The Duchess's Secret (HQR Historical)

by Elizabeth Beacon

  What did he mean, a little? Was she hurt? If something had happened to Davina, she could not bear it!

  Mairi followed Niven over the hill and to a part of their land that remained rustic and wild. They rushed too fast for talking. Niven led her to the stone circle, a place of danger, magic and mystery, according to family lore. She saw Davina silhouetted against the sky, the stones framing her. The ache in Mairi’s throat eased a little.

  Davina ran to meet them. ‘Mairi! I am so glad you are here. We did not know what to do.’

  Mairi wanted to embrace her in relief, but held back. ‘Do? About what?’

  Davina gestured for her to follow, leading her into the circle where a man—a stranger—was slumped against one of the stones, no hat on his head, his grey topcoat open and his clothing underneath rumpled and stained.

  Two empty whisky bottles lay at his side.

  Mairi’s skin grew cold.

  ‘He’s passed out,’ Davina said. ‘I believe he is sick.’

  Drunk, more like.

  Mairi seized her by the shoulder. ‘Did he hurt you?’

  ‘Hurt me?’ Davina pulled away. ‘What a silly question. We found him leaning against the stone. When we called out, he tried to rise, but he collapsed again. I sent Niven for help.’ She knelt at the man’s side. ‘I think he is feverish.’

  Mairi wanted to drag Davina away from him. Her sister had no idea how dangerous a man—a drunkard—could be.

  But the stranger was senseless at the moment, so there was no immediate threat. Mairi leaned down close.

  Davina touched the stranger’s forehead. ‘He feels hot to me.’

  The man was pale, but fine-looking. Fair-haired. A chiselled chin, strong nose, and lips befitting a Greek statue.

  ‘Is he dead?’ Niven asked.

  Mairi forced herself to press her fingers against the side of his neck. She felt a pulse. ‘He is alive.’ She placed her palm against his brow. ‘He is feverish, though.’

  ‘Do you suppose the Druids got him? Mayhap he came here at midnight.’ Niven spoke in all seriousness.

  Tales of the Druids had abounded for generations. It was said their spirits would rise to attack anyone disturbing their midnight frolic amid the stones.

  His clothes were damp.

  ‘More likely he was caught in last night’s rain,’ Mairi said. What had he been doing on these hills in the middle of their land? The dampness of his clothing indicated he might have been there all night.

  Davina’s voice rose. ‘We must be like the Good Samaritan.’

  Davina had heard the sermon on Sunday? Mairi had thought she’d been too besotted with Laird Buchan’s youngest son to heed Vicar Hill.

  ‘We cannot leave him here,’ Davina went on.

  Leave him was precisely what Mairi wished to do. She wanted to run from him and take her brother and sister with her.

  ‘No, we cannot leave him,’ she said instead. He was ill, even if he was also drunk. He was in need.

  And he could pose no danger in the state he was in. Could he?

  She reached out her hand, but almost took it back again. She made herself shake the man’s shoulder. ‘Sir! Sir! Wake up.’

  His eyes opened—blue eyes, vivid blue eyes—but they immediately rolled back in his head. They would never get him on his feet. And he was too big for them to carry.

  Mairi turned to her sister. ‘Davina, run back to the stables. Tell MacKay or John to come and bring a wagon.’

  MacKay, older than their father, had stayed on as their stableman, and John was his only stable worker. In better times they’d had five or six men keeping the horses and carriages in fine order.

  ‘Me?’ Davina protested. ‘I want to stay. Have Niven go.’

  ‘I’ll go,’ Niven said.

  Mairi didn’t want Davina anywhere near this stranger, but nor did she wish to explain why.

  ‘Very well,’ she conceded. ‘Niven, you go get the wagon.’

  He dashed off.

  It would take a long time for a wagon to wind its way around the hills to the stone circle. They would have to wait with him all that time.

  ‘We will take him to our house, won’t we, Mairi?’ Davina asked. ‘Not to the village, surely.’

  Why not the village? Mairi thought.

  ‘Who would care for him in the village?’ Davina went on. ‘We can nurse him until he gets better.’

  Mairi did not want this man under their roof, but it made better sense to take him to their house. The village was further away and there was no guarantee someone would agree to care for him.

  ‘We should summon the doctor, too,’ Davina said.

  How would they pay the doctor, then? This man would have to pay. If he had money. And if he had money, why had he been caught out wandering in the hills and not in some snug and dry inn?

  ‘Should I run to the village for the doctor?’ Davina asked.

  Davina go alone to the village? Mairi hated it when Davina walked alone to the village, although no one but she knew to worry about it. On the other hand, she certainly did not wish to leave Davina alone with this strange man. Mairi trembled at the thought.

  And at the memory of when she’d encountered a stranger while alone, a man who’d also been full of drink. Mairi did not want to be alone with another stranger.

