by Clare Revell
Gently inserting a finger into Jonni’s mouth, he pulled out weeds and silt. Once her mouth was clear he placed his lips over hers, breathing into her lungs a couple times. Pulling back, he looked at her. “Don’t you die on me.”
He pushed against her ribs and then clasping his lips to hers, Sebastian breathed into her twice more. Relief filled him as she coughed and choked below him. He rolled her over onto her side, rubbing her back.
John looked at him. “Well done, Sir.”
Sebastian ignored him, concentrating on Jonni. “Jonni, are you all right?”
Jonni retched violently, unable to speak as she heaved river water from her body.
Sebastian patted her back, aware of the coldness of her skin beneath her thin dress. “Jonni?”
“I…think so.” Her voice was a whisper, still wracked by coughs and heaves.
He nodded. “Good. What were you thinking?”
“You told me to leave. I didn’t know where I was going.” She paused, wonder filling her voice. “You called me Jonni.”
“Did I? Forgive me, Miss Peterson. I was worried, a momentary lapse, nothing more.”
Five men arrived from the house with a litter, but Sebastian waved them off. Instead he wrapped Jonni in a blanket, and cradled her cold body to his chest. John put a blanket around his shoulders, keeping close to him as they walked slowly back to the house. It wasn’t him they needed to worry about, but the woman he carried.
She lay shivering in his arms, her head resting on his chest. He could hear his own heart beating and the harsh sounds of his breathing. Her breathing was so faint he stopped to check it hadn’t ceased. Sebastian looked down at her. “Stay awake, Jonni. You can’t fall asleep yet.”
Her eyes flickered open for a moment. “Tired.”
“Almost there, we’ll warm you and then you can sleep.”
Sebastian picked up the pace a little. As they reached the side of the house, the rain stopped and the clouds began to part to show the setting sun. He climbed the steps, exhausted, but determined not to give into it.
The front door stood open, his sister standing next to it. His gaze met hers, his anxiety echoed in the look she gave him. “She was caught in the reeds under the water. She’s barely breathing. We need the doctor.”
“He’s on his way. Sebastian, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. We need to see to Jonni first.”
Heading towards the stairs, Sebastian carried her up to her room. He laid her gently onto the bed and lingered until his mother threw him out.
“Sebastian, let Louisa, Hattie and myself attend to Miss Peterson. You need to deal with yourself. You are dripping river water all over the floor. You will do the estate no good if you become sick because of this woman. It’s bad enough having to call the doctor out to her again.”
“Keep me informed as to her condition.” Sebastian let John guide him down the hallway. As much as he wanted to stay, his mother was right. Getting sick wouldn’t help Jonni.
In the safety of his room, he let John strip him out of his wet clothes. His whole body shook, his mind whirling. It was his fault she’d ended up in the river. If she died now, that too, would be his fault. Mary had died because of him, and now Jonni would, too. He could no longer think of her as Miss Peterson. She was far more than that.
Tears filled his eyes and he brushed them away. He made no effort to warm or dry himself. He didn’t matter. The one person who did was lying unresponsive a few hallways away.
God…forgive me…
Sebastian was only half dressed when word came that the doctor had arrived. Doing his shirt up as he ran down the hallways, he entered Jonni’s room and ignored the look his mother gave him. He didn’t care if it wasn’t the done thing for a man to enter a woman’s room while she was in a state of undress. Her wet clothes had left very little to his imagination, anyway. His fingers burned with the faint echoes of her touch and he yearned to hold her again.
Sebastian shoved his shirt into his breeches, his stony gaze fixed on the doctor as he checked Jonni over. If he harmed her in any way, he would regret it.
But Jonni didn’t respond to voice or touch. She coughed and retched as if trying to clear the river water from her lungs. After what seemed an eternity the doctor finished.
Sebastian looked at him. “Well?”
“You will need to watch her for signs of fever over the next few hours. She is dangerously ill.”
Sebastian’s breath caught in his throat. “Will she die?”
Doctor Gordon put his hat on. “It is possible. I will come back in the morning to bleed her if there is no improvement. See she is given the calomel, too.”
Sebastian nodded. He knew, all too well, the effect calomel would have on her, both as a laxative and for making her sick. He didn’t see how that would help, but he wasn’t a doctor. He sat down next to the bed as the doctor left. He would sit here, pray, and keep watch.
****
As the darkness grew, Sebastian got up and lit a lamp. He returned to his chair by her bed. He looked at Jonni, only glancing up when his sister’s voice came from the doorway.
“You should get some sleep. Let one of the servants watch her for now.”
“I will in a bit.” Sebastian looked back down. “It is my fault she is sick.”
“How is it your fault?”
“I chased her away, just like Alexis said I did. It is the least I can do, to keep watch that she doesn’t get any worse.”
“Alexis was angry, as were you. Neither of you meant what you said.”
Sebastian looked at her. “I still said it, Louisa. I killed my wife, and now—”
“You did not kill Mary, Sebastian.”
“She died bearing my child, the son I was so insistent on her giving me. It amounts to the same thing.” He paused. “I killed her, and now I have killed Jonni.”
