“He and Lord Graham are waiting below,” Emma explained.
“Did Beaufort capture Lady Caroline?” Theodora asked as she returned to her seat and pulled Annalise down beside her. “Thompson said she is the one who shot Alexander.”
Emma started to say she did not know, but Lady Annalise explained, “Caroline returned to Amgen House to prevent me from leaving and to take out revenge, for she figured I was involved somehow. Lionel arrived before her, but I foolishly sent him to fetch a hack. As I gathered my few belongings, Caroline returned and was determined to hold me accountable for what happened today. She found me in the weapons’ room.”
“Did you also have one of those in the house?” Lady Emma asked, though for what reason, Dora did not know, but she supposed it was to keep the conversation going and their minds off of Alexander’s fight with death. “There is one here, and Dora insists I learn fencing, though I am far less competent than is she. Our Theodora is very accomplished in a variety of weapons. Even my dear Lord Orson says so.”
“I have used both a bow and a sword since my uncle—well, I suppose he was never my uncle.” Lady Annalise paused to look at the door. “The extent of my true family lies behind that door fighting for his life because of me.”
“It was not your fault,” Lady Emma insisted.
“But it was,” Lady Annalise corrected. “Alexander wished to be the one to capture Jacobi Moreau because of how the man has treated me.”
“Alexander wanted nothing more than to save you and your mother,” Theodora said as tears rolled down her face. “When he first received word of where your mother is buried, heimmediately sent men to exhume her body and bring her to Marksman Abbey to be interred as the Countess of Marksman.”
“He never told me he had found her grave,” Lady Annalise admitted.
“What of Lady Caroline and the weapons’ room?” Emma redirected their conversation.
Annalise said, “While Moreau and Caroline were in France, Lord Beaufort and my brother have been teaching me how to use the rapier properly. Caroline has always beaten me, but not today.”
“When he wakes, Alexander will be so proud of you,” Theodora declared.
“Will he wake?” the girl pleaded.
Lady Emma pointed a finger at, first, Dora and then Lady Annalise. “Duncan’s sons never—I repeat, never—leave behind those they love, and Alexander Dutton loves each of you most dearly.”
“He does,” Dora and Lady Annalise said together.
Emma asked, “How did you come to know Lord Beaufort? The last I heard, Beaufort was to be ‘courting’ Caroline Moreau.”
“My cousin—pardon, it shall take me a while to think of Caroline as anything other than my cousin,” Annalise said.
“Such is only natural,” Emma assured. “Now what of Beaufort?”
“When Caroline and my uncle returned to France, the servants no longer came to the house. Every few days, the cook would deliver a less than desirable meal or two. One evening, I attempted to light the fire to warm the meal, but cooking is not one of my skills. Lord Beaufort noted the smoke pouring from the kitchen window and came to save me. At first, he told me he lived nearby.”
Both Theodora and Emma said, “He would.”
Lady Annalise frowned. “Am I missing something?”
“Just that Navan Beaufort suits himself first,” Lady Emma warned. “Do not set your heart on him. His lordship is the only one of his family who survived a slaughter, and that was because his mother had hidden him away in a secret room. His lordship may appear debonair on the outside, but he is quite shattered.”
“As are all of Lord Macdonald Duncan’s sons,” Dora added. “Each has lived through some sort of tragedy and was the only survivor. That is, until Alexander claimed you.”
Lady Annalise shifted uncomfortably, but she said, “As to my relationship with Lord Beaufort, I place no claims on the man’s affections. His lordship assisted me in saving Lord Amgen’s kitchen and perhaps the man’s house. After that, he would often bring me meals and keep me company. I was in the house alone and forbidden to leave and quite frightened by the prospect that my uncle did not mean to return for me. I feared being alone in London with no contacts. I knew Lord Beaufort’s countenance from when he called upon Caroline, and we had exchanged a few ‘good day’ comments. Naturally, when Alexander came to tell me of our relationship, he found me in the weapons’ room. At first, I feared him, and we fought. Beaufort saw the confrontation through the window and came looking for me. From then on, both Alexander and Beaufort have brought me meals and kept me company when no one was around.” Lady Annalise sighed heavily. “Both gentlemen were extremely charming.”
Before either Dora or Emma could warn Lady Annalise further regarding Navan Beaufort’s inability to commit to any woman beyond his mistress, the door to Alexander’s room opened to expose a disheveled and weary-looking Harlem Rheem. “I have removed the remnants of the bullet which passed through Marksman’s shoulder, much as it did with your father, Theodora. As it was with Lord Duncan, I can give Lord Marksman an even chance at both survival and death. I have dressed the wound with basilicum powder to increase the flowof fluids to heal the wound. I will call again in the morning. You must keep his fever down.”
“I shall tend him,” Theodora said, “just as I did my father.”
“And I shall assist,” Lady Annalise declared.
Mr. Rheem’s eyebrow rose in question.
“Alexander’s sister,” Theodora explained. “He found her, and he is bringing his mother’s remains home to Derbyshire. And he has asked me to marry him. Alexander will fight for each of us, and we shall lift him up in our arms and our hearts.”
