Free Freedom by Jenn LeBlanc Page A

injuries might end.
     
    He finally decided the proper course was to clean the wounds as best as he was able, putting salve on and wrapping them up to protect them from air. If they were allowed to dry they would crack when she moved, causing her such a fright of pain she wouldn’t survive. Sighing, he realized she might not make it regardless.
     
    The girl’s face was practically unrecognizable, but everyone here knew who she was and her parents were waiting just outside. Her mother was in such a state that Dr. Walcott gave her some laudanum to ease her so he could deal with Lilly. He motioned for the two girls at the door and quietly sent them for fresh linens, shears, and kettles of hot water. He rolled up his sleeves and settled in for a long night.
     
    Roxleigh returned to the manor and vaulted up the stairs, energized from his ride. He paused on the landing to examine the chandelier, its lowest point at a height just above his head. He liked to watch as the sun set, sending shafts of light toward the crystals, painting the entry in rainbows of shattered light. The back of the manor faced west, the high windows above the private parlor allowing the setting sun to reach the chandelier.
     
    At this time of year the light show went much unnoticed, as it happened just when everyone was preparing for supper. During the summer months the show would greet the guests arriving for suppers and balls, and in the winter months it warmed the occupants who were shut in from the cold.
     
    Roxleigh turned and walked into his suite. A slipper tub steamed in front of the fire. His evening wear was laid out carefully, his robe on the settee next to the bath.
     
    Ferry entered the room as Roxleigh started to remove his shirt, jerking it from his riding breeches and stretching as he pulled it over his head.
     
    “I will take supper here, Ferry,” Roxleigh said quietly. “Have a tray sent up.”
     
    “Yes, Your Grace. Do you require further assistance?”
     
    Roxleigh stilled. He knew he was acting peculiar as of late and Ferry was not one to comment, but Roxleigh could see concern in his eyes and heard it in the way he spoke.
     
    He shook his head and finished undressing. “No, Ferry, that will be all.”
     
    The valet bowed and disappeared.
     
    Roxleigh’s suite of rooms was much like the main guest suite, mirrored on the opposite side of the great entrance, but his suite was nearly twice the size of the other. He dropped his clothes where he stood and walked to the tub, scrubbing his fingers through his hair. He sank in, the steaming water washing over his aching muscles as he groaned and leaned back, resting his head on the edge. For the first time in several days, he started to relax as his mind drifted.
     
    The only thing in attendance in his mind was her.
     
    Gideon took himself in hand—and not at all gently. His tension mounted every time he thought on the girl in his manor. Francine. He had done his best to avoid her, and the fact that she was unable to wander from her rooms and the private parlor certainly helped in that endeavor.
     
    Nonetheless, he found himself searching her out in the depths of the first floor balconies whenever he left his study, or walked the stairs, or went to the dining room. She had touched a nerve in him he never knew existed, and he was having a most difficult time in quelling his rampant need.
     
    There was more. Certainly his cock twitched whenever he thought of her, but there was a knot in his chest where she was concerned as well. His position in the peerage, and her status as an unknown, drove him like nothing had in all his years as the Duke of Roxleigh.
     
    He shifted in the bath. Water hit his chest like a waking slap and he released himself. What was he doing?
     
    Bloody hell and damn . He finished the bath and toweled himself off, then wrapped it around his waist. Standing by the fire, he felt the heat singe the hair on his shins, the crackle dissipating his reverie and