  But this man was obviously very sick. How would she feel if he died for lack of a doctor’s care? Her heart pounded.

  What if the man died before help arrived? And what if Mairi left Davina alone to care for him? Davina was too young for such a burden.

  ‘Yes.’ Mairi nodded. ‘Excellent idea. I will stay here and wait for Niven to come with the wagon. We will meet you back at the house.’

  ‘I will run like the wind,’ Davina said dramatically.

  Mairi watched her run down the hill where she’d meet the road and still have another three miles to go until she reached the village.

  Mairi sat on the still-damp grass next to the man. ‘At least you are no threat to me,’ she murmured.

  His eyes opened again and he suddenly lurched forward, seizing her by the shoulders.

  She shrieked.

  ‘My brother,’ he rasped, his eyes wild. ‘Bradleigh.’

  He tried to stand and she scrambled away from his grasp.

  He staggered, touching the stone to steady himself. He looked around, staring in her direction, but she had the notion he did not see her. He was somewhere else in his delirium.

  ‘Must find Bradleigh,’ he said again.

  Mairi could not breathe.

  He took a step towards her, but swayed and reached for the stone again. ‘Must... Bradleigh...’ He slid down the stone, insensible once more.

  Mairi sat with her hands pressed against her face. He didn’t move.

  Was he dead? She was not so heartless that she wanted him dead. But she was still afraid of him. She remembered a man’s fingers around her neck, forcing her to the ground...

  She made herself stare at the stranger until she could see his chest rise and fall. He was still alive. She approached him once more and manoeuvred him so that the stone shaded him from the sun. Then she sat on the ground again.

  At a safe distance.

  * * *

  The shade of the stone lengthened as Mairi waited for Niven to return with the wagon. After what must have been more than two hours, she finally heard the horse’s hooves and the creak of the wagon wheels. There was only MacKay, the elderly stableman, to help, and the three of them had a struggle to get the man in the wagon.

  * * *

  By the time they reached the house, Davina was already there. ‘I left word for the doctor. He was out.’

  He was the only doctor for three villages. It could be hours or days before he’d come.

  ‘Did you tell Mama and Papa
about the man?’ Mairi asked.

  ‘No,’ Davina answered. ‘They have not returned from calling on Laird and Lady Buchan, Mrs Cross said.’

  It was a wonder Mrs Cross, the housekeeper, knew the whereabouts of their parents. With only maids Betsy and Agnes to tend to the whole house, she spent a great deal of her time working along with them, cleaning and polishing and cleaning some more.

  ‘We can tell Mama and Papa later,’ Mairi told them.

  Niven jumped down from the wagon box. ‘What now? Where do we put him?’

  Mairi climbed out more carefully. She certainly was not going to place him in a guest room. ‘In the butler’s room.’ Their butler had left the family’s employ over a month ago.

  One of their two remaining footmen helped carry the man into the house and into the butler’s room, far enough from the rest of the house not to give their parents any bother. Mairi would wait until dinner to tell them of the stranger.

  ‘We must get him out of his wet clothes.’ Mairi looked from Niven to the footman. Both avoided her gaze. She put her hands on her hips. ‘You two must do it. You cannot expect me to. Or Davina. We will find some dry clothes for him.’

  ‘Oh, very well,’ Niven grumbled.

  Mairi left the room and closed the door behind her.

  Mrs Cross charged down the hallway. ‘What is this, Miss Mairi?’

  ‘Davina and Niven found a stranger at the standing stones. He is feverish. We could not leave him.’ Though she dearly wished they could have.

  ‘We cannot care for a sick man,’ Mrs Cross protested. ‘We are barely able to do the work that needs to be done as it is. What if he makes us all sick?’ She sounded at the end of her tether.

  ‘You and the maids will not have to go near him,’ Davina piped up. ‘We will take care of him.’

  Mairi swung to her. ‘Not you, Davina. You must not.’

  ‘Why not?’ her sister huffed.

  Because he could be dangerous, she wanted to say.

  ‘Because you are too young,’ she said instead. ‘And it isn’t proper.’

  Mairi would have to take charge of him. Her insides turned to stone at the thought.

  * * *

  That night at dinner, Mairi told her parents about the sick man in their butler’s room.

  Davina piped up, ‘We were being Good Samaritans, were we not, Mama?’

  Their mother smiled indulgently. ‘Very Good Samaritans, Davina. Of course we must care for the poor man. I hope you told Mrs Cross to care for him as if he were a member of the family,’ her mother added.

  ‘I spoke to Mrs Cross about the man’s care, yes,’ Mairi responded.

  She shot warning glances to Davina and Niven to say no more about it. Her mother and father would be thrown into a tizzy if they knew Mrs Cross could not handle one additional task. And her parents could so easily be thrown into a tizzy, like when Mairi tried to talk to them about economising, or suggest they sell something to at least pay the servants. Surely selling just one of her mother’s necklaces could pay the servants and perhaps hire new ones.

