Kitabı oku: «The Courtesan», sayfa 5

Though she tried to close her mind to the possible consequences of having the captain under her roof, as she gazed at Carrington’s pale expressionless face, Belle knew the queasiness in her gut was only partly due to the shock of the morning’s events and the stench of blood lingering in her nostrils.

CHAPTER SEVEN

AWAKING GROGGILY to the sensation of his chest aflame, as he struggled to consciousness Jack tried to summon the words to rebuke whichever trooper had been clumsy enough to knock a flaming brand out of the campfire and nearly incinerate his officer.

As he instinctively turned from the heat, a blast of pain engulfed him, so searing that it drove every vestige of sleepiness from his head. His eyes flew open, the half-formed words tumbling out in an unintelligible gasp.

“Awake at last!” said a cool, soft voice. “I was beginning to fear you would never come back to yourself.”

Narrowing his focus against the agony radiating downward from his shoulder, Jack halted his gaze at a candlelit face haloed against the room’s darkness. A face of such perfect, classical beauty he was momentarily distracted from his pain. Then memory flooded back.

Lady Belle. His challenge. The protector on her blade coming loose.

Lady Belle trying to kill him.

As he gritted his teeth and cautiously shifted to see her better, he noted that she had very nearly succeeded.

“You must be thirsty. At least, the doctor said you would be when you finally reached consciousness.”

He was thirsty, he discovered. His tongue seeming too thick for speech, he nodded. As Belle put a glass to his lips, he leaned forward and drank greedily, ignoring the immediate protest from his shoulder. Before he’d barely slaked his thirst, dizziness assailed him and he sagged back against his pillows, his eyes fluttering shut.

Damn and blast, he thought in disgust. He had about as much strength as a newborn kitten.

“Dr. Thompson said I could give you laudanum for pain, once you were fully conscious. You…are conscious?”

He opened his eyes, as much to prove it to himself as to reassure her. “Yes.”

Picking up a spoon and a small brown bottle from a tray beside the bed, she asked, “Do you want—?”

“No,” he said, recalling the nightmarish narcotic-induced sleep he’d endured after being wounded at Corunna. “Pain is…tolerable. Don’t like being cloth-headed.”

“As you wish. The doctor also said you might have difficulty breathing, if the injury affected the lung.”

“Hard to tell,” he said with a grimace, “but I can breathe.” Inhaling deeply enough to utter more than a few words at a time, however, was a different matter.

“Praise heaven!” She opened her mouth as if to say something else, then hesitated.

Jack might be in a sorry state, but he wasn’t half-dead enough not to feel a spark of masculine response as she ran the tip of her tongue over those plump lips. “Do you remember…how you became injured?” she said at last.

Why she had tried to kill him? he asked himself. A disturbing vision of her lovely face contorted with hate flickered through his mind and he inhaled sharply, then gasped as another surge of pain seared his chest.

He struggled to regain his concentration. If he could induce her to describe what had happened, maybe he could find out what had prompted her violent response.

“It’s all…rather hazy.”

“It cannot possibly be sufficient, given the injuries you’ve suffered, but I owe you an enormous apology. You had challenged me to a fencing match—you remember that?”

He nodded, prompting her to continue.

“Sometime during the match,” she said, moistening her lips again, “the protector on my blade became dislodged. Being unaware of this, when you chanced to drop your guard and I saw a chance to score a hit, I took it. I never dreamed…!” She stopped again, her eyes and expression mirroring a clear distress. “The fault is entirely mine.”

“Had I done you some injury,” he asked, gritting his teeth against the increasing pain of each inhaled breath, “that you felt moved to attack?”

Her face coloring, she didn’t immediately reply. So she knew her response had been disproportionate. Why? he wondered anew.

“Of course you had done me no injury,” she said after a moment. “I—I merely wished to test my skill against one who was accounted a superb swordsman.”

“Our relative positions now…argue against that,” he observed wryly.

“There is no way I can make restitution for all you have suffered, but I have arranged to oversee your care until you are sufficiently recovered to be transported to your family’s estate, which Lord Darnley assured me you would wish as soon as possible. At the moment, you are lodged in my house on Mount Street. Not a very…respectable arrangement, I realize, but there seemed no other recourse, you being far too ill to be left—”

“Nay, madam, don’t apologize! I should be…in bad case indeed had you returned me to Albany. Only hope I’ve not been…too much of a charge.” He attempted a smile. “Many a gentleman would consider…a sword wound a trifling cost…to lie where I do now.”

“Not if theirs were the chest pierced by the blade,” she retorted, ignoring his attempt at gallantry. “In any event, I shall arrange for your journey as soon as the physician allows. Though I fear,” she added with a sigh, “that shall not be soon enough to prevent the troubling news of your present…situation from reaching your family.”

