Part 7 (1/2)
”Yes, your knee is quite swollen because of it.”
Erva pushed down the fluff that was her skirts and looked at her leg, still in its ruined stocking. It was swollen. There was no denying that. And it really was painful to walk on. She pulled her skirts up on her other leg to see just how bad the situation was. Oh, it wasn't good, once compared.
”Oh dear, you're right,” Erva agreed. She looked over her shoulder at Will. ”I didn't think it was this bad.”
His face had returned to granite, and he stared down at her legs. He glanced at her eyes, then inhaled sharply. ”I'll...have to take better care of you, so you don't walk as much.”
The sentiment was...incredibly sweet. So much so Erva could hardly believe he'd said it. But then again, weren't people of this time trained to be so...mannerly?
”I'm very sorry, my lady,” Will whispered.
”Well, I wouldn't say she has to be off it completely,” the doctor muttered as he faced his tools. ”Does good to walk a little. Brings back the health to it faster. But she did over walk today. I'll clean this up,” the doctor already dabbed some yellow brown tincture on a cloth and returned to her knee. ”Then you can put ice on it, General, later.”
”I can?” Will's voice cracked.
”A little ice does a world of good with a sore knee like this. This will sting, my lady.”
As the doctor applied the cloth to her wound, she thought he hadn't been lying. Erva was sure he was trying to be gentle, but whatever the ointment he'd put on the cloth cut through her skin to her bones. She hissed and clenched her hands in her skirts, turning her head more into Will's shoulder. Instantly he laid both his large hands on her arms, one soothed her with a gentle caress, the other just held her in place.
”Terribly sorry, my lady, but that part is all done,” Dr. Goodfellow said cheerfully. ”Now to bandage the wound.” Which he did in expert time. He was a field doctor for an army, after all. Erva was sure that her little cut was the least of the injuries he'd ever seen.
The diminutive doctor finished with a smile. ”So, does the lord and lady prefer brandy?”
Neither Will nor Erva answered, not knowing why the question was asked in the first place.
Dr. Goodfellow snorted a laugh. ”'Tis for the pain. I think it best to have two or three gla.s.ses of whatever spirits the two of you enjoy.”
Erva nervously giggled, waiting for Will to say something, because something needed to be said about the doctor seeming to think they were a couple. She couldn't talk, because...honestly, she didn't want to. Will chuckled much the same way, but he didn't say a word.
”I also think it best if the lady remains off her leg for the rest of the night. General Hill, would you mind carrying her?”
Erva wanted to protest, but before she could, Will said, ”It would be my honor, doctor.”
”I know you like to visit your boys late at night like this, but for tonight I would take the lady home and make sure she rests.”
Talking about her as if she weren't there was really starting to p.i.s.s her off, but again, before she could protest, Will said, ”Of course, Dr. Goodfellow. Would you mind pa.s.sing on a message for Private Lukas then? He's the little lad, mayhap sixteen years of age with bright red hair.”
”Of course, sir, what would that message be?”
Will glimpsed at Erva but continued. ”I-I've been teaching him to read. Every night we've been reading from an adventure storybook. Could you tell him I'm going to have to miss tonight?”
”No,” Erva finally interjected. Will's nights had been filled teaching a young man how to read. He'd said it himself, every night he'd visit this Private Lukas. ”You can't do that, Will.”
He pursed his lips. ”I feared your knee hurt you worse than you let on, and now I've seen the proof. Besides, the Private will understand.”
”But-”
”Erva, Private Lukas, I'm sure, would insist I take you home.”
At that Dr. Goodfellow snickered. ”Oh, aye, he would.”
Erva kept her mouth quiet after that, understanding the innuendo, but not sure how to correct the a.s.sumptions. Or if she wanted to. She noticed Will did the same as well.
”I could help-”
”My lady,” The doctor interrupted. ”You are most kind for thinking of the Private. And if it a.s.sures you, I'll read to the young man tonight. I promise. In the meantime, I'd prefer you to rest. After a good night's sleep, you can march around and have another shooting contest tomorrow. Lord, that was a sight I much admired.”
