The butler rushed into the salon where Daffin sat with Mark, Nicole, Lady Harriet, and the duke. The five thousand pounds the duke had gathered sat in the middle of the settee in a brown leather satchel, ready for the next day’s exchange for Regina’s life.
“My lord,” Abbott said, his face pale. “There is a hackney driver at the door and he insists he has a young lady in his conveyance who demanded to be brought here.”
Daffin jumped from his seat and took off toward the front door at a run. Grimaldi and Nicole followed him. Daffin didn’t stop to question the hackney driver. Ignoring the cold wind that seared through his clothing, he grabbed a lantern from the porch and hastened to the hackney coach that sat on the road in front of the house.
As soon as he reached the conveyance, he ripped open the door and stuck in the lantern. His heart stopped. Regina lay in a heap on the floor, unconscious and shivering. Grimaldihad made it to the coach too, and Daffin shoved the lantern into his friend’s hand. He scooped Regina into his arms and turned for the house. She blinked up at him and a hint of relief shone in her eyes before she fell back into unconsciousness.
Daffin stalked into the foyer, Regina nestled against his chest. “Which bedchamber?” he asked a shocked-looking Nicole, who had remained at the door.
“Follow me.” Nicole scurried up the stairs, Daffin behind her, carrying Regina.
Nicole hurried down the long corridor and stopped at a doorway in the middle of the hallway. She pushed open the door, hurried to the bed and pulled back the covers. Daffin followed her and gingerly laid Regina on the soft, clean sheets. Lady Harriet and a bevy of housemaids came scurrying into the room to see to Regina, and Daffin was forced to leave for propriety’s sake. He made it to the hallway, before leaning back against the wall and sliding down to sit with his arms on his knees. A relief unlike any he’d ever known flooded him.
Minutes later, he looked up to see Grimaldi standing above him. The general leaned down and grasped his shoulder in a gesture of support.
“She’s back,” Daffin said, the words barely making it through his dry, rough throat. Tears burned the backs of his eyes. “Oh God, Grim. She’s safe.”
***
Regina pushed herself up against the pillows in her bedchamber. She’d been home for over two days, but the events were still a blur. She vaguely recalled blinking up at a lantern held into the interior of the hackney and Daffin staring down at her incredulously. She remembered the feel of his warm chestas he scooped her into his arms. She had the vaguest memory of finally feeling safe again and recalling his welcome scent, before she slipped back into the blackness.
The next time she’d awoken, she was clean and wearing a new, fresh-smelling night rail, propped up in her bed at Mark’s house. A stream of maids had come in to check on her as well as Nicole and Mark and Grandmama. They were treating her as if she were an invalid. The rope burns on her wrists and ankles had been treated with balm and were healing nicely. The fire burns on her palms were barely even sore anymore. The scratches and scrapes she’d got from her dive into the hedge had turned to scabs. The only thing that still bothered her was her knee. Nicole insisted she keep it propped upon a pillow at all times.
Otherwise, Regina felt fine, but Mark and Nicole insisted she rest. Their guilt had turned them into a pair of mother hens. That, along with Grandmama’s constant check-ins, made Regina think she might go mad. She was perfectly healthy. She had to get out of this bed. Out of this room. She’d begun to feel as if she were trapped again.
Nicole had been in to see her a half-dozen times, gushing over her bravery and coddling her as if she were a child. Her cousin had the staff of housemaids at Regina’s beck and call, and tea and cakes and anything she desired were sent up regularly. But Regina longed to push off the covers and get out of bed.
She was just about to do so when a knock at the door stopped her.
“Come in,” she called, expecting to see Nicole’s worried face peep around the door again.
“Are you decent?” came a deep male voice.
It was Daffin.
Butterflies flew through Regina’s belly. She smiled to herself and bit her lip. “I’m always decent,” she called back.
He slipped into the room, leaving the door half open behind him. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in a fortnight. Several days’ growth of beard covered his face, and he appeared thinner. “I know it’s completely improper for me to come in here, but given that I haven’t been allowed to talk to you until now, I decided to take a gamble.”
Daffin walked to the bed and took a seat in the chair Nicole had set there for her and Grandmama’s regular visits.
Regina pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. It was so good to see him again. She’d missed him, she realized. Had missed him terribly. But the look of guilt on his face made her wary. “If you’ve come to apologize, you needn’t.”
“I am sorry.” He hung his head. He looked so guilty, her heart tugged.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Daffin.”
He lifted his head and met her gaze. “That’s kind of you, but you’re wrong. We should have protected you better.Ishould have protected you better.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart thudded painfully. “You had no idea there was a team at work. He hired those people to help him. He told me.”
Daffin shook his head. “That doesn’t matter.”
Regina smoothed her dressing gown. “What? You think you should have guessed? You’re intelligent, Daffin, but you’re not omniscient.”
“Let me be guilty, love, please,” he whispered, leaning forward and brushing her hair away from her cheek.
Regina sucked in her breath.