“My family will thank you,” Jack replied, surprised that Lady Belle seemed aware of the distress his mother might well experience upon hearing her only son was being nursed by the ton’s most celebrated Fashionable Impure. Odd, he thought, that a woman who had embraced a calling like Belle’s would spare a thought over how an association with her would be viewed by respectable people.

“Do you feel up to drinking some broth?”

At her question, he realized he was indeed hungry, though broth didn’t appeal. “Feel like having the steak…I didn’t finish for breakfast.”

“Beefsteak might be a tad ambitious,” she replied with a smile.

Despite the pain, Jack’s breath caught at how the sudden warmth of that expression, seen for the first time up close, magnified the natural beauty of her face. Though she was garbed in a high-necked, plain gray gown, her hair once again pulled severely back, the Quaker austerity of dress and coiffure seemed to emphasize rather than detract from the perfection of her features.

A smiling Botticelli angel, bending over his sickbed.

Extraordinary that a woman of her profession could exude such an aura of innocence. He felt that he might be content to spend the rest of his days simply gazing at her.

No wonder Bellingham had been so besotted.

And you, Carrington, had best keep a tight hold over your senses during the time you spend under her roof.

“Besides, that would have been breakfast yesterday,” she continued while he remained speechless, staring like a lackwit. “’Tis evening now, so you were unconscious nearly a day and a half. Indeed, I was beginning to feel I must call Dr. Thompson back to check you again.”

“That long?” Jack asked, shocked. As he studied her, recovering now from his bedazzlement, he noticed shadows beneath her eyes…and pulled up by the bed, a chair with a shawl draped over its back. “You tended me…all that time?”

“My companion Mae, though she possesses the kindest heart imaginable, turned queasy at the sight of you, the footman was little better, and I feared that my butler, a former prize-fighter, might not be gentle enough. But now that you are awake, I shall send Watson in and rest.”

“Please do! I apologize for being…such a burden.”

“Having been the instrument of your injury, ’twas only right that I do everything possible to assist you. In any case, I should not have been able to sleep until you regained your senses, giving me more confidence in your eventual recovery. Now, the doctor tells me rest and quiet are essential for healing, and I know you—and your family—will wish to have you on your way as quickly as possible.”

With that, she offered him another sip of water, bracing his shoulder as he leaned forward to drink. This time, Jack found his meager strength fading even more quickly—and now that he’d had time to sort out the gradations of pain and pressure in his chest, he discovered that breathing was becoming more difficult, as well.

He couldn’t stifle a groan as she eased him back against his pillows. There was so much more he wanted to ask her, but the words seemed to elude his grasp. “Sleep…might be…wise,” he admitted.

“You’re sure about the laudanum? Sleep, then.”

For the few moments before the vortex of pain and fatigue sucked him down to oblivion, he savored the feel of her fingers, gently stroking his face.

FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS, Jack dozed and woke and dozed again, except when roused for the doctor’s periodic visits, experiences uncomfortable enough that afterward he several times accepted Belle’s offer for a bit of laudanum. Mercifully, a small dose dulled the agony enough for him to sleep without filling his dreams with nightmarish visions.

Or perhaps being wounded in the safety of London, rather than in the middle of a grim winter retreat through the wilderness, allowed him to rest undisturbed. Whatever the reason, he awoke on the fifth day to find his mind and senses had at last escaped the haze of pain and laudanum.

Except for an itchy tickle of beard, he was reasonably comfortable, his soiled garments having been removed at some point in favor of a plain nightshirt, and his body washed. He gazed about him, able now that a tepid daylight illuminated the room and he was finally lucid to take stock of his surroundings.

He lay in a handsomely carved canopy bed, its hangings and the curtains at the windows a rich blue damask, a hue mirrored in the Turkish carpet upon the floor. The room itself, its walls painted a pale blue, boasted a fine plastered cornice, classical broken pediments over the windows and a doorway flanked by inset pilasters.

’Twas a bedchamber such as one might find in the home of any ton aristocrat of superior taste and unlimited funds. Lady Belle’s late protector had obviously been endowed with both, Jack decided.

Though the constant pain had eased, he still possessed very little strength, and moving even a small distance remained a teeth-gritting endeavor.

His vain effort to reach his water glass was interrupted by the entrance of a tall, hulking man whose dark livery proclaimed his status even as his crooked nose and huge fists spoke of a previous occupation. This must be Belle’s former prize-fighter-turned-butler.

“The maid what built up the fire said you was awake,” the man said. “Lady Belle sent me to ask iff’n you was wishful of having a shave. She done washed you off some when you first come, but she didn’t trifle none with them whiskers. I’m Watson, by the way, Lady Belle’s butler.”

