If she fainted, at least he wouldn’t have to fight with her anymore, or listen to her frightful opinions. But that was cruel and beneath him. He had broken his arm once as a lad when he had fallen out of a tree. The pain had been fierce, until the surgeon had come and put it in a splint to keep the bone from moving.
“I believe if we stop I might be able to find something with which to splint your arm so that it does not sustain further injury.” He banged on the roof and called for Pugh to halt. The carriage slowed to a stop. Edward got up and moved to the door.
“What are you planning to do?” She eyed him suspiciously from those lively brown eyes of hers.
“I shall search for some straight sticks. Then I shall make a splint for your arm, since you are obviously in pain. The splint will keep the bones immobile so that every jounce of this carriage doesn’t cause you pain and possibly inflict greater injury to your arm.” He left the carriage and closed the door to, he hoped, prevent hearing any reply from her.
He strode briskly toward the small forest a short distance from the road and began searching the ground for sticks.
Bad enough she should end up in his carriage at all. Worse that she should be injured. Worse still that he should have to feel pity for her. After all, it was her own fault for being so far from home, alone, galloping so fast . . . Although, to be fair, he hardly knew anyone who had never been thrown by a horse. It was an accident, and it could have happened even if she had been very near home and surrounded by a company of stable boys and grooms.
But there was no mistaking that the girl was reckless and a danger, and she made him fear for his reputation whenever she was near. The sooner he could get her home and out of his presence, the better.
“Careless, wild, imprudent girl,” he muttered to himself as he found a perfect little limb lying on the ground. It was just long enough that he could break it in half and make two pieces of a makeshift splint. Soon he found two more suitable sticks, and he turned and headed back. As he neared the carriage, he saw Pugh standing next to the horses, looking a bit confused.
“My lord? Do you need assistance?”
Of course he needed assistance. He didn’t know what he was doing, and as he thought about it, he realized he could hardly avoid touching Miss Langdon’s arm repeatedly. Not at all the kind of service he wished to provide for any girl, but especially the one he had vowed to avoid.
“Are you a doctor, Pugh?”
“Pardon me?”
“Never mind. Come and stand over here.” Edward opened the carriage door and addressed his patient. “Miss Langdon, if you are willing to allow me to try, I would like to apply a crude and temporary splint to your arm, to hold the bones steady for the remainder of our ride back to your home. But only if you think it a good idea.”
She opened her mouth—a perfect, well-proportioned mouth, though quite unwise of him to notice—but didn’t speak for a moment, as if weighing her options.
Finally, she said, “Have you ever done this sort of thing before?”
“No, but I had a broken bone myself as a boy, and once the surgeon made the bone immobile with the use of a splint, I was no longer in pain. I thought it would lessen your discomfort for the better part of an hour until we can get you home.”
“I suppose it is worth a try.”
“Very well.” He held out his hand to her to help her out of the carriage, but instead of taking it, she held her injured left wrist with her right hand. He carefully took her elbow to help her down. Then he went inside, lifted the carriage seat, and pulled out the box of supplies he carried with him in case of injury to himself or one of his servants on these long trips between London and Grimswood Castle and his other two homes, one in Yorkshire and the other in Suffolk.
He found a thick roll of bandages. Then he came outside into the waning sunlight to rejoin Pugh and Miss Langdon.
How delicate she looked—a thought that had never occurred to him before—and how protectively she held her arm against her midsection. Now that he had all the needed tools, the prospect of actually splinting Miss Leorah Langdon’s arm made him glance over at Pugh, then back at her. “Would you rather I or Mr. Pugh apply the splint?” Let her say Pugh.
She stared down at Pugh’s quite weather-beaten hands, and, following her gaze, Edward noticed the old man actually had a tremor. Pugh had been with his family since before Edward was born, but he hadn’t realized, until this moment, how old he was growing. First Boyles, now Pugh. Was he so oblivious to his own servants?
“Um,” she said, peering up at him, “you.”
No, of course she wouldn’t want a man with a tremor to splint her arm.
Edward had Pugh hold the bandages and sticks while he slowly and carefully inched her sleeve up to her elbow, exposing her arm. The outside of the arm, near her wrist, was bruised and swollen.
“Looks quite hideous, doesn’t it?” Leorah murmured.
“Yes, but I’m sure it will be well. The bone only needs to be stabilized.” Of course, he didn’t know what he was talking about, but he wanted to reassure her.
“I know.” She seemed to bristle, standing a little straighter and stiffer.
So much for his reassurance.
He had Pugh hold the sticks in place as he decided where to apply them, trying to avoid the point of greatest bruising and swelling. But Pugh’s hands shook so much, Miss Langdon ended up holding them herself with her right hand while Edward began to wrap the bandages around the sticks.
“Let me know if it feels too tight.”
Miss Langdon didn’t say anything, but he suddenly wondered at his thoughtlessness. Most young ladies would probably faint at this point, and here they were standing outside instead of sitting in the carriage.
“You aren’t disposed to fainting, are you?” he asked.
“Of course not,” she retorted.
He might have known she would say that.
He wrapped the bandage rather tightly. To wrap it too tightly might cut off her circulation, but too loosely wouldn’t do any good.
He looped the linen bandage around her thumb, around her arm, and back again several times, using the entire roll, then secured the end with a pin.
“Looks snug enough. Now let us be off.”
Pugh stalked back to his perch in the driver’s box, probably thinking Edward ridiculous for splinting the girl’s arm. No matter. It was done now, and hopefully she wouldn’t faint or be in excruciating pain, and he could get her home within an hour and be on his way.
Better soon than late.