by Anne Herries
‘I would prefer to stay here if I may,’ she said. ‘It is so stuffy and cramped in my cabin, Harry. I think I should be sick if I had to stay there. I should like to remain on board for as long as possible.’
Harry looked at her doubtfully. ‘I am not sure it is wise,’ he said as a huge wave came rushing towards the ship. He grabbed his sister and held her as the water came over the side of the ship, knocking it sideways so that some cargo that had been lashed down with ropes broke free and began to slide towards them. ‘We should go below…’ He pulled Anne clear of the loose cargo, but one of the ropes caught him, knocking him to the ground. He went sliding towards the side of the ship. Anne screamed and ran after him, thinking he would be swept overboard.
‘Harry…’ she cried. ‘Harry…’
Harry grabbed an iron hook that was used for securing ropes and held on to it as yet another mountainous wave came towards them. The ship was thrown to one side, listing heavily as it took water on board. Anne was caught mid-deck and the force of the wave knocked her off her feet. She was swept across the deck by the water that rushed over the ship, knocking her head against something hard and falling into blackness as the water claimed her.
‘Anne… Oh, my God, Anne,’ Harry cried as he struggled to his feet. He shouted for help as he ran to the side where he had last seen his sister, peering into the darkness. There were wooden crates and other debris from the ship floating in the water, for the storm had taken one of their masts. ‘Anne…Anne…’ Harry peered over the side in desperation, searching for a sight of her. ‘Help! Man overboard!’
Most of the sailors were too busy fighting the storm as it played havoc with their vessel to heed his cry, but one young sailor came to join him at the rails.
‘I saw her go,’ he told Harry. ‘The force of the water took her over and she must have hit her head. She probably went down, and if she didn’t we’ll never find her in this. She is lost…lost to the sea.’
‘No! She can’t be lost,’ Harry said. ‘We have to find her. We have to get her back. She is my sister. My parents will never forgive me.’ He gave a cry of despair and put his foot on the rail as if he would jump into the sea after Anne. ‘I have to find her.’
‘Stop him!’ the young sailor cried. ‘It’s no use, sir. She’s gone…you’ll never find her.’ He grabbed hold of Harry, struggling to stop him from throwing his life away by jumping in after his sister. ‘Help me…’ he cried and a couple of sailors came to his assistance. Seeing that Harry was out of his mind with worry and would not be subdued, one of them grabbed a baton and struck him on the back of the head so that he slumped to the deck. ‘What did you do that for?’ the young sailor asked.
‘He’ll be better below deck until the storm is done. There’s nothing to be done for the wench now. He should have taken her below before the storm reached its height. We haven’t time to bother with this now or we’ll all end up at the bottom of the ocean. The girl is lost—forget her and get about your work or you’ll feel the bosun’s lash!’
The storm had gone as if it had never been. Driven south by the furious winds, the French ship, Lady Maribelle, had headed for shelter as soon as it struck and ridden out the worst of the weather. Now it was putting out to sea again, making its way up the coast to Normandy. Hassan was on deck, staring out towards the coastline. He was one of the first to see the debris tossed by the still-choppy water. He shaded his eyes with a hand, because after a storm like the one the previous night it was not unexpected that a ship might have been capsized and sunk. He shouted to one of the crew and pointed, and others came crowding to the side of the Lady Maribelle, staring at what was possibly the wreckage of a ship. It was obvious that some cargo had been lost and part of a mast.
‘What is that?’ Stefan asked as he caught sight of what looked like a half-clothed body. ‘Man overboard! There is someone caught in the debris.’
Excited voices echoed his discovery and the decision was made to put a boat over the side. They all knew that whoever was in the sea was more likely to be dead than alive, but every man jack aboard was more than willing to help in the recovery. They lived by the sea and sometimes died by it, and if there was a small chance that the man in the water was alive they would do their best for him, because one day it might be one of them.
