'I see you were in the garden with Amanda,' Celia said. 'Was she telling you all about last night? Did she say what it was like to be in the same bed as a man? If you are to fulfil that stupid prophecy about the bride's posy you'll need to be prepared.'
'You are a nasty little girl,' Fanny said quietly, finally unable to keep her opinion to herself.
Celia stared at her, then began to weep loudly. Emily looked across the table at her, and Fanny was sure she was exasperated rather than sympathetic. Emily shrugged, said something to Lucien beside her, and rose to her feet. She came round the table, grasped Celia's arm far from gently, and hauled her to her feet.
'If you cannot behave properly you will have to go to the nursery, like a naughty child,' she said quietly, and as Celia began to stammer than Fanny had been unkind to her, virtually dragged her from the room. Celia's parents sighed, and began to talk brightly to their immediate neighbours.
They saw no more of the sisters. With a glance of apology Lady Charlotte left the room, and did not return for some time. The other guests had by then finished eating and were making remarks about it being time to set off for home. The older Kershaws and Lucien slipped out of the room, and he came back some time later to announce that the Kershaw family had left.
So he was remaining, Fanny thought, and when he gave her a brief smile she felt something inside her shift. Was it her heart? He'd been ignoring her most of the time since she had said she could not marry him. Might they, one day, at least be friends? If she went on living with Gerard and Amanda he would be a frequent visitor, to see his sister. It would be something to rescue from the disaster her life had become.
*
Gerard and Amanda left early on the following day in the post chaise which was to take them by slow stages to London, followed by another with her maid Megan and his valet, plus the many trunks Amanda insisted were essential for her to take. Having waved them off Fanny retreated to the garden, to her favourite spot where Amanda had found her on the morning after the wedding. She had been sitting on the bench for no more than ten minutes when she heard a sudden cry, and then a loud rustling not far away. Glancing up she was in time to see something falling from the upper branches of an elm tree.
She was wondering whether to go for help when she heard a groan. Someone needed help at once. Carefully, avoiding the small branches that had come down with the unfortunate person who seemed to have fallen out of the tree, she went towards the sound of the groan. A large branch had come down, and she had to scramble over it. As she did so there was a loud spitting sound, and a furious cat, a tabby she had seen in the stables, shot past her and vanished.
'Oh, you wretched animal! Were you stuck up in the tree? Well, it serves you right if you fell!'
She saw, as she regained the ground, a masculine form lying on the ground. It was Lucien, and he seemed to be badly hurt.
Forgetting her wish not to have any contact with a man, she ran forward. He was lying, not moving, his eyes closed, and if it had been him groaning, he was now silent. She wondered if he had fainted. There were some faint scratches on his face, whether caused by the cat or the tree she could not tell, but none were doing more than oozing a little blood. His shirt had been torn, and more blood was visible beneath the rip. She ought to see whether she could stem that first. Broken limbs were more of a problem, but she did not wish to move his arms or legs in case she made matters worse. She had best go for help, and some strong men who could bring a board or something on which he could be carried back to the house.
She had nothing but a small handkerchief, which would be useless, so she lifted his head gently in order to unwind his cravat. She tore it into strips, tore the hole in his shirt open still more, and made a pad to hold over what looked like a longer scratch on his chest. She wanted to bind a bandage round him, to hold it, but he was too heavy for her to lift so far, and she gave a sigh of exasperation. All she could do was leave the pad there. While he was not moving it would stay in place and soak up most of the blood. If only he were to come out of his swoon he might be able to move a little and help her.
She made another pad and tried to mop up the blood on his face. There was not a great deal, and she could see the scratches were not deep or extensive. The bleeding in his chest seemed to have lessened, and she lifted the pad. Then she heard a soft chuckle, and his arms went round her, holding her tight.
Fanny had been crouching down beside him, but this made her collapse onto her knees.
'My dearest love, so you can bear to touch me when I am injured, can you?' he asked, and pulled her down so that he could kiss her mouth.
'Lucien! Oh, you were not swooning! I – I was so afraid you were badly hurt! Are you hurt?'
'I was clinging onto the branch for most of its descent! I'm merely winded.'
'Your arms, legs, have you broken anything?'
'No. You broke my heart when you refused to wed me, but I think it might mend now. Why were you trying to lift me?'
'To tie a bandage round you, to keep this pad in place. Lucien, let me go!'
'Why? I'm enjoying myself.'
He was clearly delirious.
'Why were you up the tree?'
