Page 25 of Midnight with the Marquess (The St. Clairs 2)

“Only to me. I enjoy observing people. I doubt anyone else has noticed. You hide it well. On occasion, I’ve seen an almost imperceptible limp. Just a slight favoring of your right leg. Was it from another bullet?”

“Yes,” he said brusquely, not wanting to think back on that time, especially on a picture-perfect day with a beautiful woman seated in front of him.

Rachel, however, was not one to let things go. “I imagine it was quite painful. Did both injuries occur during the same action?”

He saw she was genuinely interested and not morbidly curious, as others might be and found himself opening up to her.

“They did. I wasn’t as lucky with my leg. The bullet remained. A surgeon had to dig it out.”

Her nose scrunched up. “That sounds terrible.”

“He almost didn’t find it. For a few hours, I thought I might lose the leg.”

She placed a hand upon his knee and he stopped rowing. “That must have been awful. To be so far away from home. Hurt and in agony. Hundreds of other men also injured and lying about you. No one to comfort you.” She smiled. “I wish I could have been there to kiss it and make you feel better.”

His breath caught in his throat.

Quickly, she removed her hand. “I’m sorry. That sounded like flirting, when all I meant was that I wish I could have consoled you. Soothed your pain. My apologies.”

Evan wished she had been there, holding a cool cloth to his hot forehead and bathing his fevered body. Giving him sips of water. The infirmary had almost been as hellish as the battlefield as he listened to the groans and muffled cries of grown men, many whom didn’t live to see another day. He knew he was fortunate because he had survived. Not only to fight another day.

But to be here. Now. With this woman.

Evan cleared his throat, pushing aside the emotions welling within him.

“It would have been nice to have you bringing me solace. When you’ve been shot and carried from the battlefield, waiting for a surgeon to check your wounds and see if it’s worth his trouble to save you, it can be the loneliest place in the world. I was one of the lucky ones. An officer is always seen to before enlisted men. The shoulder was easy to stitch up. But even after they found the bullet and removed it from my thigh, I was left alone for long stretches of time. I’ve never felt so isolated, so desolate, so lacking in hope, as I did during those dark days.”

Rachel touched his knee again, squeezing it, empathy in her eyes.

“I won’t claim to know what you went through. I can only thank you for your service to king and country.” She glanced to the shore, where others were pushing boats into the water. “If we were alone, despite my lack of experience, I would kiss you on the lips. Not in passion or desire. Merely to thank you for your bravery.”

Evan smiled. “And I would most certainly let you.”

“Will you meet me at midnight tonight, Merrick?”

“I will, my lady. In fact, I look forward to our next lesson.”

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