A Phantom Affair Read Online Free

she cried.
    He was lying on the ground, his arms flung out as if he had taken a facer. Blood flowed down his waistcoat. She put her fingers close to his lips. The uneven pulse of his breath brushed her palm.
    â€œHelp!” she called as she slipped her arm beneath him to keep his head out of the wet grass. “We need help! Lord Wulfric is hurt!”
    Instantly she was surrounded. She was gently brought to her feet as a man knelt beside the marquess. An arm around her shoulders steadied her. She did not look to see who was helping her. Her gaze riveted on Lord Wulfric, who had not moved.
    When the kneeling man tore aside the marquess’s coat, she cried, “Be careful! He may be hurt badly!”
    â€œHe is a doctor, Ellen,” said Marian softly. “Hush, and let him see what he can do for Lord Wulfric.”
    What he did was issue a series of quick orders that could not reach past the pounding in Ellen’s head. She thought she heard him order both her and the marquess back to the house, but nothing made sense.
    â€œHow is he?” she whispered, reaching for the lanky doctor’s arm. Her fingers closed inches from it.
    He looked at her, his lips strained and puckered. “Young lady, Miss Dunbar, is it?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYou must lie down. You need quiet to recover from this horrible event.”
    â€œBut Lord Wulfric … How is he?”
    For a moment, she feared he would not answer. He turned away to watch the marquess being placed on a litter which must have been brought from the house. A deep sigh raised and lowered his shoulders like bits of flotsam on the sea. “He took the brunt of the explosion.”
    â€œBut how is he? Is he hurt?”
    He faced her again. All emotion left his voice as he said, “Miss Dunbar, I’m sorry, but after examining Lord Wulfric’s wounds, I doubt he will last the night.”

Two
    The sitting room was uncomfortably bright. Light glared off the polished marble fireplace and the mahogany furniture. In a corner, behind the gold settee and the chairs flanking it, a long case clock tolled the hour.
    Only eleven o’clock.
    Ellen shook her head as Marian asked her—yet again—if she would like to rest. To own the truth, she was not sure if she could stand to go into one of the bedchambers on this floor. She did not recall how she had gotten to this room, although she suspected it must have been with Marian and Mr. Wolfe’s help in the wake of the last fireworks detonating on the ground.
    Pain seared her arm at the thought. The debris had sprayed throughout the garden, but she and Lord Wulfric had been the only ones struck. Marian had called that fortunate. Ellen could not agree, for she could imagine little worse than sitting here and waiting for the doctor’s latest word on the marquess’s condition.
    Mr. Wolfe, who was pacing in front of the door leading into his cousin’s bedchamber, was nearly distraught with worry. A bare-bones man, he had a gaunt handsomeness that was enhanced by his hair. It was as dark as Lord Wulfric’s. From the tip of his shining boots to the top of his mussed hair, he looked ready to ride to the hounds.
    Until he turned to catch her eyes. Then she saw the horror in his face. It spoke, more than any words, of his anxiety for his cousin’s well-being.
    â€œMiss Dunbar, are you sure you don’t wish to lie down?” he asked, his amiable voice adding to the ache in her skull.
    â€œI would as lief wait to hear what the doctor has to say.”
    â€œIt will not be good, I fear.” He rubbed his hands together and forced a strained smile. “Marian, you, too, are kind to be with me at this grim hour.”
    â€œI fear we are burdening you more,” Ellen said as Marian gulped back a sob.
    â€œNonsense.” He cleared his throat. “I would not wish to be alone now.”
    She did not know what to say to the man whose long face was made even