'That demned cat had been up there for two days. None of the grooms or gardeners could entice him down, so I decided to perform my famous rescue act. Unfortunately he was on the branch that broke.' He glanced across at the branch Fanny had had to scale. 'I thought it was strong enough to bear me. At least it brought the wretched animal down.'
'Let me do that bandage.'
'No. If I let you go I'll never again have you in my arms. Unless, that is, you will change your mind and marry me after all.'
'I – I – '
'You will?'
'I thought you were going to marry Emily!'
'Emily? Good heavens, no! She's a good friend, we've known one another since we were children, but that's all. I couldn't endure being married to her, I'd never know what she was up to. Besides, I don't love her. It's you I love.'
'Oh, Lucien! I've been so silly!'
'Sweetheart, I understand how you felt after Silas attacked you, but we are not all like him. Amanda seemed happy enough with Gerard, did she not? Just because one man is evil, you cannot condemn yourself, and me too, to a life of unhappiness. As I promised, I won't touch you unless you want me to.'
Fanny gave a sudden giggle.
'Like you are not touching me now?'
'But if I let you go you'll run away, pretending to fetch help, and I'll never have as good an opportunity to persuade you we could be happy together, and,' he added with a deep sigh, 'miserable apart.'
Fanny felt herself weakening. It was true she did not find his embrace unpleasant, nor his kiss offensive. All men were not the same. Perhaps very few were as vile as Silas. Gerard, she knew, was a kind man, and he had obviously pleased Amanda in the marriage bed. Could Lucien do the same for her?
'Well, my darling? Will you at least consider the possibility? I'll wait as long as you need.'
Fanny suddenly thought of the strain it would be for both of them to live with uncertainty, and really, now she had spoken to him and been clasped in his arms, it seemed ridiculous to wait for what she now knew she wanted, to be his wife. Any fears she had he would be considerate over.
'Let me do that bandage, then we need to talk to your aunt. I do love you, Lucien, and I'm sorry I've been so afraid.'
He sat up and helped her to fix a strip of his ruined cravat round his chest. Then he pointed to her gown, and she saw the seeping blood had stained her own gown where she had been lying against him.
They began to laugh.
'What shall we tell people?' Fanny asked, giggling.
'That we wish to be wed as soon as possible. If you want Amanda and Gerard to be present we'll get a special licence, I'll send someone after them to London, and he'll probably overtake them within a day, and ask them to come back to support us. I'm not letting you have second thoughts. I love you too muc
h.'
The End
*
Marina Oliver has written over 70 novels, and has converted most of them to Ebooks. Others have been or are being published as Ebooks by other publishers.
For the latest information please see Marina's web site:
http://www.marina-oliver.net.
More Regency Ebooks by Marina:-
The Irish Bride
Brigid is happy working as a companion to Sophia, but knows she will soon have to look for a new position as governess or companion.
What she will not accept is marriage to Matthew, Sophia's brother, for she is penniless.
Another possibility is suggested when she meets her unknown uncle and aunt and they offer her a home.
Can she accept, or would it be a trap from which she cannot escape?
The Chaperone Bride
When Joanna finds herself destitute after her gambler father's suicide, unable to find work, and is offered instead a marriage of convenience, she sees no other option.
Sir Kenelm needs a wife as a chaperone, since governesses are reluctant to live in a widower's household.
The twins, children of his first wife, refuse to accept her as a new mama. The governess, having thought she too was applying for the position of governess, resents her.
The Marriage Gamble
Luke, Earl of Frayne, is determined to recover Frayne Caste, even if it means marrying the present owner, Damaris Hallem, a girl he has never met.
Luke's father, an inveterate gambler, lost the Castle fifty years earlier to Damaris's grandfather, an innkeeper.
As it is the first estate his family obtained Luke wants to regain it.
Damaris, unwillingly obeying her grandfather's wishes, comes to London for the Season with her friend Mary, Lady Gordon, and her two young children.
She will be twenty-one in July, and is looking forward to controlling her inheritance, which has been in the charge of a distant cousin, Humphrey Lee.
Damaris is convinced he wants to marry her.
She doesn't want any husband, who would deprive her of such control.
Her first encounter with Luke is disastrous, but she soon finds a way out of the dilemma.
Lord Clifford’s Dilemma
Lord Clifford meets Elizabeth when his ward Annamarie announces she means to marry her brother Sir Henry.
Not only is Henry under age, Elizabeth controls his fortune.
And sixteen-year-old Annamarie has been falling in love with unsuitable men for several years.
Until he can resolve this complication he cannot turn his attention to courting Elizabeth.
She, in turn, is wary of love after being cruelly jilted when she was just seventeen.
Earl from India Page 17