Mellington Hall

by Meredith Resce

  Fancy! Sir Alan Mellington! Sarah was amused to find out who he was, having only ever heard of him by reputation. I hope he finds our guest room to his liking!

  hings had taken a serious turn for the worst. Sarah had slept on, lulled by the warmth of her bed, along with her exhaustion after tending to the patient long into the night. When she finally woke, she realised that the fire would definitely have gone out by now, but hoped that the storm would have let up, and she would be able to go in search of kindling and more wood. But one look out of the small loft window told her that she would not be going out at all. The snow was still falling, though not as fiercely as it had the previous night. Still, the storm had done its damage. A large drift had formed around the lower storey of the house and Sarah doubted she would have the strength to open the door against the pile of snow.

  But she did try. It frustrated her to be so weak.

  Alan was also frustrated. He could see the woman, Sarah, trying for all she was worth to open the door against the drift, and he tried to lift himself up to go and assist her. But he had no strength at all. In fact, he could barely sit up. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating, and his head swam with dizziness.

  “We’re trapped in here, sir,” she said to him simply, once she realised he was watching her.

  Alan didn’t say anything.

  “I have no more wood.”

  It was obvious the temperature inside the house had dropped.

  “I can’t make you any tea, or warm the broth; nothing.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Alan eventually offered. “At least we are alive and dry.”

  Sarah smiled. “You’re an optimist, then, sir?”

  Alan didn’t have the strength to answer, but he did wonder at her confidence and forward manner. Perhaps she didn’t understand who he really was. He was not used to common folk treating him as if they were on an equal footing. He decided not to take issue with it, because he wasn’t well enough, and it was quite obvious he was at her mercy in any case.

  Sarah had nothing to do but try to prepare something for Lord Mellington that was at least nourishing.

  “I’m sorry it’s nothing more substantial, sir,” Sarah said as she placed a tray on the chair next to where he lay. “There is plenty of food in the house, just no fire to cook it with.”

  Alan struggled to sit up, and Sarah bent down to help him. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but he had no appetite at all, and the cold bread and butter, and slices of cheese did nothing to tempt him. He attempted to eat a few bites, but the food sat like a lump in his stomach, and he simply couldn’t finish what she had prepared.

  In his usual way as lord of the manor, he waved the tray away without any explanation, and settled back on the pillow, closing his eyes against the dizziness that assailed him.

  “You should try to eat some more,” Sarah said with concern.

  Alan didn’t even have the strength to apologise; he just kept his eyes shut against the light.

  Sarah was disappointed. She had been encouraged to see him conscious and coherent in the early morning and had hoped that the worst of his illness was over.

  But as the day progressed, she realised that, in fact, his condition was deteriorating again. Whether it was an infection from the wounds, or that he had taken a chill from the exposure to the cold, she didn’t know, but what she did know was that his fever seemed to increase alarmingly, and he began to toss about fitfully. With the rise in temperature, he started to babble incoherently.

  “It will be all right, sir,” Sarah said soothingly as she bathed his forehead and torso in an attempt to bring the burning temperature down.

  His words were becoming more and more agitated, but still not making any sense. At one stage he flung his arms up as if to protect himself, and managed to knock the bowl of water over, wetting the bedding. With the room temperature now so low, Sarah was concerned, as she knew that if it continued like this, he would soon be shivering in frightening spasms, and then she would need to bundle him up. She had to change the bedding to something dry, and it took her time to fetch her own bed linen, and hang the wet sheets over the table and chairs. She didn’t have a lot of hope that they would dry soon under the current conditions.

  By turns she bathed the patient with cool damp cloths, and then wrapped him up as warmly as she could. The whole day was very trying, and she was more exhausted than ever by the end of it. She was also very cold herself, and hungry. All she had was the two-day-old bread, butter and jam and some cheese to eat. It wasn’t very appetising, but at least it was something.

  She tried once more to get Lord Mellington to eat, but it was a fruitless exercise. She was lucky if she could get him to swallow a spoonful of water.

  Eventually night fell and the snow seemed to cease. But it was now too dark to try to get help, even if she had been able to get out. So she decided to settle in for the night. Alan’s violent shivering had become worse, and in the end, Sarah decided there was nothing for it but to get into the bed beside him, and attempt to warm him up with her own body heat. She determined to ignore any thought of what her mother might say about such an exercise. Her father had taught her to be practical and use her initiative. She had almost come to the end of her resources. This was a last effort to stabilise the sick man’s temperature.

  At first she was stiff and full of tension. But gradually, as she began to sense that he was warming up, and his shivering ceased, she began to relax. She lay next to him on his left side, and carefully put her arms over his torso. She didn’t want to aggravate the situation further by hurting him. Every half hour, she would feel his forehead, and eventually, she began to feel as if the fever was beginning to break. With this assurance in her mind, she eventually allowed herself to drop off to sleep.

