’s housekeeper, then,” he said. “You’re young for the role, but I’ve no doubt you’re very accomplished at it. I’ve seen what you’ve done for me. You’re a prize.”
    “Oh, my lord,” she murmured with a mixture of pleasure and dismay.
    “No, not merely a prize,” he said, smiling as saw her discomfiture. “An angel. A lucky angel. Where’s Tewkes?”
    “Here, my lord,” Tewkes said, instantly appearing beside her.
    “Tewkes, I wish to reward this young woman,” he said. “She has saved my life. Give her five guineas directly.”
    Tewkes’s eyes widened with astonishment. “To her , my lord?”
    “Yes, you rascal,” he said. “Five guineas, and don’t let old Wetherby interfere and say she doesn’t deserve it.”
    Gus caught her breath with dismay. “Five guineas! Oh, my lord, you cannot—”
    “I can, and I will,” he said, clearly pleased by her reaction, even though he’d misunderstood it entirely. “You deserve it. You’re worth ten of Sir Randolph and his leeches and mumbo jumbo.”
    “No, my lord,” she said firmly. She could overlook being mistaken for a servant, but having him offer her five guineas for doing what amounted to her duty was unforgivable. Five guineas was more than any female servant earned in a year, and for him to toss gold about to the house’s servants like this could send the entire staff into an uproar of envy, jealousy, and general unhappiness. “You cannot, and I cannot—”
    “My lord!” Mrs. Patton bustled into the room, carrying a tray with a decanter and a spouted invalid’s cup. “It is a welcome sign that you are feeling sufficiently improved to speak, but pray do not exhaust yourself with unnecessary conversation.”
    “It was hardly unnecessary, Mrs. Patton,” Gus said, self-consciously slipping her hand free of the earl’s. “His lordship and I were discussing important matters.”
    “Indeed we were,” he said, his gaze never leaving Gus’s face. “Most important.”
    Gus would not have thought it possible for a man who was as grievously injured as the earl to look as if he was trying very hard not to laugh. But so it was: and swiftly she forced herself to look away from him, and back at Mrs. Patton.
    “Forgive me, my lord,” Mrs. Patton said briskly. “But no conversation with a lady can be as important as his lordship’s health.”
    “‘A lady’?” he repeated. “A lady who?”
    “Why, Miss Augusta, of course,” Mrs. Patton said, pouring the wine from the decanter into the cup. “There is no other lady here at present. Now, here, my lord, you must drink this, on Sir Randolph’s orders. To be taken as soon as you awakened.”
    She came around to the other side of the bed, tucking another pillow beneath his