Page 11 of The Beastly Earl

“Have Asadi bring me a pitcher of cool water, towels, and have Mrs. Selkirk prepare some peppermint tea and chicken broth.” Ewan gave the command as he tightened the covers around the woman. When the maid didn’t move, he turned his head toward her.

“Now, not tomorrow.” His fierce tone made the maid bob her head before she darted out of the room. Left alone with his charge, Ewan sat down on the side of the bed to study her.

A light coating of sweat glistened on her forehead, and he gently wiped it away with his fingers. Her hair was drying quickly, and it reminded him of the soft brown feathers on the heads of the kites that flew over the keep on a regular basis. A soft murmur drifted out of her, and he bent his head in an attempt to hear what she was saying, but her words were impossible to make out.

It was several minutes before Asadi appeared with the water and towels. The boy left them within reach then hurried out of the room to fetch the other items Ewan had demanded. Ewan soaked a cloth in the cool water, wrung it out, and proceeded to gently stroke the sweat from her forehead. As he tended to her, he narrowed his gaze at her oval-shaped face.

“Where do you come from, lass, and why were you out in the storm?” he asked softly.

Ewan continued his attempts to remove the perspiration from her forehead. When the woman’s shudders caused the pillow beneath her head to move into an awkward position, he gently lifted her head to push the pillow back into place inadvertently disturbing some of the hair near her forehead. He drew in a soft hiss of air at the bruise on the side of her temple.

Despite his efforts to cool her fever, her symptoms continued to worsen with each passing hour. As the woman’s fever deepened, she began thrashing beneath the bedcovers and tried to throw them off. Gently, he pulled her arms out from beneath the covers to provide her relief. He did the same for her legs. With the cool, damp clothes, Ewan wiped down her exposed limbs in an attempt to make her more comfortable.

He turned away for a moment to soak a cloth and wring it out before he shifted on the mattress to face her again. The moment he moved, he inhaled a sharp breath that he immediately exhaled as he stared at the bare breast exposed to him. The full, plump curve of it made his mouth go dry as the image of Titian’s nude filled his head again. The sensation it aroused in him was one he didn’t like.

With a growl of disgust at his reaction to her, he quickly drew up the covers over her again. Throughout the night, Ewan continued to remove the beads of sweat from her brow as her fever showed no signs of breaking. It was only when the first gray light of the day tried to push its way through curtains covering the bedroom windows that he realized his efforts might be a hopeless cause.

Although her fever had weakened, she was still hot to the touch, and he heard a soft rattle in her breathing. The mold out on the moor combined with the rain and cold could not have done her any good. But she was young, and she seemed in reasonably good health. He would not allow her to die without making every effort to save her. She stirred slightly as her eyes fluttered open. With the curtains closed, only the fire provided any light. The woman’s reaction when he’d found her on the moors had not left him, and he’d purposefully kept the room with as little light as possible.

“Lie still, lass,” he said quietly then crossed the room to retrieve some of the chicken broth Mrs. Selkirk had left on the hearth so the fire would keep it from going cold.

Before he filled a bowl with the broth, he pulled the glove from his pocket and pulled it on over the metal spindles that substituted as his hand. The broth was still warm, and he knew it would do the woman good to take some of it. Ewan returned to her bed, and there was a glassy look to the large hazel eyes staring up at him.

“You need to eat some of this broth. It will help to make you feel better.”

She didn’t answer and her eyes drifted close. Determined to have her take some broth, Ewan sank down on the edge of the bed. He awkwardly raised her up slightly so she was pressed into his chest. It allowed him to hold the bowl with his gloved hand while feeding her the warm liquid with his other.

His charge tried to avoid the spoon he pressed between her lips, but Ewan refused to let her do so. Once more she opened her eyes to look up at him. He wasn’t sure if he saw horror in her gaze or if it was merely the look of someone quite ill. Ewan ignored the thought. Although he only managed to have her take six or seven spoonfuls, he knew it was better than nothing at all. She needed liquids, and the broth served that purpose. When she refused to eat anymore, he laid her back down into the pillows and realized how damp her sheets were.

The idea of changing her sheets meant trying not to look at her sweet curves. The idea that he would succeed in doing so made him release a soft snort of disgust. Ewan sprang to his feet and quickly crossed the room to throw the door open. As he’d expected, Asadi was sleeping on the door’s threshold. The boy had still not grown accustom to the idea of an actual bed.

“Asadi,” he said quietly. The boy stirred slightly, but when Ewan said his name again, the young man was immediately on his feet.

“Yes, Argaty sahib?”

“The lass needs her sheets changed. Ask Mrs. Selkirk to bring fresh sheets so we can change the woman's bedding,” he said softly. The boy started down the corridor, and Ewan quickly clarified his command. “And tell Mrs. Selkirk she’s to come. I don’t want Maggie. The girl is scared of her own shadow.”

“Yes, Argaty sahib.”

Ewan returned to his patient and bent over to feel her forehead. It was still hot, but for the first time in hours it was a great deal cooler. He straightened and studied her for a moment. Even with her hair damp from her feverish sweat, she was lovely. What had driven her out onto the moors at night in the driving rain?

She stirred beneath the sheets, and he quickly bent over her to ensure they were up to her neck to prevent any other erotic displays. He didn’t like the effect the sight of her naked curves had on him. The woman was ill, and he was a sick bastard for enjoying the few glimpses he’d seen of her sweetly-curved figure. She opened her eyes as he busied himself adjusting her covers. The moment her gaze fixed on him, she shrank back into the mattress. Despite the dim light, he knew his close proximity gave her plenty to see, and she was clearly frightened by the sight of him.

“I’ll not harm you, lass,” he growled softly as he turned his head so she could only see his unblemished profile.

Her reaction wasn’t unexpected, but he didn’t like the way it made him feel. In the past year since his return from the war, he’d grown used to the way people responded to his damaged body. Ewan jerked upright and turned away to hide his deformities. Her reaction to his mangled body troubled him far more than it should have.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed her eyes had closed again, and he drew in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. When their guest was out of the woods, Mrs. Selkirk and Aunt Wallis could tend to the woman until she was well enough to leave the keep. It would spare her any further horror when it came to his appearance.

His mother would no doubt vehemently protest the imposition of not having her sister at her beck and call. The idea of irritating the dowager countess sent a rush of vindictive pleasure through him. It would also give his aunt a short reprieve from his mother's habit of browbeating her sister. His gaze focused on the woman again, and he watched her carefully for a moment until he was certain she’d actually fallen asleep again.

Ewan crossed the floor to the window and pulled one of the curtains back slightly to look out over the landscape. It was still raining, almost as hard as it had been last night. Despite the gloomy weather, he still saw the beauty of the land he owned for as far as the eye could see. He’d always loved Argaty Keep, but it was difficult to take any pleasure from it given the pain within its walls. He looked back at his ill guest. She was a mystery, but he was certain the secret of who she was would be solved soon enough.

The soft knock on the bedroom door made him drop the curtain back into place so it closed out the daylight. The door opened and Mrs. Selkirk entered followed by Maggie. He grimaced at the sight of the young maid. He’d specifically told Asadi he didn’t want the girl in the room with him. The keep’s cook and housekeeper shook her head at him with a stern, silent look not to voice any objection. Like McCallum, Mrs. Selkirk had been at the keep since he was a boy and didn’t have any trouble taking him to task or overriding him in certain circumstances. The woman apparently considered this one of those moments.

“I brought Maggie tae help me with the sheets.”

“I could have helped you.”