“No. He was already too weak to say much.”
“Do you suppose he has a family who’s out there lost somewhere in the cold, too? Should we go look for them?”
“No, Miss Quick. I can’t say for sure, but I doubt anyone is with him. Judging from his worn clothing, he’s probably been on his own for some time. He has the look of street urchins I’ve seen in London. Most likely he’s been wandering around out here for days.”
“Oh, no, Your Grace, I don’t want to consider that possibility.” She turned toward the fire and, without giving clear thought to exactly what she was going to say next, murmured, “It was just very disturbing seeing him looking so helpless. So cold. Thin.”
The duke took hold of her arm and turned her to face him. “Here,” he said and put the glass up to her lips. “Take a sip.”
She shook her head and leaned away from him. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that.”
“Yes, you can. You’re cold. It will warm you and help calm you.”
“No, I’m all right. Really, it’s just he appeared so lonely, neglected, and mistreated.” The image of her mother lying in the bed, weak with pain so forceful she couldn’t be still or quiet, flashed through Loretta’s mind. “I don’t want to see anyone suffering.”
“Drink it,” the duke commanded softly as the glass touched her lips again.
His expression was so comforting that Loretta opened her mouth and sipped. The thought of drinking from the duke’s glass was so foreign to her, so intimate and unheard of, she hardly noticed the sting of the strong liquid on her tongue and at the back of her throat as she swallowed.
“Another,” he said quietly.
There was something comforting about what he was doing and how softly he was speaking that she obeyed without further question.
He smiled at her. “I find it incredible that you are so strong you can not only hold your own with a duke, but give him a dressing-down, too, yet the sight of a poor derelict young beggar has you trembling.”
“I’m not trembling,” she argued defensively, but quicklyadded, “Not exactly, anyway. But it’s easy to worry about someone who is completely helpless. I won’t apologize for that.”
His eyes softened even more. “I wouldn’t want you to. It doesn’t astound me that you are a compassionate person. It pleases me.”
“Anyone would be under the circumstances. He looked so lost and frightened when he saw you. And then when I saw how tattered his clothing was, I just wanted to help him.”
He held the glass up to her lips for her to drink again. And she did.
“He’s not suffering right now. I think it’s best for you not to think about the boy at all until he wakes and we can talk to him and get answers.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she answered, some of her unease about him fading, knowing he was safe and warm now at Mammoth House.
“That probably won’t happen until tomorrow,” the duke added. “I think we need to let him rest tonight.”
She gazed up into the duke’s green eyes. “It was kind of you to go out into the storm after him and then help undress him.”
The duke finished off the brandy and placed the glass on the nearby table. “I may be a rake, Miss Quick, but I’m not heartless.”
“Of course not. I would never think that you wouldn’t help someone who was in such dire need of rescue.”
“You helped him as well.”
Loretta realized she was feeling calmer. Warmer. And for the first time in longer than she could remember, she felt softer. And still odder yet, she felt a strange closeness to the duke. It was as if both of them caring for the poor beggar had formed a bond between them, and she wondered if the duke felt it, too. Or perhaps what she was feeling was the direct effects of the brandy doing its job of relaxing her.
“Your hair is wet.” She spoke quietly, letting her gaze stay on his eyes. “So is your coat. And for the second time today. You need to change out of your damp clothing.”
“I am fine. But look at you. There are glistening droplets of water in your hair, too.”
Feeling self-conscious, she lifted her hand to smooth her hair over her ear. First one side and then the other. “It was very windy outside.”
“You shouldn’t have stayed out on the portico watching for us.”
“Everything was being handled inside. It was the only thing I could do to help.”
