The Earl's Christmas Delivery by Susan Gee Heino Read Free Book Online

moved in closer.
    "You need a doctor, sir," she said. "Can you move at all?"
    "It's a good two miles yet to the next village," the other of his partners said. "Can you make it, do you think?"
    "Get me on to Nana. She'll mend me up right," the injured man replied.
    "There's room in our wagon," Myserleigh offered. "Is this Nana in the next village?"
    One of the young men shook his head. "No, I'm afraid she's all the way in Newchild-on-Bourne, beyond Basingstoke and off to the South. Are you going that far, sir?"
    "I hadn't planned on it," Myserleigh admitted. "We planned to spend the night in Basingstoke."
    "Surely there's a doctor close by," Miss Meriwether suggested. "You must be in great pain. Let us take you to find someone right away."
    But the injured man shook his head. Myserleigh could not imagine that must have felt very good, but the fellow seemed determined to make his wishes known.
    "No, Nana will tend me. If you could get us to the next village, I'm sure we can find another conveyance there and go on to Newchild."
    Miss Meriwether seemed dubious. "A conveyance for more travel? But you need a surgeon!"
    "Nana is better than any saw-bones you'll find in a village around here. I'll wait until I can get myself to Nana."
    Myserleigh was tempted to let the young man have his way, but Miss Meriwether's concern was quite evident. She turned to him with her huge sea colored eyes.
    "How much out of our way is it to travel to this Newchild-on-Bourne?"
    "It will add a good two hours, I'm afraid. We won't make it there before nightfall, that's certain. Then we'll still have to find some place to stay for the night."
    "Nana will put you up," one of the young men piped. "With our carriage destroyed, the horse run off, and Jasper all in pieces, we'd be ever so obliged if you carted us there."
    Myserleigh was all set to give the man a firm No, but Miss Meriwether beat him to it.
    "I'm afraid we dare not," she said. "This is the Earl of Bahumburgh and his sister's husband , Mr. Bexley, is very ill just now at their home in West Timley. He suffered a terrible injury that is now taken over by infection, so you can imagine the whole family is awaiting our arrival. We simply cannot be late."
    "This Bexley fellow is ill, is he? Well, then you should definitely come with us to Nana. She'll make you a tincture or a salve or whatever she deems he might need. All you'll need to do is get us there, then provide a few details of the man's condition."
    "Really?" Miss Meriwether said. "Do you really think she would do that?"
    "Of course! She's the best healer in all of the county."
    "Well, then perhaps... Do you think we could, my lord?" she asked, batting those eyes up at him expectantly. "We'd be helping this young man and perhaps Mr. Bexley, too."
    Myserleigh had little use for these so-called healers and their magical potions, but he found it impossible to sneer at Miss Meriwether's eager compassion. She truly wanted to help this young man, and she wanted to believe his Nana—whoever that was—might provide miracles. Of course, it was not very sensible to believe things like that. Myserleigh knew better than to get his hopes up. Still, the young man appeared very sure. What if perhaps this Nana was... Bah. Flights of fancy, all of it.
    What he needed, what this young man needed, and what Estelle needed was to see things as they were, not as they might wish them to be. That was the sensible way, the way Myserleigh always lived his life. Strange, though, that it seemed the longer he was around Miss Meriwether the more he had to remind himself to be sensible.
    "My sister has employed the best physicians available to help her husband," he assured them all. " I am not interested in prolonging our journey today. I think it will be best if we simply carry you all to the nearest village and then find a proper conveyance to take you the rest of the way, as you suggested."
    "Suit yourself," one of the young men said, bending to help his injured