Page 10 of The Beastly Earl

The Scotsman stepped aside to let Finn run out into the rain to meet him. The groom grabbed the horse’s halter as McCallum hurried forward to support the woman as Ewan slid her off the horse and dismounted. The moment he was on the ground, Ewan lifted the woman up into his arms. Cradling the majority of her weight with his good arm, he used the metal contraption he wore to hold her steady against his chest. The movement exacerbated the sting where the leather cup encasing his stub of an arm had rubbed ruthlessly at his skin. As he entered the keep, Ewan paused as he debated what room to use for the keep’s unwelcomed guest.

“I had Maggie prepare the King’s bedroom, my lord,” McCallum said quietly.

It shouldn’t have surprised him the older man had thought to prepare a room when there had been no indication Ewan would return with a lost soul. McCallum always seemed to be one step ahead, and it made him think the man had a bit of the sight. The woman hadn’t stopped trembling since he’d found her, but her tremors seemed to have become even more pronounced on the way back to the house.

“Send Maggie up to help undress the woman, and make sure she brings night clothes,” Ewan said brusquely as started up the main staircase with his unexpected guest in his arms. “Then send for Doctor Munro.”

“Doctor Munro, my lord?” McCallum’s surprise made Ewan pause at the foot of the steps to look over his shoulder and glare at the older man. The family retainer raised his eyebrows as if Ewan was still a boy. “Tis unlikely the burns will be safe tae cross for two or three days, my lord.”

The Scotsman’s observation made Ewan frown with displeasure. The man was right. Even in the daylight it would be difficult to reach the physician without endangering someone’s life, even his own. The fact the woman’s teeth had begun to chatter and her trembling was worsening with each passing second indicated she would need care through the night.

“Then, I’ll have to care for her myself.”

“My lord?” McCallum eyed him with stern disapproval.

“Is there someone else in this infernal place who knows how to care for her if she develops pneumonia?” he snarled. “And have Asadi bring me my eye patch. The woman was terrified by the sight of me out on the moor.”

Without waiting for a response, Ewan climbed the steps. He glanced down at the woman in his arms. She looked as if she were already at death’s door. If? He snorted. Even with the limited training he possessed from his time in the Sudan, he could tell the woman was seriously ill. He was more than halfway up the stairs, when a slender figure in nightwear and a shawl wrapped around her shoulders appeared at the top of the steps.

“What has happened, Ewan? Who is she?” his aunt exclaimed.

“Go back to bed, Aunt Wallis.”

“But your mother sent me to see what the fuss was about.”

“It’s nothing my mother needs to concern herself with, and I’ve no time to explain.”

Ewan reached the top of the stairs and headed down the hall to the room McCallum had had prepared. Wallis ignored his command and followed close on his heels. His aunt was one of the few people he tolerated to have around him, and any other time he would not have spoken so harshly. But the fact his mother had sent his aunt to investigate the disturbance in the house irritated him beyond any patience he normally had.

Close on the heels of the thought, he quickly admitted he would rather have Aunt Wallis asking questions than his mother. The dowager’s caustic manner would only aggravate him more than he was already. He entered the King’s bedroom and set his charge down in one of the chairs facing the fire. As he struggled to undo the buttons on the front of her dress with his one hand, his aunt gasped loudly.

“You mustn’t, Ewan. It’s not proper.” At her protest, he slowly turned his head toward her.

“Would you have me leave the lass in these wet clothes? Now go report back to the Lady Argaty, and then go to bed.”

At his angry snarl, his aunt took a quick step back in apprehension. He immediately regretted his sharp words. With a grimace, he shook his head slightly and softened his voice. “The woman is seriously ill, Aunt Wallis. We both know that short of Dr. Munro, I’m the only one capable of caring for her. Send Mrs. Selkirk to assist me.”

The older woman hesitated before she nodded her head in understanding and left the room. Ewan’s free hand fumbled with the buttons on the woman’s dress, and he grimaced at the sight of Maggie in the doorway followed by Asadi. The maid eyed him with trepidation, which caused him to bow his head so she couldn’t see the mass of scars on his face. Where the hell was Mrs. Selkirk?

The boy who’d taken it upon himself to be Ewan’s valet, hurried across the room to offer him the black patch he wore routinely along with his glove. In a swift movement, Ewan covered his eye with the leather patch. He met Asadi’s gaze with his good one, and nodded toward the door. Without questioning the silent command, the boy darted out of the room.

“Help me undo the woman’s dress, Maggie.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ewan saw the maid hesitate. In a deliberate move, he turned toward her and held up his artificial arm in silent explanation. The maid still didn’t move, and with a slight movement of his shoulder, he made the spindly metal fingers click together in an ominous sound. The maid flinched violently then jerked her gaze away from the grotesque appendage and hurried forward. In the back of his head, a voice reprimanded him for taunting the girl. He ignored his conscience.

Silently, he watched Maggie undo the woman’s dress then moved forward to help the girl remove the sodden wool garment off the woman. In the back of his mind, he noted that the woman’s clothing was that of a lady of quality. Black without any trace of color, he suspected she was in mourning. A husband perhaps? She wasn’t wearing a ring, so perhaps a relative.

He tossed the woman’s dress aside then held her up slightly so Maggie could quickly pulled the wet underskirts off the woman. When the maid undid the laces of the woman’s combination, the garment gave way to a wet chemise that clung to her as if she were naked. An odd sensation tensed his muscles as he couldn’t help but notice her sweet, lushly full curves. She had the body of Titian’s Venus of Urbino.

Rounded in all the places where a woman should be curved, his gaze drifted over her shoulders down to her breasts and the dark pink nipples the thin, linen chemise highlighted so enticingly. The tension in his body made him stiffen as his gaze continued downward to the apex of her thighs and her full, voluptuous legs. Incensed with his interest in the woman, Ewan looked away as the maid struggled to remove the last of his guest’s clothing. The woman’s shivers were still hard and fast, and as Maggie reached for the night dress she’d brought with her, Ewan shook his head.

“No. I’m certain the lass has a fever, and it’s better she not be restrained with anything but the bedsheets.” He saw the look of consternation on the maid’s face. “I will not be taking advantage of the woman, girl. Throw a blanket over her then turn down the covers so I can put her in bed.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The maid bobbed her head at his instructions, and despite his desire to do otherwise, Ewan managed to keep his gaze from skimming the woman’s naked body. When Maggie had covered the woman with a light-weight blanket off the bed, he carefully lifted his unexpected guest up into his arms and carried her to the bed.

Throughout the entire process, the only sound the woman made was her teeth chattering. Even against his dry clothing her body chilled his through his wool vest and jacket. Frowning with concern, he laid her on the sheets and allowed Maggie to cover her up to her neck. Despite lying beneath the dry covers, the woman’s body didn’t stop shaking. Ewan pressed the back of his hand against her forehead and grimaced. As he’d expected she was running a fever. It was a high one at that.