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CHAPTERSIX
“Elizabeth!” Irene cried behind her. “Are you hurt?”
“I—” Elizabeth tried to breathe.
Guildford was immediately beside her. “Are you injured?” he asked.
“My foot…I think,” she replied, remembering Brutus. “I have to find him.”
“Mayton has him.” He touched her foot, and she jerked it away in pain then she winced when that caused her more pain.
He swept her up into his arms and marched through the park to his carriage. They returned to Winston House immediately, and Guildford carried her to the drawing room where he set her down on a sofa while Irene went to find their mother and have a physician summoned. Guildford and Mayton stood grimly in the room which did not help Elizabeth’s condition.
“Oh, come now, I am only injured and not dying,” she jested. “A smile from either of you might help my pain.”
Mayton was the first to smile, and he said, “Well, we are quite worried.”
Elizabeth managed a small laugh. “I shall be well.” She looked up at Guildford and found his gaze intensely on her. She could not tell if he was concerned about her. She doubted he was.
However, he surprised her when he said, “I once injured my foot. I believe I know some of what you are feeling, and I am glad you can find it in you to jest.”
She could see the sympathy in his eyes, and something warm spread through her. It was rather comforting, too. Irene and their mother rushed into the room then, and the spell between her and Guildford was broken.
The gentlemen moved to another room while Clarice and Irene fussed over her, and when the physician arrived and examined her foot, he determined that she had twisted her ankle, but he assured everyone that she would recover in a few days.
Elizabeth was moved to her bedchamber where her feet were propped on pillows, and she was given a draught to help with the pain. As she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep, she saw Rhys, and she could not chase him out of her dreams.
* * *
Rhys’ thoughts were quickly becoming occupied with Elizabeth, but he was still intent on resisting her. He knew enough about Lady Irene now, and he was sure that she would make him a good wife.
However, he could not marry Lady Irene if his body continued to desire her sister. He had sought to remedy that by visiting his mistress, but he had changed his mind and left her house without entering. Something had prevented him, and he was loath to think it was Elizabeth.
He had felt sorry for her when she had injured her foot, but his opinion of her had not changed even if her name had changed in his thoughts. He also disliked the fact that he had conversed with her more this afternoon than he had with Lady Irene. It was wrong.
“How was your drive with Lady Irene?” The Dowager’s voice broke through his disturbing thoughts, and he looked up to see her enter his study.
“It was well until Lady Elizabeth twisted her ankle,” he replied.
“Oh, that is unfortunate.” She sat opposite him in front of the fireplace.
“Yes.”
“Well, I am sure she will be well again soon.” His grandmother smiled. “I wanted to hear your thoughts about spending time with Lady Irene’s family in the country.”
Rhys was not in the mood to talk about Lady Irene, but he looked up at the Dowager and asked, “Why do you want to travel to the country in the middle of the season?”
“Not me, you,” she responded. “I want you to have Lady Irene’s attention without any of London’s distractions.”
“I have business in town, Grandmother. Several fights require my presence. I cannot travel at this time.” That was true, but the main reason he did not want to go to the country was because of Elizabeth. He did not want to live in the same house as her. The thought of her sleeping in a room he could easily find hardened his body, and he shifted in his seat.Behave yourself, he commanded his body. What the devil was happening to him?
“It would only be for a fortnight,” the Dowager said.
A fortnight withher? “Impossible,” he muttered.
“Do not say that without giving it some thought, Rhys,” his grandmother argued. “Will you consider a week, then? I know your fights do not occur every week.”
“I will consider it,” he said, so she would stop talking. Rhys had rarely seen his grandmother when he was a child, and after his parents’ deaths, he had been too occupied with his education and repaying his father’s debts to bond with her. Now, they rarely agreed on anything, but he respected her and took care of her.
