The Viscount's Vow (A Regency Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

played straight into his hands. Only now, with his arms wrapped around her slight form, he was having second thoughts. Blast and damn, he didn’t want to feel compassion for her. She didn’t deserve it. But a weeping or swooning woman always stirred his protective nature.
    Guilt squeezed his chest. Blister it.
    Step-by-step, he turned in a wide arc. The garden? No doubt there was a bench . . .
    No, that wouldn’t do.
    He spotted another pair of French windows further along the veranda. A dim light glowed beyond the panes. He strode to the entrance. Braving a peek around the door’s sash, Ian glimpsed a retiring room set aside for the ladies.
    He heaved a frustrated sigh. Confound it, the room held no primping peeresses to which he could transfer the care of Miss Caruthers. Ah, but luck was on his side. The doors were open, ever-so-slightly.
    Shifting the bundle in his arms, he flinched, his injured shoulder objecting to her weight. He toed the door further open, then turning to the side, slipped into the deserted room. Lamps burned low on the fireplace mantle under which a fire burned brightly. Another glowed on a side table. Three divans were centered on the floor in a u-shape. Across from them sat two plush armchairs.
    “I say, is anyone here?”
    Where was the servant who ought to be attending the chamber? He hoped she wasn’t attending to her personal needs behind one of the elaborately painted screens.
    Gads, he didn’t even want to think on that. Just in case he called, “Halloo?”
    Nothing. It would have been helpful to have a female presence to assist him. He’d no idea how to proceed with the limp form he held.
    His left shoulder ached from holding Miss Caruthers. Laying her on a divan, he shoved a tasseled pillow beneath her head, then patted her cheek. Even indisposed and unconscious, she was exquisite. Her dark lashes were a stark contrast to her porcelain cheeks.
    Several of her beaded hairpins had slipped loose and lay scattered on the floor. Ian gathered the pins. Unsure where to put them, he stuffed the pins into his pocket. He stood studying her, then shook his head. When had he gone from a ruthless rogue, prepared to give her the dressing-down she deserved, to caring for her welfare? He contorted his lips at the incongruity of it.
    Despite the cracked doorway, the room was stifling hot. He yanked off his gloves, and with the backside of his hand, wiped the moisture from his brow. Quickly unbuttoning his coat, he found a linen cloth on a table laden with needles, threads, hair pins, and other toiletries. After dampening it, he bathed Miss Caruthers’s face.
    Still nothing.
    He really shouldn’t be here. There’d be the devil to pay if he were discovered. His presence in this room was beyond acceptable boundaries. Vengeance was one thing, but he stood the risk of irreparably ruining both their good standings in society.
    Tossing the cloth onto a marble-topped table behind the divan, he heaved a frustrated breath. She hadn’t stirred a jot but lay still-as-death and every bit as ashen.
    No, not quite. Her lips were blue-edged, and her breathing labored. Where was the confounded servant?
    He needed help.
    Miss Caruthers needed help.
    What had he been thinking, toting her in here? Pushing a hand through his hair, he cocked his head and stared at her. He dropped to one knee before tugging off her gloves, then felt for a pulse. The rise and fall of her well-endowed chest gave him pause.
    Hell . What kind of a lecher was he, ogling an unconscious woman? His gaze traveled to the door. Should he leave her and seek help? It would be better for their reputations. Confound it all, this could very well destroy the both of them.
    He patted her hand. “Miss Caruthers? Can you hear me? Wake up.”
    He gently shook her shoulders. She remained limp and unresponsive. Shutting his eyes, Ian tried to recall what Lucinda or the servants did when Charlotte keeled over.
    Smelling salts.
    Searching the tables for a