“I am fine. Mrs. Featherstone told me I could get up but to be careful not to pull my stitches.”
Kate gave Mia a beseeching glance. “Your Grace, even though my mother told you getting up was all right, you must have a care. You did lose a lot of blood last night. It can take a few days to fully recover from that alone.”
“I realize that, Miss Featherstone.” He must have heard how harsh he sounded. “I apologize.”
“I understand, Your Grace. You are worried.”
Her mother walked back into the room with a tray of soup. “Back in bed, Your Grace. I have a light supper for you. And do not think about telling me you can’t eat. You will eat or I will spoon it down your throat myself.”
Mia almost laughed aloud at her mother’s attitude and the duke’s reaction.
“Very well,” he conceded. “But I will not lie down. I will sit at the table.”
“As you wish,” her mother replied.
Kate glanced about the room. “Where is my mother?”
“She is resting.” Mrs. Featherstone placed the tray on the table. “She feels terribly guilty about what happened so I gave her a little something to help her sleep.”
“Why would she feel guilty?” Mia asked. It wasn’t as if she had paid Mr. Wells to shoot at them.
“Selina didn’t want to attend the ball. My mot
her and I insisted. I . . .” Kate’s gaze remained on the rug. “I coerced her into coming.”
“And how did you do that?” he asked.
“I might have told her that I would tell you about where she’d been living after she left her cottage.”
Heavy footsteps approached the room. The door hurled open and Hart pushed a man and a woman into the room. It was one of the first times Mia had ever seen him so forceful. Her heart increased its beat against her chest.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Your Grace,” Hart said with a bow.
“Your Grace,” Mrs. Wells started, “I had no idea what my man was about last night. I never would have tried to hurt you.”
Mia shrank back into the corner as the duke rose slowly from his seat. “Hurt me? Do you think I give a damn about myself? You and your husband attempted to kill Miss White. And for that I will see you both hang.”
Mrs. Wells fainted into a lump on the floor. Mia knew she should do something but was unable to move. Sudden fear of the two men overwhelmed her. Thankfully, her mother checked on the younger woman and found hartshorn to waft under her nose.
Mrs. Wells awoke with a jerk. “What happened?”
“We were trying to determine why you and your husband would attempt to kill Miss White,” the duke said in a menacing tone.
“It wasn’t me,” she insisted. She pointed at her husband. “It was all him.”
“Your Grace,” Mr. Wells said, “I didn’t mean to hurt you or Miss White.”
“Oh?” The duke raised a dark brow at him. “Then what was your intention?”
The man had the grace to flush and then stumbled over his words. “We, I just wanted to scare her. I, we just wanted her to know the pain we have suffered. I was hoping this would make her want to leave the estate.”
The duke glared at the man and then grabbed him by the lapels. “Do you think she didn’t feel any pain when your wife lost that child? I found her outside of my house that night, crying in the rain because she was so upset about what had happened.”
“I had no idea, Your Grace. I wasn’t aiming for her or you, Your Grace. I aimed high but the sight is off on my pistol. I would never try to hurt you.”
The duke pulled the man closer. “Where is she?”
The man frowned. “Who? Miss White?”