Weathering Captain Storm

by Charles, Jane

  “Explain to me why the two of you remained up here all evening,” Rosalind demanded.

  “I suddenly wasn’t feeling well.” Isabella crossed her hands over her stomach.

  “Nor, I.” Bianca mimicked her sister’s actions.

  “Odd,” Demetrius began. “You were a picture of health until the Storms were announced.” He pinned Isabella with a look. “Care to explain?”

  She was not about to tell her family anything. If she confided in anyone it would be Orlando, but he wasn’t here. She jutted out her chin. “I was overcome with emotions and memories if you must know.”

  “Explain!” Benedick barked.

  Tears flooded Isabella’s eyes. “I knew Captain Storm during my time on the Peninsula. I last saw him the day after Waterloo, shortly after I learned of what happened to Bertram. It was a shock, and I was struck with memories of that time. I couldn’t remain.” Everything she said was the truth. She just wasn’t going to tell him that she also loved Captain Storm and he had once loved her.

  Benedick narrowed his eyes but relaxed.

  “Your running away is at least clear,” Demetrius said with sympathy when he looked at Bianca. “Did His Grace never tell you who he really was?”

  His Grace? Who were they talking about?

  “Not that it matters,” Bianca answered, tears filling her eyes once again. “He was a dancing master, and I was his accompanist.”

  “Rosalind explained that you began to play again, but only after you met Mr. East.”

  Isabella’s own problems faded away for a moment. Bianca’s Mr. East was the Duke of Roxburg? Was she understanding this whole thing correctly?

  “It’s a coincidence. The two have nothing to do with each other,” Bianca insisted. “Leave it be. I will not be seeing His Grace again and wish to forget I ever met him.”

  The two had everything to do with the other, of that Isabella was certain. She’d been the one to tell her family of Bertram’s death. He and Bianca had been particularly close, and Bianca took the news the hardest. One would have to be deaf not to notice the change in her music. Bianca could not remain away from the piano for long, but after they lost Bertram, it was as if the soul had gone from her music as well, and she’d stopped composing. It wasn’t until they came to London and she began work at the Mirabella School of Dance that her passion for music returned. And, it was after she met Mr. East that she began composing again.

  Benedick sank down onto the bed beside Bianca and took her hand. “Did he mean so much?”

  She shook her head. “Even though he was a dancing master, I always knew that whatever tender feelings that may have developed could never become anything more than my secret.”

  “Have you learned nothing?” he asked gently. “All you need do is look to Rosalind and her marriage to know what fate you always believed to be true might not be.”

  “He’s a duke!” Tears fell from the corner of her eyes. “And he lied to me.”

  Benedick helped Bianca from Isabella’s bed and led her from the room. Demetrius and Rosalind followed, leaving her very much alone. Of course, they simply thought she was overcome with memories, and Bianca certainly needed them more than she did. Her poor sister. It was bad enough that Isabella had fallen in love with an army captain. Bianca had fallen in love with a duke, and they certainly did not marry bastards.

  A few moments later there was a quiet knock at her door. Isabella assumed one of her siblings decided to check on her. Instead of calling out for them to enter, she remained silent, hoping they’d think she’d gone to sleep.

  Such was not her luck because whoever it was opened her door anyway, not that it should have been a surprise. None of her brothers or sisters ever cared about intruding on each other if they thought they had cause. What she didn’t expect was to see Orlando enter. Out of all of them, only this brother would understand.

  “Does Rosalind know you finally arrived?”

  He grinned. “Yes. I met her on the stairs as she was coming down with Benedick and Demetrius.”

  “I’m afraid Bianca has suffered quite a shock.”

  He nodded and came further into the room. “I don’t believe she is the only one.” His eyes bore into hers.

  “No.”

  “So, you’re not ill, but you were running away from Captain Storm.”

  “I can’t see him,” Isabella blurted out.

  “Why not? Are you still in love with him?”

  “Yes.” She picked at the coverlet on her bed.

  “Then why are you up here, moping about, instead of at supper with him?”

  Isabella straightened in surprise. “You know very well why.”

  “After Waterloo, I agreed with you. I didn’t think any of us had a place in Society. It’s what we all believed. But then Rosalind married Felding, and I began to see that when it comes to love, titles mean little.”

  “Felding already knew our family. Knew the truth. We cannot expect anyone else to be as understanding or forgiving.”

  “You will never know unless you give it a chance,” Orlando insisted. “Captain Storm might surprise you.”

  “I’d rather have my memories and keep my heart.”

  He simply stared at her, eyes full of sadness. “Are you so certain?” he asked gently.

  Isabella simply nodded. “I can’t risk the heartache, Orlando. I’ve been in pain since Lady Richmond’s ball, and I honestly can’t endure anymore.”

  “He’s waiting for you. What shall I tell him?”

  Tears flooded her eyes. “That I don’t wish to see him. Ever.”

  Chapter 16

  What the blazes was taking so long? Was Isabella ill or not?

  Nate had paced the near empty ballroom waiting for Dr. Valentine to return, but as supper concluded and the guests began to return, the doctor still had not come back downstairs.