”You saw?”
The doctor nodded. ”I had to climb to the top of this building, but I saw. I had to see for myself, the woman everyone within the bulwark was speaking of, the beautiful Lady Ferguson, General Hill's lady.”
Neither Will nor she said anything for a solid beat, didn't correct the good doctor. She would be lumped in with Will's other mistresses, and for the good of her own decency, Erva wondered, if she should say something.
But she didn't. She might have even tucked herself more into Will's solid body. His hands held her arms, but one slid down to rest beside her b.u.m, almost touching her derriere. She wished he would.
Where had that thought come from? Yeesh, she had to really watch herself around Will.
The doctor gave a few more eighteenth-century prescriptions of drinking alcohol and insisted on an activity that was exhilarating, but wouldn't move her knee much-he'd said that with a wink at both Erva and Will. Then Will lifted her in his capable arms and strode back to the waiting carriage. What did carriage drivers do while waiting, Erva wondered? It appeared that the man wasn't reading a book, but just lingered. That must have been boring, then she decided to ask the man what kind of books he might like to read, to help him pa.s.s the time. But then again he might not be literate, as Will was trying to banish from a sixteen year-old soldier. G.o.d, she was happy that the military in her time enlisted boys who were eighteen. Suddenly she remembered that seventeen year-olds could enlist with a parent's permission. Sometimes the difference between a couple centuries wasn't so vast.
Not so different indeed, Erva thought, as she glanced at Will's handsome face in the pale light from the moon and stars. What a day this had been. She'd gotten to meet him. She'd gotten to meet him! One of her rebellious and overly curious hands threaded a finger through his long hair, somehow still tied at the nape of his thick neck. His black hair was as soft as she had hoped it would be and shone silver in the night sky. He stumbled, but caught himself and her, then managed to peek at her. Not saying a word, he kept marching forward, then swallowed. Even with his high collar Erva could make out his Adam's apple bob. G.o.d, how could that be so wildly erotic?
He kept hold of her as he entered the carriage, while telling the driver to take them home, not letting her feet touch the ground even for a second. Gently, he placed her on the cus.h.i.+oned bench seat, tucking her into a corner, then he finally sat beside her as the horses began to walk.
”Are you comfortable, my lady-Erva?”
His arms were at the ready, probably to lift her and settle her in a more restful position, if she asked. Instead, she stared into his bright blue eyes. She'd never been taken care of by a man before. Well, her father had, but of the men she'd dated, especially her ex-husband, she had been the one that had provided, cared for them. She'd been the one that had doted, because...she thought she had to earn their love.
This-this was completely foreign to her. Well, that wasn't quite the truth. It resonated of her father adoring her, propping her up on fluffed pillows, of feeling like a princess. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She hadn't had to cover up the fact that she had a brain; she had shown off her gun skills and hadn't been met with angst; she'd gotten hurt, and Will hadn't tried to blow it off as her ex would have done. Will pampered her. He cared.
All day Erva had been herself, and he seemed to like it. Like her.
”My lady?” Will asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.
Without considering the ramifications, Erva followed her impulse. She leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. Finding his face with her hands, she pulled him closer, savoring the feel of his daylong whiskers against her palms. One of his hands found her corseted waist and gripped her. Erva caressed her lips against his again and again, but he never moved. Save from his hand on her waist, he didn't move an inch, especially not his lips.
She pulled away mortified.
Chapter 9.
Will couldn't believe what had just happened. Erva had kissed him. Pa.s.sionately! And like an idiot he'd sat there as a statue would. When she'd distanced herself from him at the banquet at the mentioning of Misses Emma and Lydia, he'd been sure she'd thought him a cad of a man. But that kiss...Lord, it would wake the dead.
That was exactly what he had been. Dead inside.
G.o.d, he was the Sleeping Beauty, wasn't he? He wanted to laugh at being the damsel in distress, but there was no denying that Erva was saving him. Being kissed by the charmer had woken him from a slumber, from his melancholy that had nearly killed him.
And he would not let it ruin his life now. Not while she was so close and willing to kiss him.