‘Right, you look as good as you’re going to get tonight.’ She stood up and brushed down her skirt.
‘Thank you, you are very kind.’
Kind—that was the last thing Nellie was. He shouldn’t be thanking her. He was completely within his rights to give her the reprimand she had been expecting and, now, after all that she had put him through, she would accept it. She thoroughly deserved his chastisement.
Wincing, he tried to pull himself to a seated position. ‘Now, if you could send someone to summon my valet, he’ll arrange for a carriage to take me home. I don’t want to put you to any more trouble than I already have.’
Nellie shook her head. The doctor had said he shouldn’t move. It seemed he wasn’t going to listen to the doctor’s instructions and he cared little for the pain that moving was so obviously causing him. For his own sake, Nellie needed to take a different approach.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that. There’s no one else here that I can send and I’m reluctant to go out at this hour all by myself.’ She did her best impression of a helpless woman. Nellie had walked home by herself on many a night. She knew how to avoid trouble and keep herself safe. After all, she’d been doing that since she was thirteen. It was just a shame she had been unable to keep Mr Lockhart safe tonight.
‘In that case...’ he made to climb off her bed, causing Nellie’s patchwork quilt to fall towards the floor and once again exposing his naked chest to her gaze ‘...I’ll find my own way home.’
Nellie put a restraining hand on his shoulder and fought not to react to the touch of his naked skin or his rippling muscles under her fingers. ‘You’re in no fit state to make your own way home. You can stay here tonight and then, if you still insist on leaving, I’ll fetch your valet tomorrow.’
‘I can’t spend the night here.’ He winced with pain, closed his eyes and gripped the side of his chest. He took in a deep breath, opened his one good eye and looked at her, his brows drawn together, his swollen lips frowning. ‘Your reputation. People will know you’ve had a man in your room all night.’
Nellie couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, this man really was so gallant, even if it was misdirected. ‘I don’t think anyone in this neighbourhood would notice and, if they did, they’d not care. I’m not Lady Cecily. My value on the marriage market isn’t going to go down because my reputation has got a bit sullied.’ She pointed towards his bandaged chest. ‘Anyway, with the condition you’re in at the moment, I think my virtue is pretty safe.’
He exhaled and looked around the room. ‘I can’t stay here. I can’t take your bed. Where will you sleep?’ He attempted to rise from the bed and once again Nellie put a restraining hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back towards the pillows.
‘I’ll be fine. I can sleep anywhere.’
He made to rise again. ‘You can’t. I can’t take your bed. It would be unforgivable.’
‘Oh, for goodness sake. You’re injured and the doctor says you can’t be moved in case you’ve broken a rib. Now do as you’re told and lie down.’
‘But I won’t ruin a woman’s reputation.’
‘You don’t have to concern yourself on my account,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘I can take care of myself. Now do as you’re told and lie down.’
He looked at her for a few moments then dropped back down on to the pillows. ‘You are very kind to put yourself out like this.’
‘And stop saying I’m kind. If I hadn’t told you to come to The Hanged Man you wouldn’t be in this state. I’m not kind at all and certainly not to you. I’ve insulted you, played tricks on you and now I’ve caused you to get beaten up. I’m most definitely not kind and the least I can do is let you stay here the night while you recover.’
‘All right, I’ll stay the one night. Thank you for that, you’re very kind...’ He smiled, then winced as the split on his lip opened further. ‘You’re very beautiful,’ he said and closed his eyes.
Nellie watched as he drifted off to sleep. Beautiful. He had called her beautiful. The man was clearly in a great deal of pain and becoming delusional.
Chapter Seven
Mr Lockhart slipped into sleep and Nellie lowered herself into her one armchair. Her back still ached from the exertion of heaving him up the stairs. She still had a painful crick in her neck and her shoulders were knotted with tension.
A long soak in a hot scented bath would do wonders for her aching body, but that would not be happening tonight. She certainly didn’t have the energy to drag out the tin bath and heat up enough water to fill it. And even if she did, she wasn’t about to strip off in front of Mr Lockhart. Nellie smiled to herself and looked at the man sleeping in her bed. Well, stripping off in front of Mr Lockhart wasn’t an entirely unpleasant thought, although it was obviously not something she would do, or should even be thinking about.
She continued to stare at his sleeping face. He was so gallant, jumping to her defence, then worrying about her reputation. Sweet, really. But what she had said to him was true. She was capable of looking after herself, had been doing so successfully for the last ten years. And as she wasn’t from the same class as Lady Cecily he did not need to concern himself with her reputation. Lady Cecily belonged to a class where a woman’s value on the marriage market could be irredeemably tarnished if there was any suggestion
