Defiant Heart

by Jeanie P Johnson

  “She didn’t get a position that we don’t know anything about, did she? She kept saying that is what she was going to do.”

  “Let’s go see if father knows where Sebastian is. Maybe Sebastian knows something about this, because he was the last one to see Eleanor. He spent the night in her room, Teddy,” she whispered.

  “Good for him. Perhaps he has convinced Eleanor to marry him after all, and we have nothing to worry about. If he compromised her, she would have to marry him, wouldn’t she?”

  The two headed for the study where they were sure their father could be found, knocked on the door and then entered before Hector could bid them do so.

  “What are you two fussing about?” Hector asked, as soon as he saw the looks on their faces.

  “Do you know where Sebastian went?” Teddy asked.

  “He came and thanked me for our hospitality, the other morning. Said he would be staying at his office, until his ship came in again, and then he would be sailing on it. He informed me that Eleanor turned him down and he probably would not be seeing us again.”

  “Well Eleanor is missing,” Nelly cut in. “If she turned Sebastian down, then why did she leave?”

  “Eleanor is missing? Are you sure she just didn’t go on her strange walks like she had been doing before Sebastian got here?”

  “No. A lot of her things are missing from her room, and she took her stuffed rabbit. You know how she feels about that rabbit, but she does not carry it around with her when she is out walking. I think she has gone for good,” Nelly cried, a tear suddenly appearing in her eye. “Her carpet bag was missing as well.”

  “But where could she go? She has no money, and as far as I know she did not find a position in any household. Damn. I shouldn’t have been so harsh with the girl. I do not want any harm to befall her. I just wanted her safely married. I thought threatening her with working for her support might convince her to choose someone.”

  “Well, what it did was frighten her away all together,” Teddy scowled.

  “Now don’t you start blaming this on me,” Hector threw at him. “Go find Sebastian and see if he knows anything about where she might have gone.”

  “I’ll go,” Teddy said. “Nelly, you remain here in case she decides to come back. You would just be in the way if we decide to go looking for her,” he insisted.

  “But I want to find out…”

  “Nelly,” Hector put in. “Do as your brother tells you. This is no occupation for a lady.”

  “If I don’t return, you will know it is because I am either helping Sebastian look for Eleanor, or I have gone myself to see if anyone has seen her,” Teddy explained, as he started out the door of the study and grabbed his hat off the hook in the hall.

  Teddy had his dapple saddled and was off in the direction of the dock. He was relieved when he saw that Sebastian’s carriage was parked at his office. He jumped from his horse and stormed in the door.

  “Where is Eleanor!” Teddy demanded, as Sebastian looked up from his desk where he was seated.

  Sebastian stood to his feet when he saw the expression on Teddy’s face. “What are you talking about? I left her safe and sound in her room, when I left. Isn’t she at home?”

  “She packed some of her things and left,” Teddy informed him. “Did she leave you a note, or come and see you?” he asked.

  “No. I tried to convince her to marry me to no avail, and so I gave up and left. I had no idea she was going to leave as well.”

  “Where would she go? Do you know?”

  “You would know that better than I. I don’t know who any of her friends are, or where she would take off to. I do know she was troubled about something, but wouldn’t tell me about it. I felt it was what was keeping her from agreeing to marry me, because she did confess that she loved me.”

  “Then we have to find her, and force her to marry you,” Teddy insisted.

  “She will not do it, even if we force her. I already threatened to tie her up and make her marry me, and it only made her angry. Is there anyone she would go to? What about Percy? Would she try going to him, or maybe Dutton. I saw her kissing him in the garden at the dinner.”

  “Kissing Dutton? That is preposterous! She would never consent to kiss him…unless…”

  “Unless he was holding something over her head. She said she loathed the man. Maybe we should go have a little chat with Dutton,” Sebastian suggested.

  “Sounds like a good idea. He is usually frequenting the club this time of day. We can probably find him there.”

