by Bobbi Smith
“Keep your hand over her mouth, Cecil, and hold her hands!” the red-coated soldier urged his companion as he lifted the woman’s skirts and tore at her underclothing. “The stupid wench probably woke the entire city!”
“Nobody’d care,” Cecil remarked with a sloppy grin as he pinned the struggling girl’s arms above her head with one hamlike hand and clamped the other more tightly over her mouth. “She’s only a damned colonial. Worst we’d get is a slap on the wrist, if anybody even found out. Now, hurry, Reggie! I been a long time without a woman, and this one looks real willing.” He glanced at the girl’s panic-stricken, pale features and laughed lasciviously.
The soft material of her undergarments ripped easily under Reggie’s avid pawing and he sought her femininity in a rough exploration. The girl started in complete surprise at the soldier’s brutal touch, and she tried to scream again, only to find the cry muffled behind the man’s suffocating hand. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sight of the lust on the two men’s faces and tried to kick out at the one who was savagely exploring her.
“Stupid wench!” Reggie snarled as he viciously slapped the soft flesh of her inner thigh. The shock of his blow stunned the young woman, and she went limp beneath him. “That’s better. Now, just lie still, and we’ll be done real fast now….”
“Come on, Reggie,” Cecil urged.
Reggie’s eyes glazed with desire as he ripped open the bodice of her gown. Excited to the edge by the sight of her naked bosom, he reached down to loosen his pants. He was alive with the need to take his ease in this woman’s body, and he was positioning himself between her thighs when the sound of a questioning call and heavy footsteps coming their way drew a raging curse from both men.
“Damn! I knew somebody heard her scream! Let’s get out of here!” Cecil was frightened.
“But what about her?” Reggie worried.
“What about her? She’s a no-good woman. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have been out on the streets at this time of night. She won’t tell…. And besides, nothing happened! Let’s go!”
Still trying to fasten his breeches, Reggie got awkwardly to his feet and followed Cecil’s frantic flight from the scene, disappearing with his friend quickly into the darkness.
Matt could hear the drunks’ comments, and he had called out, hoping to frighten them as he’d hurried in the direction of the scream. Turning into an alley, Matt caught sight of two British soldiers racing into the night. He would have gone after them had he not seen the young woman lying lifelessly in the filth of the back street. He knew he should follow the soldiers, but the sight of the girl, her clothing torn, lying so still made his stomach lurch. She looked dead.
Matt knelt beside her and carefully lifted one delicate wrist, seeking a pulse. He was vastly relieved to discover that the woman was not dead, and he looked down at her for a moment, wondering if she’d just fainted or if the men had beaten her into unconsciousness. In the softness of the moonlight, Matt could see a dark bruise forming on her forehead, and he felt a surge of fury at the men who had so badly abused her. She was such a tiny thing, he realized as he held her small hand in his, and she looked so fragile…. Matt hadn’t intended to stare at her, but his gaze drifted down her body, noting the smallness of her perfect breasts revealed beneath the torn bodice, and the sleekness of her bared legs.
Realizing what he was doing, Matt muttered a violent curse at his own depraved behavior and quickly stripped off his coat. As gently as he could, he wrapped his garment about her and then lifted her protectively into his arms. The girl groaned faintly as he stood and started back toward the inn, but other than that, she did not stir. He reached the Red Lion in short order and pounded on the door, rousing Waddington, the innkeeper, from a deep sleep.
“What is it?” the rotund old man complained as he stumbled through the semidarkness of the taproom in his nightgown, rubbing sleepily at his bleary eyes.
“Waddington! Open the door! I’ve an injured woman here!” Matt ordered in his most imperious tone, and he was rewarded to see the man snap to action.
“Lord Kincade!” Waddington stepped back, his mouth open in stunned surprise as the younger of the two English noblemen strode into the room carrying an unconscious woman.
“Yes, damn it! Now summon a doctor, and be fast about it!” he snapped, not hesitating on his way up the stairs. “Call the authorities, too! This woman’s been assaulted, and I want the men who did it arrested!”
“Yes, sir, my lord!” Waddington hopped to do his bidding as Matt hurried down the hall to his room.
With some difficulty, Matt finally managed to get the door to his room open, and then crossed the room to lay his lovely burden upon the softness of his bed. Matt carefully removed his coat from about her slim body and then covered her with a blanket to save her any embarrassment should she awaken. He lit his lamp and drew a chair up to the bedside to await the doctor’s arrival. It seemed an eternity before a knock came at his door.
“I’ve sent one of the kitchen boys for the doctor,” the innkeeper informed Matt when he answered.
“And the authorities?” Matt demanded sharply, blocking the innkeeper’s entrance into his room. For some reason, he felt the need to protect the woman from prying eyes.
“He’ll be getting them, too, on the way back,” the innkeeper assured him, trying to catch a glimpse of the female the nobleman had tucked into his bed. All he had seen when Matt had carried her through the dimly lighted taproom had been a tumble of raven hair. “What happened?”
“I had gone out for a walk…couldn’t sleep…and I heard her scream. There were two regulars….”
“Did you see them up close?” he asked with great interest.
