The Captain's Frozen Dream

by Georgie Lee

  Katie began to explain the similarity between the creature’s furcula and a peregrine falcon’s when a commotion near the back door caught Conrad’s notice. The crowd parted, jostling to find space to make way as Lord Helton entered accompanied by Mr Prevett.

  The hairs on the back of Conrad’s neck rose as they had the morning aboard Gorgon when Boatswain James and the cooper had cornered him on the gun deck to threaten mutiny.

  Lord Helton appeared more cadaverous since Conrad had last seen him, but his light, wolf-like eyes remained clear and hard as he pinned Katie with the same condescending disgust he used to throw at Conrad’s mother.

  Katie caught sight of the two men, stopping mid-sentence to exchange a worried look with Conrad. With an encouraging nod he set her back on course and she shuffled her notes, resuming her talk, though a noticeable waver marred her words. Whatever confidence she’d gathered to take to the stage, it was beginning to falter under Lord Helton’s malevolent sneer.

  He leaned over to Mr Stockton. ‘What’s Lord Helton doing here? He isn’t a member.’

  ‘Mr Prevett invited him. Didn’t you hear he would be in attendance?’

  ‘No, I blackballed his membership years ago. He has no right to be here, even as a guest.’

  Conrad slid from the stage and made his way along the side of the room, trying not to draw attention to himself. His uncle spied him moving through the crowd and a wicked smile cracked the deep lines of his face. Conrad could almost smell the relish the man took in the destruction he was about to wreak. It was the same look Conrad had endured the day of his father’s funeral when Lord Helton had demanded Conrad’s mother turn Conrad over to him to raise. It wasn’t love or concern which had prompted him to seek guardianship, but the craving to mould Conrad as he’d never been able to mould his brother. He’d failed then and Conrad would see to it he’d fail in whatever he intended to achieve tonight, but the crowd along the walls was thick, hampering Conrad’s progress.

  Seeing him detained, Lord Helton strode up the centre aisle. The people catching sight of him shuffled aside, too awed by his status and reputation to stand in his way.

  ‘Since when do the scientific men of London glean their knowledge from Captain Essington’s whore?’ Lord Helton called out.

  A thunder of movement swept through the room as the audience shifted in their chairs to face the marquis.

  ‘Get out,’ Conrad commanded from the side of the room, practically pushing people aside to get through the crowd. ‘You have no right to be here.’

  ‘A man doesn’t need permission to point out a travesty taking place in front of him.’ Lord Helton pointed his cane at Katie, hate keeping the consumption from diminishing the strength of his voice. ‘Will you esteemed men allow Captain Essington to dress his mistress up in the mantle of science in order to foist her upon you?’

  ‘I’m not his mistress, nor will I let you brand me as such,’ Katie objected from the podium and all heads swivelled back to her.

  ‘You aren’t his wife either, and you never will be.’

  ‘Strange you should be so bold in your prediction now,’ Katie countered, not flinching from his or the audience’s scrutiny, ‘when a year ago you had to hide behind others to spit on me. I wonder if it’s the chance you might fail in your efforts to besmirch me which drives you out from under your shadows.’

  ‘How dare you try to belittle me, woman.’ Lord Helton banged his cane against the floor before a hacking cough nearly doubled him over. He pressed his handkerchief to his mouth, trying to quell it.

  While he worked to recover himself, Katie stepped out from behind the podium and down the three small stairs leading off the stage. Men shuffled out of her way, making a path from her to Lord Helton, one she strode with her head raised and her chin defiantly in the air. The sight of it brought Conrad to a stop, awestruck by her confidence.

  ‘I’ll speak to you as I see fit and I won’t be judged by your or any other men’s lies, but by the strength or weakness of my work.’ Katie stopped in front of Lord Helton, meeting his hard glare with one of her own.

  Pride filled Conrad at her blatant defiance, her stance revealing a force of will and strength he’d thought crushed by her troubles. She wasn’t going to be defeated like Aaron, but meet whatever challenges awaited her and survive.

  Lord Helton bared his teeth at her like an irritated badger. ‘You’re no scientist and unfit to pollute such an august institution.’

