Page 70 of Love Denied

Chapter Thirty-Two

’Tis best to weigh the enemy more mighty than heseems.

—Shakespeare,Henry V

Catherine looked towardthe lake. Foolish, really. Even from her second-story window, dense forest obscured the water. She had dismissed Sadie for the evening, wanting to be alone with her worry. Nicholas was out there. He’d assured her he and Langdon had everything well in hand, but she could not shake the fear something would go wrong.

She paced the length of the room, inevitably drawn back to stare at the deepening shadows of the woods. Nicholas refused to set out any amount of currency for the scoundrel, although he’d made quite the show of locking himself in his father’s study as though he was taking from the safe. He’d put a mixture of paper and weights in a sack so the “payment” would appear authentic to anyone watching him deliver it.

Langdon had stationed himself at the folly earlier in the afternoon. She could not imagine the man remaining undetected, but Nicholas had said Langdon was highly skilled in reconnaissance. She smiled despite her anxiety, for Nicholas had patiently explained the term to her. He was going to come back to the manse after dropping the sack, then go out through the kitchen and circle around to trap the culprit.

Movement caught her eye.

Was that Nicholas heading back out or returning? The breeze ruffled her hair as she leaned out. There, again. At that moment, the shadow disengaged, transforming into human form. Two human shapes. One of them was hurt!

“Nicholas!” she shouted at the same time Nicholas hollered, “Fredericks!”

He couldn’t be hurt and yell like that.Could he?Blood thundering in her ears, she ran from the room and flew down the staircase. She frantically scanned the atrium but couldn’t see nor hear commotion anywhere. They must have gone around back. She veered to the right, running down the long hallway to the servants’ corridor before stopping at the door to the kitchen just as Nicholas eased Langdon down on the bench at the table. The man winced, his face pinched with pain.

“I’m right sorry, sir. I almost had the scoundrel, but my foot caught on something, and I tripped. Pain ripped through my arm so bad I…” Langdon looked to Nan, who was rolling up his sleeve, and his mouth tightened into a straight line. Blood seeped from the freshly opened wound. “…I cast up my accounts, sir. Cast them up.” The man’s head fell, his shoulders tensing, the pain from Nan’s administrations obvious.

“At ease, soldier.” Nicholas rubbed Langdon’s shoulder. “At ease.” He cocked an eyebrow at Cook. “Nan?”

“As far as I can tell through the mess, ’tis only a small section that has reopened. Won’t know for sure till we stanch that bleeding.”

Catherine moved to the shelf by the door, grabbing a handful of linen.

“Catherine!” Nicholas seemed surprised to see her there.

Nan glanced up. “That’s a good girl. Now press here.”

She held the cloth where Nan indicated.

“Don’t be afraid to hold it firm.” Nan placed her hand on Catherine’s, pressing it down. “You can’t cause him any more pain than he already bears.”

“I’ll do that,” Nicholas said. “You should not be here—”

Nan cut him off. “Yes, son, she should. ’Sides, I need you for other things. Stoke that fire and get a kettle boiling.”

Catherine would have smiled at his instant compliance if a moan had not escaped Langdon. “I don’t mean to hurt you, sir. I’m sorry.”

Langdon raised his head, his eyes glazed with pain. “Me too, my lady. That I let the blackguard get away. Right sorry.”

“Now that’s enough out of you,” Nan clucked. She sat beside him and placed her small sewing kit on the table. “You’ve lost a fair bit of blood. You’re gonna need to save your energy.”

Nan held up a needle, catching the light from the fire as she threaded it. She placed the end of the string in her teeth and pulled sharply, breaking it from the spool. “You got that water for me, Master Nick?” she asked as she knotted the thread. Catherine hadn’t heard Nan call him that in years.

“It’s not boiling yet.” Nicholas’s brow creased in frustration, and he tossed more coals on the fire.

“In due time, child.” Nan grunted, shaking her head at his impatience. “In the meantime, grab me some brandy and a cup.”

Nan liked a nip of brandy at night when the house had gone to bed. It was the worst-kept secret at Woodfield that she hid a bottle in the pantry. Langdon shifted, his pain palpable. Well, apparently not the worst-kept secret. Usually Nan would be asking what had happened, but she did not seem surprised by tonight’s events.

Nicholas poured some brandy into a mug and set the bottle beside it. He returned to his assigned position at the fire and stared at the flames, his back to Catherine. She could only imagine how he was feeling right now.

“Okay, love, you can relax for a moment,” Nan said. “Let me have a peek.”

Catherine stood and pressed a hand to her aching lower back. She should have sat down rather than bent over. She spread her fingers, then fisted them, trying to release the tension.

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