“She tried ta bribe me, she did. Asked me if I might procure a sled andpullher up here.” Mr. Fergus chuckled. “Never heard such an outlandish request.”
“Oh, dear,” Sarah said. “What did you say?”
“I told her there weren’t enough coin in the kingdom and she’d be frozen ta death afore we made it halfway. Finally, I convinced her that I would come back and see ta ye. Bring ye to her if ye wished.”
“Oh, that is kind of you, Mr. Fergus.” Sarah swallowed and calmly folded her hands. This was a pickle, no question about it. She supposed she’d wait until the weather didn’t pose a threat to Mr. Fergus’s health and then take him up on his offer to accompany him to the doctor’s house. She would just have to stay with Mrs. Goatsocks until her ankle healed. It would be the death of her reputation, no doubt, but what choice did she have? She couldn’t leave her trusted friend and servant to fend for herself.
At the moment, however, she simply didn’t want Mr. Fergus to worry about her. The poor man had been through enough on her account. “We’ll figure out something,” she said, patting his hand through the mass of blankets.
They sat around talking for another half hour or so. Christian had a score of questions about Mr. Fergus’s journey. Sarah tried valiantly to keep the panic from rising in her chest while the caretaker told them the story of how he’d made it back to them through the tremendous amount of snow. Truly a marvelous feat. Sarah gave him another cup of tea, this time laced liberally with whiskey. She splashed a bit in her own cup as well. The old man smiled at her when she returned to the sofa and handed him his drink.
“Thank you for braving the snow to come to my rescue, Mr. Fergus. I greatly appreciate it.”
Christian glanced up at her, an inscrutable look on his face. Was she surprising him again with her warm thanks for a servant? She tried not to think about how close she’d come to allowing him to kiss her. To kissing him back!
“I knew ye would be worried sick, me lady,” Mr. Fergus said, closing his eyes for a moment. “I couldn’t leave ye alone up here no longer. I didna know if Master Christian had made it before the storm. Besides, Mrs. Goatsocks was near beside herself thinking of ye alone up here. She insisted I leave her and come back for ye immediately.”
“That was kind of you, but you needn’t have risked your life for my sake. Besides, I had Fergus Two here, didn’t I?”
Mr. Fergus sighed and pulled his hand from the mass of blankets. He set his empty cup on the table next to the sofa. “Aye, that ye did. Thank ye for taking such good care of the pup. I see he’s got a new coat. Can’t say as how I ever figured he needed one before now, but I suppose he’s happy enough ta have it.”
Sarah smiled sheepishly. “I was a bit bored while I was alone.”
Mr. Fergus’s wrinkled face broke into a smile. “I was worried about ye, truly I was. But if I’d known Master Christian had made it here ta be with ye, I might not have been so troubled. He is a kind master and a most respected gentleman.”
Sarah and Christian glanced at each other over Mr. Fergus’s head. Neither of them shared the story of how she’d pulled a broadsword on him when they’d met. They tacitly agreed. That was a story for another time.
Soon Fergus was snoring and Christian pulled the old man’s legs onto the sofa and placed a pillow gently under his head. Sarah moved away to make room. It was kind of Christian to treat his servant so well. She’d never seen Lord Branford so much as acknowledge his own.
Christian put his fingers to his lips to indicate to Sarah to be quiet, then he nodded in the direction of the bedchambers. She followed him down the corridor. Fergus II, clearly playing favorites, remained curled up on the sofa with his master, his snores interspersed with the man’s.
Sarah and Christian stopped in between the doors to their respective bedchambers. They spoke in whispers.
“I’m such a bother to have brought poor Mrs. Goatsocks this far, up into the snow where she fell and broke her ankle. Poor woman. All because of me and my idiotic decisions. I feel absolutely terrible.”
Christian glanced back toward the great room to ensure Mr. Fergus remained asleep. “Mrs. Goatsocks is a grown woman. She made her own choice to come with you.”
“Only because she knew if I went without a chaperone, I’d no longer be allowed in polite Society.”
“Still, don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known she would break her ankle.”
“You heard Mr. Fergus. She may have to stay a month or more. I should write Mother and tell her the truth. Tell her that I’m not coming back for a long while and… Oh, God. No one will believe it. No one will believe me. My reputation is entirely ruined and I have no one to blame for it but myself.”
Christian crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her. “What if I told you I have an idea?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“An idea?” Sarah whispered, also glancing back toward the great room to ensure they weren’t speaking too loudly.
“Yes,” Christian replied.
“Whatever can you mean?”
“You’ve been helpingme. In return, I will do everything in my power to help you reenter Society with as little scandal as possible.”
Sarah pressed her back against the wall and hung her head. She tried not to remember how close she’d come to kissing this man earlier. In addition to her other sins, she was now well on her way to turning into a shameless hoyden. “How in heaven’s name do you believe you might be able to accomplish such a thing?”
Christian ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve been thinking of ways we could get you back into London, back into Society, without anyone being any the wiser.”