  ‘You’re the one darkening it and your name with all your hate,’ Conrad called out as the crowd at last parted to let him through. He marched up to his uncle, ready to drag him from the room.

  ‘Lies, are they?’ the old man challenged, clutching the handkerchief to his chest. ‘I have it from your own cousin’s lips how you and Miss Vickers spent nights together alone at Heims Hall.’

  The image of Matilda in Lord Helton’s landau rushed back to Conrad. The woman who’d hated Katie had only been too happy to take something private and beautiful and give it to Lord Helton to wield as an ugly weapon against Katie. He wouldn’t allow either of them to succeed.

  ‘You there.’ Conrad snapped his fingers at the two footmen flanking the door. ‘Escort Lord Helton from the room. He doesn’t belong here.’

  The footmen exchanged uneasy looks and cowered back as though trying not to be noticed.

  Lord Helton threw back his head and let loose a phlegm-filled laugh. ‘The famous Captain Essington can’t even get two footmen to obey him. You’re pathetic, just like your father and like him sullying the Helton name with a woman who’s bedded half the scientific men in London.’

  ‘Lies,’ Katie yelled.

  ‘I can attest to her licentiousness,’ Mr Prevett added. ‘She and I were lovers in the country.’

  Women gasped and their husbands began to hustle them towards the exits, as if the ladies who’d borne the trials of childbirth were too delicate to hear the frank talk of men.

  ‘What did Lord Helton offer you in exchange for your lies?’ Conrad stepped up to the man, nearly nose to nose with him.

  The coward hustled behind Lord Helton, who was only too happy to shield him.

  ‘I’m publishing his most recent work,’ Lord Helton smugly answered.

  ‘Is that the price you paid to come here tonight, Mr Prevett?’ Conrad growled. ‘Selling your integrity to him?’

  ‘We know what price she paid.’ Lord Helton pointed one gnarled finger at Katie, but she stood stern against his accusation.

  ‘And what price will you pay for the sins you’ve committed?’ Conrad charged.

  Lord Helton narrowed his eyes at Conrad. ‘Don’t you dare.’

  ‘What? Reveal the truth? Isn’t that what you’re after, why you’re here? Then allow me to help you.’ Conrad threw out his arms in mock theatricality, relishing the horror twisting his uncle’s lips. ‘Let me tell all of London how, when your brother married my mother, then refused to stand as an MP, choosing instead to seek out a second term as the president of this very society and defy you again, you decided to teach him a lesson. You paid a quack doctor in St Giles to declare him insane, waiting until my mother, pregnant with me, was at Heims Hall with her brother to have him seized and thrown into Bedlam. When she returned to London, you refused to tell her, a woman you thought beneath you, where he was, but left him to rot for months until my mother could find and free him.’

  ‘Lies, all lies,’ Lord Helton charged, pink spittle dripping from his quivering lips.

  ‘It’s true, every word of it. You ruined his health and killed him as if you’d stuck a blade between his ribs.’

  Lord Helton levelled his walking stick at Conrad. ‘You think you’ve bested me, but you haven’t. I’ll see to it you pay for betraying the Helton name and punish all those who dare defy me.’

  Without warning, Helton
swung his walking stick at Katie. She cried out as it landed with a hard whack against her arm, knocking her to the ground. He raised it to strike her again, but Conrad caught the ebony and wrenched it from his uncle’s hand. He broke it over his knee and tossed the pieces down to clatter against the floor.

  Conrad knelt beside Katie, who cradled her arm, white with pain. ‘Is it broken?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Get away from her. Get away.’ Lord Helton grabbed Conrad by the coat and tried to pull him up, but Conrad knocked his arm away, making the marquis stagger back before Mr Prevett steadied him.

  Lord Helton lunged forward again like a rabid dog, then jerked to a stop, blood trickling from his nose. He clasped his hands to the side of his head, then cried out as his knees buckled and he dropped to the floor at Mr Prevett’s feet.

  ‘Help him, someone help him.’ Mr Prevett kneeled beside him, most likely more horrified at losing his patron after sacrificing his integrity than at Lord Helton taking ill.

  The crowd, shocked silent by the drama unfolding before them, was slow to act until one of the many eminent physicians in attendance hurried to the stricken marquis. He was soon joined by numerous compatriots.

