“How do you know he’s brave?” Lady Emily asked. “Because he went down to the beach? Everyone went down to the beach.”
“Emmie, that’s not a very nice thing to say,” Catherine said, and Lady Emily shrugged.
“I know,” she said. “But I’m not trying to be mean. I’m simply pointing out the truth. Everyone went down to beach to help out. How does that make one person braver than another?”
“Well, it makes the men braver than us,” the baroness said. “And we should be grateful.”
Lady Emily didn’t say anything to that. Instead, she decided to finally have the courage to look over the cliffs to the beach.
She could see many people down there, but she could also see a lot of wreckage. She wondered if anything had survived at all.
Lady Emily briefly wondered about the people who had found her husband’s ship. Had anyone survived from his wreck? Was there anyone who knew him?
Most days, she thought she was over her grief. However, there were some days that it was fresh and painful. She never understood the feelings of grief when other people spoke of them, until she went through it herself.
The first was with her mother. She missed her at the most random times, like at the market or in the garden. She would get a flash of a memory, and then it would be gone and she would be left with an ache that she could not reconcile.
Lady Emily had thought she had experienced all the grief and pain that a single person could after that. But when her husband died, it was fresh and new again. She hadn’t expected to wake up in the middle of the night and miss him.
Maybe she did love him. It had occurred to her once or twice before. Maybe she had loved him, and this was what a love marriage was like after it was over.
Lady Emily had thought she didn’t believe in love. She thought it was for silly young girls, or for those who wanted to tell tall tales. She always thought that love was for the bards, not for real people.
“Emmie, you are standing awfully close to the top of the cliffs,” Catherine said in a worried tone. Emily wasn’t about to jump, but she backed up for Catherine’s sake.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking that we should go down there.”
“I really don’t think we should,” Catherine replied. “I’ve heard rumours of mayhem on the beaches, and the men are busy, so they wouldn’t be able to rescue us if that was the case.”
“What if they need our help?” Lady Emily asked. “We could...”
“Lady Emily,” The baroness said, in a firm voice. “We are going to stay here.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” Lady Emily snapped, and the baroness raised an eyebrow at her.
“You should respect your elders, my dear,” she said.
“It’s not that I don’t,” Lady Emily replied. “It’s just that I think we should help. If there is a loss of life, then we need to make sure that…”
“No one survived that shipwreck,” she said. “You need to stay up here where it’s safe.”
“Maybe someone did,” Lady Emily said and turned her attention back to the beach. When she did, her eyes widened “Maybe someone did.”
Chapter 5
“It’s mayhem down here!” Edward cried out, as he led the other two onto the beach. He knew the baron would be of halfway decent help, but he didn’t know anything about Lord Reginald. He hoped he would be useful and not just run off, because it was hard to tell exactly what was happening on the beach. There were people everywhere, and from what Edward could see, most of them were looters. “This must have been a well-stocked ship.”
“I think it was coming back from the colonies,” Lord Reginald said. “And it had no shortage of supplies with it.”
“And no shortage of men,” Edward said, looking around. It seemed there were bodies everywhere. Most of them were clearly not alive. “I’m glad that the ladies are not down here.”
“Me too,” Lord Reginald said, as his eyes drifted out to sea. There were bodies floating in the water. Some of them were face down, clearly drowned, but some others were face up. They looked at if they were sleeping, but Lord Reginald knew that was probably not the case. “I think we would be best used if we were to help pull the bodies out of the water. Most of them are clearly gone, the poor things, but I think some of them might have a chance.”
“We’ll need some rope,” Edward said, and the baron managed to wrangle some from one of the looters.
“Have you ever done this before?” Edward asked Lord Reginald, as they made a knot.
“No,” Lord Reginald said. “Have you?”
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s something that most people do regularly,” Edward said. “I don’t think that knot is going to hold. Why don’t you try this?”
Eventually, they figured out a system where they could get a strong knot and yet still throw it without it being weighed down.
Dragging the men out of the water was a whole different situation, and it was not one that came easily. They often managed to get them part of the way before the tide took them out again. Edward felt his arms grow sore and he started to think that it was hopeless to even get any bodies in at all. He was beginning to wonder whether they should give up when they finally looped one in and then another.