“Jaimie Watson?” Jack said, a memory beginning to surface. “Defeated Molynieu back in ’09, in one of the best bouts of fisticuffs ever seen?”

The big man’s face brightened. “You saw the match?”

“No, I was on the Peninsula at the time, but troopers who witnessed the event talked of it for months.”

Watson smiled. “’Twas my best fight.”

“Don’t start him talking about the Fancy, or you’ll never get your shave,” Lady Belle said as she entered.

Conversation ceased as Jack let the beauty of her wash over his senses. She was garbed today in a plain, high-necked gown of a medium blue that underscored the brilliance of her deep blue eyes. With her golden hair pulled back in a simple chignon, her cheeks and lips devoid of artificial enhancement and her rigidly upright stance, she might be taken for a governess. Yet the sheer loveliness of her unadorned beauty still caused him to suck in a painful breath.

“Good morning, ma’am. How charming you look!” Jack said—and immediately regretted it, for at the banal compliment, he saw her almost physically withdraw.

“You seem better, Captain,” she said coolly.

Forewarned now, he copied her matter-of-fact demeanor. “Much better, thank you.”

“Should you like a shave before breakfast?”

Jack had never considered himself vain, but in the face of her luminous beauty he was feeling decidedly unkempt. Bad enough, he thought, to have practically cocked up your toes in front of a lady you hoped to impress without looking like a hooligan who’d ended up on the wrong side of an altercation with the Watch.

“That would be wonderful. I understand I have you to thank for making me more presentable.”

She shrugged. “You needed to be stripped out of those bloody garments—which are ruined, I’m afraid, so that I insist you allow me to replace them. It seemed best to do so while you were still unconscious.”

The idea of her stripping him down, laying hands on his naked skin, even for the prosaic purpose of cleansing it, sent a ripple of arousal through him. After spending several days in an enfeebled state, he thanked his body for this hard evidence that he was finally on the mend.

“Watson, you have the shaving utensils ready?” Belle interrupted his wandering thoughts.

“Aye, Lady Belle.” While Belle helped Jack to a sip of water, the butler brought in water, soap and razor.

While Watson shaved him, Belle recounted the doctor’s findings and informed him that both Darnley and Ludlowe had called to check on him and would return in the afternoon.

After Watson finished, a boy trotted in carrying a covered dish. “Mornin’, Miss Belle, Cap’n,” he said, fixing a curious and entirely undeferential gaze on Jack.

Scrawny and obviously undernourished, the child had hair that stuck up at odd angles, as if barbered by a blind man. With his narrow face, sharp nose and small, gleaming eyes that reminded Jack of a rodent, the child was one of the ugliest specimens of boyhood Jack had ever beheld. Where, Jack wondered, had this little street rat come from?

“Thank you for bringing up the tray so quickly, Jem. You may return to assist Watson—in the kitchen.”

The boy groaned. “Be I still in the kitchen?”

“For another week, Jem.”

“But Miss Belle—”

“No arguing, Jem,” Belle cut him off.

If the child weren’t too old—and far too unattractive—to make such a relationship possible, Jack could almost suspect the boy was Belle’s son rather than her servant. Though from what he’d seen, while Lady Belle’s house was similar to those of London’s ton, the appearance of her staff and the familiarity of their behavior was decidedly not.

“Enjoy your breakfast, Cap’n,” the boy said. His face mournful, he walked with dragging steps toward the door.

On impulse Jack called out, “Wait, Jem.” To Lady Belle’s sharp look, he said blandly, “If the boy isn’t needed now, perhaps he can keep me company while I eat.”

The lad hastened back, his thin, homely face turned toward Belle. “Couldn’t I, Miss Belle? I be very good company when I wants to.”

Belle bent her penetrating regard on the boy for a long moment before sighing. “I have some work that really needs attention. I suppose you can remain, if the captain will allow you to assist him with his breakfast.”

“I won’t hurt him none, ma’am! And I’ll get his gruel into him faster’n a fly lighting on a sticky bun.”

“Is that arrangement agreeable to you, Captain?”

Jack would much prefer Belle’s to be the hands that assisted him, but since so far he’d learned little about Belle from the lady herself, maybe he could discover more from the boy—especially if Belle were not present. “If it will not inconvenience the household, ma’am.”

She lifted an eyebrow at that and turned to the boy. “Don’t tease him with too much chatter, Jem. He should rest and converse as little as possible.”

Jack watched her graceful glide of a walk as she exited. Meanwhile Jem removed the cover from the tray, unveiling a pot that wafted the siren scent of fresh coffee and a surprisingly appealing bowl of gruel.

“Don’t you stir them nabsters, Cap’n,” Jem advised as Jack tried to lift a hand to reach the spoon. “Jem’ll feed you right and proper.”

