Ruse of Love

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Ruse of Love Page 12

by Jerri Hines


  Fleeing through the rainstormed night, she tried to peer through the pouring rain. She had gone some distance when she gasped for breath. Leaning against a brick building, she hadn’t a clue where she had run. Clasping her side against the pain, she blinked away the water streaming down her face, not knowing whether it was the rain or tears.

  Suddenly a hand grasped her shoulder…

  “Rebekah!” Jonathan fought the wind. Doubting she could hear him, he ignored the pelting rain and rushed forward, grabbing her arm. In one swift motion, he swirled her around to face him.

  Instantly, a look of sheer terror swept across her face. Slowly, recognition flooded her. She gripped tightly to his arm. “Oh, Jonathan!”

  The next moment she collapsed into his arms. He wasted no time, but carried her down the street into the waiting carriage. A large black man quickly opened the carriage door for Jonathan. “Is she…?”

  “She’s fine. She has only just fainted…”

  “Jasper, Dr. Corbett, Jasper,” the old man said and closed the carriage’s door, but not before Jonathan heard the servant utter, “Thank the good Lord.”

  Jonathan wrapped a blanket around Rebekah while he felt the wheels of the carriage move beneath him. He drew her into his arms and instinctually, she nestled into him. He stroked her head. As much as she claimed she had changed, she still inspired love and loyalty into those around her.

  The wind picked up, shaking the carriage; the rain pounded harder. He was drenched and soaked. Strange—warmth spread through him he hadn’t felt in years.

  “Jasper.” Jonathan set Rebekah down in the middle of her bedroom. A young blackie girl followed, frantically crying that her mistress was dead. No, Rebekah wasn’t dead, he thought. She had wakened and she wasn’t happy. “Jasper, shut the door and keep everyone else out.”

  “Oh, Mistress Esther won’t like that none,” Rebekah’s maid uttered. “No sir.”

  Jonathan shot her a look that silenced the girl. Rebekah pushed back from Jonathan, stumbling. Reaching out, he caught her arm. “Be careful,” he said in a harsh voice, his patience lost.

  “Leave,” she answered his behavior. “You have done your duty.”

  “Duty?” Jonathan’s voice rose. “Duty? You call looking for you in the midst of a torrential storm duty? Where was your head, Rebekah?”

  “You would not understand,” she said. Her eyes flamed at him, but her hand reached down for her midriff; her hand trembled.

  Immediately, he swept her back into his arms and carried her to the side of her bed. He motioned for the maid to step forward. “Get her dry clothes! She is to be put to bed.”

  “Sully,” Rebekah said. “It is fine. I need only to get out of these wet clothes.”

  Sully nodded, but fear shone in her eyes at Jonathan. She skirted to the wardrobe and withdrew a nightgown. Turning, she waited for Jonathan to leave, but he made no movement.

  “If you don’t get her out of these wet clothes, I will.”

  The young maid looked at Rebekah inquiringly, reluctant to begin undressing her mistress in front of a man.

  “It is fine, Sully,” Rebekah said as she slung off her cloak. “Obviously, Dr. Corbett feels it is his duty.”

  “I do.” Jonathan walked to the door. “I will be right outside. This is not over, Rebekah.”

  He slammed the door behind him, shaking the wall. He found Jasper in the hall with a set of dry clothes for him. “Mistress Esther left these for you. You can change in the room down the corridor. I’ll take your boots to dry. It was some of Mistress Esther’s husband’s. Master Ian’s would be too small. She sent word to the others that Rebekah’s been found. I’ll stay here and make sure no one enters.”

  “And Mistress Esther?” Jonathan asked.

  “Said you can deal with Miss Rebekah.”

  Jonathan knocked lightly but didn’t wait for an answer. He found Rebekah tucked into bed, staring blankly at his appearance. Sully needed nothing else but scampered out the door, not waiting to be dismissed.

  “I suppose I need to apologize to you, Jonathan. I have behaved in an atrocious manner. I beg your forgiveness. You can see I am safe. You can leave with your conscience clear.” She lowered her eyes in a lame attempt to discharge him.

  “My conscience hasn’t been clear since before this damn war.”

