Freedom Read Free Page B

as quickly as he was able, dropping her to the mattress.
     
    “Thank you, Dr. Walcott, for your attention.” He wiped his hands down the front of his jacket, partly to straighten his rumpled clothing and partly to erase the tingling that spread like wildfire from where he had touched her.
     
    He turned swiftly, smoothing his disarrayed locks and straightening his waistcoat as he headed for the door. “I shall be in my study should you need me, doctor,” he said as he closed the remaining gap to the exit in three great strides. He avoided the terrified faces of Meggie and Carole as he paused and looked back over his shoulder. “I expect to be kept apprised of the situation with the—uh, my…guest.”
     
    “Of course, Your Grace,” Dr. Walcott replied. As the doctor leaned over the girl, Roxleigh turned and fled.
     
    ***
     
    Roxleigh strode into his study and poured a fair amount of whiskey from the decanter, then turned to lean against the sideboard as he drank. He could still feel her softness pressed up against the length of him, and he rubbed his palm down his patterned waistcoat once again to try to dissipate the sensations.
     
    He was furious at losing his composure in front of his staff. He felt so tightly drawn that if anyone came close right now they’d likely be in danger. Though it wasn’t anger he felt for the strange woman—no, it was something else. The feel of her and the way she spoke to him was thoroughly perplexing. How dare she speak to him in so familiar a tone; she was no one to him, but he was a peer. She had no right to address him without permission, much less rail at him the way she had.
     
    He downed the last bit of whiskey and turned back to the sideboard, setting the glass down with a determined thud. He didn’t understand why she affected him in such a manner. Whatever the doctor determined her malady to be, she would soon be sent away, regardless of whether he felt responsible for her injuries—
     
    She could not stay here. He would see to it that she received the best possible care somewhere else. Somewhere far from Eildon Hill Park. Such a violently discomforting feeling had never besieged him, but he was certain once she left he would be set to rights. The Season was beginning soon and he had a wife to find. He could not be distracted with this girl.
     
    “Your Grace, I have news,” Dr. Walcott said from the entry.
     
    “Come.” Roxleigh motioned toward his desk.
     
    The doctor scurried in as Roxleigh turned and leaned against the forward edge. He felt drained and was in no mood for further surprises. “Has she awakened so soon? I expected I would not hear from you for some time.”
     
    “Yes, Your Grace, she awakened momentarily.”
     
    “So she has gathered her wits?”
     
    The doctor gave him a wary glance. “No, Your Grace. That is, she came about, but I gave her laudanum to calm her because she was contrary. I cannot attest to whether or not she has regained her wits, but I am of the opinion that she has not…and she will not,” he said resolutely.
     
    Roxleigh read the man’s face, measuring the tension and judging the veracity of his pronouncement. In matters of the Crown he had the innate ability to precisely cut the chaff and remove the core of any situation, giving him not only a clear advantage but also the ability to complete transactions with lightning speed. He arrived, weighed, measured, decided, and departed, and in general those in his wake were left in awe. “What say you, then?” he asked, watching.
     
    Dr. Walcott returned his gaze carefully. “She should be taken immediately to Bethlem Hospital for further evaluation, most likely for committal.”
     
    Roxleigh stiffened. His breath stilled with disbelief. She’d been irreverent, of course, but she otherwise seemed fit—except for the injuries of the collision. He could not relegate her to the devil’s own crypt, no matter how contrary her nature. “No,” he said harshly. The