“I will go at once,” Lady Paxton said, squeezing his hand for a moment. “Have no fear, Lord Rutherford. I will tell Lady Catherine precisely what has occurred.”
His head lifted sharply and despite the colors that danced through his vision with the swiftness of it, he looked directly at Lady Paxton, trying to see if she had said such a thing because she had been able to surmise the depth of feeling that coursed through him at the mention of Lady Catherine’s name. But she merely smiled and then left him with Lord Paxton, who cleared his throat gruffly, making Stephen turn toward him.
“There is some blood on the back of your head,” he said quietly, grimacing as he glanced at Stephen’s head. “You were hit very hard indeed.”
Stephen winced as his fingers probed through his hair, finding the matted blood and, with it, a fresh, stabbing pain. “He hit me very hard.”
Lord Paxton nodded, his face set. “I would go and look for what it might be that hit you, but I fear that would be a fruitless endeavor,” he said with a shake of his head. “Whoever hit you would have removed it by now. Mayhap that was why he sought to hurry off so quickly.”
Stephen nodded and began to walk forward toward the door. “Let us hope I do not bleed all over the floor as I was,” he said with a rueful smile. “We must go through the ballroom again, I presume?”
Lord Paxton shrugged, his eyes glinting. “We might be able to, but I do not know this house well enough to find our way through,” he said. “So long as you can keep your head up and walk forward without too much difficulty, you will soon find yourself ensconced in the carriage and safely away.”
Saying nothing, Stephen lifted his head and ignored the stab of agony that slashed through him again. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head high and, as Lord Paxton held the door open for him, walked back into the ballroom. The music and noise of conversation made him feel as though he had walked into a wall, forcing him to catch his breath as he misstepped and staggered just a little.
“Are you all right?”
Stephen gritted his teeth and nodded, walking forward with quick, determined steps. His head was still in agony, but he forced himself to walk without wincing, as though he were just a gentleman moving forward out of the ballroom to, perhaps, go to the card room.
“Well done,” Lord Paxton muttered as he walked alongside Stephen, ready to help him if required. “The carriage will be waiting.”
With a tight smile, Stephen could not help but turn his head, as though he knew that his gaze would come to rest upon the one lady he had been eager to speak to. Lady Catherine.
She was standing a short distance away but his view of her was unhindered by the other guests, as though they knew not to get in his way. Lady Paxton was by her side and as he held her gaze, he saw her eyes flare, her brows lifting as Lady Paxton continued to speak. Something unspoken grew between them, with Stephen feeling his heart lifting as Lady Catherine gave him a small nod, which he tried his best to return.
“Come,” Lord Paxton said, and reluctantly, Stephen stepped out of the ballroom, leaving Lady Catherine and Lady Paxton behind. And yet, as he moved toward the waiting carriage, Stephen felt his steps lighter than before, his pain a little lessened—and all because he had seen Lady Catherine and knew that all was now being explained to her, at this very moment.
Perhaps she will not think too poorly of me after all, he thought to himself as he climbed into the carriage. His eyes closed the moment he sat down, relaxing in relief as Lord Paxton sat down opposite him. For the moment, at least, he was safe.
10
“You, there.”
Catherine was astonished to hear the sharpness of Lady Ann’s voice as she called out to the man now tottering forward, leaning heavily on a footman’s arm. The ballroom was a door behind them, for they had followed the gentleman and the footman from the room.
“Stop!”
Lady Ann’s words were filled with authority as she practically demanded that the gentleman turn around to face them. The footman came to a stop almost at once, but the man attempted to continue walking, only to have to grab onto the footman again. Reluctantly, he turned around, his cheek trickling blood and a graze across his forehead. Catherine winced but did not look away.
“Wait a moment,” the gentleman slurred, suddenly looking delighted as he pointed one large finger out toward them. “Is this to be my reward? Is this what he was speaking of?”
Catherine blinked, frowning hard. “What do you mean, sir?” she asked, her words sharp and her eyes narrowed. “What reward?”
Lady Ann stepped closer and Catherine noticed the gentleman’s eyes fix to her sister, as well as the leer that crossed his face. Her anger began to swell and she stepped forward, only for Lady Ann to press one finger into the gentleman’s chest.
“What reward?” she hissed as Catherine came to join her sister. “You think that I—” She glanced back at Catherine. “That we have been sent by someone for your delectation? As a reward for you crashing into that young lady and eliciting such a response that almost everyone within this ballroom was distracted by it?”
Catherine smiled with satisfaction as the gentleman stopped grinning and stepped back, while the footman grabbed a hold of his arm, clearly rather confused as to what was going on. This made the gentleman stumble back even more, his eyes wide and his feet going from under him. Had the footman not been hanging onto his arm, the fellow would have gone crashing to the ground.
“Who was it?” Catherine asked softly, hearing the music beginning to play again from the ballroom behind them. “Which gentleman promised to reward you?”
The gentleman’s eyes flared.
“Mayhap we should speak to our host,” Catherine continued with an airy wave of her hand. “I am sure he would be very glad to know that you deliberately did such a thing in order to disrupt his very important evening.”
This seemed to make all the difference, for the man suddenly righted himself, then began to shake his head frantically. “No, no,” he stammered, his eyes jumping from Catherine to Ann and then back again. “He said that he would repay my debt to Lord Enfield. I thought…” Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes as though he hoped they would disappear when he opened them again. “I thought you might have been an additional reward for doing what I did and injuring myself accidentally.” He gestured to his face, but Catherine felt no sympathy.
“What was the name of this gentleman?” she demanded, but the man shook his head.
“I do not know,” he protested with such a wide-eyed look that Catherine felt that she could not disbelieve him. “I was enjoying a few drinks in the card room—I was disappointed to have lost so many times and to have put myself into even more debt—when he approached and asked if I would appreciate someone canceling out my debt to Lord Enfield.”
Catherine caught her breath, one hand at her heart as she looked to her sister, who was also now staring at the gentleman, her face a little pale.
“And has this gentleman done so?” Catherine asked, her voice a little hoarse as she watched the gentleman shrug. “You will need to discover whether or not he has kept his word, will you not?”