The Price of Pleasure Read Free Page B

kitchen. The rich beef broth simmering in a kettle over the hearth smelled delicious. Fleur hoped that nourishing food and good care would snatch Reed Harwood from the brink of death so he could return to England in full health.
    The last man Fleur had rescued hadn’t been in prison long and was able to return to England within a fortnight. Fleur feared Harwood wasn’t going to be as lucky. Her main worry was discovery. How many times could she bribe Lucien before the authorities caught up with her? How long before she was imprisoned as a spy herself? Fleur sighed. She couldn’t think of that now. Not when she had someone more important than herself to protect.
    Lisette turned from the pot she was stirring when she saw Fleur. “How is the patient?”
    “He’s sleeping. I gave him laudanum; he should be out until morning.”
    “Morning isn’t very far off,
ma petite.
Go to bed. There is nothing more you can do. The broth simmers nicely and will be ready when he awakens.”
    Fleur yawned. “I should sit with him in case he takes a turn for the worse.”
    “Let Gaston sit with him tonight. He can see to his needs better than you. You need your rest. Going into that prison again must have been difficult.” She gave Fleur a little push. “Go, I will fetch Gaston.”
    Fleur gave in; there was no arguing with Lisette where Fleur’s health was concerned. “Very well. Tell Gaston to call me should he need me.”
    Fleur made a detour to the sickroom before retiring to her own chamber. Though his lordship was sleeping, he moved restlessly in the bed, moaning softly. She heard him mutter something and leaned close to listen. Shock rolled through her when she heard his words.
    “Betrayed. Got to tell Porter. Dying . . . dying . . . ”
    Fleur’s hand went immediately to his brow, expecting to feel the heat of fever, but his skin was cool to her touch. She could only imagine what he’d been through. Something about this man struck a chord in her that went beyond pity. Something about the new Earl of Hunthurst was different from the other men she had plucked from prison and sent on their way to England.
    Just then Gaston arrived in the sickroom and urged Fleur to seek her own bed. Fleur didn’t know what she would do or how she would proceed without her faithful Lisette, Antoine and Gaston. They had fled with her after her husband had been taken away and remained after she began her undercover work for Lord Porter.
    “Call me if there is a change in his condition,” Fleur told Gaston.
    “Of course, Countess.”
    Fleur considered correcting him about addressing her as a countess; the Reign of Terror had stripped the title from her, but she decided her words would do little good. To her faithful servants, she would always be Countess Fleur Fontaine.

Chapter Two
     
    Reed was aware of little that went on around him during the following days. He knew by Fleur’s scent when she appeared at his bedside. But when he tried to bestir himself, his eyes refused to open. Somewhere in his befuddled brain he knew he was being fed laudanum. Sometimes he roused enough to swallow broth, gruel and rich puddings.
    Reed always knew when the doctor paid a call, for pain occurred with each visit. But as the days passed, his broken bones began to mend, his mind cleared, and broth and gruel no longer satisfied him. During his lucid moments, he decided to forgo the laudanum the next time it was offered to him. He needed more answers than Fleur had given him, and he wouldn’t get them as long as his mind remained in a fog.
    The servant was sitting with him one morning when Reed awakened. After Gaston helped him wash and clean his teeth, Reed asked for something more substantial to eat than his usual fare. He spoke in French, for he’d discovered that Gaston spoke no English.
    “I will fetch the countess for you,” Gaston said as he hurried from the chamber.
    Once he was alone, Reed levered himself into a sitting position with his uninjured