Page 147 of Their Master

“But Miss Moira—”

“You’ve just been shot, Luke. You are going to rest,” Smith said, using his firmest voice.

“But I could—”

Smith gave the younger man a stern look.

Luke opened his mouth a third time but nothing came out. Instead, his eyes slid most of the way shut and he grunted softly.

“That will be the second dose of laudanum taking effect,” the doctor said to Smith in a quiet voice.

Smith turned to the footman hovering beside the door. “Stay here with him until somebody relieves you. If he wakes, make sure he stays put.”

“Yes, sir,” David said, his expression grimly determined.

Smith walked the doctor out of the room and then paused by the head of the stairs, far enough away from his bedroom—which is where he’d had Luke brought—so they wouldn’t disturb the injured man.

“Is everything as you said? Or is it worse?” Smith asked.

“No, what I said was true—the bullet came out cleanly. It was a very close thing as it passed near one of his kidneys, but he was fortunate. Now what we need to do is stave off any infection.

Smith breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Of course, Mr. Smith.”

“I want you to stay with him tonight.”

“It’s not necessary as he’s not really in—”

“It will make me feel easier,” Smith said. “And of course I shall pay adequately for your time.

The doctor hesitated, met Smith’s gaze, and then nodded. “Certainly, I will stay.”

“Good. I’ll send my steward up to show you to a room where you may—”

The sound of running feet on the stairs stopped him and he turned to find the man he’d just been speaking of, slightly out of breath.

“What is it, Michael?”

“You’ve a visitor, sir.”

“I want no visitors right now,” he said, struggling to keep his tone civil.

“He said you’d say that, but—”

“Who is it?” Smith snapped.

“The Earl of Selkirk, sir.”

∞∞∞

Lord Selkirk was examining his own painting when Smith entered the sitting room a few minutes later.

“Selkirk, what a surprise,” Smith said, not caring if he sounded rude or abrupt, since he was feeling both those things.

The earl didn’t appear to notice his tone. “I sense that your house is in something of an uproar.”

“Clayton kidnapped one of my people and another was shot during the abduction,” Smith said, stumbling slightly on his description of both Moira and Luke. How did somebody describe a person who was more than a lover and yet didn’t have the legal standing of a spouse? He shook the pointless thought aside.

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