“Go for the doctor,” Teddy, directed Percy. It was better if these two men were kept apart, he decided. He had a feeling that Eleanor would not consent to marry either of them, but he needed to discover what Eleanor was doing with no clothes on, in the arms of the man that had offered to marry her sight unseen, not to mention how she had practically drowned. He hoped she had not tried to drown herself over this whole affair.
Teddy directed Sebastian to her room with his mother and father, following closely behind, when they came out in the hall and discovered the scene. Soon Nelly had joined the group as well and they all trouped into Eleanor’s room, as Sebastian placed her tenderly on the bed. Then he turned and left with the other men, as Fiona and Nelly shooed them out so they could take care of putting a nightgown on Eleanor, and staying at her side until the doctor arrived. At least she was breathing, even though there was a rattle to each breath she took, as she seemed to struggle for air.
“Come into my study,” Hector directed with a growl, “So we can get to the bottom of this.”
Both Teddy and Sebastian followed him, and arrived at the study door, just as Percy came rushing in with the doctor.
“Teddy, take the doctor up to Eleanor’s room. I wish to talk to Sebastian alone, and Percy, you can return to your home and we will send you word of Eleanor’s progress. I don’t know what you are doing here, but I don’t have time to discover it at the moment.” Percy nodded begrudgingly, and slowly turned to the door as the butler held it open for him.
When Sir Hector closed the study door, he turned and studied Sebastian’s face. “This is a hell of a situation,” he mumbled. “Have a seat, and tell me what is going on.”
Sebastian sat stiffly on the edge of the chair at the other side of Hector’s desk. “I am really not sure,” he said in a shaken voice. “I was about to come and discuss this proposed marriage with your niece, when I saw someone crawling out on the bow of my ship, and dropping into the water. I did not know who it was, but I was curious, seeing as how in order to get to the bow, where that person was, they would have to climb out the window of my own cabin, and no one is allowed in that cabin when I am not aboard.
“Then I discover it is a woman, and she doesn’t have a stitch of clothes on. It was then that I dove in to help her make it to shore and almost did not reach her in time. She managed to tell me her name, so I knew who she was and where to bring her, but for the life of me, I don’t know what she was doing on one of my ships.”
“Perhaps, after she has recovered, she can give us that information. You were lucky to spot her.”
“Yes, we are all lucky. She was going under when I reached her, and she never would have made it to shore, had I not swum out to her. She had to be escaping from that ship, if she willingly swam from it in the state of undress she was in. As soon as we get her story, I will make sure who ever is responsible for her being there, will be punished.”
“Until then, I am afraid this marriage business will have to remain up in the air. Eleanor has been very reluctant to accept your offer, and with all of this happening, especially having to escape your ship, I don’t want to upset her.”
“I understand. Perhaps, when she recovers from all of this, I should court her and let her make up her own mind, once she gets to know me,” Sebastian suggested.
“Yes, maybe that would work best,” Hector agreed.
“There is just something I am wondering about. The young man you told to go home, Percy, I believe you called him. He claims that Eleanor has agreed to marry him. I do not understand.”
“Really.” Hector raised his brows. “She has not mentioned a word of it to me. She had stepped out with him only once, on the chance that he would be willing to offer for her, but then he never came by again, so I assumed nothing came of it.”
“He seems determined that she is already spoken for,” Sebastian said, drawing his brows together in anger and concern.
“He never asked me for her hand, and therefore, I don’t believe he has a claim,” Hector insisted. “Besides I understand the boy is in deep debt. He could never afford to marry Eleanor.”
“That is a relief, because I am determined that she become my wife,” Sebastian informed Hector.
“If she refuses, though, I am not sure what we can do about it,” Hector worried.
“I am certain I can persuade her,” Sebastian smiled, “But first and foremost, we must take good care of her, so nothing comes of this disaster that may effect her health.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Would you mind if I remain here? I would like to be close by to her,” Sebastian offered.
