Read Online Lord and Master by Rosemary Stevens - Free Book Online Page B

the country. “Thank you, Biggs. How are your hands today? I wondered with the weather turning a bit warmer if the pain had lessened—
    She got no further because Miss Shelby burst into the room. The peach color in her cheeks was heightened, and her eyes were round with fear. “Daphne, you must come at once!”
    “What is wrong, Leonie?”
    Miss Shelby gasped for breath. “Cramble says Lord Ravenswood and Eugene are in the hall, and Mihos is bleeding to death!”
    Amid groans from Biggs, Daphne rushed past Miss Shelby and hurried down the stairs. In the hall she saw the elegant figure of Lord Ravenswood clutching what looked like a bundle of bedsheets. Eugene stood apprehensively at his side.
    “My lord, what happened? Cramble told Miss Shelby that Mihos is on the brink of death.”
    “I hope not,” Lord Ravenswood replied. He briefly outlined the particulars of the accident, ending with, “Miss Kendall, I apologize for calling like this, but Mihos is badly injured, and I need your help.”
    “And you shall have it, of course,” Daphne assured him. She stepped forward and lifted the white cotton that his lordship had used to cover the cat. Her gentle fingers felt around Mihos’s head, then examined the wound on his leg. “I do not believe he is in any serious danger.”
    Since she was mere inches from him, Lord Ravenswood was able to study the loveliness of her creamy-white complexion, marred only by the furrow of concern between her brows. He noticed her lashes were long and dark, a pretty frame for her light green eyes.
    Miss Shelby stood uncertainly, twisting her hands together in her concern. “How is he?” she asked, and peered over Daphne’s shoulder. “Oh! I have never been able to bear the sight of blood.”
    Fortunately Eugene was standing nearby and was able to catch her when she swooned.
    “Good heavens,” Daphne cried, faced with both an unconscious companion and an unconscious cat. “Eugene, would you be good enough to take Miss Shelby into the morning room? I shall ring for Biggs to assist you.”
    Eugene lifted Miss Shelby as if she weighed nothing and carried her away.
    Daphne turned back to a rueful Lord Ravenswood. He said, “I have well and truly disrupted your household. Miss Kendall.”
    “Nonsense. Now, I believe we might find a cozy spot for Mihos in the kitchen. Would you like me to take him?”
    Lord Ravenswood shook his head. “No, I shall carry him.”
    Daphne led the way to the kitchens. The smell of roast beef permeated the air, and the kitchen was alive with the preparations for dinner. A big, burly man with vibrant red hair, obviously the cook, held sway, shouting orders to the maids.
    A silence descended when Daphne and the earl entered the room.
    “Hamish,” Daphne began, “excuse the intrusion, but we have an injured cat here, and I wish for a place where I might tend his wounds.”
    Lord Ravenswood thought the brutish-looking cook would soon be shouting at them rather than the maids, but instead the man’s expression softened at the sight of Miss Kendall.
    “A kitty, is it? You just come right over here, miss, and I’ll bring the whiskey. Nothing like it for cleansing cuts... and the soul, if I do say so meself.” A boom of laughter emitted from the man’s chest after this pronouncement. He ambled over to a corner of the kitchen and spread a towel on a wooden table.
    Daphne and Lord Ravenswood moved across the room, and the earl carefully laid Mihos down.
    Daphne hurried away to the stillroom, leaving Hamish to look his lordship up and down in a measuring way. Lord Ravenswood felt like he was being judged by a considering father and could not like the feeling.
    No more than a moment or two passed, though, and Daphne reappeared with two small bottles. Hamish returned to his pots, and Daphne rolled up the sleeves of her gown and tied an apron around her waist. Ignoring the whiskey Hamish had placed on the table, she poured some of the contents of one of her