will always have my unwavering support, my dear. If it means anything to you, I favored Burke from the start.”
They went silent after that, time seeming suspended as she latched onto the hope his words inspired and held fast. She closed her eyes and sank into the warmth of his embrace, nearly drifting off to sleep. A commotion in the entrance hall propelled her to her feet, and her sari fell to the floor, forgotten as she rushed into the corridor.
A horrified cry tore from her as Benedict and the man who had been introduced to her as Aubrey Drake, came through the front door with Nick propped up between them. His arms draped over their shoulders, his steps were sluggish and heavy as they urged him forward. A third man—David Graham, closed the door behind them, while Mr. Hugh Radcliffe stood by holding the cedar box containing the dueling pistols, Nick’s coat and waistcoat draped over one arm.
“What happened?” she exclaimed, noticing that Nick’s shirt had been cut open on the left side. The gaping hole was stained bright crimson, and clean, white linen covered what she assumed must be a wound.
Nick lifted his head and fixed glassy eyes on her, his face pale and strained. “I will live, goddess. It’s nothing.”
“You’ve been shot! Don’t tell me it’s nothing!”
“The surgeon says the wound is minor,” Benedict offered, shrugging to adjust Nick’s weight. “Fortunately, the ball went straight through, missing vital organs. All he needed was stitching up and a little laudanum for the pain.”
Nick grinned at her, the motion shaky and crooked as the effects of the potion held him firmly in its thrall. “You’re so beautiful. I love you.”
“Quiet,” she growled, casting a glare at Benedict. “I thought you said he was a good shot … that everything would be all right.”
David rolled his eyes, looking quite put out as he gestured toward Nick. “The idiot deloped at the last second and gave Lewes a clear opening to kill him.”
“Knew he didn’t have the balls,” Nick slurred, his head dropping and his hair falling into his eyes. “Shot straight up in the air.”
“Deloping was the only way,” Aubrey protested. “By admitting guilt, Nick has restored Lewes’s honor and the man is satisfied. And Lewes would never have killed him. You know … having no balls and all.”
David chuckled and Hugh snorted, while Benedict merely looked annoyed.
Calliope took a deep breath, choosing to be heartened that the matter had been dealt with as opposed to angry with Nick for purposely missing his shot and putting his life in peril.
Diana came running down the stairs then, calling for servants to prepare a bed and bellowing for Hastings to send for a physician. It then became Calliope’s turn to comfort her sister as Aubrey and Benedict practically carried Nick up the stairs. Once Hastings and the viscount arrived to take the hysterical pregnant woman in hand, Calliope followed the men, finding that Nick was being placed in a room just down the corridor from her own. His shirt, boots, and stockings were stripped away, and two maids turned down the bed while a third worked to get a fire going in the hearth.
She hovered at his bedside, coming closer as he held one hand out to her. His grip on her was weak, but she pressed a finger to his wrist to find his pulse beating strong.
“Don’t worry, Anni,” he mumbled, eyes drooping heavily. “I’ll be right as rain in no time. Then … you are going to marry me.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, I am, am I?”
Half his mouth curved in a smile just before he finally lost consciousness, but not until he’d had the last word. “’Course you will. Told you … meant to be …”
Her shoulders sagged and she turned to face the men lingering near the door, watching the scene with varying degrees of amusement and curiosity. Apparently, Nick muttering about love and destiny was quite a shock to David, who looked as if he hardly recognized the man before him.
Aubrey was the first to speak, clearing his throat and running a hand over his close-shaven hair. “If you all don’t mind, I’ll take my leave now. It is my wedding night, after all.”
Calliope winced, guilt assailing her as she recalled that the man had been married just that morning. “I hope Mrs. Drake will not be too put out with you.”
He smiled and waved her off. “She insisted I come, knowing I’d have a