The Rakehell Regency Romance Collection Volume 2(178)

Edgars had got several of the servants together by now, and they lifted Elizabeth tenderly, and then helped their distraught new master up the stairs.



As they rushed her to her room, for the first time since he was a small boy, Will wept inconsolably.



For the next fifteen minutes, all was in an uproar as the crisis was dealt with. Stripping off her blood-soaked clothes, Elizabeth was put in her bed, and her lovely long raven tresses shorn down to an inch-long stubble as the doctor tried to ascertain how bad her head wounds were.



Will was put in the large bed beside her. He had broken his leg and dislocated his bad left shoulder in the fall, but refused to leave his wife's side for even an instant.



"What other doctors are in the area?" Dr. Gallagher asked quickly.



"Dr. Davis and Dr. Edmunds," Edgars replied.



"Send for them both. This is far too serious for me to want to cope with on my own. If we have to operate to alleviate pressure in the cranium, I'm going to need all the skilled hands I can get. And we still need to tend to Will."



Edgars passed along the message to the servants hovering outside.



Vanessa took matters into her own hands. Will was lying on the bed staring at Elizabeth as though at any moment she was going to vanish from sight. His cheeks were wet with a constant flow of unconscious tears which he did not even try to wipe away. She could only imagine her own darling Clifford's state of mind in such a situation.



The doctor voiced the one question which had been on everyone's mind. "How on earth did this happen?"



Will sighed raggedly. "She was trying to climb down the trellis and it gave way."



Vanessa and the doctor both stared.



"Trying to climb down? Why, for heaven's sake?" the doctor demanded.



"Because she was afraid of being married to me, afraid of the wedding night."



Vanessa shook her head. "That isn't possible. Why, you were so devoted to one another, such a warm couple. I know it was all very sudden, your engagement and marriage, but she seemed so happy and content."



Will's mouth was a grim line of pain. "That's the only sense I made out of what she was saying. I tried to reason with her, reassure her. Then I grabbed her. She tried to climb back up to talk to me more rationally. The trellis collapsed and we both fell. I tried to hang on," he said, indicating his bloodied fingers, "but she let go."



He gulped back a sob, and looked at his friend. "God, Doc, please, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Her wedding day was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Please, you must help her. I can't live without her in my life. Please."



The doctor patted him softly on the shoulder. "I'll do whatever I can. But you know this is very grave indeed, son. She may never recover, even if we save her life."



While the doctor had been doing his best with both of his patients, word had soon spread to the rest of the guests as to what had happened. They expressed their shock and sympathy and most began to leave the family alone in their grief.



Vevina and Stewart did their best to calm everyone, and got those inclined to interfere or pry to depart, with warm thanks for their expressed desire to help.



Thomas, who had been in his wing of the house with Charlotte, overcome with the romance of the occasion, were soon roused from their tryst.



"What do you mean, my sister fell out of the window?" Thomas barked as he tied the sash of his dressing gown hastily and began to run towards his sister's room.



Stewart repeated what little he knew. "Vevina is sorting things with the guests right now. Then she'll talk to Will. Maybe she'll be able to make more sense out of this. Doc Gallagher is with them both now. Elizabeth is pretty bad."



"She looked so happy! What on earth could have changed so suddenly that she was trying to climb out?" Thomas said tearfully. "Did they quarrel?"



Stewart shook his head. "I'm telling you, I have no idea. But I don't think it was Will. He adores her, believe me. Someone must have said something to upset her. Never mind that now. We need to do whatever we can to help."



"You're right, Stewart, of course. This is just too incredible. To think my lovely sister was laughing and smiling just a few minutes ago, and now this."



"It'll be all right. I know the doctor pretends to be some old Army sawbones, but I've seen him and Vevina perform miracles."



Thomas prayed as he never had before when he saw the battered body of his only remaining sister. "Oh, God, no, no," he whispered.



Charlotte had hastily dressed and run after her husband, and she now fell in behind him and pulled him into the comfort of her embrace.