If He's Noble by Hannah Howell

Author:Hannah Howell
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: ZEBRA
Published: 2015-07-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Simeon woke at the sound of the door opening. The knot of fear he had been unable to shake since he had discovered he had been locked in began to ease. He sat up on the narrow bed and watched the young woman who, he hoped, had rescued him. The doubt he now had was because of how she had locked him inside and he wanted a good explanation for that before he even began to trust her. There were several good reasons for her to do that, such as an understandable fear for her own life or fear of a robbery. Despite all her talk of some sort of vision prompting her actions, she did not know him.

Then he noticed she was walking like an old woman, a slow shuffling step and bent over ever so slightly. He quickly went to take the tray from her hands and saw how pale she was. Her eyes were dark with a pain she could not hide from anyone.

“What has happened to you?” he demanded, setting the tray on the table before turning back to her.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” she answered, the firm annoyance in her voice weakened by its unsteadiness.

“Did I say I was worried? No. I worry about my sister, about being locked in here when I do not even know who you are, and I worry about that cursed murderous aunt of mine but I do not worry about this. This, whatever it is, is done and needs tending to. Did you bring that salve you used on me?”

“Yes. It is on the tray. I thought you might wish more of it. And, I am fine. ’Tis but fresh and the pain will soon pass.”

“Then it will do so much faster with the salve. Sit down and undo your gown.”

“I beg your pardon?”

He laughed softly as he went and pulled the wine shelf in place then shut the door before returning to her. “Sit and undo your gown. You will not shock me and you need to help those wounds on your back heal.”

“How do you know I have any wounds upon my back?”

“Because she used to do the same to me, several times before I grew too big for her to easily do it and make me sit still for it. Is she still upstairs?” he asked as she undid her gown and, while holding it close in the front to try to maintain her modesty, tugged it down to her waist in the back.

Simeon winced. Augusta had not lost her touch. The marks of the caning were long, criss-crossing the woman’s smooth, slender back from shoulder to waist.

“Nay,” the woman whispered in reply. “She came looking for answers and I gave her none she wanted to hear. Somehow they knew that you had come into the alley and wanted to know if I had seen you. They did not trust my reply when I said I had not.”

“Did you tell her any of the other things you can see or know about her?”

“Nay, I wanted to.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.