Gentleman's Guide 01 - His Impetuous Debutante (13 page)

She wanted to cry out against the
throbbing discomfort in both her ankle and arm but suspected that
would only increase the pain in her head. Phoebe refused to give
into tears. She deserved each injury and would not cower now. She
would wait and do that when she was in her bed, safe again, with
her head buried under the covers. As much as she would love to give
over to self-pity at the moment, she didn’t have the option,
knowing it would be long past dark when she finally made it back to
the house.

Phoebe could just imagine what Noah
would have to say now. Maybe he would send her back to the country
for the rest of the Season. There was a hopeful thought. The Season
had brought her nothing but weariness. It would be nice to go home
again. Yes, that is what she would do. Make him so angry he would
ship her home to be with her sisters. Feeling a bit lighter in
mood, she continued up the path, wishing she had an idea of how far
away she had ridden.

A half hour after the horse had run
off, Phoebe could walk no further and decided to seek shelter
instead. Night descended quicker than she anticipated and she was
unlikely to make it back until long after everyone had retired. All
she could hope for was that everyone believed her to be in bed and
she could continue her walk in the morning. Then she would find a
way into the house with nobody the wiser. Besides, she was hurt,
dizzy, and nauseous and the pressure of the boot gave no doubt that
her ankle had swollen considerably. If she could rest, she knew she
would feel much better by dawn. At least she hoped. With that
thought, she began to scan the woods for the shed she had passed
earlier. Hopefully it would offer shelter and warmth.

At the next curve in the road she
spotted the structure between the trees and limped in that
direction. Once in the clearing she was amazed to see it wasn’t a
shed, but a small stable with a cabin on the other side. For the
first time since her fall, Phoebe smiled with relief. At least she
wouldn’t have to spend the night in some shed.

Phoebe let herself into the cabin and
found it to be nicely furnished, with an ample supply of wood by
the fireplace. Additionally it was clean and she wondered who came
here before she remembered Martin and Janine talking about the
secret cabin in the woods. This must be it. Shutting the door
behind her, she approached the fireplace first to get a fire
started. Next she made her way out the back of the cabin, to the
stream for fresh water and filled a bucket, before returning to the
house and taking another out to fill. One would be for drinking and
the other to soak her foot, hoping the cold water would help reduce
some of the swelling.

With the fire going and the cabin
beginning to warm, Phoebe set about gathering the items she would
need close at hand, knowing once she sat down, she was unlikely to
get back up again for a while. After locating rags, blankets and a
pillow, she brought them to the chairs by the fire before finding
tea in the cupboard. She put a kettle over the fire to heat.
Finally, Phoebe had everything close at hand to see her through the
night.

After removing her jacket, she pulled
her arm free of the blouse. She would have to see to her arm first.
Some of the blood had dried, and the cloth stuck to the wound.
Phoebe winced when she pulled the material away, causing the
bleeding to start again. Dipping a cloth in the cool water, she
applied it to her arm and was reminded of the throbbing in her
ankle and head. Setting the cloth aside, she put her arm back into
the ruined blouse, letting the blood soak into the fabric once
again. She then set to removing her boot and stocking. Just as she
had suspected, it had swollen considerably, and continued to do so
now that the boot was no longer a confinement.

Intent on being comfortable first, she
fixed a cup of tea, which she sat beside her. Then carefully
lifting her skirt above her knee she lifted the injured foot and
placed it in the bucket. The icy cold water sent a jolt through her
veins and she shook for a moment. Soon her foot began to numb and
she returned her attention to her arm. She kept the cold, wet cloth
in place until the bleeding stopped, pausing on occasion to sip her
tea.

*

The riding party returned shortly
before darkness fell. Laughing, they ran into the house, leaving
the stable hands to see to the horses. Taylor lagged behind,
wanting to see to his own horse, which was his habit.

“
You requested to see me?”
Martin asked the stable hand.

“
Yes, my lord. I am
concerned about one of the guests.”

“
Which one and
why?”

“
The lady referred to as
Lady Phoebe hasn’t returned.”

Just the mention of the name intruded
on Taylor’s thoughts and he brought his head up.

“
No. She didn’t accompany
us,” Martin answered and patted the nose of a horse.

“
She rode out after the
party had left.”

Taylor stopped what he was doing,
ground his teeth, and walked out of the stall.

“
She hasn’t returned yet?”
He asked the question, knowing how obvious the answer, but needing
clarification.

“
No, but her horse did
some time ago. I was hoping she was with everyone else.”

Taylor cursed under his breath. “Which
way did she go?” He began to put the saddle back on his own
horse.

“
The same direction as the
riding party.” The man gestured.

“
Do you want me to go with
you?” Martin asked.

“
Tell Noah first,” Taylor
shouted back as he rode off.

He rode in the direction they had
taken; Taylor wondered where the hell she could be. They hadn’t
seen her, so she must have taken another trail, but which one? He
could be looking for her all night. Taking the first path he came
to, Taylor veered to the left, deciding to try each path until he
rode as far as they had earlier. Surely she hadn’t gone very
far.

When he had ridden for almost half an
hour and was ready to turn back, the smell of smoke caught his
attention. Stopping, he tried to determine its location and headed
in that direction. Riding slowly, he found the cabin and in his
gut, knew he found Lady Phoebe.

He tied his horse up in the shelter
provided and approached the house. He was angrier than he could
ever remember being. While he had been worried sick, she had
probably been sitting peacefully before the fire, determined to be
defiant, not a care in the world. Well perhaps he should do
something Noah hadn’t yet done. A blistering on the backside was
long overdue.

