Mara: A Georgian Romance

by Barbara T. Cerny

Jesse, Rory, Alvin, and Basil again cleaned Jake’s wounds, stripped old sheets to make bandages, applied salve, and kept a vigil to prevent fever. Jake had to lay on his left side, as now the whip marks burned across his back, wrapped around his right side, and continued halfway down his chest. The caregivers pulled his bed away from the wall so they could walk around both sides without having to disturb Jake’s position.

  Over the next couple of days, he came in and out of consciousness and called out Mara’s name in his dreams. He kept reaching for her with his hands, but couldn’t find her, his hatred for her father and his love for her mixing in painful nightmares.

  Jesse plied him with wine and whiskey, hoping they would dull the pain. She performed most of the nursing duties, listening to his ranting and raving, gathering that there was more to his relationship with Mara than met the eye. But Jesse vowed not to say a word to anyone. She would keep his secret and let the two youngsters be. Miss Mara would never make a good match in her aristocratic world, but she would have a fine young man to love her, even if it had to be illicitly.

  *****

  Mara, of course, spent her time healing as well.

  She worked very hard to regain her strength so she could go to the stables to be with Jake, but it seemed that at least one of her parents was constantly hovering over her, which was very unusual for them. They were acting like they actually cared that she had almost died and was still bedridden due to the fever, and lack of food and exercise. Either that or they suspected her relationship with Jake had become romantic, and were trying to make sure the two of them were never alone together. That was a thought she couldn’t bear.

  So she concentrated on eating broth and soup and drinking plenty of fluids and moving her arms and legs around to become strong enough to leave her bed. She had plenty of time to plot a way to escape to the stables unnoticed. She planned to sneak down the back staircase in the middle of the night and go through the breezeway to Jake’s room above the stable. But she couldn’t even make it across the bedroom yet without becoming completely exhausted; sneaking up and down two staircases at this point was out of the question.

  Mara still lost weight, as her stomach could not yet tolerate solid foods. She survived mostly on broth and light soups. She had already lost about a stone. She could feel the difference, and actually liked it. She breathed better and her bones felt better, and she decided that maybe it was time to lose the extra weight; after all, she was sixteen and no longer a child!

  During the four days following Jake’s beating, she worked day and night to regain enough strength to accomplish her mission.

  On the fourth night, she decided she was ready. She slept a little longer during her afternoon nap so she could lie awake long after the household had quieted down for the night.

  At midnight, certain everyone in the house slept, she thought it safe to venture out. She arose from the bed, put on her clothes (God forbid if she was caught going to Jake’s room in her nightgown!), and silently walked down the hallway to the stairs. Her knees shook a little, but she wasn’t sure if it was from weakness or fear. Not willing to take chances, she sat down on the top step and moved down the stairs one at a time on her backside, scooting slowly down to the bottom. So far, so good. All those years of sneaking food and clothing for the boys paid off!

  The back staircase emptied out into the breezeway. If she went straight, she’d end up in the stables; if she turned around, she would go back into the kitchens. Glancing around to make sure she was alone, she began her trek across the breezeway and into the stables. The door seemed heavier than usual, and she struggled to keep silent. Once through the door, she stood on the other side for a moment to catch her breath. Her legs were very shaky now, but she was too close to stop. Ahead of her were the narrow stairs leading up to the loft area and Jake’s room.

  This time, she crawled on her hands and knees up the stairs, hiking her skirts up so they wouldn’t get caught. This would be the worst place to be seen with her bare legs showing and her skirt hitched up around her waist! She grinned at the thought of someone’s view from below—at least her undergarments were clean!

  Mara finally made it to the top, and stopped for a minute to catch her breath. Then she stood up and went to Jake’s room. Calvin had moved out to keep from disturbing Jake with his horrible snoring. Mara glanced at his bed just to make sure it was empty, and then swiftly moved to Jake’s side. The chair was on the opposite side of the bed this time, as his back was facing the door.

