Page 44 of Lyon’s Obsession (The Lyon’s Den Connected World #91)
“I mean… to go…” Alexander attempted to rise.
Thompson pushed him down again. “It is too dangerous. The bullet could move into your heart.”
Duncan leaned over him. “If you die on this journey, I will revive you long enough to kill you again. You cannot destroy my daughter nor your sister nor me with your death. You hear me, boy? You must will yourself to live.” He turned to one of the others. “Bring that wagon around!”
Thompson warned, “I must object, sir. Moving him is too dangerous.”
“I understand,” Duncan declared. “Your concerns are so noted. Now bind the wound until we might return him to Duncan Place.”
With a frown and a doleful nod that Alexander felt more than actually saw, Benjamin did as Duncan instructed.
“Here is a door, sir,” Orson and Graham told him, but Alexander concentrated on the speck of light that had sneaked under his lids. It reminded him of his mother’s hair color, and he considered it a good sign.
“I have the wagon,” another of their men announced.
“Slide your arms under him and rotate him onto the flat of the door.” The effort not to cry out had been a mighty obstacle to overcome, but soon Alexander was in place, and his family was lifting the wooden frame and him into the air and carrying him towards a waiting wagon.
“Give me the reins,” Duncan ordered. “Orson and Hartley, you are in charge of the investigation. Thompson, with me. Keep the door steady.”
As they traveled the miles at a steady clip, Thompson kept pressure on the wound to stanch the flow of blood. The occasional rut in the road caused Alexander to bite his tongue twice, but he did not call out. He meant to stay alive to say his farewells to both Theodora and Annalise.
“Did we… capture… all?” he asked Thompson.
“Quite a few,” his brother said. “Yates and Honfleur and a few dozen or more. Now, you must rest. We will be at Duncan Place soon.”
“Someone will… fetch… my sister?” he asked.
“Beaufort and Lionel went after her,” Thompson assured. “Neither will permit anyone to harm her.”
Alexander remembered nothing of the rest of the journey. The pain only eased when he slept.
Before he knew what was what, someone jostled him awake. Duncan was barking orders to Mr. Fields, and Alexander was again being carried, this time up the stairs at Duncan Place.
“Leave him on the door until Mr. Rheem can arrive,” Thompson ordered. “We will require clean bandages and plenty of hot water, Mrs. Chester.”
Alexander could hear Theodora’s screech, but there was no means for him to respond.
“I will require assistance in extracting the bullet if Rheem cannot be located.”
“My hands are steady,” Aaran Graham’s voice announced. Alexander had not realized Graham had ridden by the wagon as an outrider.
“Is he dying?” Theodora pleaded from her place on the other side of the room. Alexander imagined either Duncan or the lady’s maid Winston was holding her.
Her father said, “Alexander has lost more blood than we would like. Yet, with our family’s prayers and determination, he will not die. They are to bring Marksman’s sister here. Please agree to assist her, Dora.”
“I wish to tend to Alexander,” Theodora declared stubbornly.
“You and Lady Annalise may take turns caring for him. Such is what my son would wish,” her father declared.
Alexander could hear the lack of compromise in Duncan’s tone, but he was too exhausted to do more than lie upon the wooden door and count his own heartbeats until a soft hand claimed his.
“I am here, my love. I shall always be here,” Dora said as she kissed his dirt-and blood-smeared knuckles. “Please stay with me.”
Alexander did not know how long they remained as such, but soon he could hear Mr. Rheem barking orders to Duncan’s servants. “Thompson, you will assist me. We will require more water and towels.”
“Here, sir,” Mrs. Chester called from somewhere across the room.
“Everyone except Thompson and Mrs. Chester should leave. Wait downstairs until we have a need of you.”
“May I not stay?” Theodora pleaded.
“It would be best if you wait with your father, my lady,” Rheem instructed. “You know I will do my best by his lordship.”
Theodora had forgotten Emma was also waiting at Duncan Place for news of the government’s maneuvers today until her ladyship’s arm came around Dora’s waist.
“They will do all possible to save Alexander. Come. You and I will go back to your quarters, where we shall offer our prayers for Mr. Rheem’s steady hand.”
“Could we not use Richard’s former quarters across the hall?” Theodora pleaded. “I cannot be so far from Alexander.”
“Richard’s quarters are perfect,” Emma declared. “My dear Orson watched over me from there, and we shall do the same for Alexander.” Even so, Theodora tarried at the door until Mrs. Chester closed it to prevent others from viewing Mr. Rheem’s efforts.
Nearly thirty minutes had passed when Theodora heard the commotion below, but she had moved a chair outside of Richard’s door, where she could watch the door behind which they worked upon Alexander and hear some of what was being said regarding the man she loved.
“I shall see who has arrived,” Emma said softly as she rose from her own chair beside the one Dora occupied.
Theodora thought she had nodded her agreement, but she could not be confident such was true.
She turned Alexander’s ring on her finger, over and over again, saying a silent prayer for his life with each rotation.
Time after time. She was counting the minutes since the door had closed.
Behind the door, she could hear Rheem’s deep voice presenting orders and her brother Benjamin’s even deeper voice responding, but Dora could not make out their words.
She repeated the prayer once more and continued to stare at the door separating her from the man she loved.
At length, she could hear Emma on the stairs. “It is this way. We are all waiting for Mr. Rheem, who is the surgeon, to finish his ministrations. Lady Theodora and I wished to be close.”
“I warned him not to trust either my uncle or my cousin,” another female said, and Theodora looked up to see Alexander’s sister.