“No, of course not. If you are to become part of the family, I have no objections to that. Bring your belongings. I will have someone show you to your room when you return.”
“Yes. I will just retrieve my belongings from the local Inn, and return here then,” Sebastian suggested, as he rose and headed towards the door, just as it was opened by Teddy.
“The doctor says she is not doing too well. He is afraid her lungs got filled with water, and pneumonia may set in. She is having a hard time breathing,” Teddy announced.
“May I go up and see her?” Sebastian asked, an anxious look crossing his face.
“For a short time,” Hector agreed, and Sebastian headed up the stairs, after leaving the study.
The doctor was just leaving the room, discussing things with Fiona concerning Eleanor’s care, as Sebastian arrived at Eleanor’s door. He found Nelly sitting by the bed, holding Eleanor’s hand. Sebastian approached and stood behind her. “How is she?” he asked quietly, even though he already knew.
“We don’t know. The doctor says it will take a couple days to discover how bad it really is, but for now she is alive. The doctor says someone should be with her at all times.”
Sebastian was in a state of half dress, and so remained behind Nelly since he did not want to embarrass her any more than necessary. “I am returning to my Inn to get my belongings,” he told her. He saw his coat at the end of the bed and leaned over to grab it and put it on. “When I return, I will be staying here, and will gladly take a turn sitting with her,” he informed Nelly.
Nelly turned and looked up at him. “She did not want to marry you,” Nelly said softly, deciding he should know the truth. “She was practically in hysterics about it.”
“Don’t worry. I would never force her to marry me,” he promised. “Once she gets to know me, she may change her mind,” he added hopefully.
“You seem kind. After all, you saved her life,” Nelly said shyly.
“It was a stroke of luck that I was even there,” Sebastian mumbled, and left the room.
Within an hour, Sebastian had removed himself from the Inn and put his baggage in his carriage. He climbed up into the seat, but just sat there trying to collect his thoughts. His head was full of unanswered questions. Questions that only Eleanor could answer. He hoped reverently that she recovered, because he realized that the moment he had seen her on the docks that day, he could not get her out of his mind, even at the prospect of marrying whom he thought to be someone else. It gave him hope that she would be able to erase Annie from his mind, and it made him all the more determined to have her as his wife. Yet there was the man Percy, insisting she had agreed to marry him, and the cousin that claimed that Eleanor did not want to marry him. He hoped they were not insurmountable obstacles. But then there was also the question of her being on his ship, in his cabin, and jumping into the water in the nude. There was something more going on here than met the eye, and he intended to get to the bottom of it.
When the butler let him in, and the foot man took his baggage, he was ushered to his room, which Sir Hector had given him, right across the hall from Eleanor. As soon as the luggage was placed in his room, he immediately went across the hall and tapped on the door. Nelly answered it, and let him in, casting her eyes to the ground, as she was not used to him being a part of the household yet.
“Sh
e hasn’t woken up yet,” Nelly whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Eleanor. “The doctor gave her something to make her sleep. He says it is the best thing for her right now, but her breathing is ragged. We put a poultice on her chest to try and loosen up her congestion. The doctor says it is just a matter of time now, to see which way it turns.” Her eyes looked worriedly up at his.
“I can sit with her now, if you wish,” Sebastian offered. “I have been put in the room across the hall. I will watch her for the night, and in the morning someone else can take over.”
Nelly gave him one long look. He was very good looking, so perhaps when Eleanor saw him, and realized his concern for her, she would change her mind about her refusal to marry him, Nelly thought. He seemed very caring, and the way he was looking at Eleanor, she could tell he was not just offering to sit with her to be polite. “I will have the maid bring you up something to eat,” Nelly told him, and then left the room.