  Alan woke up with a clear mind. It was before dawn, and he realised he must have been delirious, as he couldn’t remember a thing of the previous day. He certainly didn’t remember Sarah Montgomery getting into bed with him. But she was right next to him, her arm thrown across his chest. And she was fast asleep. At first he had been shocked to find a woman in bed with him, and tried to sort out how that could possibly have happened, given his fairly strict moral code. But gradually he began to recall some of the happenings of the past couple of days, and as he studied Sarah’s sleeping face, he remembered how she had been nursing him.

  He guessed she had probably tried to use her body heat to warm him up, and he was grateful, even though he knew it was highly unconventional. He doubted that anyone up at the house would have resorted to such a tactic. With this thought, the next naturally followed, and he began to remember that someone up at the house had tried to kill him. His brow wrinkled in consternation. Someone had shot at him. He remembered now, and the throbbing in his shoulder and leg were from pistol shot wounds.

  And this young woman, who felt so warm and comforting lying up close to him, had given her best trying to save his life. He knew he was having some strange feelings about her, as she lay there, but came to the conclusion that it was gratitude. He wasn’t willing to explore any other ideas that flashed across his mind.

  Alan decided not to wake the girl up. She had obviously worked very hard in her efforts to save his life, and for once, a sense of compassion won over his usual self-centred demands. He realised it would be unkind to cut her sleep short. He didn’t want to admit any other motives to himself, though he was aware that he liked the fact that she was there.

  But he strenuously denied any improper thoughts as he recalled that his last words to his brother had been to reprimand him for improper conduct. Simon was completely careless when it came to women. He didn’t care who he used, or how it would appear to people in decent society. His latest intimate liaison had been the final straw. Alan had demanded that his brother stop seeing Lady Eloise. She was a married woman, and apart from the fact that all of their respectable acquaintances and friends were up in arms about it, Simon was in very real danger of being challenged to a
duel by her irate husband.

  But Simon didn’t really care what his older brother thought. They had argued loudly about it, and it was only when Alan had threatened to restrict access to his allowance that Simon paid any attention at all. As the second son, Simon had only inherited a relatively small sum kept in trust by his older brother, and as it was, Alan only doled out small amounts every now and then. Alan had no confidence in his younger brother’s economic management. Simon’s frivolous lifestyle was expensive to say the least, and Alan hoped to protect the little their father had left for him.

  Now, as Alan lay in what could very easily be interpreted as a highly compromising position, he tried not to think of his younger brother, and what he might say if he knew about it.

  The poor girl has only done what was entirely necessary to save my life, he thought to himself.

  It was almost nine o’clock when the front door of the farmhouse burst open.

  “Hello there!” A woman’s voice called as she stepped into the room. “Are you all right, Sarah?”

  Sarah stirred from her deep sleep when she heard her neighbour’s voice calling her.

  “Steady there!”

  Sarah was wide-awake in an instant. Lord Mellington had spoken to her from right next to her head. She realised with dismay where she was, and hurriedly sat up, almost forgetting her patient’s injuries. But as she sat up, the blanket fell away from her patient, revealing that he was shirtless.

  Mrs Allyson’s gasp of shock was almost a shriek.

  “Mrs Allyson,” Sarah attempted to calm her, as she tried to extract herself from the mattress on the floor. “Please, don’t jump to conclusions. Lord Mellington has been very ill!”

  But she needn’t have wasted her breath.

  Mrs Susannah Allyson was a very upright, religious woman, and what she had seen upon opening the Montgomery’s front door was nothing short of fornication.

  “What’s going on?” Lucas Allyson stepped into the room, just as his wife rushed back out. He took one look at the man lying on the floor in a state of undress, and saw Sarah in a complete state of dishevelment, and drew his own conclusions.

  “I say, missy, this isn’t the sort of thing I’d have expected of you, with your parents away and all, and them trusting you as they do.”

  “It isn’t as it appears,” Sarah said hastily. “Lord Mellington had an accident, and I was merely nursing him, during the storm.”

  “Mmmm!” Lucas Allyson didn’t look convinced. He’d heard about the Mellington brothers and their reputation with women.

  “Well, we only came over to see you were all right after that storm,” he said gruffly.

  “Mr Allyson!” They could all hear Susannah’s voice calling in a determined tone from outside. “We are leaving this den of iniquity this instant. Do you hear?”

  Lucas shook his head as he put a basket of food on the table.

  “You ought to be more careful, indeed, Miss Sarah,” he said shaking his head. “You better get him out of here before your parents return.”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” Sarah asked, frustrated and quite cross at the way things had turned out. But Lucas didn’t stop to engage in a debate. His wife was making a great fuss outside, all but calling down judgement from heaven.

  Sarah was furious with the Allysons. If they had taken the time to stop and listen to her explanation, they would have agreed with her that she had done exactly the right thing, but instead of being reasonable, they had scurried off in a self-righteous huff, leaving her feeling almost guilty.

  “I’m very sorry that your reputation has been called into question.” Alan eventually broke the tense silence. “I’m guessing you got into bed with me to try to help warm me up.”

  Sarah glared at him.

  “Of course!” she said angrily. “I’m not a... I mean... what other reason would I... ” She broke off, totally frustrated.

