He turned back to Winthrop. “Why take Genalynn now?”
Genalynn gasped. “Lord Leinster’s nephew. Look, his response accepting the dinner invitation is right here.” She’d gone over to her uncle’s desk and was sifting through his invitations and correspondence. “Gideon, let’s search the upstairs rooms. What if he’s still in the house?”
“No. We’ll stay right here until the fighting’s over. Then I’ll go search the guest chambers while you are taken to safety.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
He had no intention of starting a lover’s quarrel in front of her uncle. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“No discussion necessary.”
He wanted to throttle her and at the same time kiss her. Her response was the opposite of biddable, but then he never expected she would be a biddable wife. The no discussion necessary was her way of telling him she was not changing her mind and he’d lost the argument so he may as well save his breath.
“Where’s Leinster’s nephew?” he asked the viscount, pressing the blade to his neck so that he drew a little blood by ever so slightly piercing his flesh.
The sting of it immediately started him talking. “He’s down at the harbor overseeing the goods being loaded into the hold of the ship. You’ll find him down there still.”
If he wasn’t there, Gideon would hunt him down. In truth, he was eager to participate in the fighting. Sitting on the safety of the viscount’s study was not to his liking. But he dared not leave Genalynn’s side.
She was softly crying now, trying unsuccessfully to hold back her tears. “Gideon...”
She was aching over Throck. “I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry. Only a little longer now. I’ll take you to him as soon as Sergeant Travers arrives.”
“But it may be too late by then.”
He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he couldn’t release her uncle. “It’s too dangerous out there.”
“My heart is breaking. Do you think there’s a chance he’s still alive?”
Chapter 14
To Gideon’s amazement, Throck was still breathing, but barely. They’d moved him into the viscount’s manor because it was too far to carry him to the dower house. Genalynn insisted on sitting beside him and holding his hand while Gideon and several soldiers made him as comfortable as possible in the viscount’s bed.
Gideon had ordered one of the soldiers to summon the local physician.
“The bullets are lodged inside of him,” Genalynn whispered. “Two of them. One caught him in the shoulder and the other just below his heart. It’s a miracle he’s still alive.” She let out a ragged breath. “Throck, I’m here beside you.”
He blinked his eyes, then shut them again.
“He hears me,” she whispered. “I won’t leave you.”
Throck did not respond.
“Are you listening to me, John Throckmorton? You had better not go anywhere. I want you to promise me.”
So this was Throck’s real name? Gideon felt ashamed he hadn’t thought of it before. Throck was the name one gave to a beast and that’s how everyone but Genalynn had considered him. But this giant once had a loving mother. He was the best friend of Lady Genalynn, a viscount’s daughter. He shook his head. John Throckmorton was a respectable name. The name of one’s solicitor or man of affairs.
“Take care of her,” Throck said, opening his eyes to stare at Gideon.
He nodded. “I give you my oath.”
Genalynn would not let go of his hand. “You both must take care of me. You’re my family.”
“No. He is now.”
She looked up at Gideon in desperation. He didn’t know what to tell her. Throck was dying. How could any man survive a bullet to the chest? When the doctor came, Gideon tried to take Genalynn downstairs but she wouldn’t leave, so he stood with her as the doctor attempted to take the bullets out of Throck. “I’ll nurse you back to health,” she whispered, returning to his side as soon as the doctor allowed. “I’ll read to you every day. I’ll chatter in your ear until you beg me to stop.”
Throck responded with a smile. “You talk too much.”
Gideon was sure those would be his last words before he passed. But Throck was built like an ox, and to everyone’s surprise, he survived the night. He and Genalynn had held vigil at his bedside all the while.
They’d both moved chairs near his bed, but Genalynn had fallen asleep and almost toppled to the floor, so Gideon put her on his lap so she might more comfortably rest in his arms.