“I don’t want any payment for the news I have for you. I said I wanted to make it up to you, for the way I have treated you. When Sebastian and Teddy, made me tell all about your little affair with Percy and what ever else I knew about you, I realized how much the man felt for you. I know he was never married to you, Eleanor, but I am certain he loved you. He went to a lot of trouble looking for you and vowing to stand by your side, once he found you, even though he suspected you were carrying someone else’s child.”
Eleanor took in her breath. “You knew about that?” she gasped.
“I will not betray you, Eleanor. That is why I have come to make peace. Teddy seems to be under the impression that Sebastian just sailed away in order to leave you, but I have reason to believe that is not the case.”
“What? What do you know, Dutton?”
“A few nights, after Teddy claimed Sebastian just got in his sloop and sailed away, I happened to be sitting in a certain Tavern, where a certain sailor named Ned happened to be.”
“Ned? The man who…”
“Yes, the very man you had to escape from, according to Teddy. He was the reason you jumped from that ship, wasn’t he?” Eleanor just looked at him wide eyed and did not answer. “At the time, what I heard was not important. Just some disgruntled sailor trying to get even with an employer who terminated him. It wasn’t until I heard Teddy talking that I started putting two and two together and realized that this Ned character had something to do with Sebastian sailing off in his sloop. It turns out that he and a friend of his, put Sebastian on that sloop. Sebastian was drunk, and the two tied him up and set him adrift on his sloop. No one has seen him or the sloop since. There was a storm at sea that night, so it is possible that Sebastian’s sloop went down. However, he did not leave you willingly, Eleanor. It was underhanded villainy on Ned’s part. The man has long since sailed on another ship, but I decided it was only right for you to know that Sebastian did not just desert you without a word, as Teddy claims.”
Eleanor sank down slowly into a near by chair. “Then he must be truly lost at sea. If he did not leave willingly, he would have tried to make it back, and it has been over a month, since that night,” Eleanor groaned in despair.
“I am truly sorry to bring you such bad news,” Dutton said with unexpected feeling. “I felt it was only right that you knew. Please accept my kindest sympathy.”
Eleanor sat for a moment, trying to allow the information to sink in. Sebastian must truly be dead, she thought, and that thought was worse than thinking he had just sailed away to never see her again.
“Thank you, Dutton for thinking of me this way. At least I know he did not just leave without a word,” she mumbled, and then tried to collect herself. She stood and offered her hand to Dutton. “I consider you my friend,” she said in a low tone. “But I feel I must rest so if you will excuse me. Can you see yourself out?”
“Certainly, Eleanor. I wish you all the best of luck,” he said as he watched her leave the room. It was bitter sweet, he thought, having to bring her such sad news, but putting her in a position to be free to chose someone other than Sebastian, perhaps even someone like himself, was comforting. He chuckled to himself.
It was a shame he forgot to mention that he had also heard that a sloop was found floating adrift, and there was a lone survivor, but no one knew who it was. The man was half dead by all accounts, and he had not learned where the man had been taken. No use giving the girl any false hope, he decided. He doubted that even if the man was Sebastian, he may never find his way back to England again.
That meant that eventually Eleanor would be available again, once she got over the shock of it all. This time Dutton would not make the same mistakes he made with Eleanor last time, he cautioned himself. He would be the kind of friend she could not ignore, he vowed. He had wanted her when she had no fortune, even if she had snubbed him, every time they met, now she was even more enticing to him, and a smile stretched over his face in satisfaction.
******************
“We are all meeting at Brenda’s, Eleanor, and you must come and join us,” Teddy invited, as he strolled with Eleanor in the garden. “We have a surprise for you. Nelly, and Percy will be there, and Dutton asked if he can be your dinning partner. Say you will come,” Teddy begged.
“So what is this surprise?” Eleanor wanted to know.
“Well that is the whole point. If you come, you will discover what it is,” Teddy smiled, winking at her.