  * * *

  Later that night, when she was certain that her mother and father had retired, Mairi crossed the hall to Niven’s room.

  ‘Come with me, Niven,’ she insisted. ‘We must check on the man.’

  ‘Why do I have to go?’ Niven protested.

  ‘Because I said so!’ He would be her safeguard.

  She led him to the servants’ stairs. They climbed down to the ground floor, where both the butler and Mrs Cross had their rooms.

  They entered the butler’s room.

  Davina rose from a chair by the man’s bedside. ‘I tried to spoon him some broth, but it was no use.’

  Mairi gasped. ‘Davina! What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.’

  Davina tossed her a defiant look. ‘We told Mrs Cross that we would care for the man.’

  ‘I said not you.’ Davina should be nowhere near this man. ‘You go to bed. Niven and I will remain with him.’

  She’d meant only to check on the man, not stay, but now she feared if she did not, Davina would sneak back down.

  Besides, he looked deathly ill.

  ‘I don’t want to stay the whole night,’ grumbled Niven.

  Mairi whirled on him. ‘Well, you must.’

  Davina tossed her head haughtily as she walked to the door. ‘Try to get him to take some broth.’

  Niven settled in the upholstered chair that had once sat in their library before their mother had decided on a whim to redecorate. Niven promptly closed his eyes. Mairi moved the wooden chair away from the bed. She stared at the stranger and felt her cheeks grow hot.

  He’d thrown off the covers and was naked above his waist. The nightshirt Mairi had sneaked from their father’s room lay folded on a nearby chest.

  ‘Niven! Why did you not dress him?’

  ‘He started fighting us,’ her brother replied without opening his eyes. ‘Do not fret. He’s wearing drawers.’

  The man looked even more formidable bare-chested with every muscle in stark relief. Even more disturbing were the scars criss-crossing his chest, a dozen random cuts. Mairi made herself approach the bed and pull the blankets over him. He stirred and flung the covers off again.

  ‘Niven!’ she whispered.

  But her brother had fallen asleep and she did not have the heart to wake him.

  Her gaze returned to the stranger and she saw that his breathing was ragged. She reached over and felt his forehead. It was still hot with fever.

  She must do something for him. She rose to the chest of drawers and poured water from the pitcher into the basin. She grabbed a towel and brought the basin to the bed. Dipping the towel in the water, she bathed his head. When she touched the scrape on his forehead, he groaned. His eyes opened and fixed on her.

  She gasped.

  He stared at her. ‘Are you an angel?’ His speech was slurred.

  She recoiled. ‘An angel? No.’

  His brow furrowed. ‘Not heaven?’

  ‘No. Not heaven.’ She glanced towards Niven. He was still asleep. No help to her.

  ‘No,’ the man rasped. ‘Wouldn’t go to heaven.’ He swallowed and the effort seemed painful. ‘Bradleigh. Where is he?’ He tried to rise.

  ‘Bradleigh?’ Was it possible there was another man out there? ‘You were alone.’

  ‘Alone.’ His ramblings were very close to madness. He lay back down and closed his eyes. ‘Yes. Yes. I am alone.’

  His accent was English.

  Her attacker had been English.

  Reluctantly she pulled her chair closer. ‘You should drink some broth. Sit up.’

  ‘Want whisky.’ His eyes opened again, but for a mere moment. ‘To forget.’

  She bristled at the word whisky. The memory of its pungent odour struck so vividly she thought she could smell it all over again, even though it had been five years ago. This man did not smell of whisky, even though there had been bottles at his side. This man smelled of fever.

  ‘No whisky,’ she stated firmly. ‘Broth.’

  It took Mairi several minutes to compose herself enough to assist him. He could not sit on his own. She needed to put her arm around his bare shoulders to help him. His skin was damp with sweat, but still very hot. His muscles were rock-hard. No wonder his grip had been vice-like when he’d lunged at her. How easily he could overpower her.

  Holding her breath to still her trembling, she brought the bowl of broth to his lips.

  Her head was inches from his and her hand shook at how close and vulnerable she was. His face was deathly pale and the bristles of his unshaven jaw made him appear rakish. Still, she could not deny how fine his features were. His handsome looks did not reassure her, though. Not all ogres had warts and pointed teeth.

  He drank only
a few sips before slumping against her arm. His body was too heavy for her to hold and she had to release him. He returned to his fitful sleep.

  She moved her chair a bit further away. When she glanced at him, she saw that he still tossed and turned and mumbled in his sleep. Had they helped him at all? What would happen if he died?

  What would happen if he lived?

  Of one thing she was certain. She would not allow him to hurt her family.

  As she had once been hurt.

  Copyright © 2019 by Diane Perkins

  ISBN-13: 9781488047534

  The Duchess’s Secret

  Copyright © 2019 by Elizabeth Beacon

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