Page 33 of Captivating the Earl (Lords and Ladies in Love 5)

“What else do you offer in the way of treatment?” Hawk was glad Lizzie agreed with him about the bloodletting. The procedure was certainly helpful in some instances, but he’d never seen the benefit of that method for headaches.

“The only other advice I can offer is rest in the dark, laudanum, and a lavender-scented cool cloth for the head. In most instances, with this type of headache, it’s merely a matter of time passing.”

Hawk stepped to the door to encourage the physician to leave. “Thank you for coming, sir.”

If he’d been surprised at being so summarily dismissed, the physician did not show it. He nodded at Hawk as he walked past him. “Do you have laudanum, my lord?”

“I do.” Lizzie’s soft-spoken words were barely heard.

Once the physician was on his way, Hawk approached the bed. “Where is your laudanum, Lizzie?”

“In my small satchel. But I prefer not to take it just yet. Can you have the innkeeper’s wife send up some tea and a cool cloth? I also have lavender with me.”

“It sounds like you suffer these headaches regularly.”

Lizzie sighed. “Only since my father disappeared.”

Hawk fumbled through her satchel and placed the bottle of laudanum and a smaller bottle of lavender on a table next to the candle. “I will return shortly.”

After instructing the innkeeper to have tea and a cold cloth sent up, he returned to find Lizzie asleep. She looked so young and so peaceful. He hadn’t realized how tense she appeared when awake. No doubt she was concerned about having to face an inquisition at the Home Office.

He pulled up a chair and sat alongside her bed, thinking about the situation thus far. It would take quite a bit of persuasion to convince him that Lizzie had anything to do with her father’s betrayal. After his work with the Foreign Office, he’d learned how to read people. Despite her deception with Wycliff, there was nothing devious about Lizzie.

Leaning back in the chair, he crossed his arms and studied her. He tried very hard not to concentrate on the rise and fall of her full breasts as she breathed in and out.

Instead he turned his thoughts to the matter at hand. If the saddle girth had been purposely cut—and there was every reason to believe it had been—then Lizzie was in danger. Someone didn’t want her to talk to the Home Secretary. Someone who thought Lizzie either knew something or possessed damaging information that could reveal the person who had worked with Loverly to betray the Crown.

His attention was drawn to the open door as a young lad carried in a tray with tea things on it. Placed alongside the tea pot was a stack of clean cloths. Hawk stood and gestured to the small dresser. “Leave it there, if you will.”

After the youth had set the tray down and left the room, Hawk touched Lizzie’s shoulder. “Lizzie. Tea is here.”

Slowly she opened her eyes and offered him a smile that had his insides warming. He resisted the urge to run far, far away from Lizzie and the feelings he was beginning to have toward her.

Bloody hell.

…

Lizzie had been dreaming about the very man who sat next to her. She didn’t think the thumping of her heart was due to her headache. She was thinking she enjoyed the warmth radiating from the nearness of Hawk’s body and the scent of something spicy and male. She couldn’t help but smile at him as the candle behind her cast a soft glow over them both. “I would love a cup of tea.”

“Here, I will help you sit up and prepare the tea for you.”

He placed his hands under her arms and gently lifted her. She winced at the movement, and he stopped. “Did I hurt you?”

“I’m afraid any movement right now will hurt.”

His jaw tightened as he pulled her up the rest of the way, placing a pillow behind her back. “Is that comfortable? As comfortable as possible, given your headache?”

“Yes. It’s fine.”

He poured tea into one of the cups. “One sugar and a drop of cream, correct?”

“Yes. You are very attentive.”

“I try.” He grinned as he handed her the cup. “Do you care for some biscuits, or a small sandwich?”

“No. Just the tea right now. I’m still trying to settle my stomach. But please, you have some.”