  “It has not to do with me,” she countered. “My issues are not yours…”

  “Not mine! I wish to God they weren’t,” he answered her. He walked to her bed and sat on the edge. She scooted away from him. “What do you expect me to do, Rebekah? Leave? Take your word and just leave? I owe your father more than that. Dr. Jenkins sent me down here for only one reason. Daniel has pleaded with me. You have so many people who are worried about you. So explain to me what the hell you were doing wandering the streets along the harbor!”

  She said nothing.

  “Do you not understand that your life is endangered? Do you understand that you played right into his hands this night? What were you thinking?”

  “I wanted only to leave,” she said, stiffening. “I have to leave. Do you not understand? For the reasons you have just uttered. People I love are endangered if I stay. No one would listen to me. I wanted only to leave for France. Mademoiselle Fontaine kindly offered her chateau to me on the coast of Aquitaine. The ship was to sail tonight. Now…now I do not know what I will do.”

  Jonathan sat as anger built. “So you trust a stranger more than your family and friends. You are a fool, Rebekah.”

  Her eyes raged with fury at his insensitivity, but she had passed the point of sensibility.

  “Do not look at me in that manner, Miss Rebekah.” His voice held the cynicism edging inside him. “Tell me this. Did you not question how a ship was to sail in this tempest? Moreover, did you not even investigate the ship itself? If not for your friend, Katy, I can only imagine what could have happened.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There was no ship sailing to France this day or any day this week. The Swain was destined for the east coast of Florida before heading to the islands.”

  Her chest heaved heavily; her lips trembled. He could well see his words sank deep into her consciousness. Her hand covered her mouth. The next moment, she wept into her hands. He should have taken her into his arms and comforted her. Instead, he didn’t relent.

  “What happened down by the harbor? Why were you wandering the streets? Were you not supposed to meet at the Meeting Street Inn?”

  Shaking her head, she said in a voice no louder than a whisper, “Mademoiselle Fontaine left a message for me to meet her in her room, but when I went upstairs, I saw her leaving down the backstairs.” She paused, choking back her tears. She lied, “I thought she had forgotten me. I ran after her. I lost her…I was lost.”

  “Thank God,” he said. “If you had gone into that room, we would never have found you.”

  She looked up at him. As stray tears fell from her eyes, she said, “Oh, what have I done?” She reached for his hand. “Oh, Jonathan, what am I to do? All this is my fault.”

  His temper softened and he pulled her into his arms. “It is the problem, Rebekah, that you won’t be able to fix by yourself. Daniel told me all you have done to keep the family together. This Ian understood. Now it’s my time to take care of you. To take you from this insanity this place holds.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not yours to fix. You don’t know.”

  “But it is, Rebekah.”

  “You don’t know the whole truth. No one does. I don’t deserve any of this. Ian…Ian…he died because of me.”

  “No, Rebekah. He died because it was his time. Mrs. Daventry told me that you gave him happiness in his life. That I know is true. Remember, I know you. He lived long enough to see you safe. Don’t throw what he did for you away.”

  “You don’t understand,” she said. Suddenly, she pushed back from him. “I don’t deserve your sympathy!”

  “What is wrong with you, Re
bekah? For God’s sake, this is me you’re talking to.”

  “It is you that doesn’t understand.” She wrestled from his grip. “I don’t deserve anyone’s kindness, for you are right—I am a fool. I believed every word he uttered to me. He told me…he told me that Ian had died. He told me that no one was looking for me. Everyone believed I had run off to Boston. I had been abandoned…deserted.”

  “Black Rory. You talk of Black Rory?”

  She nodded. She breathed in deeply, trying desperately to compose herself. “Everyone thinks…thinks he took me by force, Jonathan. Oh, Jonathan. He didn’t. I was in love with him. I gave myself to a man who sold me to the highest bidder. Now, do you understand? I don’t deserve any of this. Nothing. I carry his child. Black Rory’s child!”

  “You don’t know what you speak, Rebekah. You need to give yourself time to heal. You have been through…”

  “No, listen, please listen,” she begged.

