First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4) - Julia Quinn Page 0,39
of the stairs, Wheelock stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Wait for me outside, sir,” he whispered. “I will be there in under a minute.”
Nicholas wanted to argue that they had no time to lose, but Wheelock had dashed off before he could form words, and Nicholas wasn’t about to risk waking the house by calling after him. Instead he made his way outside, pausing on the front steps to finally pull on his boots. A moment later the butler reappeared, his own shoes in hand.
“I am coming with you,” Wheelock said.
“You are?” Nicholas hadn’t expected this.
Wheelock drew back, deeply affronted. “Sir.”
“Can you ride?” Nicholas asked.
“Of course I can.”
Nicholas gave him an approving nod. “Then let’s go.”
ABOUT TEN MINUTES later they approached the old farmhouse, and Nicholas saw a light—presumably from a lantern—glowing from around the side. “This way, I think,” he said to Wheelock, who, it had to be said, was a surprisingly proficient horseman.
They slowed their mounts, made their way around the corner, and Nicholas saw what looked to be three people near the old stone wall that ringed the property. Georgie and Thamesly were both crouching down, tending to a third person who was lying prone, unidentifiable from a distance.
“Georgiana!” he called in a shouted whisper. She looked up, relief evident in her posture.
“I’ll see to the mounts,” Wheelock said as they hopped down from their saddles.
Nicholas handed him the reins and hurried over.
“Georgiana,” he said again. “What is going on? Are you all—” He looked down. “Bloody hell.”
He pulled her aside. “Is that Freddie Oakes?”
Georgie nodded. “He broke his arm.”
Oakes looked ready to spit. “The little b—”
Thamesly stepped on Oakes’s leg. “What did we say about proper language in the presence of a lady?”
“Well done, Thamesly,” Nicholas murmured.
“He also cut his head,” Georgie said. “I’ve slowed the bleeding, but I can’t seem to stop it entirely.” She lifted a bandage she’d been holding against his forehead, near his hairline.
“Bring the light in,” Nicholas said.
Thamesly brought the lantern closer. It was hard to tell with the dried and oozing blood, but Oakes appeared to have a not-too-serious laceration on his temple. The rest of his face was fairly well scraped up but not actively bleeding.
“It seems like he’s lost quite a lot of blood,” Georgie said. “It’s been over an hour since it happened.”
“It almost certainly looks worse than it is,” Nicholas assured her. “The scalp is heavily vascularized. It always bleeds more than other parts of the body.”
“Thank goodness,” she said.
He looked up. “You are concerned for him?”
“I don’t want him to die.”
Nicholas did a quick assessment. He would not be able to make a proper judgment without a full examination, but for now, it looked as if Freddie Oakes was going to be just fine.
“He won’t die,” Nicholas told Georgie. “More’s the pity. Although …” He took a closer look, waving Thamesly closer with the lantern. “I’m a little confused by the discoloration of his blood.”
“Oh, that’s ink,” Georgie said. “I threw an inkpot at him. You can see it on his shirt, too.”
“Zooks!” Oakes suddenly exclaimed. “Is that you, Rokesby?”
“Indeed,” Nicholas replied, his voice tight. He could not recall if Georgie knew that he and Freddie Oakes had attended Eton at the same time, so he looked over at her and said, “We went to school together.”
“Best mates,” Freddie said with one of his signature grins.
“We were not best mates,” Nicholas said.
But Freddie was having none of that. “Oh, the times we had.”
Nicholas shook his head. “We had no times. None whatsoever.”
“Aw, don’t be a studge.”
“Studge?” Georgie echoed.
Nicholas shrugged. He had no idea what it meant. “Hold still,” he said to Freddie. “I need to look at your arm.”
“Haven’t seen you in a good few years,” Freddie went on. “What’s it been … six? Eight?”
Nicholas ignored him.
“Ten?”
“Hold still,” Nicholas bit off. “Do you want me to treat your injuries or not?”
“Ye-es,” Freddie said, drawing the word out into two hesitant syllables. “Although I should probably say I don’t have a rat’s idea what you’re doing here.”
“I live nearby,” Nicholas said.
Georgie poked her head in. “He’s studying to be a doctor.”
“Oh!” Oakes’s countenance brightened instantly. “Should have said so.” He looked back over at Georgie. “We’re best mates.”
“We are not best mates,” Nicholas snapped. He looked over at Georgie. “He was kicked out for cheating.”
“Asked to leave,” Freddie corrected.
Georgie looked at Nicholas. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
Nicholas shrugged. “Having never been asked to leave an educational institution, I wouldn’t know.”