Her presence at his home, however, remained a mystery.
“When did this happen, my lady?” he asked, still smoothing his hand over her back in gentle motions.
“A-a few hours ago, but he and Torrington were brought to our home just now, and both are in a bad way,” she said on a fresh wave of sobs. “I am so s-sorry to intrude. Mama is away for the evening, and I have sent for doctors, b-but I am frightened. I did not know where else to go.”
Dios.It made sense now. Lady Catriona was on her own, playing nursemaid to two drunken, broken lords. And she had come to him for aid. The knowledge sent a course of warmth through his chest that not even the urgency of the circumstances could chase.
She needed him.
“I will accompany you,” he told her without hesitation. “How did you come to be here?”
“I b-brought my own carriage. My lady’s maid attended me, and she is awaiting me within it.” She tipped her head back. “Oh, Rayne. I am so frightened for Monty and for Hattie’s brother. If anything should happen to them…”
It would be deserved, he thought grimly. Any man who would go racing whilst thoroughly in his cups was only tempting the devil.
But he did not dare say as much to the distraught woman in his arms.
Instead, he cupped her face, the best way he could imagine comforting her. Her cheek was silken and wet, and the jolt that skipped up his arm, past his elbow at the contact of his skin upon hers was undeniable. “Nothing will happen. And if it should, you have me now, Lady Catriona. I will make certain you are taken care of.”
He had been about to say he would make certain she was not alone, but it was not a promise he could keep. For one day, he reminded himself sternly, he must leave her. That day, however, had not yet come.
“Thank you, Rayne.” The smile she gave him was tremulous.
But then she shocked him by turning her head and pressing a kiss to the center of his palm. An unwanted arrow of heat stole through him. Her gesture had been innocent and unthinking. It meant nothing.
“You need not thank me,querida,” he said grimly, for she was his duty. He was obligated to protect her. Or, at least, she would be his duty tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
The wedding.
Cristo, if he had to wait to marry her, he would thrash Montrose in spite of his injuries.
“Allow me to retrieve my coat, and I will meet you at the door,” he said, forcing himself to release her and take a step back.
She nodded, biting her lip, looking so forlorn, the place in his heart where he had been certain only a dried husk remained, ached. She hugged herself. “As you wish, my lord.”
To hell with it.
Instead of striding away from her, he took a step forward. The subtle hint of jasmine, already familiar, hit him. He clasped her hand in his. “Forget the coat. I do not want to leave your side.”
The words left him before he could contemplate the wisdom of their utterance.
But they were the truth.
Clearly, he ought to have finished the other half of the brandy bottle.
*
Catriona was pacingin the corridor outside Monty’s bedchamber when the door opened and Rayne emerged. His dark hair was disheveled, as if he had been running his fingers through it, and his lawn shirt was rumpled. He looked disreputablesanscravat and waistcoat, but she had never seen a more welcome sight.
“How is Monty?” she asked on a rush, feeling as if she had spent the last hour holding her breath.
“Montrose is settling now with the aid of some laudanum,” Rayne said. “It was fortunate I came. Dr. Croydon required my aid in holding him down to set the bone. He has a broken ankle, and he is an abysmal patient, but that appears to be the worst of it.”
Relief washed over her, along with gratitude. “Thank you, my lord. I am indebted to you.”
“Correction,querida,” he said in his beautifully accented voice. “Montroseis indebted to me. This is the second time I have been present at his sickbed. Fortunately, this time, I am not the man responsible for his injuries. The fool himself is. Although, one could certainly argue he was responsible for his own injuries when I shot him as well.”
