Reunited With Her Viscount Protector. Mary Brendan

vicarage.’

      Jack extended a hand to her. ‘Would you like a ride home?’

      ‘No...thank you... I can easily walk. Please be quick, sir, I beg of you. I am very worried about Eleanor.’

      Jack dipped his head, then strode to his horse, swinging up lithely into the saddle. He wheeled the stallion about and, with a raise of his hand in farewell, spurred the magnificent beast into a furious gallop. Dawn stared after the blur of horse and rider, entranced by a maelstrom of emotions. Gladness and overwhelming relief at having his help, astonishment at seeing him again were all jumbled together, but overriding it all was still her fears for her stepdaughter. With her skirts in her fists she raced back the way she had come.

      * * *

      ‘I think you were right, Mama... I think the babe might be coming,’ was the panted greeting Dawn received when she burst into the sitting room. Her stepdaughter was bent double over her aching abdomen. ‘But something is not right.’ Eleanor raised her frightened eyes, peering at Dawn through lank strands of fair hair that had loosened to drape her forehead.

      ‘Hush...the doctor is on his way,’ Dawn soothed, kneeling by the side of Eleanor’s chair. She took her trembling hands, chafing them. ‘I could not find your husband, but I was fortunate enough to bump into a gentleman I know from town. Mr Valance told me he lives close by. He has ridden straight away to fetch Dr Wilson.’

      ‘You should have waited and asked Peter to go, Mama.’ Eleanor sounded anxious.

      ‘I should have done no such thing,’ Dawn said quietly. ‘The doctor’s visit is long overdue.’

      ‘I don’t know the name Valance,’ Eleanor gasped.

      ‘Never mind...it doesn’t matter,’ Dawn soothed. ‘Are you able to get upstairs, do you think? Or would you rather wait here for the doctor to examine you?’

      ‘I must get to my bed and lie down. Peter won’t like the doctor looking at me here. It is not 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