With This Kiss: Part Two Read Free

how he could calmly admit a need for help and still make it so clear that he was burning with rage at the very idea.
    “Of course,” John said, nodding to Featherstone, who preceded them up the stairs.
    Colin didn’t turn his head in her direction again. He simply walked next to John, managing to make it seem as if he were leading the Scottish lord, rather than the other way around.
    Grace stood at the bottom of the stairs, tears pouring down her face.
    Her mother ran out of the door at the back of the entry, and stood beside her, hand covering her mouth, watching as the three men reached the top of the stairs.
    “He—he—” Grace couldn’t make the words come.
    “He’s blind,” her mother said softly. “Thank God, that seems to be all of it. Did you see other injuries?” The three men turned down the corridor and out of sight.
    “All of it! ” The words came out more harshly than she intended.
    “Now Colin will have to leave the service,” the duchess said. “Don’t you see, Grace? The navy was killing him inch by inch, and now he can be done with it. It’s a cruel thing to have lost his sight, but I’m so glad that he’s alive.” She picked up her skirts and began running up the stairs.
    Grace hadn’t thought her parents understood how Colin felt. But they had watched him grow from a child. No one who loved him could have missed the fact that his eyes had turned to dark pools.
    A few minutes later her mother returned downstairs, accompanied by John.
    “He’s tremendously brave,” the duchess was saying, her voice catching.
    “He may well regain his eyesight,” John said encouragingly, patting her hand. “I have heard of similar cases in which sight was lost from a cannon flare rather than a physical injury.”
    “I just can’t bear it,” her mother said with a little sob. “His parents will be devastated. And they’re not even due back in the country until August! James will have to send someone after them immediately.”
    She collected herself. “Featherstone, please send a message to Lords, asking His Grace to return. And send a carriage to Dr. Pinnacle in Harrogate Street, with a request that he attend us immediately. Queen Adelaide herself told me that Pinnacle is a genius when it comes to ocular matters. He lives in Mayfair; with luck we’ll catch him at home.”
    As Featherstone began sending footmen hither and yon, the door opened again; it was Lily, returned from a ride in the park. A moment later, having heard the news, she was rocketing around the drawing room, touching things lightly. That was what Lily did when she was nervous.
    John, laughing, followed her around the room, teasing her as she rearranged her mother’s china ornaments.
    The doctor arrived and was escorted upstairs. Grace just sat on the sofa, her knees clamped together, her hands shaking. She couldn’t bring herself to speak. She didn’t belong here, in this too-bright room full of people speaking too loudly. She should be with Colin.
    It seemed hours before the doctor clattered his way back down the stairs, accompanied by her mother. Grace jumped to her feet.
    The doctor was shaking his head. “I really cannot say what will happen, as I didn’t dare to remove the bandage. But unless you can make your patient lie still in a dark room, Your Grace, he may well be permanently blind. In this sort of case, the patient must be protected from all disturbances, and repose in full darkness for six weeks. From what I understand, Captain Barry has had no proper care to this point. He should have had the bad blood let out after enduring that cannon flare, though luckily he seems lucid enough.”
    “We’ll keep him in bed,” her mother promised. “And in the dark.”
    When the Duchess of Ashbrook took that tone, she was never disobeyed. Colin would be flat on his back if she had to tie him to the bedposts.
    “You won’t have a problem for the next twenty-four hours,” the doctor said, pulling his cape over his