“This one is certainly dead,” Lord Reginald said, with a wince. “And this one too. Oh my God, this is terrible.”
“I wonder if anyone has reported it?” Edward asked. “Or whether it will just reach the naval office as a rumour?”
“The poor men,” The baron said, as they pulled another in.
Edward was about to dismiss that one as well, when suddenly, his eyes widened.
“I think this one is alive,” he said, and crouched down. He felt breath and yelped. “Yes, he’s alive!”
“We should…” Lord Reginald said, and then realised he had no idea what he wanted to do. “Does he have paperwork?”
“Nothing,” Edward said, as he searched his clothing. “He doesn’t seem to be dressed like a gentleman...”
“Well, he’s not a member of the navy,” Lord Reginald said. “If he was, he’d have a uniform on.”
“But how else would he secure passage on a ship if he wasn’t a gentleman?” the baron pointed out. “These are generally expensive things, especially a military ship.”
“Does he have anything on him?” one of the looters approached.
“Only a blood-stained envelope,” Edward replied. “I searched for paperwork and…”
“Not paperwork,” the looter said. “Anything valuable?”
Edward looked at him in shock.
“The man is hurt. He needs medical attention.”
“I don’t think so,” the looter said. “I think we should just leave him and take what we can. Who are you to be so righteous?”
Up on the clifftop, Lady Emily was watching the scene. Her friends couldn’t pull her away, and she was admittedly standing too close to the cliffs. She was both fascinated and horrified with what she saw, and she didn’t think she could stop watching, even if asked.
She watched them pull body after body in, and her heart sunk. Had this been what it was like for her husband? Had he been helped? Or had he just lay there?
When she saw Edward crouch down over one and then speak to Lord Reginald, she gasped.
“What is it?” Catherine asked.
“I think that’s one is alive,” Lady Emily said. “I’m going down there.”
“You can’t go down there,” Catherine said, but Lady Emily was finished with the two of them telling her what to do. She leapt on her horse, and started down the cliff. Even the horse was afraid to go down there, but she made sure that he took his time, so that they wouldn’t fall.
When she got down to the beach, the situation was exactly what she thought. There were looters everywhere, but sure enough, there was one man alive.
All she could picture was her husband, and how he must have been lying in a similar place, not too long ago. L
ady Emily was not going to stand for it.
She drew herself up to full height and cleared her throat. It was not very often that she used her persona of Lady Hambleton, because she was normally surrounded by her equals, rather than people who needed to address her by her title. However, Lady Hambleton was a force to be reckoned with, and she did not want to waste time if the man needed medical attention right away.
“Excuse me,” she said, and everyone jumped. They had been so focused on the task in hand that they hadn’t noticed her. She was so finely dressed that she was completely out of place on the beach. “Excuse me. You will back away from this man, right away. I am Lady Emily Hambleton and this man is going to be convalescing at my house.”
“Lady Emily, is that wise?” Lord Reginald asked, and Lady Emily shot him a look of annoyance.
“Of course it’s wise,” she said. “I am the one who suggested it.”
She wasn’t normally so egotistical either, but she was quite sure this was the only way she was going to manage to get the looters to back away.
“I agree,” Edward said. “Let’s see if we can arrange transport for him.”
With the men standing up and making a circle around the casualty, there was no hope for the looters. They slowly backed away, and Lady Emily breathed a sigh of relief.
“I saw you from up on the cliffs,” she said. “I am so glad he is alive.”
“He is...barely alive,” Lord Reginald was honest. “I don’t know if he’ll make it, my lady.”
“Well, it’s worth trying,” she said. “Can you protect him a little while longer until I figure out how to get the carriage down here?”
“Yes,” Lord Reginald said. “But shouldn’t I…”
“You stay here,” Lady Emily said. “You are best suited for the job.”
She knew enough about men to know that appealing to his masculine strength would work. Sure enough, Lord Reginald and the baron agreed, and that left her with Edward to climb back up the cliffs.
“I see that you have a plan,” Edward said. “Would you mind enlightening me?”
