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“Your Grace!” The groundsmen had now found their way to us.
“Quickly! We will need rope,” I ordered them and glanced back down at him. “Is she all right?”
“No, she is at the bottom of a damn well!”
I bit my tongue. Oh, how I detested this man.
“But her injuries are not major,” he added.
“Hold on! We will get her out and you, too, if we must,” I said, grumbling the last part.
30
Theodore
“You are all right,” I whispered as I examined her. “Everything is all right.”
I could not see clearly, but so far, her injuries consisted of a scraped and bloodied arm, a bruised ankle, and other minor cuts from her fall. Anything more, I would not be able to see until we were out of here.
“Verity, come on, my love, open your eyes for me,” I said, touching her face gently. She grimaced in pain. “It is okay. I have you.”
“Theodore?”
“Yes! That’s right. Open your eyes for me.”
“My head hurts.” She tried to lift her hand to it but winced. “Everything hurts.”
“What hurts the most?” I said, holding her face, but she just groaned, muttering as she fell unconscious again.
“We have the rope!” Evander hollered as they threw it down. “Can you get it around her?”
“She is in and out of consciousness. I will need to tie it around both of us,” I called, grabbing it and tugging. “Will the weight hold?”
“Yes!”
I put her uninjured arm around my shoulder and hugged her to me before tying the rope around us both, then wound it around my arm.
“Ready!” I said, holding on tightly to her and the rope.
“Pull!” I heard him yell.
“Theodore—” she muttered as our feet rose off the ground.
“You are okay. We are getting out of here,” I said to her, gritting my teeth as the rope dug farther and farther into my skin.
“Pull!” Evander yelled again.
I could hear them and the horses struggle, and we were only halfway up. My arm burned, but I could not let go.
“Pull!”
By the time we reached the mouth of the well, my arm had gone limp.
“Verity!” her brother called as he helped us out and onto the ground. “Verity, wake up.”
“Bring the torch close. Let me see her.” I rolled onto my side to her, pushing the guards away.
Just as I thought, there was no bleeding or contusions on her head, but still, I could not be sure until she spoke to me properly.
“Verity, open your eyes for me,” I said, trying to lift her eyelids to see into her eyes.
“Bright,” she grumbled, trying to close them again.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“I was coming to you, and—”
“I knew this was your fault,” her brother snapped at me, now of all times.
Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and she looked at her brother and grabbed his arm. “Datura!”
“What?”
“She…she had a gun! She was coming for you! She was going to the house—”
His eyes widened as he lifted his head to look back toward his home.
“Aphrodite.” He gasped in horror.
“Go! I shall be with her! If everyone is out searching, the house will not be as well guarded.”
After witnessing what her son had done and how unhinged Datura already was, who knew how much further she had descended into her insanity.
“Evander, go!” Verity said, trying to get up. “I am fine.”
“You three, with me!” Evander yelled to his men as he ran to his horse.
“You are not fine,” I snapped at her as I helped her sit up.
“I am since you are here. I knew you would find me.” She smiled, and even with the dim light from above, I could see how wide it was. She was smiling. In this condition!
“This is why I asked you to promise not to walk alone. Verity—”
“Please, do not yell at me, I feel bad enough,” she whispered, and I stopped, as she was right. Now was not the time. Having her before me took away my panic. Now, in its place, came anger: at her, at her stepmother, and at myself. Bending down, I took her hand and kissed the back of it.
“You had me genuinely petrified.”
“Me too.” She took a deep breath.
Thank heavens the well was not any deeper. I was not sure of the condition of her mind, but at the very least, she was alert and speaking.
“Datura—she took aim to kill me. She looked as if she wished to burn the world down. We have to return to the house. Who knows what she is doing,” she said, trying to stand but falling into my bruised arms.
“You are in no condition to be getting up right now.”
“Theodore, they are my family!” She once more tried to stand, holding on to me. “Please, I need to get back and see what is happening. I—I was not there with Fitzwilliam. But—”
“Calm yourself! We will go. We will go,” I said, steadying her before wrapping my arms around her waist. She held on to me, limping toward my horse. I tried to take hold of the reins but winced.
