“Dammit, Selina. Come back.”
Chapter 25
Colin struggled against the nausea as he stood. Damn those women for stripping him down to his undergarments. Now he had to find his clothing. The room was too dimly lit to see much of anything away from the candle on the nightstand. He lifted the candle and searched for his trousers.
“What the devil are you doing out of bed?” Kate said sharply as she sat up. “You should be lying down and resting.”
“I need to find Selina.”
“She was in the chair watching you. She probably just needed to relieve herself.” Slowly Kate rose and stretched.
“She was here talking to me. I said something completely inane and hurt her feelings.”
“Oh damn you stupid men. You always speak without thinking.” She walked over to him.
Colin grabbed the chair as a wave of dizziness swept over him. Kate clasped his arm and led him back to the bed. “I need to find her, Kate.”
“It’s four thirty in the morning. How far could she have gone?”
He inhaled deeply, realizing his sister was right. He doubted Selina would even know the way home from here. She rarely left the estate.
“You’re right,” he admitted sheepishly. “Besides, she wouldn’t have left her patient. Did you watch as she stitched me up?”
Kate frowned. “She didn’t care for you. That was Mrs. Featherstone’s work. Hart rode back to his home and picked them up. He didn’t want anyone else to care for you.”
Selina didn’t tend him. “I don’t understand. Was Selina too upset by the shooting?”
Kate sat in the chair next to him. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“The bullet went through you completely and grazed her shoulder. Miss Featherstone cared for Selina while Mrs. Featherstone tended you.”
She’d been shot.
He closed his eyes and remembered the small bandage on her shoulder. And he had let her walk out of the room. “I have to find her.”
He attempted to sit up only to have his sister force him back down. Damn he was weak.
“You will go nowhere. She most likely went to our room. I will go find her and bring her back.”
“Thank you, Kate.”
She smiled down at him in a teasing way. “Just don’t get shot again. You about killed me.”
“As you wish. Now go find my betrothed.”
Kate searched her room and a few of the empty rooms on the floor but Selina was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t have left the house. Kate walked down the steps and searched in the salon, library, and study. Finally, she heard movement toward the back of the house and was certain she’d found her missing friend.
Entering the kitchen, she said, “Excuse me, have you seen Miss White?”
An older woman with a large apron walked toward her. “Out of my kitchen, my lady. This is no place for you.”
“Yes, but have you seen Miss White?” Kate quickly described her.
“All the fancy ladies are abed, which is where you should be, my lady. Now off with you.”
Kate stomped her foot but then turned on her heels and continued her search. After two hours, the sun had come up and there was no sign of Selina. Feeling completely inadequate, she returned to her brother’s room. He was going to be so angry.