Sebastian sat in the chair Nelly had pulled up beside Eleanor’s bed, and he picked up the hand that Nelly had placed over the top of the covers. It felt so small, yet warm from Nelly holding it. Eleanor’s long wavy hair had dried and was now flowing about her face against the stark whiteness of the satin pillow case. Her dark lashes lay softly against her pale cheeks, and her pert mouth was full and relaxed, but her lower lip seemed to tremble when she breathed. As she took in a ragged breath, she gripped Sebastian’s hand, as though trying to gain strength from him, in order to breath. He couldn’t resist placing his other hand on her brow, and smoothing back her hair as he looked into her sleeping face.
“You poor darling,” he breathed. “What have you been through, and what were you doing on my ship?”
He remembered how she had looked so shocked that day when he had bumped into her, and when he had told her his name she had cried, “Oh, no!” and then ran from his sight. Why was she so adverse to him, before she had ever met him, he wondered? Now he understood why she had run away, even though he did not know the motivation behind her fear of marrying him.
He idly began looking about the room. A typical woman’s room, he amusedly thought, as he glanced at her dressing table filled with small bottles of perfume and other woman’s paraphernalia. He noted the books on a shelf, not far from her bed, and began reading the titles, becoming impressed with her choices of reading material. Her wardrobe was ajar, and he glanced at the assorted clothes hanging inside. Among them was a single red dress. A ball gown, and he was surprised that it was the only red dress in her wardrobe. Why was she called the woman in red, if she only owned one red dress, he wondered? She stirred, and his attention was drawn to her again.
Eleanor was murmuring something in her sleep, and he leaned his head closer to her. “What am I going to do?” she whispered in a halting voice, that rumbled with congestion. “I can never marry anyone now.”
“It’s all right, Eleanor. You have nothing to fear,” he told her softly, wondering if she could even hear him. “I will take care of you. You can trust me. Of course you can get married.”
“No…no, if he ever found out…”
“Found out what?” he encouraged, but she didn’t reply, and seemed to drift off into oblivion again.
There was a tap on the door, and then the maid came in with a tray. She sat it on Eleanor’s little desk, that was up against one wall, then bobbed, before leaving the room. Sebastian was not hungry, but decided to eat what was brought up, anyway, thinking it would be rude to refuse the food. But he barely tasted it as he slowly ate what was on the tray.
Pushing the tray aside, he returned to Eleanor again, and leaned back in the chair, that was rather comfortable, he realized. It was padded and had a high back, which he could lean his head back against. He leaned back with a sigh, and didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep, until he was jarred awake by a soft whimpering. His eyes flew open and he leaned closer to Eleanor who was tossing her head back and forth. “Where is he? Where is he?” she seemed frantic in her concern.
“Where is who?” Sebastian asked softly.
“Brambles, my rabbit.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows. Most people had dogs or cats, but rabbits? He was mystified by the request. “Your rabbit?” he asked unbelievingly.
“Yes. My stuffed rabbit,” she whimpered.
Sebastian chuckled, and looked about the room until his eyes lighted upon a rather tattered looking stuffed rabbit, sitting on a shelf in the corner. He arose, and retrieved the rabbit from its comfortable nook, and placed it in Eleanor’s arms. Her eyes were barely open, and she didn’t seem to notice who he was. She just seemed desperate to have the toy that seemed to give her comfort. As soon as she felt it in her arms, she snuggled it up against her cheek.
“There you are Brambles,” she whispered, as though the animal was alive. “Promise never to leave me, like Mama and Papa have. You are all I have left.” She then seemed to drift back to sleep, and her expression appeared more relaxed, as she cuddled the rabbit against her.
A childhood toy, Sebastian thought, with an amused smile on his face. The very act seemed to pull at his heart string. She seemed so innocent, like a child, and somewhat helpless. All she had to look forward to, was marrying a complete stranger, and perhaps that was why she was so set against it, he thought.
