“If you gentlemen will but pick him up and set him on that bench—and be sure to fully support his arm.”
The three men lifted the groom carefully from the ground and carried him over to a stone bench at the edge of the driveway. While Royce and Fitz held the boy firmly in place, Mary stepped up, taking the weight of his arm in both her hands. Talking all the while, she positioned the arm just so, then with one swift movement, thrust it up and into the socket.#p#分页标题#e#
Charlotte let out a small noise and fainted. Beside her, Lady Vivian managed to catch her and ease her down to the ground.
“Now, if someone will get me some cloth, I can bind his arm so it’s immobile.” Mary turned around and caught sight of her cousin on the ground. “Oh my. What happened?”
“Fainted, I’m afraid.” Vivian looked up and grinned. “She’s always had a bit of a weak stomach.”
“Mmm. So has Teddy. I don’t suppose you have any smelling salts?”
“No, but I’m sure Charlotte must. Respectable ladies rarely travel without a vial.” Vivian cast a glinting look up at the earl. “And do not remark on what that says about me, Oliver.”
The earl merely raised his brows expressively and turned toward the house. “Bostwick!” He raised a hand and gestured.
Mary looked toward the house and saw that a group of servants had clustered there on the lawn, watching goggle-eyed. The butler now separated himself from the others and hurried forward to get Stewkesbury’s instructions.
As they waited for Bostwick to bring the supplies, Royce began to question Camellia and the others about their attacker. “Could you see his face? Was it the same man who tried to abduct Rose the other times?”
Camellia shook her head. “No. He had on a mask and a hat pulled low, so I couldn’t really make him out. But he was much smaller than the last man.”
“Are you sure?” Stewkesbury asked. “If he was on a horse, he wouldn’t have looked the same.”
Camellia sent him a level glance. “The other man would have looked big on a horse or off. Believe me, it wasn’t the same man. This one was no larger than Geoff.” She pointed at the unhurt groom, who had hung around, watching with awe as Mary fixed Teddy’s shoulder.
Mary touched Rose’s arm, pulling her away from the crowd and whispering, “Was it Cosmo?”
Rose shrugged and answered in the same low voice, “I don’t know. He was about Cosmo’s size, but truly, we could not see his face. It could have been anyone. But, well, it’s not like Cosmo to come charging at a person with a gun, is it?”
Mary nodded, accepting the truth of that. There was still nothing to show that their stepfather was involved. Surely there was no harm in not telling the earl and Sir Royce about him.
Charlotte was already beginning to come around when both bandages and smelling salts arrived, but Vivian waved the vial under her friend’s nose anyway, as Mary efficiently bound the groom’s upper arm tightly against his body, then fashioned a sling for him. When she finished, Mary turned to find the others watching her. Charlotte had regained her feet and was standing with Lady Vivian’s arm around her waist for support.
“How did you know what to do?” Charlotte asked in amazement.
Mary shrugged. “Where we lived, there wasn’t always a doctor around. You learn to deal with the smaller things.”
“Smaller,” Charlotte repeated in a choked voice.
Lady Vivian looked at Mary and her sisters, smiling, her vivid green eyes glinting in the sun. “I am really very glad you girls moved to England.”
Stewkesbury let out an inelegant snort. “Of course you are.” He turned to the Bascombes. “Ladies, there will be no riding until this madman is caught. Royce. Fitz.” He jerked his head toward the house.
The other two men nodded and followed him inside.
“Where are they going?” Rose asked as the women trailed after them into the house.
“Setting up search parties, I imagine,” Charlotte said, leading them into the drawing room and ringing for tea. “Oliver is furious.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Really?” Mary asked in amazement. “How can you tell?”
Vivian laughed. “If he expressed it, he wouldn’t be Oliver—or, I suppose I should say, he wouldn’t be the earl.”
“He’ll have them scouring the countryside,” Charlotte promised.
“I wouldn’t have thought he would care that much. I mean, he barely knows us,” Camellia commented.
Charlotte glanced at her in surprise. “You don’t know Oliver. It isn’t affection—not that he dislikes you,” she added hastily. “And I am sure that he will come to hold you in great regard as he gets to know you better.” At the girls’ disbelieving looks, she went on, “At any rate, it doesn’t matter. The fact is, you are Talbots, and he is responsible for you.”