  “Oh, Nate, Mother is simply being horrible,” Hannah whispered as she reached his side.

  “What has she done now?”

  “Everything!” Tabitha cried.

  “Please tell me that you have not inherited her gift of the dramatic, or you will be on a shelf and living with her the rest of your life.”

  Tabitha straightened. “No, of course not, but that woman has asked nearly every gentleman who has begged an introduction where they reside.”

  “One gentleman was holding my dance card, preparing to write his name, when she announced that she would never consider a gentleman who resided in Coventry,” Deborah whimpered.

  “I take it that Coventry was the residence of this gentleman?”

  “Yes! Then he dropped my card without even writing in it, bowed, and excused himself.”

  “You really must do something,” Hannah insisted.

  He looked at his three sisters. He did not have time to deal with this. At least not right now. “Where was Benjamin?”

  “Waltzing with Mary,” Tabitha complained.

  “Probably the only peace he’ll get all night,” Nate mumbled under his breath.

  “And Samuel?”

  “Oh, he’s been with his friends, then he danced with Lady Jillian Simpson, and then we lost track of him,” Tabitha answered.

  “I take it Peter hasn’t made an appearance?”

  “I doubt we’ll see Peter before we return home,” Deborah grumbled.

  “There the three of you are,” their mother announced as she drew up to them. “You really must remain by my side if we are going to go about this right.”

  His sisters turned their eyes on him, as if begging him to do something. He was about to suggest that he’d take on the chaperoning so that his mother could gossip with her friends when he spotted Dr. Valentine entering the ballroom. “Excuse me.”

  His sisters gasped, and he couldn’t really blame them. In time they’d understand. He hoped.

  “Isabella?” he asked when he reached the doctor.

  Dr. Valentine sighed. “She is well but doesn’t wish to speak with you.”
/>   “So, I’m the reason she ran?”

  “I’m afraid so.” He nodded.

  She may wish to hide from him, but London wasn’t so large, and he could easily learn where she lived, where her family lived. He would find her. She may have escaped him tonight, but there were weeks of entertainments planned, and if she didn’t receive him in her home, then she would speak with him in public. Isabella couldn’t continue to run from him.

  “I bowed to Isabella’s wishes after Waterloo, thinking it was the best for you and her.”

  Those words caught his attention “And now?”

  “I’m not so certain.” He glanced around the room, stopping when he spied Lord and Lady Felding. “We’ve assumed many things that may not be true.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t explain. Only she can.” With that, he turned to walk away.

  An explanation was exactly what Isabella owed him. “How long should I give her?” Did he really want to give her time to come up with an excuse? Or worse, disappear?

  “A sennight. There are other family matters that require her attention. If they work out as I hope, then I believe she will be more open to speaking with you once again.”

  * * *

  “I’m disappointed in you, Isabella.”

  She glanced up to find Orlando leaning against the entry to the library.

  “I know. I should be upstairs with Bianca.” She rose from her place on the settee.

  “That’s not what I’m referring to.” He entered and closed the door behind him. “Besides, I believe Rosalind wanted some private moments with Bianca now that Aunt Mary has spoken with her.”

  A smile pulled at Isabella’s lips. “What might they be discussing that is so private and hushed?”

  Orlando’s cheeks colored, and she nearly laughed. She’d thought he was beyond being embarrassed about anything.

  She widened her eyes and took on an innocent look. “It’s the talk.” Isabella couldn’t help but grin. “Men, women, babies. That talk.”

  “Stuff it,” he ground out and crossed to the sideboard and poured a glass of brandy. “They didn’t follow the drum like you.”

  “So that makes me more knowledgeable.” She blinked at him innocently.

  “Not as innocent, that is a certainty.”

  Isabella gasped. “I’ll have you know that no man has ever taken liberties with my person.” Did Orlando think…? She couldn’t even finish the question.

  “Other than a rather engaging kiss I witnessed between you and Captain Storm, no, I don’t believe anything else occurred that I should be concerned about.”

  “Then why do you believe I carry more information than my sisters.”

  He lifted the carafe of brandy, and lifted a brow as if asking.

  “Yes, please.” She didn’t normally drink any spirits when the family was near and could walk in on her at any moment, but this was Orlando, and they’d shared many drinks over the years.

  “The soldiers nor the camp followers weren’t always discrete as to what they were about, as you well know. I still remember the first time you came across two lovers.”

  Her face heated this time. A woman was on her back beside the stream with her skirts bunched about her waist and a soldier, with his trousers about his ankles, was thrusting between her legs. Orlando had pulled her away before Isabella could do anything.

  “But she was moaning. Are you certain he isn’t hurting her?” Isabella repeated the question she’d asked that day and laughed.

  “I can assure you that it’s either pleasure or she’s pretending,” Orlando returned with a grin. “But he is certainly not hurting her.”

  “I was so innocent about so many things then.”

  Orlando sobered. “I think we both were. War does strange things.” His eyes twinkled. “But I never dreamed that I’d need to be the one to explain what happens between a man and a woman to my sister.” He took a drink. “That was probably the most difficult conversation of my life.” He took another drink, shaking his head. “And then you helped me deliver a baby a few months later and exclaimed, ‘I do believe I understand how all of this works now.”

