Courting Miss Hughes

Chapter 13

"Come quick" Arthur commanded ignoring appalled faces of the ladies standing by the stable door "She has gone unconscious and I need your help. Mother, call the kitchen and have them fetch some smelling salts."

"What happened, Arthur?" His mother rushed to his side unlike other matrons who stayed rooted to their spot with shock. He relayed the tale of what had really gone on in whispers so as not be heard by their bystanders. "Oh! that is very awful. I hope the girl is well. But you know what this means, Arthur. Don't you?" She gave him a pitiful look.

"Yes, mother" He replied grimily "I must marry her out of honour or she'll be ruined." said he stating the obvious. So long he had avoided marital traps, and now it had come to an end. He never could have suspected someone like Miss Hughes will be his downfall, especially when she had not intention of trapping him. Although this was all just coincidental, and she was just as trapped as him.

"There is sure to be scandal. I am afraid it cannot be avoided now" she said eyeing Mrs. Payne who was a known gossip monger "But at-least the poor girl's reputation will be saved by a respectable marriage." His mother added lightly brushing Katherine's hair to the side.

"Scandal can be prevented" he looked at his mother seriously "I have a plan. I am not sure if it will work, but we don't have much left to loose here."

He quickly laced the front of Katherine's dress back but left the stays beneath it unlaced to keep the clothing surrounding her body loose. It won't do her any good if she had to gasp for air due to tightness of her stays.

"My fiancé has been knocked unconscious by that mad horses" he pointed towards Hercules who still was in an agitated state. "Now, this is not the way we had intended to disclose our secret engagement, that has been established for a while now. But this unfortunate circumstance leaves me no other choice." He said lifting Katherine's limp body in his arms. It dawned on his mother what he had meant by his plan earlier. If he simply declared that they had been secretly engaged all this time, there would be no scandal. Scurrilous tongues will still wag, no doubt. But it will be much better than a scandal. Only thing left to do, was to convince Katherine about the this plan. Which will not doubt be an easy task, the Marchioness thought, since her reputation was on the line.

"If one of you ladies will be kind enough to have a doctor fetched hastily, I would be most grateful." He said looking at Mrs. Payne and Countess Cecil.

"Mrs. Briggsby, please show me to your niece's room. We should lay her on her bed for a doctor to examine her." Mrs. Briggsby heeded his advice at once and lead the way to her niece's room. Arthur was surprised to find she even knew where her room was, given that she had shown little interest in her marital success or her well being in general.

The doctor arrived after three quarters of an hour. Given the distance to the town square, where the he  resided, he had shown up quite swiftly.

After medically examining Katherine, doctor declared there was nothing wrong with her. Her loss of consciousness must be due to a minor concussion and she might suffer a headache for a while as a result. Chest pain was also likely to be expected due to impact of the blow but no rib bones were broken fortunately. The doctor assured them that with few weeks rest all shall return to normal and left her to their care.

Unlike everyone else, Arthur was not pacified by the doctor's reassurances. She might emerge physically uninjured but she was sure to stir a storm once she finds out about their supposed 'engagement'. From the little acquaintance he had with her, he knew she wasn't someone who liked her hand forced.
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Slowly opening her eyes, Katherine felt a roaring thunder in her head. Taking in her surrounding she realized she was in her bed chamber, but how she got there she could not remember. The last thing she could recall was Hercules' hoof hitting the centre of her chest and knocking her on the ground. After that everything had gone blurr.