Too Bruised to Stand, She Collapsed at the Ballroom—Until a Duke’s Gentle Hands Changed Her Fate
Chapter 7
The original trust was hidden beneath the floorboards of an old chapel on the Vale estate.
Thomas Wren remembered where Eleanor’s father had instructed him to conceal it.
Julian insisted on traveling with her.
They rode north in a closed carriage, accompanied by two trusted servants and a pair of armed outriders carrying flintlock pistols.
The journey took two days.
On the second evening, the carriage was attacked.
A shot cracked through the darkness.
The horses reared.
Eleanor screamed.
Julian pulled open the carriage door.
“Stay inside.”
Another shot struck the wooden frame.
The outriders returned fire.
For several minutes there was nothing but smoke, shouting, and frightened horses.
Then silence.
Julian returned.
Blood stained his sleeve.
Eleanor reached for him.
“You are hurt.”
“Only a scratch.”
She touched the fabric.
Her fingers came away red.
“You are bleeding.”
“I have survived worse.”
“That does not mean I enjoy seeing it.”
Julian looked at her.
Something softened in his expression.
“I know.”
The physician traveling with them bandaged his arm.
Later that night, Eleanor could not sleep.
She found Julian sitting beside the dying fire.
“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
She sat opposite him.
For several minutes they said nothing.
Then she asked:
“Why did you help me?”
Julian stared into the fire.
“When I was young, my mother was afraid of my father.”
Eleanor looked up.
“He was cruel?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone help her?”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“She died believing everyone saw what happened and simply chose not to interfere.”
Eleanor whispered:
“I am sorry.”
Julian nodded.
“That is why I interfered.”
She looked at him.
“You thought I was like her?”
“No.”
He met her eyes.
“I thought I would become like everyone who watched and did nothing.”
The fire crackled.
Eleanor slowly reached across the space between them.
Her fingers touched his uninjured hand.
Julian looked down.
Neither moved.
For the first time, the duke did not seem distant.
He seemed simply human.
