“Gone. Jasper shot one of them, and you the other. They fled. Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she rasped, not feeling all right at all, but not wanting to scare her maid. “Can you see my glasses.”
Helen dropped to a crouch and searched. “Here.” She handed them to Liberty.
“My lady, are you well?” Jasper, their footman, appeared to look down at her. “We scared those rogues away.”
“Excellent. I just need to sit up now,” Liberty said not liking the idea of moving, but knowing she had to do so, as she could not sleep here for the remainder of her life, no matter how appealing that thought was right now.
Hands eased her upright, and her vision blurred.
“She’s bleeding!”
“I’d be excessively grateful to you if you stopped shrieking, Helen,” Liberty gritted out. “I am alive and well, as you see. There is no need for hysterics.”
“No need! You could have been killed falling from the carriage like that,” her maid said. “And there’s your body still not right from your accident.”
“My body is right,” Liberty said, and then hissed when she moved.
“What if she’s broken a limb!”
Helen was usually the epitome of calm and no nonsense, unless someone was hurt; then she fell apart completely. Edward, Liberty’s brother, had once fallen down some stairs and broken his arm. Helen had fainted.
“Blood,” Helen whispered.
Lifting her hand, Liberty’s white glove came away red after touching the side of her head. “It is a scratch and nothing more. Go to the carriage and find something to blot it with,” she said with far more strength than she was feeling.
“Are you really all right, my lady?” Jasper asked when Helen had gone.
“Hurts like the devil, Jasper, but I will live. I would, however, like to lean against the trunk of that tree for a bit until I no longer see two of you.”
Between them, they got her to the tree.
“I have a blanket, and the flask your father always keeps in the carriage,” Helen said returning.
Liberty tugged off her gloves and took the flask.
“How is the carriage?” Liberty asked.
“Dudley didn’t see the large rock, and unfortunately one wheel rolled over it, so we’ll need to get it fixed before we go anywhere,” Jasper said.
“What will we do?” Helen whispered, sounding like the heroine in a book.
“I’ll unhitch a horse and ride to the Thorny Thistle, which is not far. I’ll get help and back here as soon as I can, my lady.”
“Wait. I hear a carriage,” Helen said clutching her hands to her chest. “They could be coming back!”
“They were on horseback. It is a carriage that approaches; calm down,” Liberty gritted out. “Get me upright at once.” Her head felt light and her body odd, but she was a duke’s daughter, and she would be damned if whoever approached found her seated on the ground.There was also the fact that after the pain she’d suffered already in her lifetime, this was manageable.
“My lady, you should—”
“Now, Jasper.”
She knew all sorts of silent signals were firing back and forth between her maid and footman, but she didn’t care. Grabbing the hands Jasper held out, she let him pull her up, and bit back the moan of pain that felt like an axe blow to the back of her head.
“Steady,” Helen said as she listed sideways.
“I’m all right. Get my bonnet please, Helen.”
