Love Rescues Rosanna Page 7

  And with a swirl of her grey skirts, she left the room and to the Earl it seemed to grow darker with her going.

  *

  Far beneath them on the other side of the Castle, a small, red-headed girl was making her way slowly and wearily across the wooden ramp that led from the paddocks, across the moat and into the Castle stableyard by way of a doorway wide enough to take the biggest carriages.

  Although Sir Walter Fenwick had dismissed her, Edie still considered herself to be Lady Rosanna’s maid. Until her Mistress told her in person that her services were no longer required, she would do her best to find her and report for duty.

  “If the ’orrible Sir Walter finks he can buy me orf with ‘alf a guinea, he’s very much mistaken!” Edie said out loud, her Cockney accent becoming more pronounced because she was so annoyed.

  She had spent the night sleeping in the maid Jenny’s room.

  She did not believe Lady Rosanna had gone to Yorkshire. As far as Edie knew, her Mistress knew no one in that county.

  As she had left Donnington Hall that morning, Bates, the butler, had called her to one side and, with a worried glance over his shoulder to check no one was watching, pushed a little slip of paper into her hand.

  Edie had waited until she was out of sight of the Hall before reading it.

  She had the oddest feeling that she was being watched as she walked away up the long drive.

  Once she spun round and could have sworn that Sir Walter was spying on her from one of the upstairs windows. Perhaps he thought she would head straight for Lady Rosanna.

  The message from Bates read,

  “Our Mistress might be at Melton Castle. But not as you know her. Take great care.”

  Edie read it three times but could not understand it any better on the third attempt.

  ‘Well, Melton Castle it is, then,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll sort out the rest of the riddle when I get there.’

  A long walk across country had brought her to the rear of the Castle. She was aching for a nice cup of tea and the chance to take off her shoes which were pinching cruelly.

  Just as she reached the wooden ramp that bridged the moat at that point, a flash of white and blue caught her eye. Edie glanced down at the muddy water and gasped.

  The stone walls of the outer moat had crumbled at some point over the centuries and a muddy slope led down to the water.

  A little girl in a blue dress and white pinafore was crouched down in the mud, pushing bits of twig and leaves into the water.

  “Oi! Watch out! That looks deep there.”

  But even as Edie shouted, the child reached out too far, slipped and fell into the moat with a resounding splash.

  The next few seconds were a whirl afterwards in Edie’s brain. She remembered dropping her bag, kicking off her shoes and sliding down into the water.

  She tangled her hands in the little girl’s apron and tugged her up out of the water, but the weeds in the moat were already twining around her legs, trying to pull her down.

  She heard a man shouting, the child screaming and then strong arms were round them both, hauling them up the side of the moat to the safety of the Castle yard.

  Coughing and spluttering, Edie scrambled to her feet. She was soaked to the waist but the little girl had gone right under and was crying, cold and shaking.

  “Millie! Millie! You naughty girl. Look at you. Oh, thank you, miss. I only turned my head for a second and she was in the water.”

  “That’s all right. Only glad I came along. But she needs to be dried quickly and found clean clothes.”

  The man had a tanned face and bright brown eyes. He grinned at the redhead.

  “So do you, miss, if you don’t mind me saying so. Come with me. I will look after my daughter and I’ve still got some of my late wife’s garments stored away. If you don’t mind wearing them, that is?”

  Edie nodded.

  So he was a widower. And bringing up a child on his own. That was unusual. Most men she knew would have passed the child on to their mother or sister or remarried as quickly as they could.

  Dripping, she picked up her bag and followed the man across the stable yard and into a snug little cottage. He ushered her into the kitchen where the range was warming the room.

  Edie kicked off her shoes which she felt were past saving and stood shivering as the man hurried upstairs with the child. In a few moments he was back down, offering her a bundle of clothes.

  He closed the door behind him and Edie grinned as she threw off the soaking garments, right down to her bodice and drawers. The dress fitted her well. Obviously the man’s wife had been about the same size.

