Free Deception (Daughters of Mannerling 3) by M.C. Beaton Page B

Rachel. She took off her shawl and wrapped it about him. ‘You must keep warm. No, do not try to move.’
    But Harry tried to stand up, put his hand to his head, and fell back unconscious again.
    They helplessly slapped his hands and rubbed them, praying all the time that Barry would arrive.
    When they heard the rumble of carriage wheels from the road, Abigail ran out of the spinney crying, ‘Over here, Barry. Come quickly.’
    Barry had called at the farm first and came across the fields with farmer Currie and two of his men. They were carrying an old door on which they placed the unconscious body of Harry. Then he was laid in the carriage while farmer Currie said that he himself would ride to Mannerling and tell Mr and Mrs Devers what had happened to their son while one of his men had already been sent to fetch the physician.
    How the girls wished that Miss Trumble were still with them as they clustered outside the bedroom door, talking in hushed whispers while the physician examined Harry.
    At last he emerged and smiled at the anxious faces. ‘A severe concussion. He must not be moved. I will call tomorrow to see how he goes on.’
    Betty darted up the stairs to whisper that Mr and Mrs Devers had arrived.
    Lady Beverley was all that was gracious. She explained they would consider it an honour to look after their son while the girls wished again Miss Trumble were here to deal with this odd situation. How should they behave towards a man who had so cruelly assaulted their sister?
    ‘It is most kind of you,’ said Mrs Devers with a break in her voice. ‘We are deeply in your debt. After the way Harry behaved . . . But no matter. You will all have an opportunity to find out how much he has changed.’
    Barry, listening at the door, decided to ride over to Hursley Park as soon as he could get away and warn Miss Trumble of what was happening. The combination of the heir to Mannerling and the Beverley sisters was far too dangerous!
    But when he arrived at Hursley Park that evening, it was to learn with dismay that Lord Burfield had invited Lady Evans and Miss Trumble to join him while the Makepeaces were his guests. Lord Burfield had realized that an invitation to the Makepeaces might be misconstrued, and as he had not yet made up his mind to propose to Prudence, there was safety in numbers, and so apart from Lady Evans and Miss Trumble, he had invited other people as well. Barry secured Lord Burfield’s address and returned home to write a letter, putting aside some money out of his savings so that he could send an express to Miss Trumble on the following day.
    But on the next day snow, which had fallen during the night, was lying in drifts on the roads, and more snow was falling. He could not get to Hedgefield to meet the mail coach, the Deverses could not even get over from Mannerling to see their son, nor could the physician call. It was left to the Beverley sisters to nurse Harry Devers back to health.
    He recovered quite quickly and proved a surprisingly docile patient. Rachel was the first to thaw towards him. Finding her alone with him one day, Harry apologized most humbly for his treatment of Jessica.
    Rachel gave a little shiver and said, ‘I think it is all to do with Mannerling. I think that house drives everyone who has anything to do with it a little mad.’
    But Harry, looking at her golden hair gleaming in the candle-light, and at her soft pretty manners and gentle face, was already beginning to plot. He had vowed to get even with the Beverleys, but that would not answer. In order to restore his good name and get out of the army, the solution would be to marry one of them, and who better than Rachel? She was not like her sisters. She was gentle and kind and would make a compliant wife. He would go carefully this time. No grabbing or kissing until after the wedding.
    And so it was mostly Rachel who read and talked to Harry. The bedroom door was always open and the servants always about, and Harry was always