Page 19 of Ravishing Among the Roses
“Which makes them important to me.” He thought he wanted help but now that it was offered, he wasn’t sure he was ready. Not yet. “Let’s go and do something.” He needed to movebefore this tension left him wanting to escape from his own body. He leaped out of bed, and threw on yesterday’s clothes, the ones he’d worn here, not his performance dress.
“Come on. I have a feeling about this.” It was agitation, a need to do something, anything. His toes tapped as he fumbled pulling on his shoes. The leather laces were slippery in his fingers, but then Edmund rested his palm on Gabby’s back and everything was fine again.
“If that’s what you need.”
“Yes. Show me all your roses.”
Edmund made a strange noise. “Most are in the country, at Galforth House. And I’ve already shown you the Himalayan rose.”
“Are there others at the town house?”
“Yes. Would you like to be introduced?”
Gabby nodded. “Yes.” His heart swelled at the way Edmund spoke of introducing him to his plants, as if they were his friends. He wanted to meet all of Edmund’s friends, he wanted this to be real, and the desire for that made him want to run. Towards or away? He wasn’t sure.
An hour later, they had made their way through London’s traffic in a hackney, all the while Gabby wished they’d walked so he could pace, and finally they arrived and he leaped out, shaking out his body. He needed to run up and down the street a few times to get rid of this tension inside him, and so he paced in a circle as Edmund paid the driver, then opened a gate in the back fence of his brother’s townhouse. “Come this way, it leads directly into the gardens.”
“It’s not locked?”
“No. There is usually a footman or gardener around.”
Gabby blinked. He would’ve thought a Duke would secure his premises better than that, but he supposed having plenty of staff always doing things about the place gave the notion of security.He began to follow Edmund through the gate. Oomph. He walked right into Edmund’s back, who’d stopped in the gateway.
“What’s the matter?”
“Your Grace.” Edmund’s voice was tight. Strangled. And Gabby slid under Edmund’s arm, pleased that he was skinny and short, only to spy two gardeners destroying the foreign rose with a handsaw.
“I warned you.”
Edmund was shaking and Gabby stood protectively between him and the Duke, even though he was only slight and wouldn’t be much help, but he had to do something.
“You and Bennington behaved inappropriately last night, and so now there is a consequence.” The Duke bent down and grabbed one of the branches that had been tossed in a pile.
“Please be careful. The thorns are sharp.” Even under all this stress, Edmund still wanted to make sure his dreadful brother wasn’t going to be hurt, and it made Gabby heart swell. It was so typical of him to realise this at the most inappropriate time, but he hadn’t managed to avoid falling in love with Edmund at all. His chest clenched and he knew. He launched himself at the Duke but something stopped him.
Chaos broke out.
The Duke waved the rose branch like a sword at him, then yelled and dropped it, shaking out his hand. Gabby realised that Edmund had grabbed the back of Gabby’s shirt, keeping him in place. The gardeners stopped their work and stared. The Duke was still yelling.
Edmund went still. “Tom. Please call for the doctor. John, can you please take His Grace inside and wash his hand very carefully. Make sure none of the thorn is left in his hand.”
The two gardeners leaped into action, and the Duke was effectively removed from the scene. Gabby turned to face Edmund, whose face was pale, and jaw clenched.
“What just happened?”
“Every rose breeder knows to avoid rose gardener’s disease from being scratched by thorns. It’s why I make sure the gardeners always wear heavy gloves when they are pruning, and I am very careful. My brother, hopefully, only has a scratch from a thorn which is still a risk, but if part of the thorn is stuck in his palm, he’s likely in some trouble.”
“What causes it?”
Edmund shook his head. “No one knows. Other thorny plants don’t have the same issues. If it doesn’t cause a pustule, he might be lucky.”
“And if it does?”
“Then he will have a slow painful death from blood poisoning.”
“Death?” Gabby whispered. A scratch from a rose thorn could result in death? No, surely not. But he looked at Edmund’s brown eyes filled with tears and the way Edmund nodded his head slowly as if saddened by this. Gabby opened his mouth to point out how Edmund’s brother was awful and awful people tended to survive but he kept his voice inside because family was complicated and now wasn’t really the best time.
“I know he’s awful and he’s done some things that I can’t condone, but it’s not a death I’d wish on anyone. I can only hope that he’ll be one of the fortunate ones and maybe he’ll learn from this.”