  Only Dr Mantell came to Katie’s aid. He touched her arm and Katie flinched, grabbing it and holding it close.

  ‘I need a more private place to examine her,’ Dr Mantell said, his voice nearly lost in the confusion behind him.

  ‘We’ll take her to my house.’ Conrad helped Katie to her feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to protect her, careful to avoid bumping her wounded arm.

  ‘Step aside, make way,’ Henry commanded, clearing a path for Conrad and Katie and leading the way to the door.

  Dr Mantell and Mrs Anderson stayed close behind him until they all left the warmth and light of the Naturalist Society for the damp darkness of the London streets. The chaise wasn’t far away and they reached it just as Henry pulled open the door. Inside, it wasn’t much warmer than outside and Conrad settled Katie next to him on the seat, then pulled up the folded blanket to cover her. Mrs Anderson and Dr Mantell climbed in after Conrad, their faces long with concern.

  ‘To the captain’s house,’ Henry instructed the driver and, in a jangle of equipage, the chaise set off.

  Katie winced when the chaise hit a bump and Conrad drew her tighter against him to rest his chin on her head. ‘Everything will be well.’

  ‘No, it won’t,’ she muttered, eyes closed tight against a pain both physical and heartfelt, a pain he knew all too well. ‘This is worse than last year, worse than what happened to my father.’

  Conrad laid a tender kiss on her hair, unable to dispute her because she was right.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘It’s a nasty bruise, but nothing’s broken,’ Dr Mantell confirmed in the candlelit upstairs hallway of Conrad’s town house. Downstairs, the tall clock in the sitting room began to chime midnight. ‘I suspect it’s more the shock of the evening than her injury affecting her now. A little laudanum should help calm her nerves and allow her to sleep.’

  ‘Thank you, Dr Mantell. My driver will see you to your lodgings.’

  Entrusting the doctor to Mr Moore, Conrad stepped into his bedroom where Katie and Mrs Anderson sat together in the matching wingback chairs by the fire, a heavy blanket draped over Katie’s shoulders. This room was the warmest in the house and the first place he’d thought to bring her.

  ‘I’m glad to hear nothing is broken,’ Conrad offered.

  ‘Unlike what’s left of her reputation.’ Mrs Anderson scowled at him.

  Conrad didn’t dispute the widow. With his fame, the story would reach the papers and the ears of all in London by morning. As much as the people loved their heroes, they cherished smearing them even more.

  The widow rose and marched up to him. ‘I know she isn’t a grand man’s daughter, but she’s a good girl and I expect you to do right by her.’

  ‘I will, Mrs Anderson, you have my word.’ It was Katie’s word which would determine if he could keep his. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like a few moments alone with her.’

  With a disapproving sniff, Mrs Anderson left.

  Conrad took the older woman’s chair and faced Katie. ‘I’m sorry for what happened.’

  ‘I didn’t think tonight would be worse than before.’ She stared into the fire and the despair darkening the circles beneath her eyes ate at him.

  The rage Lord Helton had attacked her with had startled Conrad out of the anger he’d carried for the past three days. It also renewed his determination to see through the promise of their engagement. He’d placed her before the society, making her vulnerable to attack, and brought Lord Helton’s wrath down on her. With her reputation even more compromised than before, he wasn’t about to walk away. ‘In the morning, I’ll send word to my man of affairs to secure a licence. We’ll wed as soon as possible.’

  ‘Why? It won’t change anything.’ She tightened the blanket around her neck and leaned heavily against the back of the chair.

  ‘Of course it will,’ he seethed, frustrated by her continued stubbornness and the entire debacle of tonight, the last two months, the last year and a half. ‘You’ll have the protection of my name and home. You need never worry.’

  ‘You can’t silence them all, not now and not when you’re a marquis.’ She rubbed her sore arm. ‘I won’t spend my life surrounded by whispers and sneers, nor taint my children with them the way my mother’s poor decisions tainted me.’

  ‘Then you’ll let my uncle and men like Mr Prevett win?’

  She met his fierce look with one of her own, as if to say they’d already won. Then she turned back to the fire and dropped her head in her hands. ‘I don’t want to think of it now. Please, leave me alone. I’m tired.’