Dora wanted to lash out at the girl, for, if Alexander had not wished to protect his sister, he would not now be dancing with death, but Dora knew such would displease him.
Alexander had risked everything to save Annalise Dutton, and so Theodora stood and opened her arms to the girl.
Thankfully, Alexander’s sister accepted Dora’s gesture, and they embraced each other until Emma said, “Lady Annalise, here, sit beside Dora. I will ask Mr. Fields for another chair.”
“Where is my father?” Theodora asked.
“He and Lord Graham are waiting below,” Emma explained.
“Did Beaufort capture Lady Caroline?” Theodora asked as she returned to her seat and pulled Annalise down beside her. “Thompson said she is the one who shot Alexander.”
Emma started to say she did not know, but Lady Annalise explained, “Caroline returned to Amgen House to prevent me from leaving and to take out revenge, for she figured I was involved somehow. Lionel arrived before her, but I foolishly sent him to fetch a hack. As I gathered my few belongings, Caroline returned and was determined to hold me accountable for what happened today. She found me in the weapons’ room. ”
“Did you also have one of those in the house?” Lady Emma asked, though for what reason, Dora did not know, but she supposed it was to keep the conversation going and their minds off of Alexander’s fight with death.
“There is one here, and Dora insists I learn fencing, though I am far less competent than is she. Our Theodora is very accomplished in a variety of weapons. Even my dear Lord Orson says so.”
“I have used both a bow and a sword since my uncle—well, I suppose he was never my uncle.” Lady Annalise paused to look at the door. “The extent of my true family lies behind that door fighting for his life because of me.”
“It was not your fault,” Lady Emma insisted.
“But it was,” Lady Annalise corrected. “Alexander wished to be the one to capture Jacobi Moreau because of how the man has treated me.”
“Alexander wanted nothing more than to save you and your mother,” Theodora said as tears rolled down her face. “When he first received word of where your mother is buried, he immediately sent men to exhume her body and bring her to Marksman Abbey to be interred as the Countess of Marksman.”
“He never told me he had found her grave,” Lady Annalise admitted.
“What of Lady Caroline and the weapons’ room?” Emma redirected their conversation.
Annalise said, “While Moreau and Caroline were in France, Lord Beaufort and my brother have been teaching me how to use the rapier properly. Caroline has always beaten me, but not today.”
“When he wakes, Alexander will be so proud of you,” Theodora declared.
“Will he wake?” the girl pleaded.
Lady Emma pointed a finger at, first, Dora and then Lady Annalise. “Duncan’s sons never—I repeat, never—leave behind those they love, and Alexander Dutton loves each of you most dearly.”
“He does,” Dora and Lady Annalise said together.
Emma asked, “How did you come to know Lord Beaufort? The last I heard, Beaufort was to be ‘courting’ Caroline Moreau.”
“My cousin—pardon, it shall take me a while to think of Caroline as anything other than my cousin,” Annalise said.
“Such is only natural,” Emma assured. “Now what of Beaufort?”
“When Caroline and my uncle returned to France, the servants no longer came to the house. Every few days, the cook would deliver a less than desirable meal or two. One evening, I attempted to light the fire to warm the meal, but cooking is not one of my skills. Lord Beaufort noted the smoke pouring from the kitchen window and came to save me. At first, he told me he lived nearby.”
Both Theodora and Emma said, “He would.”
Lady Annalise frowned. “Am I missing something?”
“Just that Navan Beaufort suits himself first,” Lady Emma warned.
“Do not set your heart on him. His lordship is the only one of his family who survived a slaughter, and that was because his mother had hidden him away in a secret room. His lordship may appear debonair on the outside, but he is quite shattered.”
“As are all of Lord Macdonald Duncan’s sons,” Dora added. “Each has lived through some sort of tragedy and was the only survivor. That is, until Alexander claimed you.”
Lady Annalise shifted uncomfortably, but she said, “As to my relationship with Lord Beaufort, I place no claims on the man’s affections.
His lordship assisted me in saving Lord Amgen’s kitchen and perhaps the man’s house.
After that, he would often bring me meals and keep me company.
I was in the house alone and forbidden to leave and quite frightened by the prospect that my uncle did not mean to return for me.
I feared being alone in London with no contacts.
I knew Lord Beaufort’s countenance from when he called upon Caroline, and we had exchanged a few ‘good day’ comments.
Naturally, when Alexander came to tell me of our relationship, he found me in the weapons’ room.
At first, I feared him, and we fought. Beaufort saw the confrontation through the window and came looking for me.
From then on, both Alexander and Beaufort have brought me meals and kept me company when no one was around.
” Lady Annalise sighed heavily. “Both gentlemen were extremely charming.”
Before either Dora or Emma could warn Lady Annalise further regarding Navan Beaufort’s inability to commit to any woman beyond his mistress, the door to Alexander’s room opened to expose a disheveled and weary-looking Harlem Rheem.
“I have removed the remnants of the bullet which passed through Marksman’s shoulder, much as it did with your father, Theodora.
As it was with Lord Duncan, I can give Lord Marksman an even chance at both survival and death.
I have dressed the wound with basilicum powder to increase the flow of fluids to heal the wound.
I will call again in the morning. You must keep his fever down. ”
“I shall tend him,” Theodora said, “just as I did my father.”
“And I shall assist,” Lady Annalise declared.
Mr. Rheem’s eyebrow rose in question.
“Alexander’s sister,” Theodora explained. “He found her, and he is bringing his mother’s remains home to Derbyshire. And he has asked me to marry him. Alexander will fight for each of us, and we shall lift him up in our arms and our hearts.”