  “Leave your horse, and we will take my carriage,” Sebastian instructed.

  A few minutes later the two were entering the doors of the club, their eyes searching for Dutton in the crowd.

  “There he is,” Teddy discovered, and headed in Dutton’s direction. “Dutton, old chap, we need to have a word with you,” Teddy said, placing his hand on Dutton’s shoulder.

  “By the looks of it, this does not appear to be a friendly chat,” Dutton presumed, seeing the look in both of the men’s eyes.

  “Come into a private room with us,” Teddy ordered, and led the way to the nearest empty room.

  “What is all this about?” Dutton frowned, as Teddy closed the door. “I have things I need to do, so pray get this over with.”

  “It’s about Eleanor,” Sebastian said. “I saw her kissing you in the garden the other night, but according to her, she loathes you. So the only explanation is that you coursed her into kissing you somehow, seeing as how she was not struggling to be free. Therefore, I demand to know what it was you were using to persuade her to kiss a man she loathed.” Sebastian stepped up to Dutton, putting his face close to Dutton’s face, giving him a threatening glare.

  “She kissed, me in order to assure that I would not tell you, or anyone else information that I happen to have become aware of. Therefore, since she fulfilled her part of the bargain, I am not at leave to tell you,” Dutton said hotly.

  “Eleanor is gone,” Teddy almost yelled. “She took off for some reason, and we need to discover why and where, before any danger comes to her. If you know anything you must tell us. It matters little that she swore you not to tell, even with a kiss, because we need to get to the bottom of all this.”

  “Why would she just run off? I thought she was about to marry you?” Dutton turned to Sebastian, “in spite of the fact that she is spoiled goods,” he added.

  “I knew she wasn’t a virgin,” Sebastian growled under his breath. “What do you know about it?”

  “I know who deflowered her, if Teddy had not beat him to it,” Dutton, drawled.

  “How dare you!,” Teddy grabbed Dutton by the collar, and doubled up his fist. “I never laid a hand on Eleanor. I would never…”

  “I thought it happened on my ship, how would you know about that?” Sebastian stated, stepping between the two men.

  “Well I knew about that too. I was following her, but she was deflowered long before she ever stepped foot on your ship. She does get around, if you know what I mean,” Dutton smirked, “and she pretended like she was not interested in men. I think there was another side to your dear cousin that you knew nothing about,” Dutton smiled leeringly.

  “Put an end to this, and tell us who it was,” Sebastian demanded.

  “None other than Percy. He took her out on a picnic. It rained and they took shelter in the barn. He offered for her, and then seduced her there on the spot. He says she was a virgin at the time, so I suppose Teddy had not tasted her wears, after all. But perhaps she liked dallying with men, because she broke off with Percy, after she had her little doings on your ship,” Dutton pointed out.

  Sebastian’s heart froze. That was why she did not like that spot, when he took her on that picnic, and Percy had suggested he take her there, the cad.

  “But Percy wanted to marry her,” Teddy insisted. “He said he loved her. Only she changed her mind about him, even though he had compromised her, because he had already promised someone else
he would marry her, before he ever offered for Eleanor.”

  “Yes, I knew about that too,” Dutton mumbled. “But Percy was determined to fix that problem, and swore me to secrecy, because he didn’t want his future wife sullied. However, when she turned him down, I took advantage of the information.”

  “Maybe she had tried to escape on my ship, and then discovered that someone on my ship wanted to treat her the same as Percy,” Sebastian reasoned. “So she jumped ship before it was too late. I will discover what happened on that ship, as soon as it docks in a few days, though. But things are starting to make more sense now. Eleanor must have hated herself for giving in to Percy. He claims she accepted him, that day I brought her home half drowned.”

  “When Eleanor found out Percy being betrothed to another woman, at the same time he had offered for her, she decided could not trust him after that. But he tried to straighten it all out. He broke it off with the other woman and even agreed to work for a living, in order to have Eleanor as his wife, and she still turned from him,” Teddy explained.

