That was what he chose to do. This was his decision in a life that was restricted on every side. And in this way, he found control.
“My lord?” a female voice interrupted. It was Mrs. Pizzi their housekeeper. “If you could step away for a moment, we can make her more comfortable.”
He looked over his shoulder. Mrs. Pizzi was followed by his sister’s maid who carried a large tub of water and several linens.
Nodding, he stepped back from the bed, though his hand stayed as long as possible on Yihui’s arm. “Thank you, Mrs. Pizzi. Be as gentle as you can.”
“Of course, my lord—”
“Did you call a doctor?” Lady Kimberly interrupted as she stepped into the room.
Max winced at the woman’s clipped tone. “Yes—” he began, but she cut him off.
“Best to call a surgeon. The doctor won’t be able to do anything with those feet.”
His attention abruptly sharpened on her. “Why would you say that?” he demanded. Yihui deserved the best treatment he could afford. And he could afford a very great deal.
“Because surgeons handle broken bones. And those feet…” She shook her head. “If she were a horse or even a dog, we would have to—”
“She’s not an animal!”
Lady Kimberly shot him a frustrated look. “No, she’s a woman who will want to walk again. Best get a surgeon who has seen many injured laborers. People who must walk again or starve. How many broken bones does a doctor see in his day?”
Not many. Doctors treated agues and the vague ailments of the aristocracy. And though they knew how to set bones, Kimberly was right. A surgeon set many bones every week. And he would also know if the damage were too severe, and amputation was the only way to prevent death.
He didn’t want to imagine it. Indeed, he couldn’t force himself to contemplate the possibility, but he would not compromise care just because he felt squeamish at the thought. Looking over Lady Kimberly’s shoulder, he gestured to Chiverton who hovered in the hallway.
“Send a footman to whomever Lady Kimberly suggests.”
“Immediately, my lord,” Chiverton said. “And the Watch has arrived, as well as several guests. Visitors, my lord, to see the duchess.”
Gawkers, gossips, and snoops. “Send them away. Tell them Her Grace is not well.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Max straightened his jacket while his thoughts finally dropped into order. “I’ll see the Watch in the Library.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And when my father arrives, do not under any circumstance allow him upstairs. Not yet.”
At the mention of his father, every soul in the room gulped audibly. Not a one of them had realized that his father would descend on the household the moment he heard of the commotion. As the head of the conservative party, his father would be the first to be told of any royal gossip. He would have learned of Max’s impromptu engagement and be headed here in fury. Especially since he was the one who had declared that Max marry Kimberly, the daughter of his closest political ally.
The man would likely come home in a rage. No one wanted him to arrive to find the Watch in their home and a bloody corpse upstairs. Though how they were going to prevent that was beyond him.
Either way, it was up to Max to manage it. Meanwhile, Emmaline looked like she was going to be ill.
“It’s all I can do to keep Mama out of it,” she whispered. “Papa’s going to have an apoplexy.”
Not if Max could help it. He squeezed his sister’s arm as if she were his compatriot in a war, and indeed, they both felt as such. “Leave Papa to me.” He looked to their butler. “Chiverton, send another footman to the House of Lords. Have him suggest,delicately of course, that Mama is overwrought, and father should take dinner at his club.”
“Right away, my lord.”
Emma met his gaze with a shrug. “It might work.”
It wouldn’t. The man was already on his way home, but it was the only play Max had. And with that thoroughly depressing thought, Max squared his shoulders and headed for the stairs. Best not to look in the guest bedroom. Best not to smell the air. Best not to remember—
But he did. And in that moment, his sister caught his elbow.
