ROMANCE: His Reluctant Heart (Historical Western Victorian Romance) (Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Fantasy Short Stories)

by Jane Prescott

  She shrugged her shoulders. “As you will, Edgar.”

  He flashed a quick smile and left her alone in the shop with her thoughts and her worries.

  ---

  The carriage dropped Sarah off at Edgar’s two-story north of the village, not far from the mill where he was building his fortune. She’d purchased a typically high-waisted pink dress and lace for her hair. After an hour, with plenty of help from Louisa, she had her hair exactly as she wanted it.

  As she arrived, she felt herself feeling short of breath. She didn’t want to be here. She wasn’t even hungry. The carriage pulled away to return and, within a few hours, take her sister’s home without her. She’d eventually return to spend the night at Aunt Mary’s, a sleepless night, she assumed.

  Edgar greeted her at the door. “Welcome dear. Please, make yourself comfortable in the parlor. I expect our brave captain will arrive within a few minutes. These military chaps are quite prompt, you know.”

  “You won’t be joining me?”

  “I need to check on the cooking and see to it that the table is properly set. One pays servants to do work, but really, I find I do more just to see to it that they’re handling things as they ought. Won’t be a moment. Please, I know how much you love reading. Help yourself to any book.”

  He turned to leave and she felt a desperate need to hold him back. “Wait! I- I need to talk with you. There’s so much I want to say.”

  “And you’ll tell me soon, precious one. I really must go. Would you like some wine? No, you wouldn’t, of course. Shouldn’t overindulge. I’ll be back in a moment.” With that, he shut the door to the parlor and left her as abruptly as he’d done at the shop earlier. She felt the blood rising to her face with frustration.

  She couldn’t deny she would normally enjoy reading a book. Instead, she sat and silently fumed.

  “I’d have liked to have had a glass of wine. Damn it.” She cursed quietly, not wanting to be overheard. Instead, she waited and bided her time unhappily.

  Eventually, the door opened again and then Edgar’s butler introduced her to two people; Commander Hargrove and his friend Lieutenant Woods. Though the invitation had only been extended to the captain, it seemed he’d decided to boost his numbers slightly.

  Once they’d settled in, Edgar joined them. “How are you gentlemen finding Wyecombe so far?”

  “As hospitable as last time,” Woods noted over the cognac he’d just been served. “Well- more so, I should say. But we are most fortunate to be your guests.”

  Edgar nodded politely. “We have lamb and a nice soup prepared. Something different from what you’re used to on those long naval voyages, I’ve no doubt. Moldy hard tack and salty, stringy meat, or so I’ve been misled.”

  The sailors looked uncomfortable at this frank disparagement of life at sea. “I shouldn’t like to bore our lovely hostess. Mistress Sarah, you must find such talk entirely dull.”

  “Not at all.” She smiled in return. “We have suffered hard winters on our farm. One must make due with whatever is available, more so at sea I should think.”

  “That is very wise and quite so, ” Harrison Hargrove agreed.

  Edgar yawned. “I’m hungry. Shall we adjourn to the dining room?”

  When they’d settled and soup had been served, Edgar picked up his same line of thought. “I don’t mean to be unpleasant or unkind, but it strikes me that the hardships endured onboard ship are part of what makes your men so willing to do as you bid. If they were allowed to eat rations that were as befit those of a leader such as yourselves, well- perhaps they’d all be soft and useless. Am I right?”

  Once again he’d offended, and Sarah bit her lip. She didn’t like to see the reaction he was causing with the men. “Forgive me if I speak out of turn, Captain.” Woods wiped his mouth with his napkin. “But I feel obliged to correct this misunderstanding. You see, when the food is bad, we eat no better. Neither I nor the Captain enjoy better rations than any man on the ship.”

  “Oh, I see. I wonder why you should bother so.” Edgar shrugged. Sarah knew he must recognize the reasoning why; if the officers ate well while the men had bad rations, it would surely set a poor example. Such expectations of luxuries for the officers would surely lead to mutiny at the worst of moments at sea. She wondered why Edgar was goading them so. Yet he continued. “Never mind then. I am in the wrong. I heard the most extraordinary report regarding your heroism, and that is really why we’re all gathered here, is it not? You must tell us all about it. In particular, I am keen to know why you chose to allow one of those dastards to escape.”