  “Well it wasn’t so she could marry me,” Sebastian reasoned. “She kept turning me down as well. I told her I didn’t care if she had been with another man. I still wanted her but she said she could not burden me with…” Sebastian stopped. “She was feeling ill. She told Nelly she thought it was influenza. Could it be that Eleanor had discovered that she was… But if something happened on my ship as well… The poor child. She couldn’t possibly know who the father was. No wonder she thought I would hate her if I discovered it. I am sure she did not do anything willingly aboard my ship, or she never would have jumped overboard.”

  “But she willing allowed Percy to have her,” Dutton boasted.

  “Because she thought he loved her and was going to marry her,” Sebastian spat. “You say Percy seduced her. He didn’t rape her did he?”

  “She would have told me, if he did,” Teddy insisted. “She was happy when she returned from going out with Percy that day.”

  “Then that explains it. She said her pride was too strong to allow me to marry her. She did not think she was worthy of me, because she was having another man’s child. She could have insisted it belonged to Percy, whom she refused to marry. Hell, if she married me, she could have said it was my child, but she was to ethical to do that. She did not want anyone to take on the burden of her downfall, because she could not be sure who the father of the child really was. Only where would she go? She must be in a state right now! I hope she did not have plans to kill herself!” he gasped.

  “No. I am certain that was not part of her plan,” Teddy assured him. “She packed some of her things. She would not do that if she was just going to kill herself. But I think I know why she wouldn‘t accuse Percy of being the father of her child. I understand he is interested in my sister now, so she would never do that to Nelly, shaming her as well.”

  “He doesn’t deserve your sister, if Percy compromised Eleanor that way,” Sebastian growled.

  “Are you quite through with me?” Dutton wanted to know, looking a little bored.

  “Yes, you are free to go, but I plan to have a few choice words with Percy when I see him next,” Sebastian promised.

  “I will come with you when you confront him,” Teddy offered. “I should warn Nelly of him.”

  “Yes, that would be wise, even if he did try to straighten it all out again, it was unthinkable of him to take advantage of Eleanor in that manner,” Sebastian grumbled, as he strode from the room behind Dutton, while Teddy followed him out of the club.

  “Now what?” Teddy wanted to know.

  “Now we try and figure out where she went,” Sebastian stated. “Maybe she went to London to find a position.”

  “How? She didn’t have any money,” Teddy insisted.

  “Maybe she begged a ride from someone. We will have to ask around.”

  By the end of the day, they had discovered that no one had seen Eleanor since the dinner. No one gave her a ride to London, or knew of anyone who had or would. She certainly would not have begged a ride from a stranger. She couldn’t be that desperate, or could she?

  “Maybe someone gave her some money, and she was able to get the coach,” Sebastian, suggested. I will go check. He turned the carriage in the direction of the coach station. Yes, there was a woman of Eleanor’s description catching the coach to London, the ticket man told him, earlier that morning, and she paid her fair with a gold piece, which was worth far more than the fair, so he had to give her back a large amount of change. In fact the reason he remembered, was because the gold piece was rather old, and he took it to have it appraised.

  Where would she get a gold piece, let alone one that needed to be appraised, the two wondered, but at least they had a point of reference to begin at. Only London was such a large city, how could they ever hope to find her there?

  “I will take you back to my office, and you return home and pack,” Sebastian suggested. “I will pick you up after dinner, and we will head out to London and see what we can turn up.”

  Teddy shook his head. “The silly girl. She just wouldn’t listen to anyone. She had a mind of her own. I offered for her almost every day, but she knew how father felt about her not having a proper background. And then she turns Percy and you down. She can’t do it all on her own. She needs someone to take care of her,” he insisted.

