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“Hart, of course. He told me that he would have a tray sent up for me and some broth for you. Then he said that he would have the room next door made up so I can stay the night.”
At least with Selina’s prattling, Mia could get her mind off the man downstairs. “Hart has always been a gentleman.”
“Yes, and your rescuer.”
Maybe if she downplayed the part Hart had in her rescue, she could rid herself of this sudden, foolish attraction. “He didn’t actually rescue me. He found me and brought me here.”
Selina cocked her head at Mia. “Indeed? That sounds like a rescue to me. If he hadn’t seen you there, it might have been days before anyone found you. The area Hart said he found you is not a populated section. He just happened to be out there walking.”
No, she couldn’t think of him as her hero. “Well then, I guess I was very lucky.”
“Mia,” Selina asked slowly. “Are you afraid of Hart?”
“Of course not,” she replied with a shaky laugh. “We have known each other since I was born. I helped my mother with him when he was sick as a lad.”
Selina tilted her head and stared at her. “He is a gentleman, Mia. He would never hurt you.”
“Oh? Just as Northrop didn’t evict you from his lands just for being a wise woman?”
“He was still hurting from the death of his wife and son. Besides, it’s not like he was in...” Her voice trailed off and she glanced away from Mia.
“Was in what?”
“Nothing.” Selina stood and went to the door. “Now where is that tray?”
What exactly was her friend hiding from her? “Selina?”
“I will just check on that tray,” Selina said and then quickly left the room.
Mia waited, determined to discover Selina’s secret. But as the minutes ticked away, the laudanum performed its magic, increasing Mia’s need to sleep.
Simon sipped his brandy and stared over the rolling landscape of the Midlands. Allan Davies. Who the bloody hell was he? Mia said Davies acted as if he knew him. Simon relaxed against the cool leather seat and let his mind drift back to Eton. He remembered a Peter Davies but that man was now Viscount Hamilton. Simon doubted Hamilton had any real grudges against him. They both had played a few boyish pranks on each other but it never went further than that.
Davies was a common enough name. He’d most likely met a few others over the past ten years but none that stood out as either a friend or an enemy. Tomorrow he would send for a Bow Street runner to investigate. But for now, his priority was keeping Mia safe. Whoever did this might attempt to hurt her again... or worse.
He shook his head in confusion. Mia was one of the kindest people he had ever known. He could think of no reason for anyone to want to hurt her. Except that one of North’s tenants had done just that to Selina after the tenant’s wife lost her baby.
A soft knock scraped at the door. “Come in.”
Selina peered around the door. “Would you like some company?”
He smiled at her as he rose. “Certainly, Your Grace. How is the patient?”
She walked into the room and sat in the chair across from him. “Finally asleep. That woman needed more laudanum than I usually give a man.”
“Would you like a brandy or sherry?”
“A sherry would be lovely, my lord.”
“Hart,” he insisted. “I don’t stand on formality here.” With a shrug, he added, “Or anywhere.” He poured her a small glass of sherry and then handed it to her before adding a bit more brandy to his own glass.
“Very well then, I insist you call me Selina.” She held up her glass. “To good health.”
He saluted her and took a long drink. The smoky brandy teased his tongue and warmed him as he swallowed. “So, Selina, have you ever heard Miss Featherstone talk about this Allan Davies man?”
The duchess shook her head. “Mia has told me many secrets over the years but for some reason, she never told me about him. Maybe she was envious of my relationship with the duke and decided to take the first man she could as her lover.”
“I’m quite sure there must have been a better candidate,” he grumbled softly.
