Glancing at Frederica, she nodded her head forward with a grimace. She did not wish to be bled. Samuel turned back to the doctor. ‘Go then. You will have plenty of other patients before the week is done.’
Mrs Janssens and Dubois both looked aghast.
The innkeeper’s wife grasped her chest, her face paling several shades. ‘Then the rumours are true? Napoleon is coming?’
‘You have a day. Possibly two.’
Dubois gave a curt nod and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Samuel wondered if the doctor would try to flee or help. After the battle, every church, school, and public building would be full of wounded soldiers in need of medical attention. Death was often a slow and painful process.
‘Samuel,’ Frederica said in a weak voice.
Moving to her side, he took her hand with one arm and gently caressed her brow with the other. ‘What can I do for you?’
She gave him a small smile, but then winced. ‘I am so hungry and everything hurts. And you know that I do not like to miss meals.’
Mrs Janssens cleared her throat and curtsied. ‘I’ll get milady some broth and bread.’
She left the room.
Perching on the edge of the bed, he continued to stroke her hair and cheek. ‘I am so very sorry. I feel terrible that you were hurt under my protection.’
Frederica gave him another pained smile. ‘No more sorrys. It was brilliant. You were brilliant.Iwas brilliant.’
This drew a reluctant laugh from Samuel.
She closed her eyes and gasped. ‘Except next time, I will try my best not to get shot.’
He kissed her forehead and then her cheek. How he loved her. ‘I would prefer that.’
Mrs Janssens returned with a candle and a tray. ‘Milord, I prepared the room adjacent to this one for you to freshen up, and Mr Janssens has your dinner in hand. I shall look after the madam.’
Samuel glanced at Frederica, who gave him another weak smile. He thanked Mrs Janssens again and left the room. He found the horses in two stalls in a barn behind the inn. They appeared to have been fed, watered, and brushed down. He was grateful that Monsieur Janssens had taken care of them. The poor animals had run their hearts out for them. Patting his horse’s head, he took off his saddlebag. Then he did the same for Frederica’s grey.
After returning to the inn, he brought their meagre packs upstairs. The room for him was slightly smaller than Frederica’s and not as well aired. Pouring water from a pitcher, he washed his arms, hands, and face. He wished he could wash away the image in his mind of Frederica’s blood on his hands. He knew that he should leave her and take the information on to Wellington. It was his duty. But Frederica was his heart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Frederica ached all over. She felt worse than she did last year when she was kicked in the stomach by a zebra. Clutching at her side, she groaned and tried to sit up gingerly. Falling back on her pillow, she decided to stay exactly where she was. She looked around the room and saw Samuel asleep in a chair by her side. How uncomfortable he must have been! Only an exhausted person could sleep on a wooden chair. His head hung to one side; his jaw was shadowed after several days of growth and no valet. It made him look older, rugged, and even more handsome. He was her husband and even if he did not choose her, Samuel wanted a life with her. A family. She warmed at the thought of it.
‘Samuel?’
Blinking, his eyes slowly opened. He leaned forward and took her hand, caressing her knuckles with his strong fingers. ‘Can I get you anything? Water? Breakfast? A chamber pot?’
‘I am fine.’
He snorted, shaking his head. ‘You are a terrible liar.’
‘I feel awful,’ Frederica said with a grimacing smile. ‘How are you?’
Yawning, Samuel shrugged his shoulders. ‘Stiff.’
She picked up his hand and brought it to her dry lips, brushing a kiss on the back and then in the palm. ‘Please tell me you haven’t slept in that chair all night? You must be exhausted.’
‘No, no. Only half of it. Mrs Janssens, the innkeeper’s wife, took the first shift. She is a most redoubtable Englishwoman and I am sure that you will like her.’
Biting her lower lip, Frederica remembered the redheaded woman who had sewed up her side. ‘Yes. How lucky we were to have found her. Will you see if she is willing to help me dress? I do not think I could do it on my own this morning. I cannot even sit up by myself.’
He smiled down at her tenderly. ‘And where do you think you are going with a bullet wound in your side?’