It had been three weeks, since Dutton had told her about Sebastian, and Eleanor was slowly coming out of her depression over the fact that Sebastian was lost to her forever. There had been no word of him, nor had she heard from him, so Dutton must have been right about his sloop going down in the storm.
It was time to put it all behind her. She had thought she had gotten over Sebastian before Dutton had even talked to her. But that was because she thought he had left on purpose without a word. His being put on his ship and set adrift, had not been his fault, which made it all the harder for her to accept. However, there was nothing she could do to change things, and she must get on with her life.
“I suppose I could put up with Dutton’s company for the evening,” Eleanor complied.
“Come back with me now and stay the day with Nelly and me. We have missed you. You will not believe how much Nelly has come out of herself. She is a changed woman.”
“That is because she does not have to live in my shadow any longer,” Eleanor insisted.
“Well there are other reasons, which she will explain to you, once you get there. What do you say, Eleanor? I brought the buggy just in case you agreed to return with me.”
“Very well. I need to get away for a bit. If only to escape the constant barrage of men trying to call on me.”
“Your reputation as the unattainable woman has renewed itself and is spreading far and wide. No wonder everyone wants to try their hand at winning your affection,” Teddy pointed out.
“My affection was won too easily before, when I let my guard down, and I suffered for it,” Eleanor reminded him.
“Then don’t worry about anything. Just come and enjoy some time with your old friends.” Teddy took her elbow and guided her back to the house. “Just pack a few things to bring with you, but heaven’s, please leave red dresses behind,” he chuckled. “When you are wearing red everyone knows they don’t have a chance to approach you. Something about red seems to keep your hackles up,” Teddy observed.
“Very well. I shall pack blue instead,” she laughed.
A half an hour later, Eleanor was sitting beside Teddy in his buggy, heading back to the place where it all began, and she was hoping that she could deal with the familiarity of her past, which she knew would bring back memories of Sebastian in ways she did not want to remember.
“There is Nelly now, waiting for us,” Teddy pointed out, as they came up the drive.
Nelly was soon at the side of the buggy, grabbing Eleanor and giving her a hug. “I have missed you so much Eleanor,” she cried, as Eleanor walked arm and arm with her up to the house.
“As soon as you get cleaned up, I want to take a walk with you, so we can talk. Somewhere we can be on our own,” she insisted.
“I will look forward to it,” Eleanor agreed.
A few minutes later she and Nelly were walking down towards the docks. She did not know why her feet led her in that direction. Perhaps to get rid of old ghosts, she thought.
“So what is it that you have to tell me?” Eleanor asked as they walked side by side, her blue skirt swishing beside Nelly’s yellow one.
“I was so worried that Teddy would end up telling you first,” Nelly giggled. She tugged a glove from her hand and held out her finger for Eleanor to examine. “Percy has asked for my hand, and I have accepted,” she bubbled, as Eleanor looked down at the ring on her finger. “And Brenda has accepted Teddy as well. We are going to have a double wedding. What do you think about that?” Nelly’s excitement showed in
her voice.
“That is wonderful,” Eleanor said, but felt a twinge of sadness, realizing that Teddy would have to be dedicated to Brenda now, and not have as much time to spend with her any more. “I am so happy for both of you,” she added, as she looked down the dock, trying to steady her voice. There was a ship anchored there, and she recognized it as the Annie Bell. Why was it docked there, she wondered? If Sebastian was dead, who had taken over his fleet?
Eleanor tightened her hold on Nelly’s hand that she was holding, as she had looked at the ring. “What is it?” Nelly asked, as Eleanor looked over Nelly’s shoulder, and down the dock.
“Sebastian!” Eleanor almost screamed, as she let go of Nelly’s hand and ran down the dock to the man who was approaching her. “Sebastian, you are not dead!” she cried as she flung herself into the arms of the man who came to a halt when she approached.
“You must be Eleanor,” he said, and she pulled herself away and looked up into his face. He looked so much like Sebastian, but now she realized that he was not Sebastian.
