“Lord Frank was rather distraught when I arrived.”
“As well he should be.” Alex snorted. “Damned idiot could have killed me.”
Michael shook his head, as if tossing away some thought. His eyes focused on Alex’s clenched fists resting on the counterpane.
Silence hung. The fire popped.
The scent of Lady Charlotte’s jasmine perfume lingered, mixing with the woodsmoke.
She had been here.
Alexhatedthat she had seen him like this, bloody and utterly shaken.
No matter his opinion on his Whitaker relatives, the marquisate, or the aristocracy, no man wanted a bonnie lass to witness him groaning in agony.
Alex’s leg had settled into a humming sort of pain. It came in waves, radiating up his thigh. It tensed the muscles in his chest and made his neck tight.
“Alex,” Michael wrapped a warm hand around Alex’s forearm to draw his attention. “I understand why you are loath to take laudanum. We all know its effects when used indiscriminately. We’ve both seen, first-hand, the horrors of an opium eater. But, my friend, the pain is making everything worse. You are too tense to relax properly. Soon, the pain will set you to moving in a sort of restless helplessness. Your body will twist and turn trying to find a way to soothe the agony. This will, in turn, jostle your fracture, perhaps jarring loose chips of bone that will lead to infection. To have any chance at recovering completely, youmustremain absolutely still.”
Alex released a slow breath, willing his muscles to relax.
It wasn’t working well.
Laudanum.
The last indignity this day had needed.
His eyes stung.
Damn and blast!
Was he . . .
Was he going toweep?!
He placed a hand over his eyes, hating the wetness there, but helpless to stop the telltale signs of a goodgreitcoming on.
He swallowed convulsively.
It was just . . .
First, this mess with the marquisate.
Second, . . . Galahad and all the haunting memories—both happy and tragic—that accompanied thoughts of his family.
Then, the accident and his injury—the unknown terror of a broken leg. The horror of his life being turned upside down in one horrifying instant.
The lovely lasswatchinghim suffer. Witnessing him laid so low.
And now . . .this.
Bloody hell, I truly am going tae end up just like Ian.
I cannae end up like Ian.
No.
Anything but this—
