to her, followed by the sound of hurried hooves. Her body was already bruised; did her ego need pummeling as well? A face appeared above her, and Felicity felt like groaning anew.
Chapter 6
“That was quite the fall.” The gentleman crouched down beside her and placed a hand on her arm as though to help her upright. But Felicity only wished to lie there. Perhaps forever.
“Allow me to help you,” he said.
“There is no need.”
“I doubt it. That was a spectacular tumble.”
Felicity sighed. “If you are going to do something, do it spectacularly.”
The edges of his lips quirked into a smile. “Then you succeeded admirably. Now, sit up.”
But Felicity did not move. Her body twinged with every breath, so she knew standing would be an unpleasant experience, and doing so in front of an audience would make it all the worse.
“I thank you for your concern, but I can manage. Please be on your way. I will be right in a moment.”
His light brows rose. “You think I could leave without assuring myself you are well?”
The gentleman reached for her foot, and Felicity jerked it away, a surge of pain accompanying the movement.
“What do you think you are doing?” she demanded.
“Checking for breaks. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did yourself serious damage.”
“I assure you I am whole.” Despite wishing for more time, Felicity forced herself upright. Her muscles and joints protested, and her head spun, but the world righted itself in quick succession.
“And how would you know?”
Felicity frowned. “As they are my bones, I would know if they were out of sorts.”
Straightening, the fellow looked at her with a matching scowl. “Are you always so obstinate? I am merely offering my assistance.”
Cursing her wretched tongue, Felicity sighed. “I am not obstinate. I am merely embarrassed beyond words that anyone witnessed my ‘spectacular tumble’ and wish to be left in peace while I lick my proverbial wounds.”
“They may be more than proverbial, but we cannot know for certain unless you allow me to check you,” he muttered.
Felicity’s shoulders dropped. “I apologize. I appreciate your assistance.”
*
Finch eyed the young lady, wondering if he was bound to feel the bite of her tongue once more, but the previous show of temper faded, leaving her looking quite contrite. Untangling her skirts from around her feet, Finch removed the slipper and felt her ankle. The chill already had the young lady’s cheeks a bright red, but there was a quality to it that made him wonder if she were blushing.
“Are you a physician?” she asked.
“No,” he replied, and her foot stiffened, so he added, “While in the army, I had thought to pursue medicine and studied with a surgeon. Though my education is limited, I have enough experience to tell if a bone is broken or whole.”
With a few prods, Finch replaced the slipper and moved to her other foot. “They appear to be perfect.”
The lady gave another sigh. “That is a compliment I haven’t heard before. If you begin to wax poetic about my lovely appendages, I may have to brain you.”
Leaning back, Finch stared at her before letting out a wholly sincere scoff. The lady wasn’t an antidote and wholly unpleasant to gaze upon, but neither was she some Aphrodite who ought to be concerned about swains tossing themselves at her feet.
Her hair was a haze of curls, but not the sort that ladies spent countless hours cultivating. Many had fallen free of her coiffure, and they were a riotous tangle that some might call titian to be kind but were, in fact, a garish orange. And though her figure was nice enough, her features were bland and forgettable, but that might have more to do with the attention her complexion commanded.
Finch had little experience with smallpox, as his family had been spared that scourge, but even his uneducated eyes recognized the signs its survivors bore. The state of her scars was such that he suspected it had been some years since she’d been afflicted, but there was no ignoring the uneven marks marring her face. The lady was not one to command a man’s attention, let alone inspire love at first sight.
“I assure you, I have no designs on you no matter how highly you prize yourself,” he said with narrowed eyes.
The lady had the gall to stare at him with wide eyes, her brows rising so high up her blasted forehead that they disappeared beneath the curls. Honestly, the gentlemen of Bristow must suffer from poor vision, but he had ample