He had thought he didn’t care who he married, as long as she suited his purpose, but now he was giving it second thoughts. Apparently she cared who she married, and she had agreed to marry Percy. Perhaps they were secret lovers, and that is why her uncle did not know about the agreement between them. Was it fair to tear her away from someone she loved, and force her to marry him? But what had she been doing on his ship, escaping from the window without any clothes on? If she had promised herself to Percy, why was she saying she couldn’t marry anyone? She had said if he found out… Was there something that Percy might discover, which would change his mind about marrying her? Something that had to do with her being on his ship? Nothing was making sense. He would just have to wait until she was well enough to explain it all, he decided.
Sebastian felt a tap on his shoulder, and he jerked awake. “You can go to bed now, if you wish,” Fiona Belington whispered. “It is almost morning. If you need to eat something go down to the kitchen. The cook is starting to prepare breakfast, and she can give you something. Otherwise you can eat later. I will have them save something for you.”
“Thank you,” Sebastian said as he rose from the chair, feeling stiff. “I think I will just go to my room and eat later,” he told her. But please let me know if Eleanor is able to talk today. I would like to discover why she was on my ship.”
“Yes, we would all like to know that,” Fiona murmured. “How did she sleep?”
“A little fitful. She asked for her stuffed rabbit. It seemed important to her.”
“Yes, it belonged to her father when he was a child. The rabbit was all that her father had, when my husband’s father found him. They never found his parents, or who he was.”
“Then Eleanor is really not your niece?”
“Oh, I thought Hector would have explained that to you. Her father was taken in by my husband’s father, when they found him lost, and couldn’t discover who he belonged to. Then just before he died, Hector promised to care for the child, since her mother had died giving birth to her. She is nameless, even though we have lent her our name, but we know nothing about her father, and her mother was an Italian maid in my husband’s household. She is really quite a nobody, you know, and quite wild and high spirited. I hope this does not change your mind about marrying her.”
Sebastian stood staring at her. What difference did it matter who a person’s parents were? Why were the English so concerned what name you had? It was the character of the person that really mattered, Sebastian thought.
“Of course I still desire to marry her, but so far I have been told it is not her desire to marry me.”
“She has little choice. No proper Englishman of the ton would marry h
er without a dowry or acceptable name. Ancestors are very important, you know.”
“So you seem to think,” Sebastian, mumbled. “Americans are not as particular about who you are related to, as long as you are a worthwhile person of good ethics and character.”
“Well Eleanor certainly excels in that category. She is every bit a lady, if you discount her high spirit and wild ways. She was raised proper, you know.”
“I am sure she appreciates it,” Sebastian chuckled, wondering if she really did. The poor girl was doomed if no one in high society was willing to marry her, all over a name and fortune. She must have felt like she was being cast out, by being offered to a mere merchant marine, he surmised. No wonder she despised the thought of marrying him. He shrugged, and turned towards the door. “Let me know how she is fairing, and wake me up if she starts telling you anything of importance concerning her jumping from my ship.”
“Yes, I will be sure you are notified,” Fiona promised, and watched him go through the door, closing it behind him. He was such a nice looking man, and certainly wealthy. Eleanor would be crazy if she did not accept his offer for her. He may not be an aristocrat but he was the kind of man that would know how to handle Eleanor, she thought.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Eleanor felt like she had a rock resting on her chest. Every time she tired to take a breath, it was so painful that she had to stop breathing, and then she felt out of breath. The only comfort she felt was the feel of Brambles in her arms, and there was someone sitting, holding her hand, which felt comforting to her as well.
She wanted to open her eyes, but it seemed like her lids were too heavy to lift. She knew she was in bed, but she was trying to remember what had happened. Something had happened to make her feel this way, as though she couldn’t move or breath. Something about cold water, pierced her foggy mind. Swimming in cold water, and then someone lifting her, helping her, wrapping her in a warm coat, but that was all she could bring to the surface of her mind. Somehow the thought brought comfort to her, though. She just didn’t know why. It had to do with who ever was holding her hand, she realized.
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