  Jonathan turned and took her by her shoulders. “No, you listen, Rebekah Morse. If there is fault here, it is not yours. Do you understand? And you’re wrong if you think I’m going to back away from you. Do you not think that I hold guilt within me also? My wife… my wife betrayed me. Her father was the leak that got your father killed—and mine. Catherine told her father that Hannah was in New York, intent upon only one purpose—to discover that leak. She almost got Hannah killed.

  “Is your sin worse than mine? My stepmother died in a raid while I was away. My father and brother both hanged and branded as traitors. I have failed time and time again. I failed Catherine by leaving her. I failed Hannah by leaving her in New York. When Hannah needed me the most, it wasn’t I that saved her, but a stranger. A stranger that gave her sanctuary away from the web she had caught herself in. She, too, found herself as you do. Giles gave to her his name and home. Let me do the same for you.”

  For a moment, a hush encompassed the room. Her eyes widened in disbelief of his words. Her head shook.

  “Ssh,” he said, placing his finger over her mouth. “Listen to me. I have thought long and hard about your situation and mine. I swore never to marry again after Catherine. Her betrayal ran deep. Then I saw you the other night and a remembrance came back to me. A remembrance of what life was like before the war. I want that again. I want to feel again, Rebekah.”

  “I can’t do that to you,” she said in a breathless voice. “I carry Black Rory’s child.”

  “I’m not deserting you. Do you think so little of me? What kind of man do you think I am?”

  “Jonathan…”

  “It’s not up for discussion. I am going to make arrangements. I have only to ask your guardian.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I will not take no for an answer. I will not fail another.” He caressed her face tenderly. “Let me hold to my word to your father and Dr. Jenkins. Give that to me.”

  I am a coward, Rebekah thought. I can’t go through with this. I can’t. Her being, though, cried for her to do so. She reached down to her stomach. The babe moved, a reminder that she had another living soul inside her—one who depended on her.

  The hand of time moved swiftly. The last few days merged into the blur that had become her life. The storm no longer loomed on the horizon. Instead, a brilliant golden day greeted her on her wedding day. Her wedding day!

  The thought of becoming Mrs. Jonathan Corbett would have, at one time, seemed a dream come true. Never had she considered Jonathan would sacrifice himself for her! However, did she expect less from him? Loyal and true to a fault. Is that not what her father had said of Jonathan?

  A seagull cried overhead. Rebekah looked up. What a beautiful day! She long ago pulled her shoes off and walked the sandy beach. She found she breathed better with the sea breeze. Oh, how she wished all had been different.

  A part of her longed for her to accept what he offered, begged her to become his wife. She would make him happy, she told herself. To her dying day, she would repay his sacrifice…

  He told her she had no choice. Choice, she thought. Did he not know she wanted nothing more than to be safe with him? She understood immediately on his appearance that the years had not dimmed their bond. He spoke of the time before the war. She, too, longed for the hands of time to be rewound, but that wasn’t possible. As much as Jonathan proclaimed, he couldn’t undo the past.

  How easy it would be to go through with the plans Jonathan had made for her. Mr. Cutler showed that his word carried weight in Charles Town and arranged for Jonathan’s orders to be delayed. Jonathan had not wasted that time.

  Rebekah found herself along the seashore, not sure of her exact location, but it was a simple home that Mr. Cutler had called in a favor to obtain. A beautiful spot along the shore for Rebekah to stay for the rest of her confinement, away from all of Charles Town and the threat made on her and her unborn child. Walking along the path down by the beach, she had no doubt of the comfort living here would allow her. The sunny June days would soon turn to July’s scorching heat. Summers were brutal in the Carolinas. Along the coast, relief could be found.

  “It is only for a short time,” Jonathan informed her when she arrived. “No one knows you are here except Cutler and me, along with Mrs. Daventry but she is here to stay with you. You will be safe. I have to join up with General Howe, but Cutler will continue to monitor you for me.

  “The plan is simple. We will wait until after your confinement. I will complete my mission for General Washington. Then I will return North with you and the babe. I imagine it will be the spring before all will commence, but after I will take you to my home in Williamsburg. I believe you will find peace there.”

  Peace. She needed to find peace within her.

  “Rebekah.”

