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herself clutching his fingers in
return.
    “ When? How?”
    “ A couple of days ago,” he replied. “He got shot I am afraid,
but we don’t know who by or why.”
    “ Shot?”
    Rupert
nodded. “I don’t know if you are able to travel, but I think it
would be best if you came to London with me. I have arranged for a
carriage for you. How long will it take you to pack?”
    Thea
swallowed and tried to absorb his words. Her uncle had been the
only person in her life who had ever given her any support. He had
battled with her parents to be allowed to see her when she had been
a young child and had been her stalwart supporter throughout her
recovery after the carriage accident. Thankfully, he was now her
guardian and since the death of her father, had done everything she
had ever asked of him. Although he resided at Ridings, his home in
London, and she lived in the countryside in Leicestershire, they
had remained close and corresponded often. To think that he was now
injured and all alone filled her with horror and brought back her
own personal trauma with sickening clarity.
    “ I can be ready within the hour,” she whispered. She began to
mentally run through the list of things she would need to pack only
to stop and frown at him. “Can Tilly come with me? She is my
maid.”
    “ Yes, if you want her to. I will have to ride my horse back
because he doesn’t like being tied to the back of carriages. Having
someone in the carriage to talk to will help to pass the time.” He
didn’t add that he also needed to be on horseback to be able to
double back and make sure that they weren’t either followed or
ambushed on their journey to Mayfair. “I need to go and fetch the
carriage but will be back within the hour. You will need to make
sure that there is enough food packed so that you can eat on the
way because I should like to only stop when we need to change
horses.”
    She
nodded but barely registered his words. As soon as he pushed to his
feet, she rose to see him out but realised too late that her
movement brought them so close that they were almost touching. He
made no attempt to move back though, or release his hold on her
hand. He kept his eyes firmly locked upon hers and dipped his head
to place a gentle kiss on her fingers.
    “ I will be back within the hour,” he murmured solemnly and
watched her nod her acceptance.
    After a
quick bow, he took his leave and strode to the door with determined
strides. As he swept out of the house and mounted his horse he
sighed with relief at just how well their first meeting had gone.
He would of course have preferred to have been there to impart
better tidings but there was nothing he could do about that now. At
least she was back in his life. All he had to do now was keep
her.
     
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    As promised,
Rupert returned an hour later. Thea watched as the large carriage
drew to a stop directly outside the front door. Her bags had been
hastily thrown together and now stood in the hallway downstairs.
She knew that it would be at least a month before she was able to
return, longer if John was more seriously wounded than Rupert had
told her, and had spent much of the last hour issuing orders to
Agatha and Bertie. She threw one last look at her room before she
made her way downstairs.
    Rupert
watched her descend the narrow steps and waited. Her long hair was
swept up into an elegant knot at the top of her head. Small curls
bobbed gaily around her pale cheeks. Her beautiful face had a
decidedly healthy glow that assured him that although she still
limped ever so slightly, she had made an excellent recovery over
the last four years.
    He
realised that he was staring at her again and gave himself a mental
shake to get on with the job at hand. The coachman was busy loading
boxes and trunks into the back of the carriage and that left Rupert
free to hold a hand out to Thea so that he could escort her to the
carriage steps to where Agatha and Bertie were waiting to