Hassan and Stefan joined the volunteers. Six more of the crew went with them as the boat was lowered and cast off. It took only a few minutes to reach the debris, and as they drew close silence fell over the men, as it became apparent that the body was that of a young woman. The sea had torn much of her clothing away from her, and only a thin shift covered the bottom half of her body, her breasts exposed to their eyes and the elements.
Stefan leaned over the side of the boat, slipping into the water to grab hold of the body. Her limbs had become entangled with the ropes attached to the mast and it was this that had kept her afloat. He cut her free with his knife and then dragged her back to the boat, where eager hands reached out to haul her on board.
‘Is she dead?’ one of the sailors asked. ‘Poor lass.’
‘I’m not sure,’ Stefan said. ‘I think one of her hands twitched as I cut her free. Hassan, give her your cloak, please. Cover her for decency’s sake, whether she be alive or dead.’
Hassan did as Stefan asked, wrapping the thick, soft material about her. As he did so her eyelids flickered and her lips moved, though no sound came out.
‘Allah be praised,’ Hassan cried. “Tis a miracle that the waters did not claim her.’
‘Had it been winter, she could not have survived the night in these waters,’ Stefan said. ‘We must get her back on board as swiftly as possible, for she may yet die if we do not bring back some warmth to her body.’
The sailors made a murmur of agreement. Women were often considered to be unlucky on board ship, but no one grudged the poor lass her chance at life.
‘The Seagull, that be the name of the ship that was lost,’ one of the sailors said as he caught sight of some writing on one of the chests. ‘I cannot see any other survivors nor yet more bodies. Mayhap they were swept further down by the tide.’
‘We’ll keep an eye out,’ one of the sailors said. ‘But the woman comes first. She clings to life, but only God can save her now.’
Stefan looked at Hassan, shaking his head as he saw the unspoken protest. Sailors were simple folk and superstitious enough without making them suspicious. If Hassan told them that the woman would live if she were properly cared for, they might think him a dealer in the black arts, especially because of his looks.
‘I shall care for her,’ Stefan said. They would not deny him—he was a nobleman and respected in the country he had made his own. ‘I saw her first and I claimed her from the sea, therefore she is my responsibility. If she still lives when we reach shore, I shall take her to my home. If she recovers, she will need help to return to her home, wherever that may be.’
Stefan was helped to carry the young woman’s body up the rope ladder, and more hands reached down to lift her on to the deck. Some of the sailors crossed themselves as they looked down at her. Wrapped in Hassan’s cloak, it was possible only to see her face and her hair, which was a dark blonde and soaked with salt water. Her skin was pale, her lips blue and yet her eyelids flickered and her lips moved slightly, proving that she was still alive.
“Tis a miracle…’
‘Or the devil’s work,’ one sailor said and crossed himself again. ‘How is it possible that she survived a night like that in the sea?’
‘She was caught by ropes and the broken mast kept her head above water,’ Stefan said. He bent down and gathered the unconscious woman into his arms. ‘I shall take her to my cabin until we make land.’
Below in the cabin, which was the best on board, Stefan laid the woman on his bed. He looked at Hassan over his shoulder as he followed him into the room.
‘We must get her out of what remains of her clothing and wrap her in as many blankets as we have. I have some strong
brandy wine in my sea chest. When we have her dry and warm, we shall give her some. Once we are home, Ali will help her—but she may not survive the journey.’
‘It is fortunate that we found her in time,’ Hassan said. ‘Allah must have meant it, for otherwise we should have passed her by. He has given her to us, my lord. From now on her life is in our hands.’
‘As Allah wills it?’ Stefan shot him a suspicious look. ‘Yet you would have denied them earlier, for I saw it in your face.’
‘They are ignorant fools, for they would do nothing to help her. Allah has sent her to us, but her fate is in our hands; if we did nothing, left her to live or die as God wills it, as they would given the chance, she would die.’
