Reunited With Her Viscount Protector. Mary Brendan

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СКАЧАТЬ seemly... He will be cross.’

      ‘So am I cross.’ Dawn struggled to control the volume of her voice. ‘Your husband’s negligence is unforgivable.’ She got to her feet and with an effort gently assisted a groaning Eleanor to stand up. ‘If you feel it will be too much for you to manage the stairs, then you must stay here.’ She muttered to herself, ‘And etiquette be damned.’

      Eleanor made no more than a few steps towards the door before whimpering.

      Dawn gently helped Eleanor reseat herself. It was a great pity that Mrs Grove had just left. The woman might be getting on in years, but she would have been another helpful pair of hands. ‘Would you like a drink? Some lemonade?’

      ‘No...don’t leave me...’ Eleanor gasped, tightening her clasp on Dawn’s fingers.

      ‘I won’t... I swear...’ To prove it Dawn gave her stepdaughter her other hand to hold as well. ‘It will all be fine...you’ll see, my dear,’ she croaked out in reassurance, but turned her head to shield the anguish in her eyes.

      * * *

      After what seemed like a wait of an hour but was probably less than half that time, there was the sound of rapid footsteps in the hallway. Dawn sighed in utter relief. Gently easing her hands from her stepdaughter’s cold grip, she hurried to open the door, hoping it was the doctor and not the vicar returning.

      ‘Please, come in here, sir.’ A tubby gentleman was heading down the hall, bag in hand. She’d guessed he was Dr Wilson a moment before the fellow barked that name, doffed his hat, then carried on into the sitting room. Jack Valance had entered the house, too, but was tactfully loitering a distance away.

      ‘Might I be of any assistance?’ He took a few steps closer to Dawn.

      She knew that they might need him. The middle-aged doctor would have no better success than would she in getting her stepdaughter safely up the stairs to her bedchamber. Yet it would be more practical and less embarrassing for Eleanor if the doctor attended to her there.

      ‘You have already been a great boon to us, sir, but if you would just wait a moment, there might be something else.’

      ‘Anything. Just name it.’

      Dawn gave him a grateful smile, then quickly went back to the sitting room. Having closed the door, she turned about. She needed no spoken verdict, she could read the bad news in the doctor’s grim features.

      ‘She has lost the child.’ He had ushered Dawn closer to the wall to keep their conversation from his patient’s hearing.

      ‘But...surely it is just coming early?’ Dawn’s argument emerged in a desperate murmur.

      ‘I fear the baby is dead, ma’am, and has been for a while. An infection has set in and made Mrs Mansfield very ill.’

      Dawn felt frozen in shock, yet far back in her mind she realised she had known that a tragedy was about to happen. And so had her stepdaughter. Swiftly Dawn blinked away the tears that had started to her eyes. Eleanor’s gaze was on her, watching for a sign of reassurance, and she would give it, false though it was. This was no time for bald truths that might make the poor girl hysterical. She forced her lips into a fiercely encouraging smile for Eleanor.

      ‘It would be better if she were upstairs on her bed so I can examine the lass properly and then do whatever is necessary.’

      ‘I agree, sir.’ Dawn gulped.

      ‘Is her husband not yet home? Where is the man?’ he hissed. ‘How has it come to this? His wife must have shown signs of distress for many days. Are you a relative, madam?’ The doctor rattled off his whispered questions.

      ‘Mrs Mansfield is my stepdaughter. I arrived from London just today on a visit. As for the vicar, I’ve looked in vain for him at the church, hoping to bring him back,’ Dawn informed him.

      ‘If her husband’s help isn’t to be had, Mr Valance must assist us, if he will. Is that gentleman still waiting outside?’

      Her brief nod prompted the doctor to go into the hall to speak to Jack. Dawn approached Eleanor and said lightly, ‘Mr Valance will help you upstairs, my dear. It is not a task either I or the doctor can do for you, I’m afraid.’

      Eleanor was past caring about etiquette; she was in too much pain to be bothered at the prospect of being manhandled by a stranger.

      Jack swiftly entered the room and took Eleanor’s arm, gently and efficiently easing her to her feet. He half-carried her to the foot of the stairs, then, with a murmured warning of what he had to do, lifted her up with great care and delicacy before ascending with her cradled in his arms. Dawn followed close behind, giving directions to the bedchamber.

      ‘Would you fetch some hot water, m’m? As much as you can manage?’ Dr Wilson was taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

      Dawn nodded. ‘Of course... I’ll do it now.’

      Once Jack had laid Eleanor on the bed, he withdrew. Dawn undressed Eleanor to her underclothes, then pulled the sheet up. Dr Wilson accompanied Dawn to the door to instruct quietly, ‘When you go below please ask Mr Valance if he would be of assistance once more and fetch home the confounded vicar. He should be here with his wife.’ He shook his head. ‘I would have Mansfield’s explanation for his inaction when it is quite obvious that this woman is gravely ill.’

      ‘I’ve no idea why the vicar delayed fetching you.’ Dawn could guess, though. The moment she’d started to disrobe Eleanor and seen the fading bruises on her stepdaughter’s arms, she knew. Soon Dr Wilson would also see them.

      The doctor issued a grunt that mingled his sadness and anger. ‘The moment he turns up send him directly to me. I shall be here some while, I think,’ he added bleakly.

      Dawn managed to give her stepdaughter a reassuring smile before she exited the room and stumbled, blinded by tears, down the stairs. She knew she mustn’t crumble; she had a job to do and she would do it. She found Jack Valance pacing up and down the hallway and he wheeled about, immediately striding towards her on hearing her footsteps.

      ‘How is she? Can I do more to help? Tell me if there is any small task that might be done.’

      ‘She is gravely ill,’ Dawn murmured through lips that quivered. ‘Thank you for your offer to help. The doctor asked if you would search for the vicar and make him come home. But there is something else you could do first, if you don’t mind.’ Dawn concentrated on practicalities to prevent herself howling. ‘Would you fetch some buckets of water in from outside?’ Having received his immediate nod she carried on quickly towards the kitchen, knowing he would follow. When there, she busied herself checking the heat of the range. She threw a log into the fire to stoke it up. But her shoulders had started to shake, betraying her silent sobs.

      Jack drew her into his arms. ‘I’ll assist you with anything at all...but you mustn’t give up hope, not yet.’

      He also knew, then. Dawn nodded fiercely, knuckling wetness from her eyes. She broke free of his embrace though it had felt wonderfully warm and tender.

      They both worked silently, he bringing the buckets and she decanting the water into pots to heat up. When he had brought her a dozen filled pails she murmured her thanks and told him that she had enough for now and he СКАЧАТЬ