  The passive aggressive questioning continued, always just falling short of the line at which either of the men might have stood, thrown down their cutlery, and stormed off. Edgar continually pretended to be more ignorant of the matters that he was asking about than Sarah expected he would be; after all, he dealt with shipments and sea captains all the time in his business, in particular given his role in accounting. Several times, Sarah tried to ask questions and the few that slipped through Captain Hargrove seemed grateful to answer. It was unaccountable that Edgar should be so rude.

  By the time the meal was at an end, she was relieved when Hargrove and Woods begged off of desert and smoking. “We really must return to The Duke, Mr. Jackson. It’s been a lovely evening, with equally lovely company. I’m very sorry to take your leave so early. There is yet a great deal to do.” He seemed stiff, overly formal.

  “Of course. Most understandable.”

  The pair of men exited stiffly. The moment the door had closed, Sarah whirled on Edgar. “Beastly. Utterly beastly.”

  Edgar laughed, turning his back on her. “Whatever you mean, I’m sure I don’t know my love.”

  “You deliberately provoked them at every opportunity. Why would you invite them here, into your home, simply to question their actions?”

  “I have offended you, my dear? It was never my intent. Now, you sound as though you could do with a rest. I’ll have Roderick bring my coach round to take you to your Aunt’s.”

  Sarah went to him and placed her hand on his arm. “Edgar, what aren’t you telling me? There must be some reason for your scene tonight.”

  He cast her a cruel, hard look beneath a sneer. “I believe I was simply trying to ascertain the truth of the outlandish stories told about the man, my dear. He is grown to overshadow Nelson in the view of some. Forgive me if I doubt the truth in it. Indeed, I even saw my own fiancée staring intently, worshipfully upon him at the docks. It was humiliating.” He grabbed her by the shoulders firmly. “You know him don’t you? Where have you met before? Don’t lie to me, girl. I’ll know it!”

  She tried to shake him loose and felt a rising horror grow in her. Who was this jealous man she’d thought to marry? Before they could go continue on, the door to Edgar’s home was flung open and Harrison Hargrove was standing in the doorway, breathless. He stared at them, confused by the scene he was witnessing as snowflakes and cold blasted in from the foyer.

  “Captain? What is it, man?” Edgar quickly released Sarah and behaved as though nothing had happened.

  “We had gone no further than the length of your drive, sir, before the town crier met us with horrifying news. Sarah, it’s your sisters. They were attacked by highwaymen outside of Wyecombe not an hour ago.” His eyes narrowing, he looked to Edgar. “We must find them, sir. They’ve taken Sarah’s sister, Beth.”

  Chapter 7: The Deep Woods

  Wyecombe Woods, England

  December 1, 1816

  Numbly, as though in a dream, Sarah observed the great lines of horses and men emanating out from little village in all directions. Word had spread from one end of town to the next and almost as rapidly, all the men of the village, including the bulk of those aboard The Duke of Norcastle, had formed search parties.

  Despite the impropriety of her joining them, Sarah had demanded to join Edgar, Harrison Hargrove, and Montgomery Woods’ search party. Though all of the men tried hard to diss
uade her, she wouldn't’ be put off. When Edgar attempted to order her to stay behind, she put her foot down, quite literally stomping as she did so.

  “We are valuable wasting time and you, Edgar, are not by husband yet! This is my sister. I will go and find her and I will put up with no more of these demands from you. Now or… or ever. Am I understood?”

  “You are beside yourself with hysteria, my love.” Edgar seemed rattled by this insistence. “But given your present state, it may be better to have you accompany us. Though I am tempted to call for Doctor Watley and have him give you something. I worry you’ll worsen. It’s likely they simply want a ransom. I’ll pay it- it’s no matter at all, my dear.”