Surmising that Jem meant he was good with his hands, Jack subsided back against the pillows. He’d best hope the boy didn’t spill his breakfast all over him, since his own feeble attempt to feed himself had failed dismally. Silently cursing his recurrent weakness and the pain that skewered him every time he moved, Jack said, “I’d be much obliged for your help, Jem.”

“Don’t wonder you need it, Lady Belle sticking you like she done. Watson says your togs was soaked right through in blood. Here’s your broth, now.”

For a few minutes Jack contented himself with slurping down all the soup that Jem spooned in as handily as promised. His immediate hunger subsiding, Jack decided to see what information he could eke from the boy.

Before his stint in the army, where men from all ranks and walks of life were obligated to work together, Jack might have felt awkward, attempting to converse with a servant. Having long since mastered any such discomfort—and certainly the erstwhile servant seemed to feel none, Jack said, “You don’t like working in the kitchen, Jem?”

“It ain’t my usual lay, helping old Watson. I’d rather be back at the mews, learning to tend the bits of blood and hoof and swabbing the tinkle and jangle.”

“You prefer working with horses and tack?” Jack guessed.

Jem paused for a minute and gave Jack a gap-toothed grin. “You be right smart, for a toff.”

Jack felt the urge to chuckle and, mindful of his chest, restrained it. “I am moved by your accolade.”

“Watson says you was in the cavalry. Did you have a bloody great horse? Did you slash the Frogs to bits with your sword?”

Jack’s smile turned grim as he suppressed the memories. “Yes, I had a fine, big horse. I’d rather not talk about the slashing, if you please. How did you—”

“But that be the best part!” Jem interrupted, clearly disappointed. “Here’s your last sip, anyways.”

As Jem spoke, Lady Belle entered. Though she moved silently, the almost palpable change in the air telegraphed her presence to him instantly, even before Jack caught her faint scent of lavender.

If being in the same room with her disturbed him so profoundly, how might his body react to greater intimacy?

“Bloodthirsty whelp,” Belle murmured. “That will be enough, Jem. I’m sure the captain is tired.”

“Can I come back later, after he’s rested, Miss Belle? We ain’t hardly talked yet. It musta been powerful exciting, killing Frenchies over in them foreign parts. Was you ever wounded afore Miss Belle sliced you, Cap’n? Would you show me your scars? Your sword, maybe—”

“Jem!” Belle interrupted. “Watson needs your assistance in the kitchen.”

“All right, I be going,” the boy said, picking up the tray. “But iff’n I was a soldier, I’d want to show off my scars. Impresses the females, I’ll wager,” he added, his dark eyes mischievous.

“One more minute, Jem,” Belle said. “Put down the tray and let me see your hands.”

“Aw, Miss Belle!” the boy protested.

“Now, if you please, Jem.”

Reluctantly the boy set down his burden and opened his hands. “See—bare as a baby’s bottom.”

“Turn out your pockets.”

For a moment Jem eyed Belle resentfully. Then he heaved a sigh, slid Jack’s pocket watch from under his sleeve and laid it back on the table. “Don’t let a man have no fun,” he muttered.

“You ought to be ashamed,” Belle reproved, “stealing from the captain when he is ill!”

Jem shrugged. “Best time to snarf him, I’d say. Weren’t as if I was going to keep it. Not with him being a soldier ’n all. Just exercising the twiddlies.”

“More ‘exercise’ like that and you’ll serve another week in the kitchen. I cannot have you picking the pocket of everyone who enters this house! Besides, ply those tricks on the street again and the magistrate will be happy to stretch your neck—over a penny or a pocket watch. Now, get on with you.”

“Thank you for your help, Jem,” Jack said, not sure whether to be amused or outraged.

“You’re welcome, Cap’n. No hard feelings about the watch?”

“Not if you heed Lady Belle’s orders.”

Seeming to ponder that, the boy went out. Once the door closed behind him, Jack asked, “Wherever did you find him? On his way to the gallows?”

Belle returned a faint smile, even that slight response warming him. “Jem has a rather…storied past.”

As do you, I’ll wager, Jack thought. And how he would like to discover more about both!

“Rest now, Captain. Your friends will be calling later.”

To his annoyance, the cursed weakness was overcoming him again. Though he’d hoped to try to lure Belle to linger, the effort of conversing had set his chest to throbbing and brought back that damnable shortness of breath. He barely managed to croak out a thank-you.

As she exited the room, a vision of golden hair and light blue merino wrapped in the summer-rich scent of lavender, Jack eased back against the pillows. How, he wondered groggily, had a courtesan come to be attended by a not-quite-reformed thief and a retired prize-fighter?

Sometime before he left the shelter of her roof, he promised himself before sleep claimed him, he would find out about them—and their mistress.