Page 59 of Her Magnificent Mistake
But as she was taking a deep breath, Rupert turned to Hawk. “She’s sitting with Bull. She has some…medical experience.”
Marcia’s breathwhooshedout of her, and the moment—the opportunity—was past.
“Oh, that makes sense.” Hawk’s expression cleared. “Is he getting well?”
“Aye,” Rupert glanced at Marcia again, then Allison. “Allie and I stopped by to speak with him earlier. He says the light hurts his head, but that’s normal. He did…” Rupert straightened his shoulders. “He did ask me to ask ye to come and visit him, when ye have the time.”
Hawk paled.
Instinctively, Marcia reached for him, twining her fingers through his, offering him what support she could. She didn’t allow herself to see what response that gained from his niece…or her brother.
“He…Bullwantsto see me?” Hawk croaked.
Rupert looked surprised. “Aye, of course. Ye’re still his best friend, are ye not?”
“I…am.” Hawk’s expression was tortured with guilt, even as his fingers tightened around Marcia’s. “I was afraid he didnae want to see me.”
“He came to Tostinham to see you, Uncle.” Allison jerked her head toward the corridor. “Why not go and visit him now?”
“Now?” bleated Hawk. “Nay! I mean, I cannae leave ye.”
Rupert glanced about in confusion. “We have McGillicuddy as a chaperone,” he pointed out. “And Allie is beating the shite out of me moreso than the opposite.”
Marcia winced, making a mental note to remind Rupert not to discussbeating shitearound the guardian of the woman he was wooing. Allison, however, merely smirked and nudged Rupert with her shoulder, reminding Marcia so much of herself at a younger age that it made her ache.
Please God, give her a happier ending than I received.
After all, where had her love story taken her? Loved, rejected, in mourning, only to manipulate the man she still loved in order to condemn him…and overall, being too much of a coward to confess the truth.
But Hawk was still focused on Rupert’s words. “Nay, I mean…Allie shouldnae be alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Rupert pointed out, still confused. “I’m with her, and McGillicuddy.”
“Still here, milord!” called the housekeeper cheerfully from the chair. “Darning like hell, milord, but ready to stop any hanky or, if it comes to it, panky! It’ll be a cold day in hell when the hanky-panky gets past McGillicuddy, I always says.”
“Oh, do ye?” offered Hawk weakly. But he cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. “I’m afraid, however, that I really do have to insist ye stay with me, Allie. Always.”
“Always?” the girl repeated.
“Always,” her uncle clarified, firmly.
“What? Even when I’m bathing and sleeping?”
Hawk frowned and Marcia tried, once again, not to smirk at his obvious discomfort. “I’m afraid there will be nae bathing and sleeping until I learn who is trying to—” At the last moment, his lips snapped shut, and Marcia—who’d been concerned he was going to worry his niece—breathed a sigh of relief. “Ye must be kept safe.”
“Iamsafe,” Allison huffed in exasperation. “Rupert would not harm me.”
“She’s right, I would never,” he agreed enthusiastically.
“And I cannae,” chimed in McGillicuddy, merrily stabbing a needle through a cushion. “Too short to try.”
All of them turned to the chair, where the small woman swung her feet as she happily mended. Looking up and catching their gazes, she grinned. “Cannae even touch the floor, see?”
Rupert cleared his throat. “I did not think the baron was insinuating ye were a threat to Miss Allison’s virtue.”
“Och, I’m an alluring creature,” McGillicuddy announced, “but I wouldnae take advantage of her. Not on a Tuesday.”
“And neither would I,” declared Rupert staunchly, turning back to Hawk. “On any day. Allie is safe with me.”