  ‘Good job, too,’ Edie muttered, rubbing her red curls with a towel. ‘Been a bit of a laugh if the poor lady had been sixteen stone or so.’

  She found a clean apron and her best shoes in her carry bag and felt a little more respectable.

  While waiting, she busied herself in the kitchen. Although it was tidy, she put the kettle on the hob to boil and found some cups.

  At long last the door opened and the man appeared.

  “I’ve put Millie to bed. She’s in disgrace,” he said gravely. “She’s been told over and over not to go near the water. Thank God you were passing. I can never thank you enough. Are you dry and warm now? I am John Barker, head groom to Lord Melton. You’ve already met my daughter, Millie!”

  “Edie Robinson.” Edie held out her hand and he shook it, frowning. “Personal maid to Lady Rosanna Donnington of Donnington Hall.”

  John Barker looked surprised.

  “That’s odd. The new nurse who’s come to look after the Earl is called Robinson, too. But why would you be seeking Lady Rosanna here at Melton Castle, Edie?”

  Edie gasped.

  This was too big a coincidence. The ‘nurse’ must surely be Lady Rosanna. No wonder Mr. Bates had written ‘but not as you know her’ in his note.

  Her thoughts squirreled around in her head. What should she do? There was no way she could just turn up at the Castle door and ask for Lady Rosanna. Obviously her Mistress had not told anyone who she was and Edie’s arrival could give the game away completely.

  John Barker was taking bread and cheese from a cupboard and setting two places at the white scrubbed wooden table.

  “You seem worried, Miss Robinson,” he said. “Can I help in any way? I owe you so much today. I would do anything in my power to repay you.”

  Edie turned away and made the tea. She said nothing until they were seated, facing each other.

  “It’s not my secret to tell, Mr. Barker.”

  “John, please! I think the time has passed for politeness.”

  “John. Can I trust you?”

  He reached a broad tanned hand across the table and pressed her fingers briefly.

  “Say nothing, but let me make a guess or two. The new nurse arrived unexpectedly at the Castle, riding a rough moorland pony – which is a very strange way to take up a new employment. She only carried a small bag with her, according to the lad who first met her.”

  He took a large gulp of tea and continued,

  “She gave particular instructions on caring for the pony. So she obviously knows a great deal about horses – again not many nurses would do that.

  “I’ve only seen her from a distance, myself, but Peter Simkins, my Master’s valet, tells me she has the whitest and softest hands he has ever seen on any servant.”

  Edie smiled.

  She had a feeling that she did not need to break any confidences here. John Barker had guessed exactly who ‘Nurse Robinson’ was!

  “What should I do?” she asked, enjoying the newly baked bread and creamy cheese and realising it was hours since she had eaten.

  “If you stay here in my cottage there’ll be gossip,” John said.

  Edie nodded, she knew how quickly a girl’s reputation could vanish.

  “That’s true, but I need to be here at the Castle in case my Mistress needs me. I cannot go back to London while she i
s in difficulties.”

  “Aye. That’s true enough, lass. Listen, there’s a little room at the back of the stables that I use to keep all the records of Lord Melton’s racehorses. No one goes there but me. It’s snug and dry and we could make up a bed on the floor. There’s a privy just outside the stables.

  “I’ll tell the other lads that you are a cousin of my late wife who’s fallen on hard times and are staying a few days on your way to London.”

  Edie’s eyes sparkled.

  This was an adventure indeed.

  And she had thought life in the country would be boring!

  *

  That night the storm that had been threatening all day, finally broke. Great claps of thunder echoed around Melton Castle. White flashes of lightning pierced the curtains covering Rosanna’s windows and the wind of the summer storm hurled itself against the ancient stones.

  At around three in the morning, a particular vicious flash of lightning and peel of thunder brought Rosanna out of bed.

  She lit the oil lamp on her dressing table and wrapping herself in her old dressing gown, pattered barefooted across the room to peer out of the window at the tossing trees and racing clouds.

