Page 85 of Crash Landing
But this was the last bit of merriment Trajan felt, because the fact remained that Frampton had meant to kill Florence.
How was he to protect her?
Chapter Sixteen
Florence knew shewas being stubborn when refusing to leave Trajan’s side.
There was nothing scandalous about her remaining in his bedchamber, because his cousins also declared their intention to camp out here overnight.
“I am not hosting a bloody party in my room,” Trajan grumbled. “All of you, out.”
“No,” she said, holding her ground. Was it not right that they all should be worried about him?
It was well into the wee hours by the time the magistrate finished taking Trajan’s statement. The doctor conducted a quick examination of the assailant’s corpse and declared him to have died of a broken neck received due to an accidental fall.
The magistrate, an older man by the name of Lord Amos Charwood, seemed competent enough and also quite deferential to Trajan when asking his questions. He accepted the duke’s account in full. “Your Grace, do you recognize this man at all?”
“No, and neither does anyone on my staff. We have no idea who sent him to cause this mischief.”
“And you, Lady Florence? Have you ever seen this man before?”
“No, and I can assure you that my aunt has not either. Did you know that Lord Frampton had complained to us of trespassers just the other day? I recommend you question him and his staff about thisman. I’m sure someone at Frampton Court must have seen him and may be able to provide a name to his blasphemous soul.”
Trajan squeezed her hand. “Florence, no need to involve anyone else in this affair.”
“Your Grace, your betrothed makes a good point,” Charwood said. “I’ll stop by Frampton Court tomorrow and have a chat with his lordship. Let’s hope he did not have a similar incident.”
“Do send him our warmest regards,” Florence said. “And let him know we look forward to seeing him again shortly.”
Oh, she knew Trajan would be scathing mad at her for the impertinent remark. But howdareFrampton send this man to hurt them! Should they not send a message right back to let him know they were not intimidated?
Lord Charwood walked out with the doctor. Andrew escorted the two men out.
This left Nathan and Sebastian in the bedchamber with her and Trajan, whose scowl was as thunderous as a summer squall. “Florence, are you purposely trying to goad Frampton?”
“Not at all. But is it not important to let him know that we do not fear him? And that we will not be stopped in our mission to right his wrongs.”
“We?” He groaned as he stretched out on his mattress, his arm a hideous shade of red because it was inflamed and had black stitches poking out of it. He was obviously exhausted and in pain. “You might have given me a few days to recover before going at him again.”
“He has to know that he has gone too far this time. He’s just had his man shoot a duke, and the entire royal family will be in a livid rage when they learn of it. Besides, if you are well enough to travel to London, as you proclaim, then you are well enough to stand up to Frampton. You have been brilliant so far.”
“Do not flatter me. I have not been so brilliant,” he grumbled. “Did you not notice I was shot?”
“All the more reason to draw that horrible man out. As soon as we get to London and hand those letters over to the princess, we ought to stop by the Home Office and alert them about Frampton’s activities. Or we can go directly to the prime minister. He’ll want to hear about this, especially if he was the clot who wrote those letters to Lady Simmons.”
“Let’s just worry about getting to London at all,” he said, yawning. “Go to bed, Florence. Yourownbed. You’re not sleeping in here. My cousins will look after me.”
She reluctantly did as he asked, because he was hurting and she was to blame for it, no matter than he continued to deny it.
However, before leaving, she addressed his cousins. “Check his brow during the night. Summon me immediately if he turns feverish.”
Andrew assured her they would.
She looked in on Hermia before retiring to her own chamber.
“Oh, my dear,” Hermia said, stretching out her arms to her. “Come here and let me give you a hug. I’m so sorry I was out of your life for so long. I should have taken you from my brother when you were still a child.”
Florence hugged her. “You couldn’t have known. Besides, you were always kind to me whenever you visited.”
