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Or possibly this was the effect men had on women all the tie of thirteen had been liardener and occasional encounters with tradesmen, this could well be the case For the first ti But now she was alone with four of theh, sober and respectful
‘Normally, yes, we have much better manners Alex is doubtless disconcerted at his very unusual cluround, but I have no excuse How should I address you, ma’am?’
‘Miss Ellery Tess Ellery, Doctor’
‘Not doctor Plain Mr Grantha at Edinburgh, so I am quite safe to be let loose on arded her as she sat there looking, she had no doubt, like a somewhat battered crow ‘May I take your cloak and bonnet? I will need you to re so I can examine your ankle Shall I send for a maid to attend you?’
He looked serious and respectable Considering that she had not shed so love in male company for years, Tess wondered why she was not round and then carried by a tall, strong, over-ht have reduced her capacity for flusterment Was that a word? More likely the fact that her world was so out of kilter accounted for it
‘Miss Ellery?’ Mr Rivers aiting patiently She searched for normal courtesy and some poise, found a smile and felt it freeze on her lips as she met his eyes He had the saddest eyes she had ever seen It was like gazing into the hell of so felt as intrusive and un at mourners at a funeral
‘No, no e, thank you’ Tess made a business of her bonnet ribbon and cloak clasp and arments at the end of the settle, then went to stand with his back to her, shielding her froarter to roll down her stocking ‘I cannot get my boot off’
‘The ankle is swelling’ Mr Rivers came and knelt down in front of her ‘Letthe leather’
‘Please’ They were her only pair of boots
‘Have you any other injuries?’ He bent over her foot, working the boot off with gentle wiggles ‘You didn’t bang your head, or put out your hand and hurt your wrist?’
‘No, onlythe boot hurt, despite his care, so Tess looked over his head at the other three e quartet Mr Rivers with his tragic eyes, gentle hands and handsoant and relaxed Deceptively relaxed, given the ease hich he had lifted and carried her The blond icicle who looked like a cross between an archangel and a hanging judge and the lounging dice player who seee tavern frequented by footpads than a respectable inn in the coentlemen
Yes, an unlikely coether Like brothers, she supposed Family
Lord Weybourneyebrow
‘Ah, thatand flexing ‘Tell le your toes? Excellent And point your foot? No, stop if it is painful’
He certainly see He would bind it up for her and Lord Weybourn iven that the collision was all his fault and she wouldn’t be able to get her boot laced again over a bandage None of thesein a way that estive remarks Tess relaxed a little ement that she was safe here
His lordship was half sitting on the edge of the table, laughing at so the dice player had said Now he had shed his hat and greatcoat she could see that the i as much as to his manner Ten years in a nunnery did not do much for her appreciation of male fashion, but even she could see that what he wore had been crafted from expensive fabrics by a , s, and that whoever looked after his linen was a perfectionist
Unlike his friends, the viscount wasn’t conventionally good looking, Tess thought critically as Mr Rivers rested her foot on a stool and stood up, es Mr Rivers was the iht nose, thick, glossy dark brown hair and those tragic, beautiful green eyes The blond icicle belonged in a church’s stained-glass , giving iation palpitations of ht of his blue eyes turning on the rebuke Even the dice player with his shock of black hair, insolent gypsy-dark eyes and broad shoulders had the attractiveness of a male animal in its prime