The Duke's Daughter -Wattys2014 Collector's Dream Award Winner-

Chapter Twenty Six

Arianna opened her eyes and saw her father walking away from her towards the door. She called out to him, "Papa?"
He turned to her and brought a finger to his lips before he left the room. But his voice echoed behind him. "Hush, love. You are safe."

She ran to the door after him. "But Papa, why did Mama leave?"

Papa was gone, but her brother William was near the stream. "Easy, love."

"William, have you seen Mama? It's so terribly hot." Something cool caressed her face, she treasured it's presence. She lay in bed, her bed, back home. Her mother's shadowed face above her, the long, black hair cascading down around her, a damp cloth in her hand.

"Mama? Oh, Mama, you will never guess what happened, there were pirates, Mama. Real live pirates."

"Drink this, angel. That's a good girl." Her father stood over her, an arm behind her head, another bringing a glass to her lips.

"But Papa, I'm not thirsty."

"Drink, love." She obeyed. Papa had never had to ask her to do anything more than twice.

"William, give it back!" Her brother ran before her in the fields, her parasol shading him as he skipped along.

"Hush, love. Your safe." Hensley whispered as he caught her. She screamed and fought him. But when she looked up it was Derek's face above her own.

"He murdered her. Slit her throat. I saw.. I saw it."

Then, off to her side, Arianna saw her brother William, he stood shouting at their father, "She is gone, dead. Do you waste the rest of your life in some bottle, leaving my sister with no parent at all? Perhaps she should come with me."

"William!" Arianna cried, "How dare you say that! She is not dead. I will not believe it."

"Easy, beautiful."

"He calls me that, William. The handsome captain, he calls me beautiful, an angel."

"Did Papa come home last night, William?" She asked, William shook his head and mounted his horse, turning up the lane.

"William, please don't leave me! I will be all alone if you go. Please don't leave me." She cried.

"Easy, angel, just take it easy."

"But Papa is out there somewhere, William. He's looking for her, we have to help him." William shook his head at her.

"Just rest, Arianna."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing, she needs me, I feel it."

"We will find her, I am here, I will help you." Her mother told her as she laced their fingers together.

"But where, Mama? Where are you?" As she asked, her mother's hold loosened and she faded away.

"Please don't leave me, not again. Please! I promise to be good, I promise to listen to Nanny. Please let me come with you. Don't leave me here!"

"I will never leave you, angel." Her Papa answered from behind her.

"But you did, Papa. And they took her. It's your fault she's gone!"

"I'm here, you're safe, love." Her father called from what seemed miles away.

"But they came so suddenly. She was reading to me, Papa. And then she sent me upstairs and was gone. Papa, where did she go?"

"Easy, love. Drink this." Arianna drank from the cup, then everything faded to black once again.

*****

The first thing that she noticed was the noise. It gently lifted her from the void of blackness, back into existence. Talk and laughter could sounded in the distance, along with the cries of gulls and the crashing of waves. Bells tolled and music played. It sounded civilized.

Next, she felt. She felt the rocking of the ship below her, a soft pillow cushioned her head. A warm fur blanket clung around her, fighting off the cool air she felt against her face. The rocking of the ship was different. No longer was it the forward circular motion it had been before. Now the ship simply rocked from side to side, as if they were no longer moving forward. Perhaps, they had dropped anchor, though she knew not why.

She took a deep breath through her nose and assessed the smells around her. Derek's smell was the strongest. It assaulted her senses, causing her body to heat, and gooseflesh to spread across her skin in waves. It was a completely male scent, mixed with the salty sea and.. And food?

The smell of cooked beef brought her eyes open, Arianna looked around at her surroundings. She was in Derek's cabin, alone, tucked into the furs on his bunk. She noticed the steaming broth on the tray that sat upon the nightstand, as well as the bread and cheese that accompanied it. She realized she was ravenous.

Why was she here and where was Derek?

