Cinders and Ashes (19 page)

“
Leave her with me, she will be fine,” Isobel ordered, pushing
Sebastian to one side to ease aside the blanket.

“
She isn’t moving,” Sebastian choked around a cough, as he
eyed the unresponsive face of the woman he loved.

“
She has a lump on her head. See?” Isobel lifted a small clump
of hair off Amelia’s head to reveal the growing lump on her temple.
“She will have a headache when she comes round.”

Isobel
had never seen Sebastian so upset, and tried hard to offer the man
reassurance. Despite her own nagging worries.

“
If she changes, I want to know,” Sebastian ordered, giving
his sister-in-law a hard look.

Within a
moment he was gone.

Dawn was
edging over the horizon when the filthy and exhausted men stumbled
into the kitchen. Although it had been completely destroyed, they
had managed to contain the fire to the one room.

While
they had been fighting the flames, Amelia had come round but
couldn’t remember anything. Although she had a bruise the size of a
goose egg on her temple, and a raspy cough from the acrid smoke,
she appeared to be otherwise unharmed. She tried to keep a brave
face on her condition, she really did, but in reality she knew she
fooled nobody.

Her head
ached fiercely each time she moved, and it seemed to take all of
her energy just to think. That wasn’t discounting the heavy burning
in her lungs. It was difficult to breathe without coughing all over
the place.

“
I’m sorry,” Amelia rasped after a particularly heavy bout of
coughing.

“
We need to get you out of this smoky house, and back to
Tingdale,” Dominic said softly, eyeing the paleness of the cheeks,
and the brave show she tried to put on for everyone’s
benefit.

Although
the events of the night had been worrying for all concerned, it did
confirm that Amelia had no involvement in any of the events that
had happened to Sebastian. For that he was very
grateful.

“
We will leave immediately. I think we have everything we need
for now. If we need to do any more searching, we can come back for
the day with armed staff,” Sebastian declared with a yawn and a
cough. “Amelia needs clean air and some rest.”

Amelia
frowned. “I feel fine,” she muttered with a glare. “You don’t have
to leave on my account.” She wondered if this was going to be
another of those occasions when Sebastian’s inherent air of command
took hold, and was unsurprised when she got her reply.

“
I’m not. I think if we stayed, none of us would rest
properly. There is only one of us who can realistically keep watch
at night. Even then, we can’t watch all of the windows all of the
time. Last night was too close. You could have been killed. At
least at Tingdale, the house can be heavily armed and we have a
full complement of serving staff to act as extra eyes and ears,”
Sebastian added. The dark circles under Amelia’s eyes and the
blackening bruise on her temple made him intensely angry. “We will
leave as soon as we have packed the things we need.”

“
All done,” Peter replied. “Edward is out front with the
carriage now. Hughes rode one of the horses back to Tingdale when
we got here, so Edward is going to drive the carriage with the
ladies inside.”

Within
moments, Amelia found herself swept into Sebastian’s arms. “I can
walk, you know,” she mumbled, eyeing the red lines of his eyes.
Whether they were from smoke or tiredness, she wasn’t certain. She
wondered where he got his stamina from.

“
You already have a lump on your head from the bottle that was
thrown through the window,” Sebastian replied, carefully navigating
the steps at the front door. “You need to rest.”

“
Bottle?” Amelia tried to raise her eyebrows, but winced as
her bruised temple protested.

“
Peter found it lying on next to the bed in your room. It had
some kind of accelerant in it. Undoubtedly it was thrown through
the window and started the fire. It landed on the bed – you –
apparently, and lit the bedding it landed on.” Sebastian shuddered
to think of the possible repercussions, had Ballantyne succeeded in
firing the house.

Amelia
felt her stomach drop as she glanced briefly at the imposing
edifice of Edenvale Manor with a shudder. In happier circumstances,
it would be a delightful family home. With tall towers on either
side of the Jacobean facade, it was simply beautiful. If somewhat
creepy.

She was
glad when Sebastian placed her carefully upon the squabs inside the
carriage, pausing to stare at her intently.

“
Are you really alright, Amelia?” His voice was soft, as his
bloodshot eyes tenderly searched her face.

“
I’m fine,” Amelia replied gently cupping his lined cheek, the
soft pad of her thumb wiped a small smudge of smoke off his cheek
as she smiled tenderly at him. Without hesitation she leant forward
and brushed her lips against his in gentle reassurance. “I’m
fine.”

Sebastian returned the gesture briefly before resting his
forehead head against hers for several moments. Seeking the
physical reassurance she was indeed hale and hearty, before
reluctantly drawing away.

“
I’ll just be outside.” He motioned towards the window next to
her. “If you need to stop or anything, just let me know.” He
glanced back and waited until she nodded her agreement, before
handing Isobel into the carriage and closing the door with a snap.
Within moments they were off.

They had
barely pulled out of the gates of Edenvale Manor when Sebastian
appeared at the side of the carriage, sitting astride his huge
chestnut horse. Across the other side of the carriage, Amelia spied
Dominic trotting along, lost in conversation with
Edward.

“
I don’t want to speak out of turn, Amelia,” Isobel murmured
from her seat across the carriage. She had been observing the
silent interplay between Amelia and Sebastian as he rode alongside,
and wasn’t oblivious to the deep affection between the pair. “Don’t
hurt him.”

Amelia’s
gaze turned toward Isobel, and she was acutely aware of the new,
slightly uncomfortable distance between them. Despite it only being
two days, the return carriage ride to Tingdale was entirely
different than the one they had taken on their way to Edenvale
Manor. The easy familiarity, the female camaraderie that had
sourced their friendship was now replaced with a wariness that
Amelia hated.