  “I shall take charge of Miss Sarah,” Montgomery suggested. She blushed at his recommendation. It wasn’t the first time a man had said words like this- what woman hadn’t heard men say similar things? But for the first time, perhaps, she felt a rage grow inside at the thought that she must be treated as a child, that her feelings were somehow less than a man’s. With worry over her sister threatening to genuinely push her to tears, she mustered the strength to resist any such show of emotion.

  “Gentlemen,” she stonily intoned. “If this bickering over who will ‘mind’ me results in any harm coming to my sister, I will place the blame entirely upon your heads. We must leave. Now.”

  “Very good, Woods,” Harrison agreed. He turned and hurried past them. “She is correct, gentlemen. We are wasting time.”

  As Harrison and Edgar led the way out to the carriage, Montgomery whispered to Sarah, “Forgive me if I offended. I too have a sister, and she very much reminds me of you. She is certain of her mind and will not be put off once she has made up her mind.”

  “It matters not at all. All I care about is finding Beth, whole and sound.”

  “Courage, Miss Sarah. Together, we four will find her.”

  The seamen’s hired carriage set out to the spot where the girls had been abducted. Sarah was unsurprised to see it was at the small woods they’d passed on the way into town. There was enough cover there to allow a few bold men with guns to attack a passing carriage. Already, groups of men were setting off into deeper woods and across snowy fields with lanterns and guns in hand.

  “Highwaymen are exceedingly rare about here.” Edgar explained to the sailors. “Even with the hunger, we’ve been astonishingly fortunate until now.”

  Sarah blanched and Harrison quickly amended Edgar’s statement. “Luck shall hold with us, Mr. Jackson. I have every intention of recovering Beth and bringing these men to justice.” He pointed across the fields to a small clutch of men. “Before we returned to you, I sent a messenger to town. Those are the men of The Duke of Norcastle. Trust one of them to set this wicked deed to rights.”

  They drove the carriage on towards a place in the road that was closer, they judged, to the dark Suffolk woods than the other places in the road. Leaving the semi-warmth of the wooden coach, the foursome set off into the trees, the men carrying pistols at the ready.

  “We must spread out and look for tracks,” Harrison told them. “Stay within sight on one another and go a fair distance apart from one another. In this way, we’ll cover more ground.”

  “You have experience in these matters, Captain?” Edgar asked. Even now, he sounded mocking. Perhaps tiring of the goading, Harrison fairly snapped in his response.

  “On land, you are no doubt used to commanding many men. You will do as I say without question, Mr. Jackson, or you will kindly leave the three of us to do this task alone. Am I clear?”

  Edgar said nothing, instead stomping away a fair distance as suggested. Sarah and Harrison set off to the left of Montgomery. In softer tones, Harrison addressed Sarah.

  “I would set your mind at ease in this matter, Miss Sarah. I have, unfortunately, been forced to search for men whose courage failed them and who attempted to leave his Majesty’s service. This is not new to me.”

  They spread out as suggested, so that Sarah could only see Harrison in the visible distance. She felt herself shaking with fear for her sister. The snow all along the way she travelled seemed too pure; nothing had been by other than small animals. Finally alone with no one to see her, she allowed tears to flow. Aggressively, she wiped them away. She needed to see clearly, to not miss a thing as she scanned the ground.

  Then she spied it. “Captain! Captain, I see something here!” A small bit of light blue lace was lying on the ground beside snow that had been shifted. A small group must have walked through this way, and she recognized the lace from Beth’s dress.

  Harrison shouted to the others and ran down to her. He spotted the tracks immediately. “Wait, wait.” She almost began to sprint in that direction, but he stepped in her path. “There may be many of them. Give Woods and Mr. Jackson a moment.

  The others joined them and the moment Edgar arrived, they began to hurry along the clear path left by the abductors. After a long, stumbling trek with their lanterns into the depths of the woods, they came across a rise in the forest. In the distance, Sarah thought she heard laughter.

  Harrison must have heard it too, for he motioned for the party to stop. “Cover your lanterns. We mustn’t be seen.” They did as he suggested. “Sarah, be so good as to wait here with Edgar. We’re going ahead to determine the danger.”