Taylor approached the door quietly and
decided a little scare wouldn’t harm her either. She needed to be
reminded how vulnerable she truly was. He turned the handle of the
door without making a sound.

*

Phoebe had heard the horse approach
and was afraid it was the person who had fired the shot, or worse.
She pulled the blanket up to her chin, and draped it over the
bucket. No sense alerting them of how defenseless she was at the
moment. She picked up the poker from the fireplace and waited
silently as the door opened.

“
You reckless little fool.
Do you have any idea the trouble that could be brewing if anyone
else besides Martin knows you are missing?”

Phoebe started at his voice. He was
the last person she expected to appear, yet wasn’t really
surprised. Holding tightly to the poker, afraid of the anger she
heard in his voice, she pulled the blanket tighter around her,
though she knew he wouldn’t physically hurt her. She could only
just imagine his reaction when he found out she managed to injure
herself once again. “I was hoping everyone would think I was still
in my room.”

“
Luckily, most everyone
does,” he ground out and came around the chair to face her,
stopping short. “Come on. I will take you back.”

“
I can’t. Just return
without me and send a horse back in the morning,” she retorted,
becoming more miserable with every moment.

“
As much as I would like
to leave you here, that is not an option. Now get up so I can
return you to your brother so he can deal with you.” He towered
over her.

Phoebe’s eyes widened as she looked up
at him. Why was he so angry? Stupid question, she already knew.
Once again he was rescuing her from herself and was finally fed up
with his role. “I said I can’t. Please go.” She turned her face
back toward the fire, fighting her tears and hoping he would leave
her in peace.

“
I am not in the mood to
argue. I’ll carry you if I have too.” He grabbed the blanket,
pulled it from her and went completely still.

Phoebe whipped her head around and
looked up, her mouth opened to explain but his stormy expression
caused her to hold her tongue.

First his eyes went to her leg, bare
from the knee down, resting in a bucket of water. He scanned up her
body and Phoebe’s face heated with embarrassment, though she
preferred to think of it as anger. She only partially wore her
blouse, revealing her chemise and corset. It was the red rag tied
around her arm that stopped him, and his eyes flicked up to her
face for an explanation.

She stared back at him, part in fear
and part in pain. “It is not as bad as it looks,” she tried to
offer lightly. “Just a minor mishap.”

Quickly he searched her body for any
additional injuries but found none before noticing the poker
clenched in her fist. With half a smile, he took it from her. “I
believe you can put this down. For the moment you are safe, though
my first intent when walking in the door was to blister your
bottom.” He lifted the poker from her hand and placed it back with
the other tools, then turned his attention back to Phoebe. He
kneeled to the side of the chair, intent on looking at her
arm.

He began to lift the bandage. “Don’t
do that. It will start bleeding again.”

Taking his hands away, he sat back on
his heels. “Mind telling me what happened?”

“
Will you be angry?” She
sank further into the chair and tried to put distance between
them.

“
I am already angry so why
don’t you just tell me. Did you fall from the horse and cut your
arm?”

“
Of course I didn’t fall
from my horse.” Her spine went rigid and Phoebe scowled at him. “I
am insulted you would suggest such a thing.”

He leaned back, eyes wide with shock
apparently. “Then perhaps you should explain why your horse
returned to the stable without you and there is a bandage tied
around your arm.”

“
That is simple. I was
shot, fell down and hit my head. The noise spooked the
horse.”

He stared at her, his mouth
open.

“
We had just stopped by
the stream for a drink and I happened to be standing next to her
when there was a gunshot from across the stream. Naturally, the
horse bolted before I could get a hold of her. When the person
didn’t show themselves, I walked until I came to this
cabin.”

Taylor’s face paled. “How far did you
have to walk?” He moved toward her foot and gently lifted it out of
the bucket.

Phoebe winced at his touch. “I don’t
know. About half an hour. I wasn’t walking very
quickly.”

“
I can see that,” he
muttered while examining the swollen appendage. It was starting to
show bruising on the side. Gently he placed it back in the bucket
and turned his attention to the arm. Phoebe waited while he
unwrapped the bandage to examine the wound. “I told you it wasn’t
as bad as it looked. It bled a lot, but for the most part it is a
minor injury.”

*

Taylor picked up another cloth and
began to wash the wound, not sure what to say. She had been shot,
but didn’t seem fazed by the incident. It was more than a minor
injury and the shot had done more than just graze her. If it had
been just slightly over a bit, it would have struck bone. At least
it had gone all the way through. It probably needed stitching, but
he was sure the materials were not available in the cabin. Finding
a clean cloth, he bound her arm once again, never saying a word.
Next he looked at the bruise on her head. When he touched it, she
winced. He stopped immediately. “How do you really feel?” He asked
with concern.

She closed her eyes. “Humiliated,
angry, miserable, dizzy and nauseous.” She opened her eyes slightly
and gave him a weak smile. “And how are you this fine
day?”

“
Better than you, I am
sure,” he grunted. Concern grew in him. Her arm would heal and she
would probably have a scar. Somehow he didn’t think a scar would
bother her. Her ankle would also heal in time. She just needed to
stay off of it for a while. It was her head wound that bothered
him. The dizziness and nausea were expected, but head wounds were
also unpredictable. It would be too dangerous to take her back to
the house without knowing the extent of her head injury.

He picked up the soiled rags and
bucket of red tinged water and walked out the back door where he
emptied the contents. He refilled the bucket with fresh water,
which he placed on a counter in the kitchen area. Finally he
returned to her and made himself comfortable in the chair across
from her. Phoebe waited.