  The wind hurled rain against the glass until the panes shuddered in their frames.

  ‘Nature can be so overwhelming in her force,’ Rosanna murmured. ‘I do hope my poor horses are being cared for back at Donnington Hall. They are so highly strung and will be scared by all this noise. I would not credit Sir Walter with knowing what to do in an emergency.’

  She jumped violently as a knock came on her door.

  “Yes, who is it?” she called warily.

  “Nurse Robinson – can you come – urgently.”

  Picking up the lamp, Rosanna hurried to the door and flung it wide. Peter Simkins stood outside, a candle in his hand, the flickering light reflecting on his worried face.

  “I am so sorry to disturb you, nurse, but can you come to my Master.”

  Rosanna’s heart beat faster.

  “Is he worse?” Peter nodded. “The fever is very high once again, nurse, and I rightly don’t know what else to do for him.”

  “Wait – I will get dressed.”

  She whirled away, fear pounding through her. Had her lack of nursing ability caused this relapse? Had she done something dreadfully, terribly wrong to that splendid man?

  She was stopped in her tracks by Peter’s voice.

  “Please, nurse, come now. There isn’t any time to lose. think – I think the Earl might be going to die!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Rosanna’s bare feet made no sound as she hurried along the corridor and down the staircase to the great bedroom where the Earl lay.

  The light from the oil lamp she carried threw weird shadows everywhere and it seemed to her as if the very stones of the old Castle stirred sensing that danger surrounded their Master.

  Candles were flickering wildly inside the Earl’s room. The curtains were still open and the wind rattled the windows violently as the storm hit the Castle over and over again.

  Rosanna hurried to the bedside, aware that Peter was standing in the doorway. She had seen the panic in the valet’s eyes and feared he would be of very little help.

  The Earl was tossing and turning, sweat was wet on his face, his dark hair lank and damp. Rosanna bent over him and touched his cheek. He was so hot!

  She pulled the bedclothes back from his leg and could see what had caused the fever. The bandages were soaked with blood and stained with something thick and yellow. The wound in his leg had broken and the poison was at last escaping.

  “Fetch me basins of lukewarm water, quickly!” she snapped at the young man cowering in the shadows. “And some more soft cloths.”

  “Where shall I – ”

  “Just bring them, quickly.”

  Rosanna cut away the bandages and the relief of the pressure seemed to calm the Earl a little.

  The next hour flashed past in a blur. Rosanna cleaned the wound again, and constantly laid cooling cloths over his chest and face in an attempt to assuage the fever that wracked his body.

  Finally the Earl fell into an uneasy slumber and she sat in a chair by the side of the bed, waiting.

  She realised she must have dozed a little because when she came to with a start, the storm had passed and the dawn light was easing through the windows.

  She bent over the figure in the bed, her blonde hair escaping from its binding and cascading down over her shoulders in a cloud.

  As she placed her hand on the Earl’s forehead, his long dark lashes flickered and he was awake, gazing up at her.

  “Angel – ” he muttered, “you’ve come back to me, angel.”

  “Hush, my Lord,” Rosanna urged gently. “You must rest as the poison has drained from your leg and your fever has abated. I think from now on you will soon be on the road to recovery.”

  “Nurse?”

  The Earl gazed up at her, unable to grasp that his angel had turned into Nurse Robinson.

  “Sleep, my Lord,” she insisted. “When you wake again, you should feel much better.”

  She straightened the sheet across his chest but as she moved away, he grasped her hand and held it against his cheek.

  Rosanna gasped and stood very still, aware of the sensation of the Earl’s skin under her fingers and the strength of his grip as with a deep sigh, he fell into what she hoped would be a long and healing sleep.

  An hour passed and sunlight was streaming in to paint golden puddles on the polished floor when at last the Earl’s grip on her hand slackened and Rosanna was able to draw her fingers away.

  She sighed as she straightened her back, stiff and sore from the cramped position she had been forced to take so as not to disturb her patient.

