Thank you very much WhiteAngel78 for your review!!! I wasn't expecting anything so soon. I therefore dedicate this chapter to you. :) Enjoy.
1
Stephen's Plea
July the third, 1805
London, England.
Diary,
It is cold and wet outside, as usual. Never have I so despised London as much as I have these past weeks. Ever since I got Stephen's letter, sent from Valparaiso not half a week ago, I have been ever anxious to see him again. I know that that letter is the last I shall hear of him until he reaches London with his commission, the HMS Surprise, and that knowledge causes me to take turns between pacing upstairs and downstairs, looking out the window every five minutes, and reading his letter. I shall copy it down here to preserve its memory.
My Dearest Sister:
I write to you from Valparaiso, where the Surprise is now docked. After a long and wearisome chase around the Horn, Captain Aubrey took the Acheron a prize and we then – after some misunderstanding with the French captain – escorted her to that port. The Frenchmen we captured were put into custody there and will be shipped to England for trial on a different ship. Meanwhile, we will rest and take on provisions before attempting the return home. Our arrival there will be soon, I hope.
Unfortunately, although we stopped briefly at the Galapagos Islands, we were unable to remain there long, and so my good friend the Captain has promised that we will return as soon as it is possible. I am going to ask him if you may come as well for I know, dear Fern, that you enjoy the natural environment as well as I. Chin up, my dear! I will be home soon, and after our trip to the Galapagos, we will return to sweet Ireland where we belong. All my love, Stephen.
That is all I will write for today. It is late, and Sarah insists I get to bed.
July the eighth, 1805
London, England
Stephen has come home at last! It was very exciting. I was taking a stroll along St. Johanna's Avenue with Sarah…
"Beautiful day, Miss Fern," Sarah said for the fifth time. "Absolutely lovely."
I observed the heavy clouds above me and smiled. "Yes indeed, Sarah. It is a beautiful day. If only Stephen were here to share it with me." I said this on purpose; I knew Sarah was trying to keep my mind off it. But it was no use – until I saw him, alive and well, leaning against the fireplace in the parlor as he lectured me on the anatomy of the Hungarian Man-Eating Beetle, I would not be content. A call from behind us broke my thoughts.
"Sarah! Miss Fern!" It was Joey, the scullery lad. "Come quick; the doctor's jus' got in from Valparaiso! An' he's got the captain with 'im!"
I stiffened, every particle of my being screaming out run to him! But I couldn't – especially not with poor Sarah fanning herself and exclaiming, "Oh dear oh dear oh dear!" over and over again.
"Calm down Sarah," I said. The detachedness of my voice surprised me. How was it possible to sound so reserved when one's brother was returning home after months at sea?
"Oh," Sarah wailed, in her infinite silliness. "I am certain I don't know what to do!"
"Come, let us go!" I cried, wondering how a woman could be so silly. So, taking her hand in mine, I half-dragged her down the walkway towards our rented apartments in Cheapside with Joey jogging behind us. As we neared the house, we could see the cook, Evangeline, standing on the porch looking out for us. When she caught sight of our progress, she waved, nearly bouncing up and down for excitement. Unconsciously I quickened my pace, soon leaving poor Sarah huffing and puffing behind me. My hand barely grazed the railing as I took the steps two at a time.
"Th' Master be in th' parlor with th' captain, Miss Fern, waitin' for ye t'rrive. Tea's nearly ready, Miss," Evangeline gasped in one breath as she unpinned the empty sleeve of my coat and slid the entire garment off my shoulders.
"Sarah, be a dear and announce Miss Fern, please," Jennings – the butler – added as he took over Evangeline's chattering work.
"Of course, of course…" Attempting to compose herself all the while, Sarah led the way to the parlor. Within could be heard two voices: one an unknown gentleman, and the other my brother's! So anxious was I to see Stephen that I barely gave Sarah time to say my name before I dashed into the room and flung myself into my brother's arms.
Contrary to my expectations, however, he did not pick me up and swing me around, but suppressed a pained gasp and did not return my embrace. I fell back, immediately docile.