Stefan’s face was harsh as he bent over the young woman. He rubbed her skin with a drying cloth until she felt dry to the touch and some warmth started to come back to her body, and then he wrapped her in every blanket and cloak he could find. He would not argue with Hassan on the subject of religion, for he did not believe in God. Once he had been Christian, but now he had his own faith, which was to give justice for justice and hurt for hurt. He had been forced to live by the sword and he knew that in time he would die by it. There was no room for softness or religion in his life. However, he was not a cruel man and he did not take life without good cause. He had pulled this young woman from the sea more alive than dead, and he would do all he could to make her live.
Harry came to himself to find a young sailor bending over him. He groaned because his head ached. For a moment he could not think what had happened to him, and he stared at the sailor blankly.
‘What happened to me?’
‘Someone hit you as we struggled to stop you jumping into the sea last night,’ the sailor said. ‘You would have gone after her, sir, and it was hopeless. She must have gone down like a stone when she hit the water, for there was no sign of her.’
‘Anne!’ Memory came flooding back. Harry sat up in alarm, his aching head forgotten as a deeper pain took hold. ‘My sister…she was swept overboard by a huge wave and I could not help her. What have I done? My father will blame me and he will be justified; I should have taken better care of her. She wanted to stay on deck while the storm raged, because she thought it exciting, but I should have made her go below. She is lost and I am at fault.’
‘No one could have seen it coming,’ the sailor said. ‘We rode the storm out because we headed inshore and sheltered for the night, but for a while it was touch and go whether the ship went down. Had your sister been below she would then have gone down with the vessel, as many others would. You were as safe on deck as anywhere until those freak waves hit us. If that had not happened, your sister would not have been swept overboard.’
Harry shook his head. He felt stunned, racked with guilt and despair at the thought of his younger sister going to a watery grave. He wished that the sailors had not stopped him going into the sea. At least he could have searched for her, made certain that there was no hope of her being found alive.
Harry wished that he had not thought of bringing Anne with him. He had forgotten how dangerous the sea could be for the unwary. But the waves had been so huge. Harry had never experienced anything like it himself, though he had been to sea many times. Who could have imagined that a summer storm could come from nowhere and be so fierce? It was a miracle that the ship had survived! He knew that if he had not been lucky enough to catch hold of that iron ring himself he, too, would have been swept into the raging sea.
He would rather it had been him than his lovely sister! Harry had not been as close to Anne as to his twin Catherine, but he had loved her—he still loved her and mourned her. He was not sure how he would find the strength to go on with his purpose. How could he court Claire when his heart was so heavy?
Harry had written to her father and was honour bound to complete his journey to the Comte’s chateau. Yet if there was even a slight chance that Anne might have survived he would leave no stone unturned to find her. Occasionally, sailors were pulled alive from the wreckage of a ship, but Anne was a frail girl. It was unlikely that she could survive a night in the cold waters of the Channel.
If there were any chance that Anne had been plucked from the sea, dead or alive, he owed it to her and his family to discover it. He would set agents to search from port to port. He held little hope that she would be found alive, but, if her body had chanced to be washed on shore, he could at least make sure that she was decently buried.
Harry’s grief lay over him like a dark cloud. He knew that the news would also sorely grieve his parents, and he was not certain whether it would be best to write at once and send the letter back to England with the ship or wait.
Perhaps it would be best to wait for a while. If her body could be found, he might at least offer some comfort that she had been properly buried. However, it was more likely that she was lost at sea and nothing remained. No doubt their family would want to mourn her and hold a service of remembrance, but that was for the future. Harry would leave no stone unturned in the hope of news of Anne, though he knew it must be a hopeless cause.