  “They weren’t the last couple I stumbled upon during those years.”

  “I’m just sorry so much of your innocence was lost. In hindsight, I probably should have made you remain at home.”

  Of all her brothers, Isabella was the closest to Orlando. He’s the one she’d followed about from the moment she could walk. When he went off with the army, it made perfect sense that she should follow him there as well. “I wouldn’t have stayed.”

  “I know.” He took a seat across from her. “But, I didn’t come in here to discuss the past or where babies come from.”

  Isabella stood. She had a very good idea of why he was here. “I really should retire. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” A smile pulled at her lips. “Our sister is going to become a duchess.” She still couldn’t believe that Roxburg was to marry Bianca. Even though he knew truth, Roxburg’s love ran so deep, he didn’t give a whit about Bianca’s past.

  “Why are you still avoiding Captain Storm?”

  With that question she sank down onto the settee. “To what purpose?”

  “You love him.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We wouldn’t suit.”

  Orlando relaxed back in his seat. “He waited for you to return to Rosalind’s ball. Then asked to call on you. I asked him to give you a sennight, which he did.”

  “I’d asked you to tell him that I didn’t wish to see him,” she reminded her brother. This was the first time Orlando had gone against her. At least, since they’d become adults.

  “He’s been here every day since, but you’ve not been at home.”

  “Because I wasn’t at home.” She’d been at Kirkland House, which her brother well knew.

  “You’re avoiding him.”

  “I have a position, and I will not shirk my duties,” she argued.

  “Give him a chance, Isabella.”

  “Why?” she cried. “So he can reject me when he learns the truth?” Isabella set her glass on the table. “We’ve had this discussion, and I won’t have it again.”

  “If a marquess and a duke don’t care about our family’s secrets, why should a captain?” Orlando asked quietly.

  “Because his brother is an earl, and we can’t all expect to be as lucky as Rosalind or Bianca.” Though she wished with all of her heart that Nate would be of the same mind, she couldn’t hold out hope that it would be so. “Good night, Orlando. Please don’t mention Captain Storm again, and cease encouraging him to call.”

  Chapter 17

  Nathaniel Storm glanced back at the church as Samuel found their carriage. The last time his heart pounded with such anxiety and anticipation was when the first cannonballs flew at Waterloo.

  He had anticipated seeing Isabella Valentine at the wedding of her sister and the Duke of Roxburg, but he’d been unprepared for the physical reaction. Not only did his pulse race as if he’d just finished a session at Gentleman Jackson’s, but a sweat broke out on his brow.

  When Sam’s closest friend announced that he planned on marrying Bianca Valentine, Nate had almost called on him. Did His Grace have any idea that he was marrying a fraud? His wife wasn’t a Valentine, neither was Felding’s, but the entire family had inserted themselves into Society, pretending to be children of missionaries who’d been killed in a massacre in India. He knew it wasn’t the truth.

  What he didn’t know was who they really were. Did Roxburg or Felding? Should he have said something to Roxburg before he tied himself to a Valentine for life?

  It was too late now, so Nate unfolded the missive his footman had pressed into his hand as soon as he and Samuel stepped outside the church and began to read.

  Nathaniel,

  You and Samuel must return home immediately. The most horrendous circumstance has occurred and I am so beside myself that I do not know what to
do. It is far too distressing to even write in a letter. Suffice it to say, nothing this horrific has happened to our family in a very long time, and your presence is needed most urgently.

  Mother

  He grabbed his brother’s arm as Samuel started to walk away from him and handed him the letter.

  Samuel read through the short message before he shook his head and handed it back.

  “What could be so blasted important that she thought it appropriate to pull us from a wedding?” Nate asked as he crushed the missive in his fist. “At least the footman ignored her dictate and waited until we exited the church or you might have missed the wedding you stood to witness for Roxburg.

  “Let’s make this quick,” Sam’s irritation with Mother was nearly as bad as his.

  “If Mother starts going on and on about torn flounces, stained gloves, or spilled tea at the al fresco, I swear I’ll send her right back home and let Benjamin deal with our sisters.” Actually, it shouldn’t be just Benjamin, but Sam, Peter, and Nate as well, but all of Nate’s good intentions to help his sisters had faded to the background once he saw Isabella again. Once he’d spoken with her, then he could move forward, but he’d been stuck in limbo, unable to do much of anything. But tonight, he’d finally speak with her, and he wouldn’t give her the opportunity to hide from him again.

  “I’d hate to see her reaction if something actually horrific occurred.” Sam grumbled after following Nate into the carriage.

  Nate nodded and glanced out the window, hoping to catch another glimpse of Isabella. He needed answers and had intended to get them today. Nate didn’t give a damn if it was her sister’s wedding. Isabella owed him an explanation of why she could kiss him with such abandon and passion one night, then reject him with cold indifference only a few days later. And he also wanted to know who she really was.

  The carriage pulled up before their townhouse, and the gentlemen jumped out and rushed for the door. Not that they were in any hurry to find out what crisis had occurred, but to get it out of the way and dealt with so he and Samuel could retire to their club until it was time for the ball Roxburg had planned.