Lovers Forever by Shirlee Busbee

Author:Shirlee Busbee
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2012-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“Oh, miss! Dear God! Don’t be dead! Thomas? Oh, Tom, do hurry!” cried Rose Laidlaw with great urgency. The limp body of her mistress was cradled in her arms as she sat on the ground. Rose looked around nervously, but nothing menacing met her gaze. Yet only moments before, incredibly, someone had tried to strangle the earl’s mistress!

The sound of running feet and her husband’s worried shout broke into Rose’s agitated thoughts. With relief, she saw her husband and his brother pushing their way through the short distance of trees and brush that separated her from them. When they reached her and spied the still form in her arms, they both gasped.

“What happened?” demanded Tom. “Did she faint?”

Wordlessly Rose showed them the crimson ribbon that bit deep into Tess’s neck.

“Never say someone tried to murder her!” John burst out incredulously.

“I don’t know what happened,” Rose replied almost tearfully. “Miss had said that she wanted to go for a walk, and it was only after she had been gone for several moments that I thought, with her being a stranger and all, that I should have gone with her. I told your mother where I was going and set out after her.” Tenderly she brushed aside one of Tess’s fiery curls from the pale face and said in trembling accents, “I was worried straightaway when I didn’t see her on the road, and then I remembered the old orchard and thought she might have decided to explore....” Her eyes widened with remembered terror. “Oh, Tom! It was horrible. I looked over here and there they were—miss fighting for all she was worth, and a gentleman, a tall gentleman in a greatcoat like the master’s, standing behind her, strangling her with this ribbon.” She gulped back tears. “I just stood there for a second staring, for I couldn’t hardly believe my eyes, and then miss sort of went limp and slumped. I must have made a sound, for the man suddenly looked over at me. Oh, I was so frightened that he was going to come after me, but he just threw her to the ground and ran away into the woods.”

Both men knelt beside the women, and while Tom comforted his sobbing wife, John quickly ascertained that the young lady, while unconscious and with a pitifully bruised and swollen neck, was alive. As Tom helped Rose to her feet, John swept Tess’s small body up into his arms, and together they hurried down the road toward the cottage.

Pandemonium reigned for several moments when they finally reached their destination. There were frightened exclamations by Sara and Jenny and a babble of explanations from the others. The only thing that gave comfort to any of them was the faint but steady rise and fall of Tess’s bosom.

Not wishing to leave her alone for a moment, and feeling the instinctive need to stick together, they all decided to set up a small bed in the kitchen. It made excellent sense. The kitchen was the heartbeat of the house, and everything needed for an invalid was readily at hand.

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