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She stared at him, horrified "Papa" Smack "To the devil with your cannon Finn could die"

He blinked at her, stunned Susanna was stunned, too God help her, she’d cursed at her own father and s

"I’e of his shock to press her hand to his throat and feel for his pulse For a few horrific seconds, she couldn’t find any heartbeat at all But at last, her fingers located the elusive rhyth

Tears of relief pressed to her eyes Her father ht be a selfish old man, enslaved to his ambition Perhaps he’d never loved her the way a iven her life Not once, but twice And he had given her this home she adored so much He was her father, and she loved hied down a passing stable hand "Take my father in to the housekeeper Tell her Miss Finch says Sir Lewis ue house, where thehorses to the cart The beasts stamped and whinnied, roo her into the cart to sit at Finn’s knee Her skirts crushed beneath her as she settled into the straw Corporal Thorne and Aaron Daere already present, crouching on either side of Finn to keep hiht about the boy’s calf, just above the tourniquet, adding the force of his grip to staunch the flow of blood

"Go on ahead," Bram ordered the driver He and his cousin prepared to mount their horses "We’ll catch you on the road"

The cart lurched intodown the dirt lane They’d nearly covered the distance to the smithy by the time Susanna realized she wasn’t the only wo Finn’s head in her lap and wiping his broith a lacy white handkerchief "There, there," sheso well The ride’s almost over"

As they pulled into the smithy’s small yard, Aaron Dawes vaulted from the cart and rushed ahead to throw open the doors Bram slid from his horse and hurried to lift Finn in his arms and carry him inside Thorne and Payne flanked hihted fro a sharp pain where she’d fallen She paused for aa hand to her bruised side, until the pain subsided Then she hwood did the sahwoodDiana This will be an unpleasant scene I don’t think you should be here" Susanna wasn’t at all sure how she would h, herself This ell beyond her usual real wo my time of distress You, Lord Rycliff, Mr Dawes Rufus and Finn, as well I want to repay the kindness I haven’t the e, Miss Finch But I’ I can"

Susanna regarded the young wohas inedSusanna included

Good for her

"You’ll be certain to step out, if it becomes too much?"

Diana nodded "And I have rateful squeeze before releasing it "Then let’s go in together"

Aaron Dawes hurried ahead of the it to the center of the space "Set him down here, my lord"

Brao But then he silentlyboy to the srip on Finn’s wounded leg

"Easy, Finn," Bra to take care of you" He turned to Dawes "Laudanum?"

"I sent Rufus--"

"I’lass bottle "Took it frohwood offered

"Save it for afterward," Dawes said "He’s already unconscious, and we can’t wait for it to take effect" The snizable foot "There’s no saving it I’ll start readying the tools"

Susanna was saddened, but unsurprised Even if the bone weren’t splintered, the wound was an unholy mess--studded with bits of metal, boot leather, and other debris It would prove ihly If the blood loss didn’t take Finn’s life, infection would

"What can I do?" Lord Payne asked He stood at the edge of the roo to do"

"Get the fire going It’s growing dark" The se "And there’s a laet the lamp," Diana said

"Everyone, halt!" Bra "No one is touching this boy’s foot, do you hear ht to have kno Bra But that was a different sort of wound, incurred under ht, Bram looked around the room and spoke with cool authority "No one cuts into this boy Not until I return That’s an order" He turned to his corporal "Do you hear me, Thorne? No one touches him You have my permission to use whatever e, leaving everyone stunned, staring blankly at one another They all knehat Bra Finn’s foot couldhis life

"I’ll talk to hi for the door