  The two sailors proceeded up the hill as quietly as they could, leaving Edgar and Sarah alone together. He cleared his throat.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” he suggested. When she said nothing, he continued to fill the silence between them. “Look, I know I lost my temper a touch. You must admit you were being difficult. If you’ll be so good as to think about my feelings-”

  “I couldn’t care less about that.” She replied icily. “Or about how you feel.”

  “Very well. If that’s how you feel, perhaps we should call off the engagement.” He folded his arms, sniffing. “I prefer a virtuous bride, at any rate.”

  She slowly, coldly turned to face him. “Edgar, I forgive you for that comment. I forgive you all you have said and done. Is that better? Is that what you need to hear?”

  He shrugged. “You have your brave captain, your champion. I’ll leave you to rescue your sister. You clearly don’t need me.”

  “Wait!” she called as loudly as she dared, clutching at his arm. “Please. Don’t do this. Let us part as friends. I need your help in this.”

  He pulled her hand off him. “I wish you luck. I didn’t really want to confront hardened thieves anyway. Without my paying their ransom, I expect they’ll kill you all. Here- you may need this.” He laughed morosely and shoved his pistol into her hand. With that, he turned and left her alone in the dark.

  It wasn’t many minutes before Harrison and Montgomery returned. “Five men. Beth is all right. If we surprise them - what is this?” Harrison saw the pistol in her hand and saw she was shivering and horrified. “Where is Mr. Jackson?”

  She handed him the gun. “I can’t use this. I don’t know how, or I’d have shot the coward myself. Please, sir, can we still take them?”

  He considered it and pressed it back into her hand. “Yes. But we’ll need to use subterfuge.” Quickly, he showed her how to fire the gun and explained his plan.

  “You’re quite sure you can do this?”

  “Yes. You may trust I’ll do my part, Commander.”

  “Please- you must call me Harrison, ma’am.” He turned to Montgomery. “Ready?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then we’ll take our positions.”

  Minutes passed and Sarah found herself standing alone at a new position near the top of another hill. She could see the small camp in a hollow below, where Beth was lying a little outside of the light of a fire. The men were busy roasting potatoes and meats, food that had been stolen from their coach for the return to the farm. Beth appeared to be either asleep or unconscious. It was only by the word of Harrison that she knew that she was alive, for he’d seen her turn over in her rest.

&nbs
p; As the men ate and chatted, a shot rang out. One of the men fell over, dead. A second shot came from another hill opposite the camp, wounding another man in the arm. Harrison leapt up from the top of the far hill where he’d been hidden. He pointed his pistol menacingly at the group who were frantically trying to gather up their weapons.

  “Stand! We have you surrounded!”

  One of the survivors scoffed. “I counted two shots.”

  Taking that as her cue, Sarah pointed her pistol into the air and fired. The men appeared startled.

  “That was a warning. You will all four of you leave this place at once, or my men will be charged with burying you. That camp will be your grave. Go!”

  The men considered the situation briefly, and then took his advice, fleeing through a break in the hills. When they were sure they were all clear, Harrison, Montgomery, and Sarah scurried down from their respective positions and found Beth. She looked up at them and winked.

  “I was playing dead. Did I do good, Sarah?”

  Sarah threw her arms around her and wept tears of joy. “You did so well, little sister. I’m so proud of you, so very proud.”

  Chapter 8: Australia-Bound

  The Indian Ocean

  April 20, 1817

  Sarah woke with a start in the middle of the night, darkness all about her. The Duke rocked gently beneath her, a feeling she’d sensation she’d come to welcome after the first long month of mal-de-mer had finally gone away.

  “Harry. Harry.” She shook her husband awake. He was laying in the hammock next to her. It had been an uncomfortable arrangement at first, one he had promised they’d remedy with a proper bed once they reached Perth.

  “Hmm? Oh, dear. It’s quite late,” Commander Harrison Hargrove coughed.

  “I know. Harry, I can’t sleep.”