“No, I only caught a glimpse of the backs of their uniforms as they ran off.” Matt glanced back toward the girl. “We’ll know more once she comes around. Send the doctor up as soon as he arrives.”
“Will you be needing anything else?”
“Bring some hot water and whatever else you think the physician will require,” he directed.
“I’ll be back.” Waddington tried to get one last look at the woman before scurrying away.
Matt returned to his seat beside the bed, taking the time now to study the woman he’d rescued. Her hair was a rich, lustrous ebony and it curled softly about her face and her exquisite features. Her nose was small, her mouth soft and inviting. He wondered what color her eyes were as he noted the long, dark lashes that fanned out across her pale cheeks. Only the ugly contusion on her forehead marred the perfection of her loveliness.
What circumstances had led her to be in such dire straits? What had she been doing out on the streets of Boston during the middle of the night? Was she a barmaid on her way home from work or a strumpet out looking for business? Matt found himself frowning as he considered both possibilities, and he took up her hand in his, finding with some satisfaction that it was soft and uncallused. Whatever she was, this woman was not a barmaid, for the hands of women employed in that line of work were invariably chapped and work-reddened. The possibility that she was a strumpet occurred to him again, and he dismissed it as ridiculous. Had she been plying her trade, she certainly wouldn’t have screamed at the soldier’s advances; more than likely she would have encouraged them. No, he decided. Her reasons for being out in the night alone were a mystery, and they would remain a mystery until she could explain herself.
Matt leaned forward, almost willing her to awaken, as he whispered in a husky voice, “Who are you?”
But there was no answer to his question as the beauty’s eyes remained closed and her hand remained unmoving in his. Without conscious thought, Matt lifted it to his lips and pressed a soft kiss in her palm.
“Whoever you are,” he swore quietly to himself, “you’re mine from now on, and I swear no one will ever hurt you again.”
He remained vigilant, not leaving her side until he heard the doctor and Waddington approaching. Then he rushed from the bedside to open the
door. “She’s in here, Doctor.”
The physician, a short, balding man, bustled into the room. “I’m Dr. Spalding,” he introduced himself.
Matt again blocked the innkeeper’s entrance. “I’ll call you if we need you.”
Spalding was frowning as he looked from the young Englishman to the prone form of a girl. “What happened, young man?”
“She was attacked on the street by two British regulars. My arrival frightened the two men off. I don’t know how badly she’s injured. I brought her directly back here and then had Waddington send for you.”
“Has she regained consciousness at all?”
“No. She’s been like this since I found her.”
The doctor nodded as he approached the bed.
“Do you recognize her, Dr. Spalding?”
“No, can’t say as I do.” The doctor took her pulse and then examined her forehead. “I’ll need to do a more extensive examination, and I’d like you to step from the room, please.”
Matt hesitated, not wanting to leave her alone, but common sense won out. “I’ll be right out in the hall.”
“Fine.”
As Matt went outside, he found two serving girls coming down the hall with heated water and supplies for the physician, and he admitted them to the room.
Noah, roused by all the commotion, emerged from his room just as the servants headed back downstairs. “Matthew?” The graveness of the younger man’s expression troubled him.
Matt glanced up as Noah came to join him. “Noah…”
“What is it? What happened?” He looked worriedly toward the closed door to his room.
“After I left you earlier, I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a walk.”
“Yes…so?” he prodded impatiently.
“There were two soldiers abusing a girl in one of the back alleys. I managed to frighten them off, but the girl was injured. I brought her back here and had Waddington summon the doctor. He’s with her now….” Matt glanced solemnly at the portal.
“How badly was she injured?” Noah wondered at Matt’s foolhardiness in charging into an unknown, dangerous situation unarmed, but he knew, as a gentleman of honor, he could have done no less. He was proud of him
“I don’t know. She’s unconscious. She has a bad bruise on her brow, and they’d…” Revulsion raged through him at the thought of the vile men tearing her clothing from her and assaulting her while she lay helpless beneath them. He said a silent prayer, hoping that he had arrived in time to save her virtue. Noah’s hand on his shoulder comforted him as he imagined her terror, and Matt knew a sudden, driving need to be back by her side.
“Lord Kincade?” Waddington called from the foot of the stairs.
Matt and Noah exchanged glances as they hurried to see what the innkeeper wanted. “Yes?”
“The constable has arrived….”
Matt nodded and went down to meet him. “I’m Lord Matthew Kincade.”
“Jeremy Roberts.” The constable, a tall, thin, harried-looking man, introduced himself. “Waddington here tells me that you had some trouble tonight?”
“I was out for a late walk and came across a young woman being assaulted by two British regulars. The soldiers fled, but not before they’d injured the girl. I brought her back here. She’s in my room, and the doctor is with her now.”
“I see. Would you be able to identify the soldiers were you to see them again?” he questioned.
“No,” he replied, his tone deadly. “The cowards ran when they heard me coming, and I only got a look at their backs.”
“I’m afraid there’s not much for me to do then, other than to notify the young woman’s family. Do you know her name?”
