took Nicholas forty minutes to reach the hospital and almost as long again to trace Royan. She was in the women's surgical ward, sitting beside her mother's bed. Her mother had not yet come round from the anaesthetic.
She looked up when Nicholas stood over her. "Are you all right? What the hell happened?"
"My mother - her leg is badly smashed up. The surgeon had to put a pin in her thigh - the femur.
"How are you?"
"A few bruises and scrapes. Nothing serious., "How did it happen?"
"A truck - it pushed us off the road."
"Not deliberate?" Nicholas felt something inside him quail as he remembered another truck on another road on another night.
I think so. The driver wore a mask, a balaclava. He crashed into us from behind. It must have been deliberate."
"Did you tell the police?"
She nodded. "Apparently the truck was reported stolen early this morning, long before the accident, while the driver was stopped at one of those Little Chef cafes. He is German. Speaks no English."
"That is the third time they have tried to kill you," Nicholas told her grimly.
"So I am taking over now."
He went out into the hospital waiting room and used the telephone there. The chief constable of the county was a personal friend, as was the hospital administrator.
By the time he returned, Georgina had come round from the anaesthetic. Although still woozy she was comfortable as they wheeled her off to the private ward that Nicholas, had arranged. The - orthopaedic surgeon arrived a few minutes later.
"Hello, Nick, what are you doing here?" he greeted Nicholas. Royan was surprised how many people knew him.
Then he turned his attention to Georgina. "How are you feeling? We have got ourselves a nice little compound fracture. Looks like confetti in there. We've managed to put it all together again, but you're going to be with us for ten days at the very least."
"Right you are, young lady," Nicholas told Royan as they left Georgina sleeping. "What more do you need to convince you? My housekeeper has made up a room for you at the Hall. I am not letting you wander around on your own any more. Otherwise, next time they try to cull you they may have a little more luck."
She was still too shaken and upset to argue, and she climbed meekly into the front seat of the Range Rover and let him drive her first to have her stitches removed and then back to Quenton Park. As soon as they arrived, he sent her up to her bedroom.
"The cook will send dinner up to you. Make sure you take the sleeping pill that the doc gave you. Somebody will fetch your gear from 's cottage to Mrs. Street. In the meantime my housekeeper has set out some
nightclothes and a toothbrush in your room for you. I don't want to hear from you again before tomorrow morning."
It was good to have him take control of her life. For the first time since that terrible night at the oasis she felt secure and safe. Still, she made one last gesture of independence and self-reliance; she flushed the Mogadon sleeping tablet down the toilet.
The nightdress that was laid on her pillow was full, length sheer silk with finest Cambrai lace at the cuffs and It. . A robe. She had never worn anything so luxurious and sensual against her skin before. She realized that it must have belonged to his wife, and the knowledge stirred mixed emotions in her. She climbed up into the four-poster bed, but even that lonely expanse of over'soft mattress and her unfamiliar surroundings did not keep her too long from sleep.
ù the morning a young housemaid woke her with aù copy of The Times and a pot of Earl Grey tea, then returned a few minutes later with her holdall.
"Sir Nicholas would like you to take breakfast with him in the dining room at eight-thirty., While she showered Royan inspected her naked body in the full-length mirror that covered one wall of -the bathroom. Apart from the knife wound on her -arm, which was still livid and only partially healed, there was a dark bruise on her thigh and another down
She looked up when Nicholas stood over her. "Are you all right? What the hell happened?"
"My mother - her leg is badly smashed up. The surgeon had to put a pin in her thigh - the femur.
"How are you?"
"A few bruises and scrapes. Nothing serious., "How did it happen?"
"A truck - it pushed us off the road."
"Not deliberate?" Nicholas felt something inside him quail as he remembered another truck on another road on another night.
I think so. The driver wore a mask, a balaclava. He crashed into us from behind. It must have been deliberate."
"Did you tell the police?"
She nodded. "Apparently the truck was reported stolen early this morning, long before the accident, while the driver was stopped at one of those Little Chef cafes. He is German. Speaks no English."
"That is the third time they have tried to kill you," Nicholas told her grimly.
"So I am taking over now."
He went out into the hospital waiting room and used the telephone there. The chief constable of the county was a personal friend, as was the hospital administrator.
By the time he returned, Georgina had come round from the anaesthetic. Although still woozy she was comfortable as they wheeled her off to the private ward that Nicholas, had arranged. The - orthopaedic surgeon arrived a few minutes later.
"Hello, Nick, what are you doing here?" he greeted Nicholas. Royan was surprised how many people knew him.
Then he turned his attention to Georgina. "How are you feeling? We have got ourselves a nice little compound fracture. Looks like confetti in there. We've managed to put it all together again, but you're going to be with us for ten days at the very least."
"Right you are, young lady," Nicholas told Royan as they left Georgina sleeping. "What more do you need to convince you? My housekeeper has made up a room for you at the Hall. I am not letting you wander around on your own any more. Otherwise, next time they try to cull you they may have a little more luck."
She was still too shaken and upset to argue, and she climbed meekly into the front seat of the Range Rover and let him drive her first to have her stitches removed and then back to Quenton Park. As soon as they arrived, he sent her up to her bedroom.
"The cook will send dinner up to you. Make sure you take the sleeping pill that the doc gave you. Somebody will fetch your gear from 's cottage to Mrs. Street. In the meantime my housekeeper has set out some
nightclothes and a toothbrush in your room for you. I don't want to hear from you again before tomorrow morning."
It was good to have him take control of her life. For the first time since that terrible night at the oasis she felt secure and safe. Still, she made one last gesture of independence and self-reliance; she flushed the Mogadon sleeping tablet down the toilet.
The nightdress that was laid on her pillow was full, length sheer silk with finest Cambrai lace at the cuffs and It. . A robe. She had never worn anything so luxurious and sensual against her skin before. She realized that it must have belonged to his wife, and the knowledge stirred mixed emotions in her. She climbed up into the four-poster bed, but even that lonely expanse of over'soft mattress and her unfamiliar surroundings did not keep her too long from sleep.
ù the morning a young housemaid woke her with aù copy of The Times and a pot of Earl Grey tea, then returned a few minutes later with her holdall.
"Sir Nicholas would like you to take breakfast with him in the dining room at eight-thirty., While she showered Royan inspected her naked body in the full-length mirror that covered one wall of -the bathroom. Apart from the knife wound on her -arm, which was still livid and only partially healed, there was a dark bruise on her thigh and another down
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