His lips twitched again as he set her down gently. He still held her arms to steady her.
“Thank you.” She took a step back, and pain ripped through her body. She looked down at her wet, muddy midriff, and for the first time saw that she was injured. Blood seeped from an open wound on her stomach. The world spun around her and a wave of nausea took hold, and she stumbled and would have tumbled to the floor had he not pulled her into his chest.
“Good Lord, she’s going to faint again.”
As if from a distance, Gabriella registered Aunt Kitty’s reply. “The poor girl. Can’t you see, Jack? She’s hurt. Bleeding. Take her to your bedroom, and I’ll send Mrs. Livingstone to attend to her.”
“For Christ’s sake, Kitty, why on earth my bedroom?”
“Because, my dear nephew, every other room in the house is spoken for. The guests will begin arriving tomorrow. If you weren’t so busy scrounging the hills for Etruscan treasure, you’d have remembered a full house of guests will demand our attention, and everything must be made ready. The simplest solution is to put her in your bedroom until other accommodations can be arranged.”
“But it’s inappropriate for her to occupy my rooms. I may have lost my earldom because of my snake cousin, but I will not lose my good name.”
“Oh, bother, Jack, your good name is not at risk. You saw its demise long ago, what with your rogue behavior and wandering the world without a care for your father and the estate. What did you expect would happen? The girl needs tending to, and now is not the time to worry over a scandal long since realized.”
“But look at her.” He sized Gaby up from head to toe. “For all we know, she could have orchestrated this entire debacle.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I did not raise you to be cold-hearted and without compassion. You can see the poor girl is injured. And since she fell into your hands, literally, it seems, you must rise to the occasion and see to her needs. Don’t make me scold you into doing your duty.”
Jack shook his head, scooped Gaby up, and carried her up the staircase. He cursed under his breath, “God’s blood, had I known what trouble you would be, I would have left you to the sea and the fate you well deserved.”
The whole situation had taken its toll, and although Gabriella hated being discussed as if she wasn’t there, she didn’t have the wherewithal to protest. She considered slapping the arrogant man’s face, but being dropped on the stairs might result in even more injuries.
She tried to hold back, but enough was enough—the dam burst and tears poured from her eyes. No less embarrassing, her nose dripped, and she sniffled like a child. His harsh words had quashed her anger and replaced it with insecurity and guilt. “I’m sorry to trouble you, and I’ll be gone as soon as possible.”
Their eyes met, and she glimpsed what looked like a shred of compassion and maybe even a guilty conscience. “Good Lord, no tears. I can’t abide a woman’s tears.”
“I’m s-sorry,” she said, taking small breaths, hoping to stanch the flow. “If I could stop them, I would.”
He expelled a deep breath. “Are you from Piombino?”
“Where?”
“God’s blood. The village and port of Piombino are very near here.”
Gabriella trembled. “Wh-where am I?”
Jack’s impatience returned, and he didn’t attempt to disguise it. “Allow me to enlighten you about what you seem to be having difficulty comprehending. You are in Maremma, southern Tuscany, to be exact. That’s in Italy, in case you didn’t know.”
“I know where Tuscany is,” she said through gritted teeth.This guy is too much!“What year is it?”
His eyes widened at that. “You must have hit your head.”
“Please, just tell me.” Panic was beginning to grip her once more.
“It is the calendar year 1902, the month of October in the year of King Edward VII’s coronation. And an admirably good day it was to see my fine friend take the throne. Bertie is a delightful chap, and I warrant he’ll make an upstanding monarch. Although, for now, he, like everyone else back home, isn’t speaking to me.”
“But that’s impossible.” Gaby covered her mouth, gripped by sudden nausea, and she feared she might upchuck all over the pompous man.
“What is impossible?” He arched a brow. “Are you suggesting I don’t know what year it is or where my aunt’s villa resides?” He smirked. “Or perhaps you are insinuating that I don’t know who rules over the British Isles.”
She sucked in a breath, hoping to quiet her anxiety. “No, no, of course not, but…” And then everything rushed back to her.1902? How is that even possible?Wasn’t it just an hour ago that she was staring up at Marco Allegretto’s painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, an ocean away?More than one hundred years away!
Gaby closed her eyes and made herself breathe deeply. There was no way she could tell this Jack person who she was and where she came from. He’d probably call the police on her and have her arrested.
She’d read about what they did to women in this era who were declared insane: ice baths and electric shock treatments. Women suffered this fate more than men, as it was a tidy way for men to rid themselves of an unwanted wife.
“But what?” he asked, his eyes narrowed. “Your delay in answering me makes me think you’re hiding something.”