“Yes…yes…but who are you, and where is Sebastian? That is his ship, isn’t it?” Her face started to crumple, when she realized it was not the man she loved.
“I am Bernard Brentwood,” he introduced himself. “I am Sebastian’s cousin. He told me to come and make sure you were all right,” he said in a low voice.
“He…he sent you? But why didn’t he come himself?” Her voice was starting to shake.
“He…couldn’t come. I am afraid that my cousin passed away not long ago. He was found by one of his own ships, in the middle of the ocean on a damaged sloop. He was delirious. They brought him back to America. He kept insisting that his wife was left behind and was with child. He wanted someone to let her know he had not left her on purpose. That he loved her and the child.”
“Oh…then he did not survive?” Eleanor had already assumed he was dead, but still the shock of someone who knew him, who confirmed his death still shook her.
“I’m afraid not.” Bernard said, looking down at this woman who had loved his cousin. She was so beautiful, he could understand why Sebastian and spoken of nothing but the woman.
“I…I lost the baby when I heard that Sebastian had disappeared. Later I learned that he was tied and put adrift on purpose by a man he had removed from his employ. His name is Ned, and if you ever find him, he should be punished for what he did.”
“We will be on the look out for him,” Bernard told her. “But Sebastian insisted that I come and make sure you are well and happy. But you do not look so happy,” he observed.
“How can I be happy? First I believe that Sebastian just left me, and then I learn he is most likely dead, and then you come and confirm that he is dead.”
By this time, Nelly had come up beside the two, listing quietly to what was said. “Do you have a place to stay, while you are here?” she asked, Bernard.
“I was just going to use the room in the back of Sebastian’s office,” he admitted.
“Oh please come stay at our house. Eleanor is staying with us the night, and that way the two of you can get acquainted. We were having an engagement celebration at a friends house later tonight. My brother, Teddy and I have just become betrothed to cousins, and we invited Eleanor to come to dinner to celebrate. Oh, my name is Nelly,” she added belatedly. “You are invited as well, only there will not be a dinner partner for you, I am afraid.”
“I would love to join you, and don’t worry about me. I am quite a loaner anyway. I will be docked here for a couple of days, trying to take care of Sebastian’s business in his stead. I am happy to have discovered Sebastian’s friends. I understand your brother Teddy was a close friend of Sebastian’s.”
“Yes, Sebastian was teaching him to sail the sloop,” Nelly told him.
“I will look forward to meeting him. Let me get my baggage off of the ship, and I will follow you up.”
Eleanor and Nelly watched as he turned back to the ship. “I can’t believe how much he looks like Sebastian,” Eleanor marveled. He had the same attractive accent, and those green eyes, that so much reminded her of Sebastian. She was having a hard time believing it was not Sebastian that had returned to her. She tried to calm her racing heart.
When Bernard returned, he took Eleanor’s elbow, in his free hand. “I am sorry for having to bring you such sad news,” he said. “There are legalities, though, considering you are his widow. Everything is left to you.”
“To me? I…I thought you must have taken over his fleet,” Eleanor said feeling aghast. “Certainly, you are more suited to doing that than I am,” she insisted.
“You are his wife. Since there was no will, it is all left to you,” he informed her. “That was another reason why I came here. To settle his estate.” I am the executor.
Eleanor shook her head. She was not his widow. She did not deserve his estate. She didn’t need his estate, she insisted to herself. She would have to tell him, but not now, she decided.
Bernard was put in the same room that Sebastian had been put in when he stayed with the Belingtons. Eleanor used her old room. Nothing had been changed in her room, and it felt almost like coming home. But she had really never truly belonged here, she thought. She wondered if she could bare sleeping in the bed that she and Sebastian had made love in the last time she was here. It seemed so long ago.
She was a different person back then. Desperate, with no place to be. Carrying a child that had no real father, and Sebastian had offered to be there for her, had told her grandfather they were married, and now, apparently, he had told his cousin he was married to her as well. It had all started with her first lie, she realized.