A smile crossed Louisa’s face. “You called her Jonni.”
“That is her name, is it not?” Sebastian held Louisa’s gaze for a moment, and then looked down. “I will sleep when Jonni is no longer in any danger.”
10
Jonni opened her eyes, and stared up at the bed curtains, realizing she no longer felt hot or uncomfortable. She enjoyed the sensation for a moment before her thoughts started crowding in. What had happened? She remembered the bridge, and the river, and then she was in Sebastian’s arms, hearing his heart beating and his harsh rapid breathing in her ear.
What was it about the man that turned her resolve to jelly and her brains to mush? He was so annoying. Yet something within her yearned for his touch, for his kiss. Actually, what she really wanted was for him to crush her against that firm chest of his and kiss her senseless. Not that it would happen.
The Lord would either find a way for her to go home, or Sebastian would find someone of his own class to marry and live happily ever after.
She looked to one side and caught her breath, her eyes not believing what she was seeing.
The man occupying her thoughts sat in the chair by the bed, absorbed in reading some papers. He looked as if he had been there most of the night.
Color touched her cheeks, as if he somehow had gained the ability to hear her thoughts.
Jonni studied him for a moment. His hair was unkempt and he had a slight growth of beard on his face.
“Hi.”
****
At the sound of her voice, Sebastian looked up. He had been in danger of falling asleep, despite working on the papers. A smile crossed his face, a mixture of relief and joy filled him. She was awake.
“Jonni, Miss Peterson. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Much better, very thirsty.”
He poured a glass of water and offered it to her. “Here.”
Jonni pushed herself upright, leaning back against the pillows. “Thank you.” She took the glass of water he offered her, and drained it, holding it out for a refill. “I don’t remember much again, I’m afraid.”
Seba
stian refilled the glass, his fingers touching hers, sending flames of desire shooting though him. “I am not surprised. You have been quite unwell for two days, now. The doctor despaired for your life on more than one occasion.”
Her finger traced the rim of the glass. For an instant, he wished it were his fingers or his face they were tracing. So gentle and delicate they were. She had been as light as a feather in his arms. He sat down again. “What do you remember?”
“We fought and I ran. The river was a torrent and the bridge fell.”
“Miss Peterson, you’re awake.” Alexis skipped across the room and over to the bed. “I was really worried about you.” She glanced timidly at her father. “Papa saved you. He jumped into the river after you, and didn’t give up searching until he pulled you out. Then he had to breathe for you.”
Jonni looked at her, and then at Sebastian. “It appears I owe you my life. Thank you.”
Embarrassed, Sebastian shifted in his chair, his cheeks burning. “Think nothing of it. The child exaggerates.”
“Not in this case. He has barely left your side since he brought you back,” Countess Maud said, entering the room. “Sebastian acted with no thought for himself, at all. Perhaps the first unselfish thing he has done in his entire life. How are you feeling, Miss Peterson?”
“Better. I’m afraid I cause you nothing but trouble.”
Countess Maud inclined her head. “Sebastian told me your story, and although I do not pretend to believe it for one moment, Sebastian made it his goal to find out what he could. We have spent the last few days searching extensively. However, there is no trace of you, or your family in Reading.”
“There won’t be for another two hundred years.”
The older woman cleared her throat. “Anyway, I expect you are hungry. I will arrange for some food for you.”
“Thank you. Once I find somewhere to go I will leave. I have caused you enough trouble.”
Sebastian smiled. “You may have caused no end of trouble, but you have also taught Alexis a lot.”
Jonni looked at him surprised. “How?”
“I told Papa about the lightning and thunder. And I helped look after you.” Alexis was proud of her accomplishment. “Aunt Louisa let me bring up water, and put a cold cloth on your head, sometimes.”
Sebastian smiled at her. “And you did it very well. Leave us now, I wish to talk to Jonni...uh, Miss Peterson for a while.”
Alexis nodded and left the room.
****
Jonni looked at him, unable to resist teasing. “I vaguely remember you saying that calling me Jonni was a mistake. And that’s the second time in five minutes.”
Sebastian looked at her and cleared his throat. “I was concerned. When I pulled you from the river you were not breathing. You spoke a lot during your fever, of your life, of this Bryan we spoke of before and how he treated you. If we found a way to get you home, would you go?”
She finished the glass of water and set it down on the side. “I can’t go home. I tried and it didn’t work. Unless God works a miracle, I am here to stay.”
Sebastian crossed to the window and stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. Jonni watched him, wondering what was coming next.
The warmth in his tone sent surges of heat through her veins. “Miss Peterson, I need a governess for Alexis and you need somewhere to stay and a means of supporting yourself. Therefore, what I propose is this. For the time being, you live here and teach Alexis, in exchange for board, lodging and a small salary. Until you either find a way home, or find something you would rather do instead.”
Jonni nodded. “Thank you. I accept.”
Sebastian smiled and moved back across to sit beside her. “Good, I’m glad. It will be hard for her when Louisa moves away.”
