Page 81 of A Dangerous Engagement

“I’m all right.”

His whisper startled an “Oh” from her lips. She sat up and wiped gently at the blood oozing from his lip, still leaning over him.

“Can you get the papers?” he whispered.

She looked around and spied the rumpled papers, with writing on both sides, lying on the table.

“I’ll have to wait,” she whispered back. Lady Blackstone and Mr.Ratley would surely see her if she tried to get them now.

“Is he still alive?” Lady Blackstone asked.

“I think so,” Felicity said over her shoulder. When she turned back to Mr.Merrick, he was lying still with his eyes closed. His face was swelling and turning purple, his lip still oozing blood. Her heart twisted painfully inside her. She didn’t know what else to do, so she wiped at the blood that had run down his chin.

Suddenly, it occurred to her that his chest was bare, as were his shoulders and upper arms. But it seemed silly to be embarrassed about such a thing at a time like this, so she ignored his state of undress and focused on his face.

She had to save him somehow. But he was more worried about the papers, the evidence against Lady Blackstone and the others. Wouldn’t that evidence ensure the deaths of many people? She would have to think about that later.

“Get the papers,” Mr.Merrick whispered, his voice so low she barely made out the words.

“I shall try,” she whispered back.

He kept his eyes closed. Otherwise, she was not sure she would have been able to touch his face with the cloth. It was so personal, touching his chin and lower lip. But she had done many things in the past few weeks that she had never anticipated doing on this visit, or ever—deliberately lying and deceiving others; meeting a man who was virtually a stranger, alone, in a closet; becoming engaged to a man she barely knew; and allowing that man to kiss her multiple times so that he would not guess that she did not intend to marry him at all.

Her mother would surely take one look at her when she returned home and know that she had done many scandalous and unseemly things. How could she look her in the eye?

If things went badly now, Mr.Merrick would die. And in a few short weeks, all of England could be in chaos and deadly revolution.

Felicity glanced again at the papers, still on the table. How could she get them without being seen? Had Lady Blackstone forgotten about them? But in her mind, the spy was caught. They were safe again, so perhaps shewouldforget.

“I’ll create a distraction,” he whispered. He moaned and opened his eyes, and she backed away from him and stood up.

“Please don’t kill him,” Felicity pleaded again, turning to Lady Blackstone. Truly, her heart was in her throat, for she knew it was very possible that they did intend to kill him as soon as she was out of sight.

Lady Blackstone waved her hand at the footmen. “Take him to the shed.”

The men strode over to Mr.Merrick and bent and put hands on him.

“Let me go! I can walk,” Mr.Merrick said.

All eyes were on him now, so Felicity sidled toward the corner of the table where the papers lay.

The footmen helped him to his feet. He took a step, then sank as if in a swoon. While the men were scrambling to hold him up, Felicity bumped her hip against the table edge and took hold of the papers. Then she backed up to the sideboard that stood against the wall and slipped the papers behind a large urn.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Felicity moved back toward where the three footmen were picking up Mr.Merrick’s limp body and carrying him out of the room.

Lady Blackstone turned, as did Mr.Ratley, to face Felicity.

Felicity placed her hands on her cheeks. “I feel very faint. This is even more shocking than finding a dead body in the garden.”

Mr.Ratley took out his handkerchief and tried to use it to fan Felicity’s face, but it was not very effective.

“Let me fetch you some wine.” Lady Blackstone stepped to the sideboard and lifted a decanter next to the urn where Felicity had just hidden the papers.

Would they be visible? Would she see them sticking out?

Mr.Ratley patted the inside of her wrists. “I saw a lady do this when a girl fainted at a party I was attending in Bristol. It’s good for your circulation.”