“I just couldn’t leave him there,” Lady Emily said. “He reminded me of my husband. At least, he reminded me of what position my husband might be in if he…”
“I understand,” Edward said. “And I don’t agree with leaving him there either. If he’s not dead by the time we get back, he would be by nightfall. But do you think that we can get the carriage down the beach?”
“Maybe not,” Lady Emily said. “But it would be worth trying, rather than carrying the poor man.”
“I hope Catherine is not too distraught,” Edward said. “The poor girl must be…”
“She’s all right,” Lady Emily said. “Although she did keep telling me to not stand too close to the cliffs. I think she thought that I was going to be overwhelmed with grief, and perhaps jump.”
“Not you,” Edward said. “Other women in your position, perhaps, but not you.”
“Mm,” Lady Emily said, as they walked. She didn’t tell him that there was a time in her life when she would have considered such a thing. She had been lost in her grief, and she hadn’t been sure that she could draw another breath. That period of time had not lasted very long, but it had existed.
“What’s going on?” Catherine asked, when the pair arrived at the top of the cliff. “Is he alive?”
“He is alive,” Lady Emily said. “But we’re going to have to carry him back to the house, or get the carriage down there.”
“What?” Catherine looked at her as though she had lost her mind. “We can’t.”
In her friend’s defence, Lady Emily knew that it wasn’t the smartest plan. However, for the moment, it was the only plan she had.
“Catherine, we have to,” Lady Emily said, through gritted teeth. Catherine seemed to understand, and soon, there was a plan constructed. They would have to carry the man part of the way, but there was a way to get the carriage down to about the middle. It wouldn’t be a very comfortable ride, but it wasn’t as if he could walk.
When they finally managed to get him in the carriage, Lady Emily was even more worried than before. It seemed the man had grown even paler in the time it had taken to get him inside, and he certainly hadn’t regained consciousness.
“Do you think he will survive the ride to the house?” Catherine asked, fearfully.
“Yes,” Lady Emily said, as she mounted her horse. “But I’m going to ride ahead to see if my father can send for a doctor.”
“When did he even leave?” Catherine asked. “I thought he was with us?”
“He was,” Lady Emily said. “But his horse threw a shoe very early on and he decided it was best to go back.”
“I’ll come with you,” Lord Reginald said, which made her heart sink. She was worried that Lord Reginald would tell her to ride slowly, when she knew time was of the essence. Aside from that, though, she could think of no good reason why he couldn’t come, and so she nodded and waited for him to mount his horse as well.
They both galloped down the path and back to the house. Lady Emily’s mind was racing, and she didn’t say a word to him as they rode. When they finally got to the house, she threw herself off the horse and into the front door.
“FATHER!” she cried. “FATHER!”
Sir Preston appeared at the top of the stairs, utterly confused by the fact that she was yelling.
“Emmie?” he asked. “What’s the problem?”
“Father,” she tore up the stairs towards him. “I need you to send for a doctor.”
“Why?” Sir Preston asked, his brow furrowed.
“Because there was a shipwreck,” she said. “And almost everyone is dead, but we found one man alive. He’s coming back to the house.”
“Of his own volition?” her father asked, and she shook her head.
“No, he’s been injured, very badly,” she said. “I will tell Hannah to set up a room for him, but I need a doctor.”
“Emmie,” he said. “If he’s that badly injured, then…”
“We have to try,” she said. Her father’s face softened.
“Of course we will try,” he said. “I’m just telling you that…”
“I know,” she said. “I know what you are saying. However, I don’t think I can bring myself to say those words right now. Please...just…”
“Everything is going to be all right,” he assured his daughter. “We will do the best we can.”
“To be honest, I don’t think…” she heard Lord Reginald say, but she couldn’t listen to him. Lady Emily continued to climb the stairs to the top of the house, where she knew Hannah would be going about her chores
When she told Hannah what was transpiring, the maid’s face lit up in excitement
“What brave folk you are,” she said. “Of course I will prepare a room right away. Has your father sent for a doctor?”
“He has,” Lady Emily said. “Although I am not sure how long it will take.”
“Is this man a gentleman?” she asked. “Or should I set up a room in the servants’ quarters?”
A Lady's Taste For Temptation (Historical Regency Romance) Page 9