  Realising the futility of further discussion, Conrad gathered up his patience and left. With the shock of tonight so fresh, this was no time to decide something as serious as marriage, although she was mistaken if she thought she could refuse his proposal now.

  * * *

  Katie took a deep breath, but her chest remained tight as the lonely life she’d tried so hard to escape began to close in around her. She might have sent Conrad away, but tomorrow she’d have to face him and a decision, to be alone in marriage, or alone in the world.

  ‘Katie? Are you all right?’ Aunt Florence asked, coming to stand over the chair. ‘Captain Essington looked in a fury when I passed him in the hall.’

  Katie reached up and touched her aunt’s arm, moved by the worry drawing down the older woman’s face. At least there was one person who truly cared for her. ‘I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble, especially when everything is difficult for you already.’

  ‘Nonsense. This is the most excitement I’ve known in years.’ She squeezed Katie’s fingers. ‘Though it isn’t me I’m worried about, it’s you.’

  ‘Conrad intends to make me his wife, if that’s what concerns you.’

  Her aunt pressed one hand to her chest and let out a relieved breath. ‘Thank heavens. I knew he’d continue to stand by you.’

  And he would. Despite all the aspersions Katie had cast on him, deep down she knew he was worthy of her respect and admiration. She could give him these things and receive the tenderness he’d shown her both tonight and so many times during the past two weeks. It was his love and commitment to her she struggled to accept. He was seeking her hand out of a sense of duty, because he felt compelled to protect her as he always did. Once she was his wife, his obligation would be fulfilled and he’d sail off again, forcing her to endure the relentless attacks of society by herself.

  ‘Then you have nothing to worry about,’ Aunt Florence assured her. ‘You’ll have a long and happy life with Captain Essington.’

  ‘I’m not so sure.’ She could always es
cape back to Heims Hall in Conrad’s absence, occupy her days with the fossils, but she didn’t want to be a wife and a widow, or return to such an isolated existence in an empty house surrounded by dead things.

  ‘You can’t think to turn down his offer? After tonight you won’t even be able to find work as a governess. You know I can’t support two,’ her aunt exclaimed in a passion of flapping hands and shallow breaths.

  ‘I know.’ She stroked her aunt’s arm, trying to soothe the flustered woman and herself. Her aunt wasn’t being selfish but honest. As a woman on her own, Katie well understood her aunt’s worries. She’d vowed not to become a burden to the widow and she wouldn’t. ‘I’m going to America. The Thomas George leaves tomorrow evening. I can easily make the ship.’

  ‘You’re too out of sorts to decide anything right now,’ her Aunt Florence twittered as she snatched up the bottle of laudanum Dr Mantell had left on the table between the chairs. She measured out a spoonful, so agitated by the idea Katie might reject Conrad that she spilled a good bit of the drug on the floor before she filled the spoon. ‘We’ll talk about it again after you’ve slept. Now, take this.’

  She pushed the medicine at Katie.

  Katie wanted to resist, to lie in the dark with a clear head and plan her future, but the pain in her arm and the fatigue pulling at her limbs demanded she sleep. She took the dose, the sweetness of it as sickening as everything which had happened tonight.

  Her aunt helped Katie undress, then lifted the bedclothes so Katie could slide beneath the crisp sheets. She tucked the thick coverlet up beneath Katie’s chin before settling herself in the chair beside the bed.

  Katie snuggled down under the comfortable weight, the scent of Conrad’s sandalwood cologne as thick as the fabric and soothing her more than the laudanum. He’d brought her here instead of taking her home, ready to take charge of her care instead of leaving her solely to her aunt’s charity. There wouldn’t be such comfort in America or another chance with Conrad if she left, only the solitude and perseverance which had been her constant companions for so long, but staying with him didn’t guarantee happiness either. She couldn’t compete with Mr Barrow for his fealty, nor did she want to. After a lifetime of trying to capture first her mother and then her father’s attention, she was tired of fighting for recognition from society men, of defending herself and her reputation from unwarranted attacks, of begging those closest to her to love and cherish her. It wearied her as much as the drug until her thoughts began to tangle and she dropped into a deep but fitful sleep.