“
I promise, Isobel, I have no intention of hurting Sebastian
in any way.” She knew if she had any hope of future friendship with
the lady opposite, she had to be honest. “If I am completely
honest, it isn’t without some sense of self-preservation that I
cannot take Sebastian into my confidence. You know how strong
willed and determined he is.” Amelia glanced at the commanding
presence of the man riding so straight-backed and aristocratic
alongside them. His mere presence bespoke command and authority.
“He makes a decision on something and doesn’t stop to listen. I am
afraid I will be swamped with his good intentions if he should
learn everything.”

“
Everything?” Isobel murmured with a quirk of her
brow.

“
It isn’t anything heinous or anything like that. It is
certain knowledge of my background that will change things between
us. I don’t want Sebastian to be married to me because he feels it
is his duty. I want him to want me, for me.” Amelia fought the urge
to cry as Isobel suddenly reached across the carriage and encased
Amelia’s cold hands in her gloved ones.

“
I understand, truly I do,” Isobel murmured, feeling the other
woman’s worries acutely. It resembled her own worries and concerns
so closely; it made her shudder with the painful memories of those
uncertain times.

“
I thank you for your kindness. Please understand that I love
Sebastian. Truly I do. But until I know for certain he feels the
same way because of whom I am, not what I am then we can have no
future.” Amelia sat back against the squabs with a shiver. “For one
thing is certain in all of this, if Sebastian doesn’t feel the same
depth of feeling towards me as I do for him, then it will be I who
will be very deeply hurt when I leave.” Her eyes met and held
Isobel’s across the carriage as they shared a moment of feminine
understanding.

“
He loves you. He just doesn’t know it yet,” Isobel declared,
glaring out of the carriage window at her brother-in-law. “Men can
sometimes be so dense.”

“
Does he? I think he feels a certain responsibility towards
me. Even feels he sort of owes me for saving his life. But love? I
don’t think so.” Amelia didn’t add that while Dominic had declared
his devotion to Isobel when faced with a dire situation that had
threatened her very life, Sebastian had done no such thing with
Amelia.

Surely
if he feared for her life, he would have declared his love if he
felt any?

Her head
began to pound with the strain and worry of the endless problems,
and Amelia frowned, rubbing her temple tenderly.

“
Are you alright?” Isobel asked, leaning forwards in
concern.

Amelia
didn’t have time to reply before the carriage rumbled to a stop,
and Sebastian yanked the door open.

“
What’s wrong?” he demanded, nudging his horse sideways until
he stepped off his horse and directly into the
conveyance.

“
Amelia doesn’t feel well,” Isobel murmured, draping her
friend in another blanket.

“
I’m fine. My head hurts a bit that’s all. It is alright to
continue, I will be fine,” Amelia murmured, aware when Sebastian
sat down on the squabs beside her. His large hand caught and held
on to hers, and he rubbed her cold fingers in his large ones as he
spoke softly to Dominic through the open window.

Within
moments the carriage began to move again. Amelia opened her eyes
against the heavy thumping in her head, and peered at
Sebastian.

“
Are you not riding?” She knew the answer. Wild horses
wouldn’t get him out of the carriage at that moment. The stubborn
tilt of his chin and defiant glint in his eye spoke
volumes.

“
I’m not going to spare Isobel’s blushes, Amelia. Come
here.”

Without
further ado, Amelia was tugged along the seat until she lay against
Sebastian’s side, her head resting against his shoulder.

“
Don’t mind me,” Isobel scolded with a small smile, and a tiny
frown at Amelia who was clearly in some discomfort.

“
Were you arguing or anything?” Sebastian asked softly, easing
around until he was comfortable, and certain Amelia was
settled.

“
It is just a headache,” Amelia whispered, fighting
sleep.

“
Just rest,” Sebastian’s voice ordered softly from somewhere
above her head. For the life of her, Amelia couldn’t have argued at
that moment. Staying awake suddenly seemed such a huge task. With a
deep sigh, she settled against the luxuriously reassuring warmth of
his chest and fell asleep.

“
She isn’t well,” Isobel whispered after several
moments.

“
I know. We will send for the doctor when she is back at
Tingdale.”

Silence
settled within the carriage for a long time while the carriage
rumbled home. They were almost at the gates of Tingdale, when
Sebastian was jerked out of his thoughts by a nudge at his foot. He
squinted across the carriage at the small note card Isobel was
holding out to him. He frowned at it and looked at Isobel, a brow
raised in query.

“
I think you will find that is who she really is,” Isobel
murmured, folding the card carefully back into her cloak
pocket.

Sebastian froze. “Have you had any definite confirmation?”
His heart thumped heavily in his chest.

“
No,” Isobel murmured, glancing at Amelia for several moments.
“It was just something imparted without thought. If you think about
it, everything falls into place.”

Sebastian considered for a moment. He wasn’t certain whether
to be vastly relieved, or intensely annoyed. Whatever, or rather
whoever Amelia really was, didn’t really have any import on their
future together. After the events of the last day, there was no way
in hell he was ever going to let her out of his sight
again.

“
Thank you,” Sebastian murmured to Isobel, knowing she was
only trying to help. Despite the fact she was the only female in
their rapidly expanding family, Sebastian respected her opinion
greatly and seriously considered the suggestion put
forward.

He was
still contemplating the possibilities, and ramifications, if she
indeed turned out to be the Earl of Eastleigh’s long-lost, and much
sought after daughter, when the carriage rumbled to a
stop.

The
following morning, Amelia awoke refreshed and feeling more
comfortable after a good night’s sleep. The heavy pounding in her
head had reduced to a dull thud and, as she dressed, she
contemplated the horrible consequences had Sebastian not managed to
save her from the flames at Edenvale Manor.

One
thing was for certain. He had now saved Amelia’s life, and should
feel no obligation to look after her. But where did that leave
them?