Secrets of the Heart Read Free Page B

Madeline, and knelt at her side.
    She rolled onto her back and groaned. A fine mess. “Shakespeare? Is he hurt?”
    “Are you all right?” Hally clutched Madeline’s hand in her own. “Maddie?”
    She lay still, trying to assess the damage. “I believe I may have broken my arm.” Tears stung her eyes. “Where’s Shakespeare?” She prayed he bore no serious injuries.
    A shadow fell over Madeline. “I’ve already looked at him. He’s shaken, temporarily lame, but on his feet. He will be taken to Selby’s stables to begin the healing process. Unlike your horse, young lady, I suggest you not move.”
    The gentleman had returned. And here she lay, flat on her back, her riding skirt disheveled, an indelicate position, indeed. She did not need a man now, especially this very interesting man.
    She squeezed Hally’s hand. “I’m not presentable,” she whispered.
    “This is hardly the time to be concerned about one’s appearance,” Hally whispered back, smoothing Madeline’s skirt down toward her ankles, a gesture that reminded Madeline of her maid making the bed. She’d have laughed if she weren’t completely mortified and on the verge of fainting. Her arm felt like glass under pressure, about to shatter.
    “You took quite a tumble.” He dropped to his knees. “May I be of assistance?”
    Madeline tried to sit up again, determined not to appear weak. She prided herself on her independence and strength, but her body rebelled and collapsed as if she were a marionette whose strings had suddenly been severed. “Who are you, sir?”
    “I’m Devlin Grayson of Ravensmoore. Where does it hurt?”
    “My arm.” Madeline gingerly cradled her left arm and tried to blink back the tears. “You’re Lord Ravensmoore?”
    He nodded.
    She felt suddenly vulnerable, looking into this stranger’s intense gaze. “I couldn’t prevent it.”
    “Lie still, please.”
    “Everything happened so fast. It’s been so long since I’ve been on the hunt field,” Madeline said, embarrassed. “Poor Shakespeare. I hope he’s not hurt. I’m such a fool.”
    “You are no fool. This could happen to anyone. And your horse appears to be recovering from the shock. A fine horse. And you have given him a fine name.”
    She gazed up into his caring green eyes. “Thank you.”
    “May I ask your name before I examine you? That is, if I have your permission?”
    She found it difficult to concentrate. “Lady Madeline Whittington.” Her head throbbed. “Examine me? Are you a doctor? No, that wouldn’t be right, would it? Not if you’re Ravensmoore.”
    “I will be soon.”
    Fleeting thoughts of Papa suffering in the hospital filled her mind with fear and anger. The doctors had not helped him. He had died under their care. The slightest of remembrances bubbled to the surface of her thoughts. She turned her face away from him and looked at Hally.
    “Lady Madeline,” Hally pleaded, glancing across at Ravensmoore. “He is offering you his medical skills.”
    Madeline turned back and looked him in the eye, trying to catch the elusive memory. Where had she seen him before? “Something is not right.” The memories, one after another, tumbled into her consciousness and revealed themselves as they broke through her defenses and exploded into the present. “I remember you.”
    “Remember me?” He paused and studied her, searching her face for details, some recollection of the past.
    “You were at the Guardian Gate when we took my father to the hospital.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You killed him.”
    Ravensmoore paled. “What do you mean?”
    “Lady Madeline! What an unkind thing to say.” Hally looked at Ravensmoore. “She must have hit her head. Maddie, have you lost all reason?”
    “My father, Lord Richfield, bled to death because of your ineptness.” A ripple of pain burst up her arm.
    “Lady Madeline—of Richfield?” he asked, turning a shade paler. “Your father? I… I do remember. I’m very