  Mara went around the bed and knelt next to his head. He lay there with both arms on his pillow, away from the wounds on his side. Even in his sleep, his brow was furrowed in pain, his eyes tightly shut, his breathing ragged and shallow. His mouth opened slightly and he made those little mewling noises she remembered from last time, as if he labored through his breathing and the movement hurt him.

  She reached out and brushed the hair away from his forehead so she could check his temperature by putting the back of her hand to his temple. He seemed okay. She stared at his face, trying to make out his handsome features in the inky blackness. A faint beam of moonlight shone through the window over his bed, but the moon was in quarter and not much help. She was afraid to light a candle and draw attention to the room.

  Mara put her hands in-between and over his, content to just kneel there and hold his hands. His breathing changed slightly, seeming to calm a bit for the next few minutes. As she lifted her hand to stroke his hair again, Jake opened his eyes.

  “I knew you were here,” he whispered, pain coming through his voice. “I could feel you.”

  “Oh God, Jake.” She moved her face closer to his so they wouldn’t be heard. “I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

  With great effort, he lifted his right arm and stroked her face with his hand. “Not your fault. He’s been a bastard from the start, and at least Termins was there to stop him this time. He really wanted to kill me. I could see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice. He wanted me dead.”

  “Shhhh. Don’t think of him anymore. He isn’t worth the energy it takes to think about him. Shhhh.”

  “I am so glad you are here. That means you are better.”

  “I am fine. A little weak still, but fine. Now we need to concentrate on your healing. I couldn’t stay away from you any longer. I can only think of you and that night, and your kisses…” Her voice trailed off as she choked on her emotions.

  Jake swallowed hard and closed his eyes, the effort of speaking overcoming him, but not as much as the thought of that night when they shared their first kiss. Was that only five or six nights ago? It seemed like years to his tortured mind and body. But he wanted to relive the moment, to recapture the feeling of that night, to remember the stunning fire that had burned inside, to forget the dreadful fire that now burned outside. He opened his eyes and stared at the hidden face of his love, obscured by the darkness, backlit by the sliver of moonlight coming through the window. “Kiss me again,” he whispered hoarsely. “Kiss me now, Mara.”

  She followed the line of his cheek and chin with her hand, feeling for his lips with her fingers. Then she moved her head so she could replace her fingers with her lips. His body cried out in pain as he rolled slightly to meet her kiss and hold onto her arm with his free hand.

  Just like before, when their lips met, the world around them exploded with passion. Mara felt the kiss all the way to her toes, her mind focusing sharply on the intimacy of the touch. Jake moaned in both pain and pleasure, his body screaming as he rolled on his fresh wounds. But his heart and soul sang at the joy her kiss brought him.

  He moved his hand to the back of her head, pulling her even closer to him, searching the depths of her mouth with his tongue. She responded fully with a search of her own. There was nothing tentative about her exploration. It was as if she knew exactly what to do, what she was meant to do, what they were meant to do together. There were no secrets between them, no hesitation. They were a perfect match.

  Mara b
roke the kiss, knowing the danger of this encounter. “I love you,” she whispered, lip to lip. “I am yours forever.”

  “I’ve loved you forever, and I will never leave you, no matter what they do to me.”

  She pulled away from him, grasping his hand with both of hers. “Good night, my love. You need to sleep. I will come back tomorrow.” As she moved away, he kept hold of her hand until the last moment, and listened to her walk out of his room.

  Jake smiled as he slipped back into an easier sleep, her kiss still fresh on his lips.

  Chapter 21

  The next day, Lady Maureen stood in her daughter’s bedchamber, combing Mara’s curly red hair, which tended to knot if it wasn’t brushed each morning and evening. It had been years since her mother had brushed her hair for her, and it sent Mara back to when she was a toddler and her mother performed this little act of love every day.

  But Mara’s thoughts soon turned to Jake and the kiss they had shared last night; she desperately wanted to see him again! Her mother hummed some song while she was brushing, and a thought occurred to Mara.