Dutton was waiting when she, Nelly, Teddy, and Bernard arrived. He did not look too happy to discover Bernard was with them. He looked too much like Sebastian to suit his comfort, but hearing that Sebastian was actually dead, did life his spirits some. He reminded himself to be on his best behavior with Eleanor. He had to win her over in the end, and she did not show any signs of becoming serious about any other man, so he had as much of a chance as the next suitor, he decided.
Eleanor smiled sweetly at him and took his proffered arm, allowing him to usher her into the house. Percy and Brenda greeted them all at the door. Eleanor felt so out of sorts about everything that she was sure she would not be able to remain calm the entire night. However, she did not want to disrupt the happy affair for Teddy and Nelly. She paid the expected amount of attention to Dutton, while talking to Bernard, who was seated on her other side, in between her remarks to Dutton, much to Dutton’s regret.
As the evening wore on, Teddy could tell that Eleanor seemed under stress. He knew how she was feeling about the news concerning Sebastian, so he suggested that perhaps she would like to return home early.
“I will gladly walk with you,” Bernard offered, just as Dutton was about to offer to take her. “After all, since we are staying at the same place, I would not be going out of my way,” he smiled. Eleanor noticed that same dimple that Sebastian had, flash in his cheek.
Dutton scowled, as Eleanor took Bernard’s arm. “I could take the both of you in my buggy,” he offered them, hoping to spend more time with Eleanor, once Bernard went into the house.
“I think I would rather walk,” Eleanor told Dutton. It would give her time to talk to Bernard in private, she decided, keeping hold of Bernard’s arm.
“Right this way, then,” Bernard responded, as the butler opened the door for them, and they were soon out onto the walk in the cool evening, with Dutton glaring through the door, just before the butler closed it again.
“I am glad we have this opportunity to walk together,” Eleanor said softly, as Bernard walked quietly, seeming preoccupied with something.
“Yes,” he turned his attention to her, thinking of Sebastian’s words that he should come and tell her how much he loved her. Now that he was here, he understood why Sebastian had loved Eleanor, so much.
“I need to tell you something. I
don’t know why Sebastian insisted I was married to him. It was all because I was about to have a baby, and he was willing to claim he was my husband, and that the baby was his. But that is not true. I was a fallen woman, and at first I told everyone that I was Sebastian’s widow, thinking he had left, but he came and found me, and went along with the story that he was my husband, only that he had not drowned at sea, as I had told everyone that he had. Then he realized that if he committed to be my husband, that he could not run his business and run my estate as well, which I will inherit when my grandfather dies. He was trying to decide if he was really going to stand by me after all, when he was set adrift on his sloop. So you see, I am not really Sebastian’s widow. We were never married, and since I lost the baby, I don’t need to have him claim I was married to him in order to save me from shame.”
“But he insisted you were his wife. He told me to come and take care of everything, if he died. He said he loved you more than anything, and wanted you to remember him as your husband. I didn’t know what he meant by that, but I suppose I know now.”
“What difference does it make? We both knew he was not my husband. He begged me to marry him from the beginning, which I refused to do, since I knew I was with child, and could not put that burden on him. But when he discovered it, it didn’t make any difference to him. Isn’t that strange? He was willing to take on someone else’s child in order to have me, and yet he could not give up his fleet of ships in order to remain with me.”
“But I think he realized that next to you, his fleet meant nothing to him. He told me to let you know he was going to tell you so at the Ball. Now the fleet belongs to you. You can do with it as you please.”
“I can’t take it. You take it!” she insisted.
“But it was left to you,” he told her.
“And you said I could do with it as I please, so I am giving it to you, she told him.”
Bernard stopped and looked down at her. “You have no idea of how envious I was of my cousin, and his accomplishments,” he told her in a low voice. “I would feel bad if I took the fleet and everything he worked for over the years. At one point, I thought I wanted it, but now I realize it was just because he had it, and I didn’t. He and I did not get along well when we were younger, but since I was the only one he could send here to stand by you, as he put it, he had no other chioce.”
Defiant Heart Page 23