"Stephen, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?"
"It's nothing you did, my dear. But never mind that now…" His voice broke as we clung to one another yet again, and he fell silent.
There was a gentle "ahem" from the area of the window, and Stephen broke out embrace apologetically. "Forgive me, Fern. I have been remiss. This is my dear friend who you may remember from your childhood: Captain Jack Aubrey of the HMS Surprise…" and he turned me to face the window that looked down over the street.
It was so bright outside, and so dim within, that all I could make out was a tall, commanding masculine shape. Nevertheless, I curtsied minutely as was polite and held out my hand. There was the slightest moment of awkward hesitation as his right hand took my left hand instead of the right he should have been able to take, and then it passed and he lifted my knuckles to his sea-weathered lips as courteously as though I had had two arms instead of one. I was quite touched, I confess; most men, once recognizing my disability, would shake my hand as briefly as possible before stepping back.
"Jack," Stephen continued, "this is my sister, Fernanda…"
"Fern," I interrupted forcibly.
"Fern, then," my brother sighed with a teasing roll of his hazel eyes as he removed his spectacles and polished them on his outer coat.
"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Fern," the captain said pointedly. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the sharp contrast between light and dark, and I saw the corners of a kind mouth twitch and ocean-gray eyes twinkle in humor.
"And I yours, sir," I replied as he released my hand. "I remember you but little, I fear."
"Then we are even, for I confess you are not the small child I used to know so many year ago," he replied with a warm smile. I nearly leapt out of my skin to hear his voice – a slightly roughened baritone, low, with the sound of the sighing ocean beneath its resonance, as one hears when one lifts a shell to their ear.
Tea came presently, and I was obliged to serve and entertain before taking Stephen insisted I go and rest. I wasn't too dismayed upon hearing this – since receiving his letter, I had gotten little sleep. However, I was loathe to be unconscious while my brother was in the house, and so I compromised by going to the music room to practice my harp. It was one of the few instruments I could play, given my disability.
Sitting at the beautiful work of art that Stephen had given me three years ago as a birthday present, I ruffled the music on the stand at my side and prepared to tune the strings. Then, through the opening that had once been a fireplace but was now a small hole in the wall through which heat came from the fire below, I heard voices. I had forgotten that sound carries well when one is near the fireplace below.
"You have to help me, Jack. I don't have enough to keep the butler or the cook anymore; I'm releasing them tomorrow. As for Sarah, I'm barely hanging on to her, and Sarah absolutely must stay. Fern needs her."
I inhaled sharply, and leaned closer to the barren fireplace to hear better; the harp was, for the moment, forgotten.
"You know I'll do anything that is necessary," came the oceanic voice of the captain. "Lord knows His Majesty continues to pour the nation's taxes into the Navy's funds as long as the war goes on." There was a pause. "Or did you have something else in mind?"
"I… well, yes and no."
"Come, man! Speak plainly."
"It's Fern –"
"No."
"No?"
"I resolved when I joined His Majesty's Navy that I would never take a wife." Here I gulped and nearly fell of my chair. "Remember Will?"
"Warley… yes."
"I will not have any woman suffer what Mrs. Warley suffered. When I bore the news to her personally…" There was a break in his voice, and the sound of pacing upon the carpet. "It was beyond anything – any grief, any sorrow, any pain – that I have ever seen in all my days, Stephen. Please do not make me do this. To see a girl like your sister suffering widowhood – she's too young, Stephen. I will give you all the money you require and more as long as you don't plead with me to make her my wife."
"Her lack of an arm does not put you off?"
"Lord, no! She's a sweet girl, Stephen. You're lucky to have her. I wish my sister was as well-tempered."
"Sophie?" Stephen chuckled slightly. "Indeed…"
I moved away from the fireplace and forced myself, however woodenly, to play the beautifully flowing music that was revealed on the page before me. I could not think of the discussion I had overheard... I could not...
And there it is. I hope it meets your expectations. :-)
-Dark Rose of Heaven