Chapter Two
‘Is there any change?’ Stefan asked of the physician as he entered the bedchamber where the young woman lay in the great wooden bed. They had brought her to Chateau de Montifiori ten days earlier. For eight days the fever had raged as her skin heated and she tossed restlessly on the pillows; her long hair was matted by sweat and salt, for they had not dared to wash it. Ali Ben Hammed had suggested cutting it at one time, but Stefan had resisted, despite the physician’s insistence that her hair was taking her strength. However, on the ninth day the fever had waned and the girl seemed less restless. As yet she had not opened her eyes. Stefan walked to the bed and laid his hand on her forehead. Her temperature seemed normal. He looked at the Arab physician, a man skilled in the arts of medicine, and a friend of some nine years since he had rescued him from Sir Hugh Grantham, who had ordered his execution at the stake. Had Stefan not intervened, Ali would have been burned to death. He looked at the physician. ‘Why does she not wake? She no longer has a fever.’
‘I cannot tell,’ Ali replied, his face wizened by the hot sun of his native land and the passing of years. ‘I know that sometimes the mind lies dormant so that the body may heal. I believe that she is past the worst, my lord, though when she will awake I know not. She may not remember anything when she does, for the trauma she has experienced will be hard to bear, especially if she has lost loved ones.’
‘She would not have been travelling alone,’ Stefan said. ‘If the vessel was sunk, it is likely that all the others perished. It was mere chance that she was caught by the ropes to that mast and survived the perils of the ocean.’
‘As Allah wills,’ Ali said, steepling his hands and bending his head. ‘It was meant to be that you should find her, my lord. If you save a life, that life is yours. You are bound to her and must protect her henceforth.’
Stefan frowned. ‘If she ever wakes, and can tell me her name and her family, I shall see her restored to them,’ he said. ‘You should know that there is no room in my life for a woman…especially one like this. Her hair will be beautiful once it is washed free of the salt and sweat, and her hands are soft. She has never done manual work.’
‘A lady,’ Ali agreed, nodding wisely. ‘Do you not wonder why Allah brought her to you, my lord? These things are for a purpose. She has some place in your life, otherwise it would not have been so ordained.’
‘I would not offend you or Hassan,’ Stefan said, his features set in harsh lines. ‘But I have no God and I see no purpose for a woman in my life. I have lived by the sword and shall doubtless die by it. Lord Cowper is responsible for my father’s untimely death, and for the life I have led. I have sworn vengeance and when I am ready I shall return to England and take back what is mine. By the end of this year either he or I will lie in the earth. This I owe to my father’s shade!’
‘Your wound is not yet completely healed,’ Ali said, ign
oring this speech for the most part. He knew as well as anyone that Stefan had suffered too much injustice, and that he had reason enough to be bitter. Yet he had never allowed this to interfere with his compassion for others. Ali was not the only one to have benefited; Stefan de Montfort had rescued and taken in more than one casualty of life. ‘It would be foolish to confront your enemy while you are at a disadvantage, would it not, my lord?’
‘And?’ Stefan’s gaze narrowed.
‘Who knows?’ Ali asked, deliberately obtuse. ‘The girl is here and she needs your help. I do not believe you would desert her.’
‘Once she knows who she is, I shall return her to her family. As that is probably in England, she may accompany me when I return to confront Lord Cowper.’
‘In the meantime, it is best that you rest, my lord,’ Ali said. ‘The young woman must also rest. Perhaps in time you may learn the reason she was sent to you.’
‘It was chance,’ Stefan said, ‘and the tides.’
‘Ah, chance and the tides.’ Ali smiled as he turned away. ‘Who but Allah controls the tides…’
Stefan was no longer listening. A low moaning sound came from behind him. He turned and looked at the bed. The woman was stirring, her eyelids fluttering. He bent over her, stroking the damp hair back from her forehead with hands that were surprisingly gentle for such a man.
‘Do not fear, mademoiselle,’ he said softly, the timbre of his voice deep and caressing. ‘You are quite safe here. You have been very ill, but you will soon be better now.’
The woman opened her eyes, which he saw were a deep blue-green, like the changing waters of the Mediterranean Sea on a sunlit day. She stared at him for a moment, looking bewildered. Her hand reached towards him and her lips moved, then her hand dropped and she closed her eyes once more. He had the oddest feeling that he had seen her before, though he could not place her in his memory.
