“I have no doubt about that,” she said with a pointed stare.
He wondered what her stare meant. He’d only told one person how he felt about Mia and that was in a drunken state to Middleton. He needed to get back on task. “Have you ever heard of Allan Davies from any of North’s tenants or perhaps someone in the village?”
“I’m sorry, Hart. I have never heard of the man.” She sipped her sherry slowly. “But don’t you think that it is odd that no one has heard of him? This isn’t London. I know nearly everyone at your home, Middleton’s home, and a great number of people from Cheadle. How could I have not heard of his name before now?”
“An assumed name, perhaps?”
Selina frowned before placing her empty glass on the table. “But the villagers love to speak of anyone new to the neighborhood. I should have heard something of it.”
“I thought the same thing.” It made no sense. “But everyone North and I spoke with said they had never heard of the man. And they didn’t remember anyone new in the neighborhood.”
“It makes no sense.”
“Can you think of any reason someone would want to hurt Miss Featherstone?”
“Hurt Mia?” Selina shook her head adamantly. “No. Everyone loves her.”
Simon rubbed his temples. “I will check out the village tomorrow. I will also hire a runner to see if he can discover anything.”
“Thank you, Hart.”
He shrugged nonchalantly to hide the frustration spiraling through him. “I can’t have one of my tenants in danger on my lands.” And he wouldn’t let another person touch the woman he loved. He would find this Allan Davies, track him down and make sure he felt the same pain Mia felt now.
Chapter 4
Mia groaned as she tried to sit up the next morning. The pain in her ribs was far worse than yesterday. She lay back against the pillows and blew out an agonizing breath.
“You should know better than to attempt to get up already.” Selina was instantly at her side with the bottle of laudanum. “Here, take more of this to deaden the pain.”
Mia pushed the bottle away. “No. I will not take any more of that god-awful stuff. I would rather be in pain.”
Selina nodded. “As you wish. Unfortunately, I must leave. I just received word that one of the tenants needs me. I will try to come back tomorrow if I can get away.” She leaned over and kissed Mia’s cheek. “Take care of yourself. Your mother will be by later today.”
“Thank you for everything, Selina.”
“Of course. You took care of me when I needed tending. It’s what we wise women do. Now,” she placed the bottle of laudanum on the table. “I will leave this with you in case you change your mind.”
Mia gave her friend a small smile but it hurt too much to maintain for long. Once Selina left, Mia attempted to move to a sitting position but once again the pain was more than she could bear. “Dammit.”
“Tsk, tsk.”
Mia gasped as she stared at Hart’s smiling face peering around the corner of the door. She pulled the coverlet up over her chest. “What are you doing here?”
“The duchess informed me that she was needed at home, so I came to see how you are faring this morning. May I come in?”
She couldn’t deny him entrance to a bedchamber in his own house. Besides, she would go insane without someone to talk with all day. “Yes.”
He entered the room, which seemed to shrink as he walked near the bed. He pulled the chair closer and then dropped casually into the seat. “How are you this morning?”
“A little better,” she lied. He didn’t need to know that she felt ten times worse than yesterday.
“Indeed. That is odd, though.”
“How so?”
He shrugged. “Every time I have taken a beating like you did, I felt much worse the next day. By the second day, your muscles have tightened and your cracked ribs feel like someone is stabbing you in the side.” He lifted a brown brow. “Is that really how you feel today?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. That is exactly how I feel. Just how many times have you been beaten like this?”