Page 67 of Marriage Most Scandalous
“So you didn’t actually break any bones?”
“No indeed, and it seemed to be getting better by the hour, so the good doctor wasn’t needed. A couple days later the swelling was completely gone and I was even able to walk on the leg again. By the end of the week, there was no discomfort left a’tall. I figured I merely tore some muscle and it mended itself. I gave it no further thought.”
“But that wasn’t the end of it?”
Douglas sighed. “No. Once or twice a year my knee simply gives out on me. Usually I can catch myself before I fall, but sometimes it just happens so abruptly that I go down hard. And it goes through the same bloody routine each time, the swelling, which only lasts a few days, some pain, enough to keep me from putting my full weight on it, then right as rain again, as if nothing happened.”
“Your accident on the cliff?”
Douglas made a look of disgust. “My own fault, that one. I felt my saddle loosen up and realized the new groom hadn’t known any better than to saddle a horse when it’s bellowed. I should have noticed it m’self before I left the stable, but I didn’t. I was in the process of dismounting to tighten the straps when my knee gave out.”
“So every accident you’ve had has been the result of your knee buckling?”
“Most of them, yes.”
“And this last accident?”
Douglas snorted. “No, that was my stallion acting like a silly mare when a field mouse shot across the road under his feet. Damned animal reared up then bolted off the road. The lower branch there caught me by surprise, or I would have been able to duck under it.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Care to mention why you’ve kept all this to yourself?”
Douglas scowled. “I despise this weakness, but I’ll live through it. I’ve learned to take precautions. And it’s nobody else’s business, so I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention it to anyone, including Maggie.”
Sebastian finally understood. His father viewed his infirmity as a personal weakness, so he was actually ashamed of it. Pride. It could manifest itself in the oddest ways.
“As you wish. I believe I can convince her to take my word on it, that her concerns were groundless. And since that concludes my business here...”
He turned to leave. He did pause briefly at the door, but his father said nothing to stop him. He had to force himself to remain silent, or he would have snarled out his own bitterness. He wasn’t welcome here. He’d merely been tolerated.
Chapter 40
MARGARET WAS EATINGa late breakfast when Sebastian entered the dining room. He didn’t sit down to join her, just stood there at the entrance looking—not ominous, but certainly not friendly.
“I’m leaving,” Sebastian said.
Margaret went very still. Something similar to panic seemed to be rising in her.
“Without finishing the job?”
“It’s finished. The culprit has been found, it’s just not what you were expecting.”
“Explain.”
His lips turned an ironic slant. “I spoke with my father again. He took me into his confidence merely to put the matter to rest. I had to assure him what we spoke of would go no farther. So you’re simply going to have to trust me on this, Maggie. No one is trying to kill him.”
She was relieved, and yet annoyed that he wasn’t going to tell her why, which prompted the remark, “That’s asking a bit much, don’t you think?”
He raised both brows, actually seemed surprised. “You don’t trust me?”
She did, of course, but she reminded him, “You say one thing and then do another. That isn’t a strong basis for trust.”
“What are you talking about?”
The blush was immediate. She was not going to mention that conversation where he’d agreed not to touch her again— then later that night barged into the bathroom and joined her in the tub.
But he guessed, and snorted. “There are times in a man’s life when he throws all caution to the wind. When he’s in the grip of lust is one of those times.”
How crude. Lust, not love. She was such a fool to keep trying to switch the two around.