“She hasn’t regained consciousness yet. I’m sure when she does, she’ll be able to give you a full accounting of the incident.”
“I see,” Roberts nodded. “Then I shall check back with you first thing in the morning. Perhaps by then we’ll have more information to go on.”
“Indeed.”
After the constable had gone, Matt and Noah sat together in the empty taproom. Though Noah tried to initiate a conversation, Matt was too concerned about his mysterious lady’s condition to carry on a decent discussion. He responded in distracted, monosyllabic answers to all of his brother’s questions. Noah finally gave up the attempt, and they remained in silent vigil, awaiting the physician’s reappearance and his prognosis for the injured girl’s recovery.
It was a long while before the doctor appeared at the top of the staircase. “Lord Kincade?”
Both Matt and Noah came to their feet at the sound of his voice.
“Yes, Doctor? How is she?” Matt went hastily to meet him at the foot of the steps.
The physician’s mood was somber. “She still hasn’t recovered consciousness yet, I’m afraid, but her general health seems good enough.”
Matt breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her condition was not life-threatening.
“As you know, she’s had a bad bump on the head, and has a few other bruises from their obvious mistreatment of her, but she should be fine.”
Matt’s throat tightened as he forced himself to ask, “Did they…”
“No,” Spalding answered firmly.
“Thank God…I got there in time….” He spoke softly, his distress greatly eased by the doctor’s pronouncement.
“Indeed you did, and I’m sure the young lady will be very grateful to you for your rescue.” He clapped Matt on the back. “Her clothing was filthy and in shreds, so I took the liberty of doing away with it.”
“Yes, I know,” Matt ground out. “The damned savages…”
“She’s going to be just fine,” Dr. Spalding quietly assured him again, “and I’m sure Waddington can help find something suitable for her to wear. Perhaps one of his servants…?”
Matt nodded.
“Someone should stay with her through the night, just in case she should awaken and be frightened by her unfamiliar surroundings.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Matt declared quickly.
“I’m sure Waddington employs a female servant who could—”
“I said, I’ll sit with her,” he stated with regal authority. “I have no designs on her person. I only want to see that she makes a full recovery.”
“Well…” he hedged.
“It’s done. Say no more. How much do I owe you for your services?”
The doctor quoted a price.
“Does that include a return visit tomorrow to make sure she’s well?”
“Of course, my lord. I’ll check back with you shortly before noon, if that suits you.”
“It does.” Matt was firm. “You’ll be compensated for your help tomorrow when I’m certain she’s recovering. Until then, Doctor, good night.”
Noah listened to the conversation with nothing short of amazement. This was his little brother issuing orders as if he were born to it? The thought amused him. Matt had indeed grown up.
“You handled that very well, Matt, but are you certain you want to sit up the night with the girl? Surely there’s a serving wench qualified—”
“No. This is something I’ve got to do myself,” Matt told him seriously as he headed upstairs.
“Shall I sit with you?” Noah asked as they came to Matt’s room.
“There’s really no need for the both of us to lose a night’s sleep. You can go to bed, and if there’s been no change by midmorning, you can relieve me then,” he responded. Matt led the way into the room and they found the lovely girl lying unmoving on the vast white expanse of his bed, the blankets discreetly covering her.
“She’s beautiful, Matt….” Noah was surprised. He had not expected a woman rescued from the streets to be so comely.
“I know.” Matt glanced up at Noah quickly, his troubled gaze showing how deeply he’d been affected by the unknown woman’s plight. There was a long pause before he added, “You may as well go on back to bed. I’ll be right here for the rest of the night.”
“I’ll be fine,” he insisted. “I just hope she is.”
Matt turned his attention back to the young woman as Noah let himself from the room.
The late-night hours passed. The black velvet canopy of night lightened to deep purple and then to red-streaked gold as the sun struggled to reclaim the land. Matt grew increasingly restless and worried as he sat beside the bed wondering why she hadn’t come around yet. Had the doctor been wrong? Was there some injury he’d missed? Finally, unable to sit in silent restraint any longer, he stood up and moved to stare out the window.
Within the confines of the room at the inn, Faith Hammond stirred and opened her eyes. Everything was blurred for a moment, and she blinked in tired confusion as her surroundings slowly came into focus. It came as quite a jolt to find that she was in a strange room, and with that revelation came the terrible remembrance of the two soldiers and their assault. Terror seized her and she looked quickly about, spotting for the first time the tall, dark-haired man standing at the window, his back to her.
Horror-filled, Faith wondered what to do. If she remained quiet, she knew she might be able to effect an escape later if he left her alone in the room, but the memory of the attack drove her to try to flee now. She started to slip from the bed in the hope of making a dash for the door when she discovered her state of dishabille. What had they done to her? And where were her clothes? Desperate and more frightened than ever, Faith clutched the blanket to her and tried to get to her feet. Waves of dizziness washed through her and she couldn’t stifle a moan of pure agony as she swayed unsteadily, one hand going to her throbbing brow.
Matt heard her groan and turned. The sight of her out of bed and standing truly surprised him. “Please…” Seeing her very real physical distress, Matt spoke quickly and took a step toward her. “You must lie down.”