  “We will find her, and I will take care of her. I don’t care if she is having someone else’s child. I will claim it as my own. She cannot hold me off now,” Sebastian resolved. “How can she raise a child all on her own?”

  “What if it is Percy’s child?” Teddy looked worried. “He claims he still loves her.”

  “There is no way of knowing. I believe someone on my ship took advantage of her as well. It could be either of their child.”

  “I just hope we find her before something else happens to her,” Teddy shuddered.

  “Yes, no telling what she will try to do, but what ever it is, we will have to stop her.”

  Teddy jumped down from the carriage and mounted his horse. “I will see you this evening, then,” he told Sebastian and then turned his mount back to his house.

  A few hours later, Teddy stepped up into Sebastian’s carriage, and Sebastian whipped up the horses. They rode in silence for several miles, both deep in thought and worry. Finally Sebastian spoke.

  “We can’t spend very long in London looking. I need to get back soon because my ship is do to dock, but I thought if we had not found her by the time I was ready to return, I could leave you there to continue the search, while I come back to take care of my business. Then I will meet you in London again, and decide where to go from there, if you have not located her whereabouts by then either.”

  “This is a terrible situation,” Teddy lamented. “Eleanor is so headstrong, and stubborn. But I suppose that is what has always attracted me about her. She never lets anyone push her around. I am quite stunned that she allowed Percy to persuade her in that manner. But by then she was rather desperate. She thought she was being pawned off to a merchant marine, and perhaps she wanted to make sure that Percy would marry her. He would be forced to if she revealed that he had compromised her, so if that was her motivation, she certainly did a turn around when she refused to marry Percy in spite of what he had done. He could have forced it as well. I wonder why he didn’t? After all he claimed that he loved her.”

  “I could have forced her as well,” Sebastian admitted, “but she said she would refuse, even if I did. I did not want her to come to me unwillingly, it never would do to start a marriage out like that.”

  “Damn, I feel so helpless,” Teddy muttered. “What if we never find her?”

  “I will never stop looking. If it takes the rest of my life, I will hunt her down, until I find her,” Sebastian vowed, trying to fight against sudden tears that stung his lids.

  They reached London in the wee hours of the morning, and found an Inn where they could rest before deciding the next cou
rse to take. By noon, they had rested enough to think straight, and Sebastian suggested they go to the coach station, and find out if anyone knew where Eleanor went, once she came to her destination.

  “I can’t say anything about a young lady getting off no coach here in the last day,” the thin baggage man grumbled. “The late coach came in at about nine last night, and I did not see any young lady. Only two men, and a very plump woman with a child. If she was on that coach, she did not ride it all the way to London,” he insisted.

  “Are there any other stops along the way?” Sebastian demanded.

  The baggage man laughed. “As many as you can get the coach to stop at. Any time a person wants off a coach, they just have to request it stop at that place. You have to pay full fair though, all the way to London, but if you choose to get off some other place, that is up to you and the driver.”

  “So she could have gotten of at any number of places along the way. Do you think the driver would know?”

  “Of course he would know, but he is not here. He is a coach driver, after all. He has continued on with the coach. He could be in Scotland now, for all I know. I don’t keep track of what driver goes where. I don’t think we had the regular driver anyway. If I recall, he had someone else take his place, because he wasn’t feeling well. Someone who needed to get across country. Then someone else would bring the coach back. Don’t know where the driver was headed to, or when he would hand over the coach to someone else. I am only a baggage man, you know.”

  “Is there any way I could talk to the main driver?” Sebastian wanted to know.

  “Well that may be tricky. He was ill, all right, and he ended up dying of what ever he came down with. It was a last minute decision to let the other man take over, and the owner wasn’t too happy about it, because he didn’t know the man, but what could we do? We had to get the coach through.”

  “So you are telling me there is no one we can talk to who knows where the coach may have stopped on the way to London?”

  “Not unless you know any of the passengers that were on that coach at the time,” the baggage man pointed out.