Page 5 of The Duke of Distraction
He slid her a half smile.“I wouldn’t have offered if I did.”
Felix lifted the horn to his mouth and announced the race was about to begin.The participants took their marks, and Anthony approached the platform.
“What are you doing up there?”he asked Sarah.
“Watching the race.Isn’t it obvious?”
Anthony narrowed his eyes with a smirk as he handed the bell to Felix.“You’ve never invited me up there to watch.”
“It’s not a very large space, and your sister is far more petite,” Felix said.“She’s also much prettier.”He winked at Sarah, and she laughed before giving her brother a superior look.
Anthony shook his head but smiled.
“Now we race!”Felix called.“Ready.Go!”He rang the bell, and the women started from the line.
Lady Exeby seemed to have a bit of difficulty getting going, and Sarah suffered a moment’s concern.Perhaps sheshouldhave wagered on Mrs.Childers, who was off to a rather fast start.In fact, it seemed the fastest start of any of the women over all the races.
“That was an incredibly fast start by Mrs.Childers!”Felix yelled through the horn.
“I thought so too,” Sarah said, her heart speeding up as the racers approached the first turn.“She’s not slowing down at all.”
Mrs.Childers was mad to take the corner at such a speed!Sarah held her breath as she turned.One of the back wheels of her phaeton came off the ground, and the entire vehicle teetered.Sarah had heard of accidents where the vehicle tipped over but had never seen such a thing.Without thinking, she grabbed Felix’s forearm and squeezed.
The phaeton went over, and the air filled with screams.
“Bloody hell.” Felix’s whispered oath reached Sarah’s ears, and she turned to see that he’d gone completely white.
Horror slammed through Felix, and he abruptly turned, nearly knocking Sarah from the platform.She clasped his arm more tightly, and he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her toward him so their chests almost touched.
“My apologies,” he murmured.“I need to go.”
“Of course.”She moved around him so he could descend the stairs.He handed her the horn before he flew from the platform, his feet barely touching the steps.Then he dashed across the grass toward the site of the accident.
His insides churned, and he prayed Mrs.Childers wasn’t terribly injured.Or worse.
Others had rushed toward the accident, and many more were heading in that direction.However, Felix was still one of the first to arrive.
Mrs.Childers lay on the grass, her face pale, and appeared to be unconscious.
Lady Exeby had stopped her phaeton and exited the vehicle.She knelt beside her opponent with a stricken expression as Felix squatted down on the other side.
“Why did she go so fast?”Lady Exeby asked, lifting her dark, tear-filled gaze to Felix’s.
“Charlotte!My Charlotte!”Mr.Childers practically fell to his knees beside Felix.In his early forties, Childers was an affable fellow with a penchant for drink.Indeed, he seemed as though he’d already imbibed quite a bit, if the color in his cheeks and stench from his breath were any indication.Childers cupped his wife’s head and shot a venomous glance toward Felix.“This is your fault!These bloody races!”
Felix was horrified by what had happened, but was it his fault the man’s wife had taken a reckless pace?
“You should have at least had a surgeon present!”Childers raged as he stroked his wife’s face.“Wake up, my dear.”
Mrs.Childers’s lids opened.She blinked up at her husband.“Did I go over?”
“Yes.You were driving much too fast, you silly woman.”
“You needn’t call her silly,” Lady Exeby murmured.
Felix looked over at the toppled vehicle but more importantly at the pair of frightened horses still attached to the phaeton.Dartford and a few other gentlemen, including Felix’s friend Beck, were tending to the animals and working on freeing them from the vehicle, as well as trying to return the phaeton to its upright position.
“How are the horses?”Mrs.Childers asked.Her eyes seemed a bit unfocused, the pupils larger than normal.
