Captured by a Gentleman by Carole Mortimer

Author:Carole Mortimer [Mortimer, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-08-29T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 7

“I am so sorry, Ranulf. So very sorry. I did not realize it was you until it was too late.” All the time Darcy made her emotional apologies, she attempted to help him off with his jacket. She was anxious to see what damage she had inflicted upon his shoulder from the blow she had given him with the poker. “I did not mean to hurt you. I am so very—”

“If you apologize again, I am going to put you over my knee and spank you,” Ranulf managed to hiss between gritted teeth.

“You would not!” She looked scandalized.

“Oh, but I would.” The pain was so severe, Ranulf felt as if Darcy had broken every bone in his right shoulder. It would have been his head she broke if he had not turned at the last moment, causing the blow to glance off his shoulder instead.

“You are the one who told me to protect myself!”

“It is usual to wait until you are sure it is an intruder before striking.”

“Did you find whoever was outside?”

He nodded. “I did. Do not look so concerned, Darcy. No one is dead. It was merely a roebuck weighing up the possibility of a rival intruding on his territory. He seemed satisfied we posed no such threat and has departed.” He finally managed to ease the fitted jacket down his arm, and then off altogether, followed by his waistcoat. Each movement caused him great discomfort. “What are you doing?” he demanded as Darcy untied and took off his neckcloth and began to unfasten the buttons at his shirtfront.

Her fingers stilled as she blinked up at him. “We need to see whether I have broken any bones.”

Ranulf eyed her impatiently. “And if I have? What do you intend doing about it?”

“I know something about caring for such injuries. My father was always falling off his horse and breaking one bone or another,” she dismissed. “The local doctor became quite impatient with him, so Mama and I became quite adept at setting and strapping his injuries ourselves.”

He scowled. “Your father sounds like a fool.”

“How dare you?” she gasped. “My papa was the best man in the world. A little prone to accidents, admittedly…”

“And a terrible horseman.”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to make me hate you?”

“Why not?” Ranulf scowled as he finished unfastening the shirt one-handed, the other being slightly incapacitated. “It seems only fair when you are not my favorite person at the moment either. Do not cry,” he instructed hastily as Darcy blinked back the sudden tears which had appeared in her eyes. “I apologize. I do not hate you, and your father was the best of men. And a skilled horseman.”

“You are overdoing it now, Ranulf.” She snorted. “Papa was a mediocre horseman at best. But he did so love to go riding,” she added wistfully.

And Ranulf could see how much Darcy had loved and admired her papa. Could hear in her voice, as she spoke of her parents, how much she had loved and admired the couple she had so recently lost.

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