Chapter 3

For the next week, Elaine kept a vigil in the stranger's room. Dr. Dyson had to be away for most of the week, returning intermittently to check on his strange, private patient. The stranger remained largely unaware of his surroundings in a semi-comatose state. Mainly at night, he stirred but did not awaken. He writhed and had fits, moaning and groaning. He was like a man traveling through hell.

After two days, the fevers came. The stranger's body shook with the rigors of blood poisoning. His skin grew pale, and he breathed shallow, teetering on the edge of death. Elaine diligently attended to him. She cleaned him, changed his dressings, and mopped his face and chest with cold water during his fevers. His body poured with sweat each time the fever broke. Elaine prayed that his suffering would end, somehow.

During one if his restless fits, his eyes opened, glassy grey-green eyes that looked through her, try as she did to get his attention. He babbled incoherently in French but she was able to understand few words.

"Christine, please, my Christine." he said weakly, his lips barely moving.

"What is it? Please wake up!." Elaine said, to no avail. She force-fed him water and a nutritious porridge that her father had concocted until his unconscious refusals were too strong by the fifth day. She could only hope that he would awaken soon, or else he would surely starve.

Her son, Roland, came often to see his mother at the stranger's room in the manor house, because Elaine rarely left the stranger's side during this time. Roland was a curious and sensitive boy, about 7 years old. He used to help his mother bring in the clean linens and bandages, then he would go and play with the music boxes that lined the shelves in the stranger's room while his mother tended to the man's injuries. His grandfather collected music boxes from wherever he traveled, as a tribute to his late wife, Clemencia, who had died after giving birth to Elaine.

Roland walked over to the bed while his mother worked. With the curiosity of a child he crawled on the bed and looked closely at the stranger's face.

"Mother, what happened here? It looks scary." he said. Elaine was working on the stranger's lower leg wound and looked up to see her boy staring at the man's face. She scooped him up and carried him out of the door into the hallway.

"Good lord Roland, how could you say something so rude!" She was so angry. Her anger melted when she looked down at the boy, who was now scared and confused by her actions. She sat him down on a bench in the hall and hugged him.

"You were just being curious." She said, reprimanding herself for being so harsh. Roland looked at her questioningly. Elaine sighed.

"Listen, Roli. The man was probably born with that malformation…a big birthmark." Elaine said, looking down at Roland.

"Does it hurt?" he asked innocently.

"Probably not physically…"she began. Elaine was trying to decide how best to explain this complicated issue to her son. "When people have these deformities, they look different, not like everyone else. Sometimes other people will be mean to them or try to hurt them, just because of how they look. People like this man have their feelings hurt and get really hurt in here," she pointed to his chest "when people treat them badly. Think, how would you feel?" She paused, giving the boy time to take in what she had said. A mature realization came over his young face.

"So…he may have been treated like the leper-people you told me about?" he said. Elaine hugged him.

"Yes, smart boy, yes. So saying what you said, even though he does not appear to be awake…"

"Was not the nicest thing to say. I understand Mother. He does not scare me, you know. I'm a brave knight! I'll protect him!" He brandished his little wooden sword he had tied around his waist and ran back towards the room.

"Oh yes, Sir Roland…" She laughed at his enthusiasm. "I'll be back. I have to get some more supplies." She walked towards the staircase, smiling to herself.

Back in the room, Roland walked in and sat on one of the chairs near the window. He picked up a little music box with a ballerina on it. Winding the key, he listened to the soft music play. At that moment, he heard a movement from the bed. The man was moaning softly. Roland gasped and moved slowly over to the bed, closer and closer. The man's eyes opened slowly, and he squinted, looking around the room.

"Mother, mother!" Roland was so excited that he jumped up and ran out of the door to find Elaine.

The stranger had been awakened by gentle tones that he heard, like a sound that floated to him from a distance. The sound became louder and louder. He became aware of a pounding in his head and pain shooting all over his body. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around to try and figure out where he was. He was in a brightly lit, warm room. Dropping his head back with the pain, he felt a soft pillow behind it. He groaned, trying to move around. His whole body was stiff, and when he tried to stretch and move, he had to stop, groaning in pain as his broken bones punished him for his efforts. He was able to sit up a little and he saw a mirror on the wall in front of him. With shock, he looked into the mirror to find a man with a distorted face, a bandage on the right cheek. He looked away quickly, turning to face the window. To his surprise, he saw a young boy. The boy looked back at him with surprise and ran out of the room, shouting out in a language he did not understand. He looked again at the man in the mirror. He touched the malformed face and pulled off the bandage, looking in horror.

"Oh God…" he gasped, "…that is me!" he said, the realization that it was indeed his face that he was seeing hitting him hard. He could not remember anything.

Seconds later, the door opened and a woman appeared before him. She was a tall, pretty woman with a pleasant expression and soft hazel eyes that grabbed his attention. He blinked as she came into view. Her dark blonde hair was pulled away from her face in a loose bun, and she wore a light colored dress with an apron over it. The lady approached him with a wonderful, sweet smile, speaking to him softly. He knit his brows; he could not understand her.

Am I supposed to know her? She seems to know me. He thought. He just sat still, staring at her, spellbound as her slender form seemed to float over to where he lay.

"Monsieur, can you understand me now?" she said in French. He nodded slowly, captivated by her gentle eyes. "My name is Lady Elaine." She said, holding out her hand in greeting.

Suddenly he recalled what he had seen in the mirror, and instinctively he put his hand up to cover the right side of his face. That left him leaning on his left arm, which started to hurt fiercely as he placed his weight on it. He groaned and winced in pain.

"You are safe here." Elaine said, saddened by his actions. She leaned forward and reached out to him, her hand wrapping around the fingers covering his face. "You do not have to hide yourself here, Monsieur."

He slowly allowed her to pull his hand away from his face. Her warm hand squeezed his gently as she smiled at him again, looking directly into his eyes. "Please Monsieur, lay back down." She pushed him back gently into the bed, her soft hands touching his chest. He sank back into the soft bed.

"What happened?" Erik said. "What has happened to me?" he asked, desperation in his tone. He began to cough, and was seized by a pain ripping through his chest.

"Try not to cough too much, you have several broken ribs." Elaine said, holding his hand again, until he quieted down. "You were probably robbed on a road outside of Differdange. It happened almost a week ago now. Since then, you have been here, unconscious." Elaine released his hand and got up to pour a cup of water. She sat back down next to him on the bed, holding his head up gently, helping him to drink.

"You must take the water slowly. Yes, like that. There, this should help with the cough." She fed him the entire cup of water, then rested his head back on the pillow.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around him intently.

"You are at Capellen Manor, the home of my father, Dr. Conrad Dyson, the Earl of Mamer" he looked at her with a blank expression. "In Luxembourg."

The stranger nodded, but still looked distraught. She paused for a moment, waiting for him to talk. She soon realized he still had no idea where he was.

"And your name is…" She prompted.

"I…I don't know. I can't remember anything. All of my memories…are gone." Said the stranger as he looked at her, eyes full of fear and confusion.

Dr. Dyson had been summoned by his grandson's shouts and was standing by the door, hearing the conversation between the stranger and Elaine. He quickly realized the man was suffering from amnesia due to his head injury. He walked into the door, causing both the man and Elaine to turn around quickly.

"Well, that is a problem." He said, announcing his presence.