Had there not been a storm brewing? Should the ship not be tossing about on the tall waves that had soaked her when she had fallen from the window? She glanced to the skylight and bright sunlight made her unaccustomed eyes glance away. Why had that rope, that had scared her out of the window to begin with, been there in the first place?

Arianna rose her arms over her head and twisted to the side to stretch her sore muscles and noticed that she was bare beneath the furs. Her cheeks instantly heated, and then she felt her ears flame, her neck and chest were probably pink too. Between her awakening in Derek's cabin, and the character she had been playing, there was no doubt in her mind as to who had removed her clothing. Arianna closed her hands into fists and beat the soft bunk on either side of her in embarrassment and frustration.

Who did he think he was to strip her of her clothing!?

The meager show of temper left her drained of energy, Arianna wondered at that, as she felt pain lance through her head. Leaning back, she rested against the pillows and concentrated on breathing deeply. Why was she so fatigued?

Her stomach growled and Arianna heard it through the entire room. She sat forward and looked about her for something to wear. Derek's robe, the same one she had worn after Shaw was murdered, was tossed across the foot of the bunk again. Arianna reached for it, and managed to slip both of her arms into the correct openings of the garment, before her strength was sapped again and she fell back to the bunk.

There was a ringing in her ears now and waves of dizziness churned her empty stomach. Arianna closed her eyes in an attempt to keep the room from spinning. She almost felt hungover, except that there was no foul taste in her mouth, and her stomach was already empty. Opening her eyes, she assessed the room around her once more. It no longer spun but seemed more to click to the side every few seconds.

Arianna knew the room was not literally turning around her, but for the life of her, she could not understand why her equilibrium was distorted. Finally, she managed to reach the tray and bring it to rest over her lap. She ate slowly, hoping not to shock her unsteady stomach. She tore small bits off of the bread and soaked them in the broth before bringing them to her mouth.

She had definitely put a mark in the fare when a small knock sounded on the cabin door. Before she could answer, the door inched open and Derek slipped inside. His eyes met hers and the frown he wore softened into that brilliant smile. She was glad she was already reclining on the bed, because in her current state, she would not have been able to fight her knees turning to jelly, as they always did, when he sent that smile her way.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, as he moved across the cabin to sit upon the bunk near her thigh.

"Odd." She replied, taking a drink of the tea he held for her. "I am weak, my head pains me, and the room spins about me. What happened Derek?"

"Do you remember falling from the porthole?"

She nodded, as she swallowed the bit of broth soaked bread she had placed in her mouth. "Aye, I remember you saving me, but that is all."

Derek nodded and looked down to his hands, and Arianna noted his unshaven face. 'Twas the first time she had seen it thus. There were dark shadows under his eyes and the lines in his face were no longer subtle.

"Have you been ill?" She asked, reaching out to touch the stubble on his jaw. Derek smiled and shook his head, he brought his hand over hers, tickling her palm with his rough cheek.

"Nay, love. 'Twas you who were ill. You hit your head when the wave slammed us against the ship and fell ill that same night."

"That same night? How much time has passed since then?"

"Five days."

"Five days!" Arianna shot upright in the bunk, Derek managed to grab and swing the tray out of harm's way, before her meal was deposited on his bed. He rather liked her here. Tucked into his furs, in his bunk, in his cabin, wearing his robe with nothing underneath it. The valley between her breasts was left bare to him due to the low tie of the robe.

"Aye, five days." He set the tray once more across her lap. "We are anchored outside of New York. Come the morning, we will put into port."

"Oh." She knew not what to say to that. She had lost five days. It was the longest amount of time she could ever remember not being conscious for. Her odd state made sense now.. But Derek's did not.

"Why do you look so tired if I was the one that was sick?"

He smiled and turned his face against her hand to place a kiss upon her palm. "Who else do you think tended to you, angel?"

So he had spent the last five days watching over her, nursing her back to health? Arianna snatched her hand back and hid under the furs with a mortified moan.

