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“What do you mean?” Samantha asked.
Kendrick straightened up. “With a ligament tear, there is often a popping sound. When one breaks a bone, it’s more like a crack.”
“Didn’t hear nothin’ at all,” Donny said.
Since they’d been busy fighting for their lives, a cannon probably could have gone off and they wouldn’t have noticed.
Kendrick stared down at the ankle, stroking his chin.
He has a very strong jawline.
Samantha closed her eyes. What in God’s name was wrong with her?
“At what time did you fall?” Kendrick asked.
Donny frowned, as if thinking. “Before dawn. It was still full dark, ye ken.”
“As I said, we didn’t realize he’d hurt himself until our kitchen maid came to light the fire.” Samantha wagged a finger at Donny. “You should have called for help immediately. I’m quite annoyed with you.”
“Yes, my lady,” he meekly replied.
Kendrick reached into his bag for a neatly coiled bandage and a small green bottle. “I suppose that explains it. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought you’d walked some distance with the injury.”
Drat.Dr. Kendrick was clearly too clever by half.
“In case ye failed to notice, sir, I’m something of a lummox. I came down full weight on it.”
Kendrick began to rub the contents of the bottle on Donny’s ankle. “Yes, you’re as big as some of my brothers.”
“Ye’ll be talkin’ about Mr. Graeme and Mr. Grant, I reckon.”
Kendrick looked surprised. “You know the twins?”
“Aye, sir. They were at university with the master. Good friends they became. My master was that sad when they, er, had to return home to Glasgow.”
“You mean when they were kicked out for acting like idiots,” Kendrick said in an amused tone.
“Roger was friendly with the Kendrick twins?” Samantha asked, astounded. “My Roger?”
“Aye. He thought they were a grand pair of fellows.” Donny huffed out a chuckle. “Always cuttin’ up larks, them two. But I never had to worry about the master when he was with Mr. Graeme and Mr. Grant. Even when they took him to the taverns in Old Town, I knew he’d be safe.”
Samantha could feel her eyes bugging out. “Roger went to taverns in Old Town back then?”
“First time he could have a bit of real fun in his life, what with Lord Beath always fussin’ over him. But Kendricks always look after their own, was what Mr. Graeme used to say, and I reckon they saw the master as one of their own. He never came to harm.”
The idea of Samantha’s gentle and eminently sensible husband cutting up larks with two of the biggest hellions to ever hit Edinburgh was mind-boggling.
Kendrick started wrapping Donny’s ankle. “If my brothers considered your husband as one of their own, that practically makes us family, Lady Samantha.”
For some unaccountable reason, his remark brought a flush to her cheeks.
“I don’t think yer much like yer brothers, sir,” Donny said.
“No, I was never the troublemaking sort,” Kendrick replied with an easy smile.
Samantha couldn’t help returning his smile. “You didn’t cut up larks, or brawl your way across Edinburgh?”
“I had a difficult enough time just trying to live down my brothers’ reputations,” he wryly said. “Donny, hang on while I finish wrapping. This will hurt, I’m afraid.”
