The Lord and his Lady (Forbidden #2)

Chapter Twenty Four

Belinha and the footman each took an arm as they led Lord Caldwell over to the carriage. His halted, heavy grunts of pain echoed throught the torrent of the downpour as they situated him inside.

She climbed in after him and shut the door, lighting the candle lamp before reaching down. "I am going to take off your boot so the swelling does not increase, okay?" she said softly. Lord Caldwell wordlessly nodded. He rested his head back against the hard wood of the coach.

Belinha undid his boot and set it to the side, and even she could see through the dim atmosphere that it was badly swollen.

It did not look or seem to be broken but the doctor would have to determine that and she did not want to say anything in case she was wrong.

"My father," Lord Caldwell croaked out, adjusting himself in the velvet seats. "Don't tell him of the occurrence. He has only come to and it'll only be of inconvenience to him."

"Inconvenience?" she repeated. "You are his son. He deserves to know what happened. He will be worried, as fathers normally would. Even if he does not show it, that does not mean he loves or cares for you any less."

Lord Caldwell breathed sharply through his nose, gazing at her through half-lidded eyes and from under chocolate-dipped lashes.

They rode silently back to the manor, and Belinha made sure that the rocking of the carriage wasn't too harsh on his foot. But whether or not each movement hurt him, Lord Caldwell never showed it on his face. His lips quirked up into a faint grin, his teeth chattering in the silence.

"You seem to be coming to my rescue a lot, Miss Price," he said a moment later. "Remind me that I owe you more than my life."

"Just your life, not much more," she said, an attempt at a jest. He chuckled, wincing a little. "However, my lord, it is my duty to look after your family."

"Your duty is to keep my mother company."

"And yours was to keep me company. In a sense that is what you are doing."

"Yet you're the one keeping me company while I sit in a useless heap across from you." He let out a mocking laugh, though it did not sound as self-deprecating as Belinha would have guessed from the words. He genuinely sounded as if he derived humour from the situation in light of the pain he must have been going through.

She undid the knot of her long maroon fur pelerine tied at the neck, which had been given to her by the Duchess, and draped it around Lord Caldwell's figure.

"It may not be the warmest," she said, tucking it close to his body for warmth, "but it will help reduce the chances of you developing a fever."

A fever could lead to death and that was the last thing that this family needed. To the outside world, they were a happy family full of wealth and social status but truly, even as an outsider looking in, Belinha could sense the shaken dynamics ever present even through the love that they so clearly shared.

When they arrived at their destination, the door opened to reveal the Duchess with her hands around her mouth. Panic struck in her deep, dark orbs as she hurried over.

"What happened?!" she screamed, gathering the attention of the others in the foyer. Mrs headed over as well as Grayson who took over for Belinha in assistance.

"I merely tumbled off my horse, mother." Lord Caldwell grunted as he was helped over to the ground-floor living room to rest. "I will be fine."

"Look at the size of that foot! You're calling that 'fine'? And you're wet—you need to get undressed!"

Lord Caldwell waved away the valet that stepped forward at this and leaned back against the sofa. "Let me relax here a while before I am taken up to my room."