  The door creaked open behind her and she glanced round to find Mr. Digby.

  He beckoned and she followed him out of the bedroom and into a small dressing room next door.

  “You must have some sustenance, Nurse Robinson,” the elderly man advised firmly. “You have been with his Lordship for many hours, so Simkins informs me.”

  Rosanna sank down into a chair and closed her eyes. She was so tired! She did not think she had ever felt so exhausted before, even when she had been up all night in London dancing at balls and parties.

  But her weariness was laced with a sense of triumph. She knew that she had brought Lord Melton through his crisis and she was overjoyed. He was such an interesting man and one, if her circumstances had been different, she would have been proud to have known better.

  She obediently ate the bread and honey that Mr. Digby had laid on a small table and sipped a cup of hot chocolate with relish.

  She realised with a start that she was still wearing her nightdress with her old dressing gown over the top. Her feet were bare and dirty and very, very cold.

  “Will you sleep, Nurse Robinson?” Mr. Digby asked patiently. “I will watch over his Lordship.”

  Rosanna nodded.

  “I will wash and dress and then lie on my bed for a couple of hours. But you must call me instantly if he wakes.”

  But it was nearly noon before Mr. Digby knocked on her door and told her that the Earl had woken from his sleep.

  Rosanna, feeling clean and refreshed, sped down to his bedroom, frowning in trepidation. Had her nursing skills – slight thought they were, helped or hindered? Should she perhaps have called for a doctor to be summoned?

  She was delighted by what she found.

  The Earl was sitting up in bed, his colour was good, his dark eyes were bright and he had obviously been recently shaved.

  “Oh, my Lord, I am so pleased to see you looking so much better.”

  “All thanks to you, Nurse Robinson. I cannot begin to tell you how much improved I feel. This is the first time since my accident that I am free of that dreadful pain in my leg. It aches now, to be sure, but the hellish throbbing has gone.”

  Rosanna laid a hand on his brow. It was cool and d
ry under her palm.

  “And your fever has broken completely,” she smiled.

  “I do not recall much about last night,” the Earl said, his tone puzzled. “I thought there was someone here – someone I wanted to see. I call her ‘my angel’ because she always seems to be around when I need her.”

  Rosanna turned away and busied herself with tidying the room.

  “Perhaps you have a real guardian angel,” she said lightly, making sure her cap was pulled down firmly over her coiled blonde hair.

  The Earl gazed at her sharply.

  “Perhaps I do,” he said quietly and lay watching her slender shape flit around his room, bringing order out of chaos.

  “I have never believed in any higher powers,” he added slowly. “When my father was alive, I tended to spend all my time finding new ways of losing a goodly part of his fortune. Pain and illness played no part in my selfish world.”

  Rosanna looked at him, her expression grave.

  “I have never been ill myself, but I cared for my mother and – ” she paused, remembering suddenly that as a nurse she would have vast knowledge of sickness, “ – obviously I have seen other people coping with pain.”

  “I have lain here this morning vowing to change my ways,” the Earl admitted. “I feel I have been given a second chance to make something more of my life.”

  “I am sure you will succeed, my Lord,” Rosanna urged warmly.

  She admired him so much for facing up to his past weaknesses. So many people were never aware of the wrong roads they had travelled during their lives and if they were, made no effort to change the path they trod.

  “I think I shall try a small adventure today, nurse,” the Earl said at last, throwing off his melancholy mood. “I am going to walk around this room and look out of the window.

  There! Does that sound exciting to you?”

  Rosanna smiled, her eyes sparkling.

  “It sounds like a very good adventure, my Lord,” she agreed. “But I fear you may not walk unaided just yet. Perhaps Simkins – ”

  Lord Melton groaned and Rosanna gazed at him in alarm.

  “Is your leg – ?”

  “My leg is still the same, nurse. It is my mind that you need to worry about! The less I see of young Simkins the better. My old valet married a very fine inn-keeper’s daughter he met when we were travelling in Italy last year and stayed there as part of her family.