Derek laughed at her embarrassed display, pulling the fur back from her pink face. "Are you well enough for a couple of visitors? There are a few who are very concerned for your welfare."

Arianna looked askance up at him, but his smile simply grew, before he pressed a kiss to her forehead and left the cabin. He returned a few moments later with Betsy, Alejandro, and Mickey in tow.

"Betsy!" Arianna cried out, ecstatic to see her maid, and friend, once more looking healthy and on her feet. A smile of joy had broken over Arianna's face, and her maid's smile was just as bright, as she ran to the bunk and gently placed herself into her mistress's outstretched arms. The two girls hugged each other close for a few moments, before Betsy pulled back to settle in the place Derek had just vacated.

"Señorita, I am pleased that you are well." Alejandro stood next to Derek, Derek wondered how his first mate was going to twist the current events in his mind, to blame himself for Arianna's state.

"My lady, I apologize for myself and the crewmen. We should have had a better hold on the rope and not allowed you to be injured."

Derek rolled his eyes. Alejandro did not disappoint. If only his first mate would see that he was a good man and not the hex he believed himself to be.

Arianna sent Alejandro an irritated pout, "Alejandro, you stop that nonsense at once. 'Twas my own fault that I tumbled from the porthole. No one pushed me, and you are only responsible for saving me. Do not blame yourself for my own carelessness."

Alejandro darkened under her rebuke, reminding Derek of a child who had been firmly put in his place.

Mickey stepped forward, wringing his hat in his hands, and cleared his throat. "I sure am glad yer alright, Miss. I never been so worried as when I saw ya hangin' from that rope."

Arianna smiled and reached for the boy's hand, pulling him close enough so that she could kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Mickey."

The boy flushed and his eyes went round. His hand flew to his cheek and he stepped back from the bunk.

Arianna laughed before she turned back to Derek. "My question is, why was that rope dangling from the ship at all?"

"Whitmore. The rope was probably how the Admiral's men scaled the ship to abduct him."

Arianna nodded. Her head felt heavy once again and the pain returned. Derek saw it upon her face and poured her a portion of the laudanum. "Here drink this, and rest. If you feel well enough, come the morrow, perhaps we may venture into the city."

Arianna smiled as she accepted the glass. “That would be lovely."

Betsy squeezed her hand and then moved to the door behind Derek. Ever the gentleman, he held the door for the maid before he followed her out. Before he closed the door, he turned back to Arianna.

"Good night, my angel."

*****

"Are we clear, Whitmore?" Miser asked from his seat across the table. Thomas Bell sat to his right, a cigar in his hand, his attention seemed to be fully absorbed by the smoke that drifted off of the cigar and puffed out of his mouth.
Whitmore exhaled heavily. His shoulders slumped even further than they had fallen over the last five days. If he had any choice, he would refuse. In fact, even though he would agree to this evil plan now, while sitting at this table, he was not sure he could follow through with it.

After all, all they could do was kill him.

Five days was long enough to grow accustomed with the face of death. Especially when death's ever lurking face was all one could boast of for company. Was it not more noble of him to save a young woman's life? Even at the cost of his own? He was an old man, he had seen his children born and raised. He had a son to pass his legacy on to. Aboard this brigantine, he had realized just how very unimportant he was. He had realized just how easily this world would carry on without him.

He had spent the time, that death had not tried intimidating him, wondering if anyone other than his brother, son, and perhaps his two daughters, would even mourn him. He had thought about his love, his wife, who had been gone these last ten years. Her memory made him smile, even now, just as it always did. The thought of being with her again, without the failing of his old, frail body, made his soul soar. That was, until the admiral had shared this plan.

"Aye, sir, we are clear."

The Admiral's already ugly face twisted into an even less attractive sneer. "Good, and it would be in your son's best interest if this plan is executed perfectly tomorrow. Is that clear?"

"Aye, that is also clear."

So much for his noble intentions.