  “Mother, let’s go see how Jake is doing.”

  “Who, my dear?”

  “Jacob. Father whipped him again last week. Go see how he is doing.”

  “Now, Mara. You know better than to pay attention to the servants’ gossip. Your father didn’t beat Jacob again.”

  Mara caught the brush in her hand and turned to stare at her mother, incredulous at such a ridiculous statement. How was it possible her mother didn’t know what happened?

  “Mother! That isn’t servants’ gossip. I saw it happen! I was sitting at the window and watched Father whip him. Bertram and Edwin were holding him down. How could you possibly think it is gossip?”

  Lady Maureen looked at her daughter, not quite believing her. Bertram and Edwin were there, too? They helped? “Now, dear, you are recovering from being sick, and don’t need to be worrying about that.”

  “Mother!” Mara’s exasperation really showed. How could her mother be so obtuse? “I will prove it to you. Come.”

  Mara stood up, grabbed her mother by the hand, and led her out the bedroom door and down the back stairs. Her mother complained the entire way.

  “My dear! Why do you insist on using these horribly narrow back stairs? Can’t we use the main staircase?”

  She dragged her mother out the door and into the breezeway. They continued on until they reached the stables, and then began climbing up the little stairs to the loft.

  Her mother’s complaining continued. “Oh my! Are you sure these rickety old things are safe?”

  Mara put up with the whining, as she needed to use the blabbering woman as a leaning post, since she was still quite weak.

  They entered Jake and Calvin’s room. Jake was shirtless, sitting backwards in the chair, straddling the back with his legs, resting his forehead on his crossed arms and holding the chair back knobs tightly with his hands. Lilac lay at his feet, looking very sad. Jesse carefully removed the old bandages to clean the wounds before applying new bandages. No matter how careful she was, the bandages pulled on the forming scabs, sometimes pulling them off, causing fresh bleeding. Jake tried hard not to complain, but moans and gasps escaped his lips anyway, as the pain was still very intense.

  Lady Maureen tentatively stepped over to Jake, taking up a spot opposite Jesse. She looked at Jake’s scabbed and scarred back, and put her hand over her mouth in horror at the sight. “Oh, my God, Jacob. What has he done to you?”

  Jake realized someone besides Jesse was in the room. He looked up and first saw Mara standing in the doorway, then turned to see her mother at his side. He looked back at Mara and gave a half smile before laying his forehead back down on his arms. He didn’t have the energy or the will to do more than that.

  Lady Maureen wasn’t unkind. She’d proven that when she helped rescue the orphanage a few years back. She was just usually too distracted by her social obligations to pay much attention to her daughter and the world outside of entertaining or being entertained. But now her compassion for Jake overwhelmed her, and she immediately started helping Jesse by cleaning the areas already uncovered.

  Mara took a three-legged stool from the corner and placed it in front of Jake. She sat down and wrapped her hands around each of his. All she could do was provide moral support. She was glad she thought to include her mother. Jake would receive the best care now.

  The ladies worked for about forty-five more minutes, finally pulling off all the old bandages. During that time, Maureen asked Mara and Jake to tell her what had happened.

  Mara began by telling her mother she had wanted a bath on the third morning after waking from her delirium. She told her about Cecilia, Beth, and Portia not being able to put her into the tub, and Cecilia going to find help. She talked about Jake coming in and starting to help her to the tub, and her father interrupting and demanding that Jake let go and her, and how she fell to the floor. She talked about her father’s behavior with the bed sheets and his accusing her of being pregnant. Jake looked up at her in surprise at this statement, as he didn’t know about that part of the story. Lady Maureen looked very disturbed.

  Mara told her mother about Cecilia looking out the window and seeing Bertram and Edwin dragging Jake out of the stables and realizing what they were doing and then running to find Termins. She talked about how hard it was for her to scoot to the window. She choked on her emotions as she described the beating, and Portia and Beth running to the bedroom to comfort her and also witnessing the event.

