Page 64 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman (The Marlow Family Secrets #3)
The thought of walking had been far easier than the act, and for the first two days of being without splints Rob favoured using the crutches, but he was determined to need no more than a stick by the time he went to John’s, which would be Christmas Eve, three days hence.
So, he forced himself to learn to balance on two sticks and then one, walking every half an hour, even though his thigh hurt and his leg swelled.
He practised until by the day he left he believed he had established a style that made it look a lot easier to walk than it felt.
It took a long time to descend the stairs as the leg was stiff, and weak. He could only bend his right leg, so he stepped onto the left using the stick on that side.
Uncle Robert had taken his family out so Rob’s cousins did not observe his struggle.
When his father arrived Rob was waiting, dressed to go outdoors for the first time in weeks. He stood, gripping the head of the walking stick firmly. His father smiled. ‘Your mother is awaiting you at John’s.’
Rob nodded .
A footman opened the door, and then there were more steps to be navigated, to reach the pavement.
A groom held open the carriage door. Rob handed the stick to his father, gripped the sides and hopped up the step. Inside the carriage, he balanced his stiff leg on the far seat, as his father ascended.
The door was closed and Rob gritted his teeth as the carriage jolted into motion. The bone may have set but the tissue about it was still healing.
‘Mary and Drew are not joining us for Christmas,’ his father said.
‘Why?’
‘George has mumps.’
‘Poor lad.’
‘I thought you would like to know that Mary said she doubted Caro would have accompanied them even if they had come.’
Rob nodded, selfishly glad that when he met Caro again it would be on his terms, not when he was weak and less able to do anything as he wished.
His father talked of Rob’s younger brothers’ excitement when they returned from school, and Harry’s indifference when he had come from college. The everyday conversation made what had happened seem more distant.
‘Did you organise for my curricle and horses to be moved to John’s?’ Rob asked. He hoped in a week or so he would be able to drive himself, then he would visit Caro.
His father nodded. ‘I did.’
When they reached John’s, Rob had barely got through the door before Helen and Jenny came running. ‘Robbie!’
‘Now be careful, girls, he had a fall from his horse and his leg was injured quite badly, you must handle Robbie with care for a little while. ’
More hesitantly, Helen wrapped her arms about his neck and hugged him. ‘We have not seen you for weeks. Everyone has been wondering where you were.’ She touched a point above his left eye. ‘You have a scar. Was that from your fall too?’
‘Yes, I hit my head, and I was laid up for a little while, but I am on the mend now.’
The rest of the children raced down the stairs. ‘Robbie!’
‘Let your brother settle himself in a chair! Then you can greet him!’ his father shouted over the noise.
Climbing up a flight of stairs proved harder than walking down, and his slow ascent was observed not only by his younger brothers and sisters but by Harry who waited at the top.
‘Where in London did you ride so fast you had such a bad fall?’ Harry queried.
‘The ground was damp.’
‘Did the horse turn over on top of you? Was it injured?’
‘No, I was the unlucky one.’ Rob hobbled on towards the family drawing room, like the Pied Piper as the children followed.
When he sat down, a stool was brought for him to rest his left leg on, and that was where he stayed, even during dinner, because he could not yet spend an hour with his knee bent while sitting in a dining chair.
After dinner, Harry returned before the women, and sat with Rob drinking port and telling him some amusing society stories he might have missed.
Rob told Harry about the lease he had signed for their uncle’s property. When Rob said it aloud, he felt proud, and it was definitely not ignited by inferiority.