Chapter Two #2
“I appreciate that.” It wasn’t unusual for indigent people to travel through the area; the war had wrecked people’s lives for a variety of reasons, and sometimes they had no choice but to keep moving in order to find work. “Has he been injured?”
The footman shrugged. “I haven’t personally seen him because I rushed to find you.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “What should we do?” he inquired for a second time.
Slowly, she stood. “Let me go down and assess the situation. Then we can make a plan.” At least it was something out of the ordinary to break the monotony of life.
Alarm came over John’s face. “Oh, there is no need for you to come down, miss. I and the grooms and stable hands can take care of it.”
“Pish posh.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s no bother.” As she moved toward the door, John scuttled into the corridor. “You can accompany me, though.” There was a slight concern that she might need protection.
“Very well but don some outerwear. It’s a bit miserable out there.”
“I’m sure it is,” she said and bit back a smile from his concern.
Ever since her baby was taken away, the staff at the manor had been quite solicitous regarding her well-being.
It was adorable that they sided with her over her parents, and that made her feel loved about everything else.
It was a lovely change over being abandoned by her family.
Down in the entry hall, she waited a bit impatiently as the butler retrieved a cloak for her.
Immediately after putting it on, she put up the hood then let John lead her out of the house and into the stable yard.
The autumnal chill in the air was enhanced by the light rain.
A shiver went through her person, but since it was her favorite time of year, she welcomed it.
Scents of rain, woodsmoke, and mud met her nose then gave way to straw and horses once inside the stable building.
“Where is he?” she asked in a low voice.
“In the far stall, right side,” John answered in the same quiet tone.
Knots of worry pulled in her belly as she slowly traversed the length of the stable.
Horses in their stalls didn’t pay her much mind, for it was the time of night when they were settling down for sleep and rest. One of them put his sleek, black head over the stall door, but the bulk of his attention was at the far end of the building, no doubt where the stranger had bedded down.
When she arrived at the stall, she carefully peered inside. “Good heavens.” The fallen man was nothing like what she had imagined. Where she assumed he would have been unkempt and rough, perhaps wearing coarse, torn clothing or smelling foul, the crumpled form was far from that.
But only just.
“How long do you suppose he’s been here?
” Once inside the stall, Rose nudged the man with the toe of her half-boot.
He lay curled on his side, collapsed on top of a crumpled greatcoat with a knapsack beneath his head.
Black hair with the tendency to curl was mussed with bits of straw stuck in it, and the cheek she could see blazed with red color above the point of his collar.
John shrugged as he joined her and peered down at the man. “I couldn’t say, but the stable hands put fresh hay in the stalls each evening at sundown. The one who found the man said he wasn’t here during the chores.”
“Right.” Not knowing what else to do, but wanting to help, Rose kneeled at the man’s side.
“Ah, miss, don’t get too close.” Warning sounded in the footman’s voice.
“I’ll be fine, John. He’s unconscious; he can’t harm me.”
“He might be ill and contagious.”
“True, but what sort of people would you and I be if we don’t help?
Can we have it on our consciences if we let him die?
” When John didn’t answer, she put a hand to his brow.
Because she hadn’t worn gloves, the intense heat from his skin seeped into hers.
“Dear God, this man is burning up with a fever.” She moved her fingers down to his neck, and the heat was there as well.
When she tugged him over onto his back, he made no sound, but his skin was clammy and sweaty.
“Fever has been going around the villages.”
“I’ve heard that too.” Even still, compassion guided her actions as she checked his head and chest for wounds.
“He hasn’t been injured that I can see, but we won’t know for certain until someone can examine him further.
” She moved her fingers over his jacket.
In the waistcoat pocket, she found a silver watch.
“He’s not that badly off if he still has this.
” Then she replaced it. “And the buttons on his jacket are also silver. Hasn’t hawked them yet.
” Which only deepened the mystery of who he was and why he was here.
John frowned. “What should we do with him?”
That was the question. Clearly, he couldn’t stay in the barn.
It was no place for anyone to bed down, especially if they were poorly, and he was easy on the eyes even in a comatose state.
Rose pressed her lips together. Will I land in another scandal for this?
She didn’t know, but she refused to leave him to fate.
“Bring him inside. We’ll put him in one of the guest rooms.”
“Surely there is no need for that. He can bed down on the kitchen floor.”
“Is that where you’d wish to be if you fell ill like him?” When the footman didn’t answer, she scrambled to her feet and rested her gaze on him. “The housekeeper and I will take shifts to nurse him back to health. Once he’s well, he can be on his way.”
“And if he doesn’t recover?”
She shrugged. “Then at least he won’t be alone for his last days on the earth.”
For long moments, John bounced his gaze between the man on the ground and her. Finally, he shook his head. “Is that wise? What if he’s dangerous?”
“I doubt that. From the looks of his clothing, he’s not of the lower class.
The jacket is well-tailored but not fine enough to belong to the upper class.
” Yet his boots retained a shine and the knot of his cravat—loosened though it was—held an intricate pattern that spoke to the presence of a valet.
“He’s most likely a former solider or possibly a gentleman.
” A gentleman with chiseled lips and the strong, sensuous features of a Corinthian.
A tiny thrill went through her lower belly.
“He can still be violent.”
“True.” She nodded. “I will have a footman posted outside the room. If you would like that position, I trust you to keep me safe.”
John’s chest puffed out with pride, and he stood a bit taller. “I would be honored, miss.”
“I thought you might be.” Biting the inside of her cheek to prevent a grin lest he thought she made jest of him, Rose moved out of the stall. “Go find the stable master. He can help to convey the man into the house.”
“Of course, miss.” Seconds later, John loped out of the building.
Alone with the unconscious man, Rose returned to the stall. Once more, she dropped to her knees beside him, regardless of her gown. “I wonder what your story is?” As she spoke, she brushed a shock of hair from his forehead. “How did you come to this pass?”
A moan from him was her only answer.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be right as rain soon enough.” With a gentle pat to his shoulder, she gained her feet. At least the next few days would have a different routine.
That was something.