  Then it was Jake’s turn. At Lady Maureen’s gentle prodding, he related his side of the story, struggling to talk through the pain. Jake left nothing out, except his own threat to kill Lord Markham. He talked about Bertram and Edwin’s roles in the beating and what her husband had said to him, the severe pain of each strike, Termins’ intervention, and waking up in his room a few hours later as they were dressing his wounds. After he had finished, Lady Maureen realized the story must be true in light of the physical evidence on Jake’s body. However, that realization was so painful that she refused to discuss the matter further.

  As they worked, Jesse and Lady Maureen talked easily about lighter topics—the garden that would be planted, and past and future dinner parties. They talked about what Lady Maureen would wear to the Masque coming up in October. The Masque was the biggest non-royal event of the year. Guests invited to this exclusive party came dressed in costume, and spared no expense to come up with unique and wonderful outfits. Designing and constructing these elaborate costumes sometimes took three or four months. The Masque was hosted by the Duke of Cleveland, an aging peer who had lost his wife of thirty years a few months ago. Lady Maureen and Jesse wondered if he would be able to enjoy the party without her.

  When the ladies finished bandaging Jake’s back and right side, they asked him to turn around so they could tend to the wounds on his chest. He was a compliant patient, letting them do what they needed to do, but the women in the room also knew he was in severe pain. Mara could do nothing more than sit on the stool and stare at Jake’s back, tracing with her eyes the crisscross of old scars with new scabs. She counted eight new marks across his back. Eight! It was a miracle Jake had survived. Jesse eventually asked her to change the sheets on Jake’s bed, which Mara did gladly, as she wanted to do something other than stare at the mess that was now Jake’s back.

  Now that he was facing her, Lady Maureen looked at Jake again closely, something she hadn’t done for four years. Even though his forehead was furrowed in pain, his eyes screwed shut, and his teeth clenched, he was still a handsome young man. He tightly pressed his lips together against the pain, but his cheeks had deeper images of those lovely dimples she remembered. His dark-blond hair was long again and once more tied back. And he was taller, much taller.

  To apply fresh bandages, they asked Jake to stand up so they could easily reach and circle around him to wrap him. He interlocked his fingers and put his hands on top of his h
ead to keep his arms out of the way. That pained him anew, as the muscles in his shoulders had been severely damaged by Bertram and Edwin pulling his arms back.

  When they finished, they helped him back into bed. Jesse and Lady Maureen talked about Jake’s care, and made plans to come back the next day to change the bandages again. They agreed that keeping everything clean was the best way to fight against fever. They even agreed that a doctor’s visit was in order.

  Before leaving, Lady Maureen went over to Jake’s bed and looked in his face. She touched his cheek, bent over to kiss his forehead, and gave a sympathetic smile. Then she and Mara were gone. Jake closed his eyes. He’d be okay.

  *****

  For the next few nights, Mara continued her midnight expeditions to the stables, each visit consisting of a few minutes of whispered conversation, and a couple of passionate kisses.

  Each day, she and her mother visited to help Jesse change bandages. The doctor came and told them to continue doing exactly what they were doing, as the wounds were healing nicely. Nicely, thought Jake. Not a word he’d use to describe the situation! But he took his stolen moments with Mara any way he could get them, and was very happy her mother was engaged in the process.

  Lady Maureen was appalled at her own sons’ involvement and her husband’s cruelty. She made her thoughts on the situation clear to them in no uncertain terms. The boys were away at school, but she expressed her disgust at their behavior in letters first, and then later in person when they came home on holiday.

  Chapter 22

  March rolled into April, and Jake and Mara slowly returned to health. Pete and Luke had to stop coming around due to the Markhams being home again, but Alvin gave them updates whenever he came into town to run his gardening errands.

  Mara and Jake had to cool their passions, as others were now constantly hovering over them. Since Calvin had moved back into his room, the midnight visits came to a grinding halt. They now spent lonely nights apart, dreaming the same dreams of being together and of their few shared kisses.