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“I am going to sit with her.” He ignored Jerry and Rollo’s protests and knelt on the hard floor beside his wife. He picked up her chilled fingers, wincing at just how icy they were. “Someone get a blanket. She is frozen.”
Rollo hurried into the sitting room and returned moments later with a cover from the back of the chaise. Tucking it around Petal, he whispered orders to several footmen who were waiting discretely by the door. Minutes later, Aidan was bullied into kneeling on several cushions, and the same board the servants had used to carry him into the house had been propped up against the wall in readiness.
“Petal? Can you hear me?” Aidan murmured into her ear. He wanted to shake her shoulder but from the first-hand experience just how painful broken bones could be. “Do you think she has broken anything?” He asked nobody in particular.
There was no blood thankfully and, although she was twisted at an uncomfortable angle, her limbs were straight, with no bones poking out as far as they could see.
Maybe her injuries weren’t that bad. Aidan thought hopefully, and quietly began to pray.
After his recent experiences, he had thought that there wasn’t much life could throw at him that he couldn’t cope with. Having lived with the raw terror at not knowing if his legs would ever work properly again, or if he would have the freedom to move about at will, he had learned to live every day and enjoy it. He had endured the endless pain and discomfort of forcing his recalcitrant body to work again, in spite of its apparent determination not to. But nothing had ever turned his world upside down more than the sight of Petal lying crumpled at the bottom of the stairs as she was. Nothing devastated him more than the thought that he might not see that sparkle in her eyes whenever she smiled, or hear the melodic tinkle of her laughter.
Desperate to ease the ache in his heart so he could think properly, Aidan forced his attention onto something else. He couldn’t bring himself to move away, and so continued to stroke her hair lovingly while he thought.
“What on earth is going on?”
Aidan groaned at the lousy timing.
Jerry glared at the dowager, who stood in the doorway, studying the scene before her.
“My wife has fallen down the stairs,” Aidan declared in a tortured voice.
“What?” The dowager snapped perilously. “When? How?”
Aidan felt his fury begin to burn. It wasn’t important how or when right now. What mattered more than anything else was whether Petal was going to live. The thought that she might not was more than he could even contemplate right now. His world was teetering on a knife-edge, and he wasn’t quite sure how to get it back on safe ground again. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with his mother.
“Rollo, make sure nobody leaves this house,” the dowager ordered.
She clicked her fingers at one of the footmen who stepped forward, clearly terrified at having to step closer to the matronly command.
“You, go and get the magistrate,” she instructed.
“The magistrate?” Aidan cried.
“Whatever for?” Jerry demanded with a scowl.
“I will explain later,” the dowager replied absently. She pierced the footman with a scowl. “Don’t stop and don’t speak to anybody. Tell the magistrate to come here forthwith on the orders of the dowager and be quick about it. There has been an attempt on the life of the new lady of the manor.”
“What?” Jerry cried completely perturbed by the confidence in the woman’s tone.
“Not now, Jeremy. We will discuss this later. Meantime, you there; get that board and come over here. She cannot remain like this. Aidan, step aside. She needs to be off this floor before she gets a chill to go with her bruises.”
Taking charge of the situation, the dowager quickly ensured that everyone was allotted tasks whether it be stepping aside, carrying the board, or hurrying upstairs to make sure the bed was turned back and the fire lit.
Her briskness got results. Within minutes, Petal was being taken to the master suite.
When Mrs Kempton arrived carrying a tray of tea things, the dowager pierced her with a look.
“Take that back to the kitchen and bring the brandy instead,” she ordered and turned her back on the disgruntled housekeeper’s mumbling.
Aidan stared at his mother. She had always been a take-charge kind of character, but he had never seen her take command of a situation like this before. It was unnerving because she had shown none of her previous contempt and instead appeared prepared to do what was needed to help his new wife. Her social status didn’t seem to have even dawned on her. It was enough to leave both him and Jerry looking at each other in consternation, and following orders along with everyone else.
It was worrying that while Petal was gently moved onto the board and carried up the stairs, she still didn’t wake up. However, when they tried to relocate her onto the bed, she began to move around and moan in discomfort.
“Petal, can you hear me?” Aidan demanded eagerly.
“Petal?” The dowager snorted. “Who on earth names their child Petal?”
“It is a nickname, ma’am,” Rollo informed her. “Her real name is Petunia.”