  Halting her progress, she glanced behind her. Jonathan had found her, greeting her with a broad smile. In quick strides, he was next to her. He looked down at her feet. “I love the sand between my toes, too.”

  She returned his smile. She could not help it. With the morning sun shining brightly and the slight wind blowing, he held his hat in his hand and looked rather handsome with his windblown hair. His face was tanned; his eyes matched the blue in the sky and gleamed at her. He had dispensed with his waistcoat; his shirt hung loose around his waist.

  “You look quite pleased with yourself,” she said. Taking her hand, she pushed back hair that escaped his hold.

  He caught her hand and kissed it. “I will admit, I haven’t felt this content in years. And I have you to thank for that. I came to tell you that the preacher is here and ready to perform the ceremony. Are you ready?”

  His face was so close. She had no difficulty discerning its every detail. Her eyes met his; her composure faltered completely. Closing her eyes, she willed herself not to cry. Taking a deep breath, she struggled for the strength to utter the words she must.

  “Jonathan, I can’t go through with this.” Her voice was soft and low, but carried with it a firm determinedness.

  “Dammit, Rebekah, why are you making things more difficult than they already are?” His words illustrated a continued frustration with her reluctance, but his manner told her he felt confident that he would gain his will this day.

  “I care too much about you, Jonathan. Again, it is for all the reasons you told me you are set to save me. I tell you now, I can’t.” Rebekah frowned, gradually softening into a bittersweet smile. “Please. Let me have my say. It would be so easy to give in to you…but as I told you before, I’m not the person you believe I am. I lied to you, Jonathan.”

  “About what?” His brows came together with a dubious look in his eyes. “I’m listening.”

  “Do not jest, Jonathan. I’m serious,” she observed with arid disdain. She needed her word to be taken in earnest. “You said Catherine betrayed you. You have not forgiven her. You would not want to repeat your same mistake.”

  Jonathan drew back from her face. Rebekah recognized a cool disdain in his eyes at the mention of Catherine. She braced her hands against his a
rms and pushed back, but he would not release her.

  “Jonathan, I implore you to listen to reason. How can you expect me to marry you when I know you will hate me as you do her? In that I couldn’t bear.”

  “Do tell me, my dear, what it is that will ruin my day?” His words pricked with a growing ire.

  Eyeing him uncertainly, she swallowed hard. “The other night when you rescued me in the storm…I was running scared, not trying to reach Mademoiselle Fontaine, but running from…Tobias…Rory’s brother.” She rambled, but she knew not how else to say the words she kept from him. “I…I was going there to meet with Mademoiselle Fontaine as I said. And I thought I was to travel to France. It was where…where he told me we would go. Jonathan, I went there to run off with Rory.”

  She shuddered when she saw a wave of revulsion sweep over his face. He dropped his hold on her and let out a long, steadying breath.

  “Why, Rebekah? Why would you do something so foolish?”

  “Because,” she murmured timidly, lowering her gaze from his. She reached down and placed her hand on her stomach. “Because I carry his child. I told you I thought myself in love with him. Before I knew any of what had happened, I begged him to run away with me. To go someplace where no one would know us. Not long ago, he…smuggled in a note to me. Told me he loved me…that he wanted us to be together. He told me to meet with this Mademoiselle Fontaine…I did.

  “I thought I had solved all our problems. Esther and Mr. Cutler wanted me to marry Jeremiah. I could never. I never wanted Ian’s estate. I left a note telling them to keep everything. Uncle Adam would eventually discover that Daniel and Paul helped me and were still at my side. Because when everyone discovered I was with child, all would turn from me. Because you came and they told you…my shame. If I left…if I left everyone would have what they desired.”

  “What happened to make you decide otherwise? Why did you run?” Jonathan asked more gently, as if recognizing her fear.

  Rebekah pressed her lips together. She said, “I suppose I suspected all along. I didn’t want to believe Rory had used me as a pawn…was still using me as a pawn. I saw Tobias and Mademoiselle Fontaine fighting. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I was supposed to travel with Mademoiselle Fontaine to France and meet Rory there. Then I saw more of his men. I panicked with the memory of being abducted. I knew then…I knew then I was in danger. How stupid I had been…”

 

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