“What about your new wife? Your mother was attempting to arrange a match for you.”
He laughed. “I have no intentions of marrying anyone of my mother’s choosing. I will remarry when I find someone suitable to provide an heir. Not merely just to get my mother off my back.”
“Why can’t Alexis inherit?”
“When she marries all her property belongs to her husband. We would lose Southby on my death. I need a male heir to secure the line.”
“And that is all you would take a wife for? Even if you didn’t love the woman you married? We have a saying, part of which is, first comes love, then comes marriage.”
He looked at her. “Love seldom comes into marriage. Friendship and companionship are the most you can hope for. Unless you are lower-class, in which case, you may be fortunate enough to marry for love.” He paused. “Louisa, I think, is lucky in that respect. She adores George and he cares for her a great deal.”
Sebastian broke off as one of the servants came in with some food. “I will leave you to eat. I have things I need to do today. No doubt, I will see you later, Miss Peterson. You should stay in bed today. Perhaps join us downstairs tomorrow.”
Jonni watched him leave, and then focused her attention on breakfast. Once she finished she set the tray to one side and leaned back against the pillows, one thought on her mind. Lord Tyler.
His whole attitude had changed once the servants came into the room. He was the most aggravating man around, but there was something about him. Something that made her heart skip a beat and made butterflies dance in her stomach at his touch and the sound of his voice. She refused to believe for an instant she was in love with him, even if he had saved her life and offered her a job.
Besides, she was now one of his servants. Governess to a child he did his best to ignore. That would preclude any relationship, even if she did love him, which she would never admit, never mind to him.
Jonni spent the rest of the day in bed reading, resting, and writing in a journal that Alexis brought her. She did her best to write down everything that had happened since she left the manor house on December tenth, taking care not to mention too much of her life in the twenty-first century. She didn’t want to contaminate the timeline in case she never got home, but she needed a record for her own sake.
****
Over the next two days, Jonni spent time with Alexis. She couldn’t see why the previous governesses had found Alexis impossible to work with. True, the child was slightly unruly, headstrong, and even rude at times, but she was her father’s daughter, and had his temperament. So it was to be expected. Watching her play and hearing her read, Jonni knew all Alexis needed was a little love and attention and she would blossom.
Two days later, Jonni was recovered enough to leave the house. She went into town with Louisa and Alexis to the dressmakers.
Sebastian had given her what he called ‘a small sum’ in order to buy clothes of her own. She wondered if there would be enough to get decent underwear made once she had ordered one dress.
To her amazement, there was enough for three dresses, two work, and one best, with matching shawls, reticules and some money left over. Tentatively she asked if it would be possible to have some underwear made.
Finding to her pleasure, it was, Jonni gave instructions and drew pictures of what she wanted. She smiled at Louisa’s horrified gasp and assured her it was what all the best-dressed ladies wore.
The days passed. When they weren’t occupied with school work, Jonni worked with Alexis on making Sebastian a Christmas present. A huge tree now stood in the hallway, in the same place Gabriel had put his. The servants bustled about, preparing for the house guests, upcoming wedding, and Christmas feast.
Alexis showed a natural talent for playing the piano and Jonni encouraged her to play each evening when her father was around. She also insisted that Alexis join them for the evening meal each day. Sebastian at first objected, but then began to ask Alexis what she had learnt that day, often appearing at lunch time to eat with them.
The one thing that disturbed Jonni was things she knew she had left in one place vanished, only to turn up somewhere else an hour or so later. She found pages in her journal smudge
d or the book closed when she had left it open. At first, she put it down to forgetfulness, and then she realized that someone was moving her things. That broken floorboard can be useful, after all. I’ll keep it in there.
11
On the evening of December twenty-scond, they sat in the parlor, listening to Alexis practicing the piano.
Jonni had a piece of sewing in her hand.
Sebastian enjoyed Jonni’s company. She was the most stimulating conversationalist he had come across in a long time. Unlike most people, she wasn’t afraid to tell him her opinion on certain topics. If he had a problem on the estate, she often had a way to handle it that he hadn’t thought of.
He knew that his mother watched them each evening with amusement, deciding that it would never last, so she would not bother to interfere.
No doubt, she assumed he had more sense than to get involved with someone who had no past, apart from a fanciful story that she had obviously made up. He would have to keep an eye on her though, as she was determined to do whatever it took to protect her family.
He was convinced that Jonni was the woman he was destined to marry. Why else would the Lord have led her to him? He just needed a way to convince her of this. He cleared his throat. “I have business to attend to in London tomorrow at the House of Lords. I will be going by train.”
Jonni looked at him, horror on her exquisite features. “I thought you stayed away from politics.”
He inclined his head, wondering what he had said to upset her so. “I do. However, this is an emergency bill and my vote is required.”
Her eyes flickered as she spoke and her voice trembled.
What ailed the woman?
“Isn’t there another way to get there? Can’t you take the carriage?”
“The carriage is needed here. Believe me, I would not go if it could be avoided. I have plenty to do here, with the wedding on Christmas Day and people arriving.”
“You can’t go.” Jonni blurted out.