  Alan didn’t know why he did it, but a teasing smile crossed his features, as he saw her discomfiture.

  “You horrible, disgusting creature!” Sarah said quickly, tears coming to her eyes. “How could you be so dishonourable?”

  Alan sobered immediately. He was not like his brother; he did not approve of the loose morals that were just a bit too well accepted amongst his peers. He had really thought he was honourable.

  “I apologise profoundly, Miss Montgomery. I don’t know what came over me. I am truly sorry. Please forgive me.”

  Sarah turned away from him. She felt ashamed of what both the Allysons and Lord Mellington had thought. How could they? She fumed silently, wiping at a stray tear.

  “As I say, Miss Montgomery,” Alan broke into her thoughts. “I am sorry that your neighbours have misjudged you. I know very well that you were trying to save my life. I am very grateful to you.”

  Sarah felt forced to acknowledge his apology, which she did with a short nod of her head.

  “What were you doing way out here, no coat, and wounded?” she asked brusquely, trying to cover her feelings of humiliation. “It wasn’t a hunting accident, was it?”

  “It wasn’t an accident.” Alan confirmed. “Someone tried to kill me, and I don’t know why.”

  Sarah stared at him, momentarily lost for words.

  “Someone tried to kill you?” she asked eventually. It was unbelievable. There had been no major scandal or incident in that part of the country for as long as she could remember. She had never felt the least bit insecure about being left alone in their farmhouse. But now, the first time her parents decide to trust her she found herself embroiled in scandal, and also apparently in danger.

  Sarah became lost in her own confused thoughts, trying to think the situation through. Eventually, Alan tried to sit himself up further, and this drew her attention back to him, as he struggled against the pain.

  “I need to get you a clean shirt,” she said quickly, turning her eyes away from the sight of him shirtless. “The last thing I need is another kindly neighbour bursting in here and seeing you like that.”

  “I’m surprised that... ” Alan stopped what he was going to say. He couldn’t believe that this young woman was so pragmatic; that she herself hadn’t fainted in shock at just finding him, let alone getting his clothes off, and doctoring him. Other than when he’d called her motives into question, she hadn’t seemed to be embarrassed by it at all.

  “You think I’m indelicate, sir?” Sarah guessed his thoughts.

  He couldn’t deny the accusation.

  “Believe me,” she said as she gently manoeuvred one of her father’s shirts so that she could get his arms into the sleeves, “I would have fainted very quickly if my father had been here. If I thought there had been any other way to save your life, I would have remained very strictly within the bounds of propriety. But there was not, so what is the point of blushing and getting all flustered now? It is all a little bit late for that, do you not think so?”

  Alan didn’t quite know what to think, other than to confirm his original opinion of her. She spoke to him as if she were his nanny, directly and with no nonsense. What he couldn’t understand was why she should speak like that to him, for he was, after all, Lord Mellington of Mellington Hall, not a small child.

  As Sarah helped him button up the shirt he decided to speak.

  “Once I get back to the hall, can we agree that none of this ever happened? I know you didn’t do anything wrong, but the good folks of our village are not going to understand the situation at all, and I think it is better left unsaid, don’t you?”

  Sarah nodded. She agreed completely but she was already afraid that Susannah Allyson had spread her version of what she had seen. She was a woman with a reputation for gossip, and Sarah wondered how long it would be before her act of compassion was distorted and reported as something reprehensible.

  ir Alan Mellington’s health was improving, and he was gaining some strength. Though the snow still lay round about the farm house in deep drifts, Lucas Allyson had actually cle
ared a path to the door before they’d burst in, and Sarah had been able to get out, and to the wood shed to get more logs for the fire.

  “Do you think I should go across to the Allyson’s and ask if Lucas will help get you back to the hall?” Sarah asked her unplanned guest.

  “How far would you have to go?” Alan asked.

  “If I go cross country, two miles. If I take the road, at least three and a half.”

  Alan forced himself to stand up and go to the door to make his own assessment of the state of the countryside and the weather. He had to lean against the doorframe for a couple of minutes just to stop his head from spinning, but eventually managed to open the door and look out. The snow lay fairly deep, and would be difficult to walk through, and not only that, the sky still looked as if it threatened another fall.

  “If I were your father, I wouldn’t let you go out in those conditions.” His assessment was simple.

  “Yes, but if you were my father, would you think it proper that I stay alone and unchaperoned with an unmarried man?”

  Alan shrugged his shoulders and shuffled back across to the table where he sat down, drained of all energy. “The damage has already been done. I really don’t think another day is going to make any difference.”

  Sarah looked out the door for herself, and agreed that it was not a wise idea to venture out in the current conditions, but she couldn’t help but chafe inside at the way things appeared to be. She wished Lucas Allyson would just think straight and come back to help her with the current crisis. If they had stayed, they could have assisted with nursing, helped get the firewood, eventually taken Alan back to the hall in their wagon, and most importantly, been the chaperone that she so desperately needed. But jumping to conclusions was something that Susannah was renowned for, and so Sarah was left to do the best she could in very difficult circumstances.