As she cradled his head in one hand to slide the linen free, hoping the damp on her fingers matting his hair was just mud and not blood from a head injury, his eyes opened.
So many words came to mind at once, none would come to her mouth.
He squinted and blinked, as though trying to bring her into focus. His left eye was already red and swelling, and would probably be swollen shut by nightfall. Blood trickled from his nose. He brought his free hand toward her cheek.
She leaned forward to hear him as he tried to raise his head.
“I’ll not leave thee,” he whispered.
Her breath hitched as she recognized the line from the song last night.
His eyes rolled back and his hand fell to his chest, and his head was heavy in her hand again.
The woman beside her in the bloody apron, whose presence Ashley had forgotten, clucked her tongue. “Yer man certainly ain’t leaving you.” She slapped his cheeks, so vigorously Ashley winced, then shook her head. “Be awhile ‘afore ‘e comes ‘round again, though.” She looked up as her husband returned.
The butcher rested his hands on his knees when he got close. “Bast— ah, blighters got away,” he said between gasps. Beads of sweat rolled down his temples, his cheeks flushed.
“Where’s yer carriage, my lady?” the butcher’s wife asked Ashley. “I’ll ‘ave me boys ‘elp yer servants carry yer ‘usband. Poor gent, ‘e won’t be walkin’ any time soon.”
Ravencroft’s cravat in her hand, Ashley froze. “Oh, he’s not, uh, we’re, uh…” She cast a panicked look at Sally, whose eyes were wide.
“We walked,” Sally whispered.
Ashley nodded slowly, her mind spinning. “It was so nice when the sun came out, we decided to walk.”
The woman pointed to her husband. “Sam, go get the cart. And put down fresh straw.”
“Yes, dear,” said Sam, the big man in a bloodstained apron. He walked away, bellowing for the boys peeking out of the shop door to come help.
The woman patted Ashley’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
Sally’s hand trembled, which made Ravencroft’s arm shake as Ashley tried to wind his cravat around his forearm, to slow the bleeding. Sally looked even paler than the white linen.
“I don’t have a vinaigrette in my reticule,” Ashley said.
“I’ll be fine, miss, uh, my lady.” Sally raised her gaze to rooftop level and took several deep breaths.
By the time the butcher arrived with his horse and cart, Ashley had done all she could for Ravencroft with the supplies at hand, on the ground in the alley. A smaller boy came out from the shop and held the horse’s head collar while Sam and his two biggest sons loaded Ravencroft into the cart. He didn’t even moan at being jostled.
The butcher offered Ashley a hand to climb up to the driver’s seat. Instead of sitting on the bench, she tucked up her skirts and climbed into the back. She settled on the straw to cradle Ravencroft’s head on her lap, carefully resting his injured arm across his stomach, while one of the boys assisted Sally into the back of the cart.
Where should they go? She didn’t know where the earl resided and wasn’t confident she could find Lady Bedford’s home. Her thoughts still in turmoil, clear only about the urgency of treating Ravencroft’s injuries, Ashley gave Sam directions to the mews behind Uncle Edward’s townhouse.
The butcher’s wife came running out of the shop with two bundles tied in paper and string. “Here, my lady,” she said, reaching over the cart’s side rail to hand the smaller one to Ashley. “Put this on ‘is eye. Will ‘elp ease the swelling.” She handed the other bundle to Sally. “There’s more for later. Or for his supper. You decide what’s best.”
Ashley unwrapped the chilled, raw beefsteak and placed it over Ravencroft’s left eye. “Thank you. You’ve been most kind.”
She shook her head. “My Sam’s chased that pimp and ‘is girls away before. They keep coming back ’cuz there’s always gents what go to the bakery next door and are ‘ungry for a different kind of tart.” She made an impatienttsksound. “He ain’t nice to ‘is girls. Yer ‘usband is the first I ever seen stand up fer one of ‘em.”
Ashley glanced down at Ravencroft’s still form and brushed a lock of hair away from his face. “He’s a good man.” She wanted to say more, but no words would come.
“Giddy up,” Sam called to the horse, and the cart started rolling. Two boys sat on the bench beside their father, and the youngest hopped up into the cart to sit beside Sally.
Soon they arrived at the stables, empty because Uncle Edward and Aunt Eunice had taken their only carriage and team of horses. With the half-day off Ashley had given everyone else, the rest of the staff wasn’t due back for several more hours.
The boy beside Sally jumped down and assisted the maid to the ground.
“Please run ahead and put a clean sheet on top of m- our bed,” Ashley said, giving her a significant look.
