Page 56 of A Potion for Passion

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The man with whom Lawrence burst into the hallway was considerably taller and more broadly built than the doctor but looked to be around the same age. Lawrence had a shoulder under one of the man’s arms, supporting him as he limped inside, while the stranger’s other hand was grasped around a walking stick.

The newcomer’s hair was darkened by the rain, and his face was twisted in a scowl of pain. Both men’s clothing was black with water, torn and muddied, and their exposed skin a mass of bloody stripes, as if they’d been doing battle with a thorn bush.

“Please close the door at once!” Lawrence said, gasping for breath. “We are in very great trouble, and Major Wilberforce is injured. No one must know he’s here. It’s a matter of life and death!”

Flora’s heart throbbed. Not so long ago, she’d had to deal with a similar scene involving the Earl of Beckport, injured while acting as a government spy. She’d done an excellent job of patching up the man who ultimately married her niece Charlotte. Hopefully that experience would help her cope with this one.

“Injured? Good heavens. I’ll get a fire lit. Take off your wet coats,” she ordered.

The major had collapsed into a chair with a hand clamped to the back of his lower leg. “Forgive a stranger, madam,” he said, “for calling on you so unexpectedly. Major James Wilberforce, at your service.”

She shot Lawrence a questioning look. What kind of danger had he brought down upon her? She didn’t know if she should rail at him for taking such a chance or love him even more for trusting her to help.

“I’m so sorry, Flora, but I can’t stay,” Lawrence said anxiously. “No one must see this fellow and me together, or both our lives will be at risk. I can’t tell you the details, nor should you press him to do so. He and I have an understanding.”

“But he’s quite clearly injured, and you’re leaving him with me?”

“Physick him as best you can. I can’t return until well after dark. There are some desperate men at large in the area, and I don’t want to run into any of them. Are you expecting any visitors this afternoon?”

She shook her head. The Daniells were unlikely to come back. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I was helping him look for a sword he’d dropped down an embankment, and he fell and impaled himself on a broken branch. Unfortunately, he already had an injury to that leg, and the wound has been torn open again.”

What embankment? What sword? Then she realized there actually was a sword, covered in wet grass, propped up just inside the door. She’d assumed it was a walking stick when she first saw it.

The major had another sword buckled about his waist.

He groaned softly and shot her an apologetic look. His handsome face was ashen.

She turned back to Lawrence, whose eyes were full of entreaty, and put her hands on her hips. “You bring me nothing but trouble, sirrah,” she murmured with a scowl.

His mouth broadened into a wide grin that made her heart melt. “Thank you,” he said on a breath. “Look away a moment, will you, Major?”

Before she could react, Lawrence seized her about the waist with his good arm and pulled her roughly against him, then kissed her deeply, thoroughly, until her knees threatened to give way. Then he was gone, leaving her looking at a mud-spattered hallway…and wondering what on earth she was going to say to the servants.

So intent was she on the memory of that kiss that she jumped guiltily when her guest spoke.

“You’re wondering what my story is, I can tell. First, I promise no harm will come to you. I can’t say the same for that miscreant who brought me here, but mayhap, in time, I’ll learn to forgive his meddling. For now, let me just say I washed ashore from the recently sunk Alcestis and was rescued by yon fellow, who then knocked me out, hid my weapons, tied me up, and left me on the heath.”

She gasped. How could Lawrence have done such a cruel thing? “It doesn’t sound much of a rescue to me,” she said slowly. “But I daresay he had his reasons.”

The major nodded. “A man of mystery, that roaming apothecary fellow—or whatever he calls himself. But he’s told me I’ll have no friends here, with the possible exception of yourself, so I have to accept his solution, which is to lie low here until I’m recovered, after which I can continue with my mission.”

“Your mission?”

He rubbed a hand across his eyes. “It’s of a personal nature.”

Fine. No one was prepared to tell her anything.

Feeling rather cross, she said, “I’ll need the servants’ help. It’s all right, they were discretion itself last year when I had to care for the Earl of Beckport for a while.”

Her new companion raised an eyebrow. “Exalted company. I regret you are now reduced to no better than a mere major, who was, until very recently, an even more-mere captain.”

She smiled. Something told her she could trust this man…though she needed him to trust her, too. “My niece has now married the Earl of Beckport, and my sister, Lucinda, currently resides with them.”

“Poor girl,” commented the major. “A mama ought to give a newlywed daughter more breathing space than that.”