Chapter Twelve
Three days had passed and Storm noted that Eleanor’s presence at the evening affairs was lacking. Although Felicity and Marcus attending the evening entertainments their sister had apparently still claimed to be ill and remained home. Storm was starting to worry a bit. The boots he had sent her were of the finest quality and her feet should have been mending by now. Which was the only reason, he tried to convince himself, that he stood poised at her doorway at almost eleven in the evening.
The butler looked surprised to see him at such an hour, but he was wise enough to allow him into the manor.
“I am here to speak with Miss Pinecrest.”
The butler hesitated.
“She stated that she was not available for company, your grace.”
Storm nodded but knew he was not going to leave without seeing her.
“Perhaps you may tell her who is calling?”
The butler again hesitated, but not wanting to anger a man of Storm’s station, the butler guided him into the nearby drawing room and stated he would check to see if she would speak with him. Somehow, he suspected that she would.
Eleanor heard the commotion in the hallway and sighed. She could not handle the servants arguing right now. All she wanted to do was sleep the night away. As usual, however, luck was not on her side. A knock sounded on her door and a moment later Mrs. Cole entered.
“Lord Wakefield is downstairs and is asking to speak to you.”
Eleanor thought she must have misunderstood the woman.
“He wishes to speak to me?”
“Yes. It is quite improper calling at such an hour. Especially as your brother is not at home.”
Eleanor had to agree.
“Perhaps there is something wrong. Please tell him I will be down momentarily.”
Her housekeeper silently showed her disapproval, but left the room to relay her message. As soon as she closed the door Eleanor ran to her looking glass. Good Lord she looked like an absolute disaster. She had been locked in her room for days. Her eyes were puffy from tears, her hair a disheveled mess and she was as pale as a ghost. Eleanor debated the option of keeping him waiting longer than she should so that she may pull herself together, but she could not imagine anything but an emergency bringing him here at such an hour, so she hastily did what she could to make herself presentable and headed downstairs to meet him.
Eleanor entered the room and Storm felt that he was actually seeing her for the first time. He noticed her eyes were puffier, clearly from a night of crying. And she looked tired. To tired. It did not seem like she just stayed up to late, it looked like she had not slept in a month. And then, well then there was her gown. It was so old and out of fashion, as were all her gowns. He again felt as if this was the most important fact about her. Then, when he recalled one statement she had made, the last piece of the puzzle clicked in his head. On that night, while she was thanking him for taking care of her, she had said told him that everything his family had done for her would be the one debt that she would never be able to repay. Her tired eyes, the old gowns, the shoes that she probably suffered wearing for years and his sister’s words about all the sacrifices Eleanor had made finally came together in his mind.
The Pinecrest family was having financial trouble. From the look of it, they had a lot of financial problems. And Storm would bet a good sum Felicity had no clue. With that, he finally seemed to see Eleanor in the same eyes Bonnet had seen her these past few weeks. He felt like a total cad. All this time he had misjudged her. It was time to go about correcting it. Moving toward her he motioned to the chaise in the middle of the room. Her feet may have healed but he was sure she would be more comfortable sitting.
“Lord Wakefield. Is something amiss?”
“It is Storm to you now, remember.”
She blushed at him and for a moment Storm saw a hint of the woman that she must have been before her father had passed. He could see her dressed in a lovely gown, her hair coiffed perfectly, blushing prettily as gentleman approached. A twinge of pain hit him at the sudden knowledge of just how much she must have given up. For her sister. For her brother. She would never be the woman she had been. Although now… now she was so much more. He cleared his throat.
“Everyone is fine. I was just concerned about you.”
Eleanor’s eyes widened with surprise.
“You were?”
“I could not help but notice your absence at the ballrooms and in my house. I thought perhaps your feet had gotten worse.”
Shaking her head, she moved further into the room and finally took a place on the chaise.
“My feet are much better, thank you. I am very grateful for the boots you sent.”
He inclined his head and then there was a very awkward pause. Storm stood staring at her, a million things he wanted to say. When the silence became almost too much to bare, Storm finally found his voice.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
Eleanor smiled with amusement.
“I believe you already are.”
Storm cleared his throat, again. Good lord what was going on with him.
“Yes, of course, I meant that I would like to ask you something personal.”
When she just stared blankly at him, Storm realized he had not actually asked a question. All he did was make a statement.
“I… I… oh bloody hell; I have been such an idiot.”
She smiled then. It was an honest smile. Storm realized how lovely her smile was. Especially when it grinned back at him when she had a witty retort to throw his way.
“If you are waiting for me to disagree we may be here all night, my lord.”
Storm felt his own smile widen, and with a chuckle, he shook his head.
“I fear Miss Pinecrest that upon your first visit here your sister made a comment, and I made an erroneous judgment about you because of it. I was hoping, perhaps for some clarification.”
She looked at him curiously, but simply nodded her head, waiting for what was to come.
“Miss Pinecrest…. Eleanor,” he said in a soft voice, “why did you not take care of your father’s rose garden after he passed?”
Whatever she had expected him to ask, it clearly was not that. He saw panic come immediately to her eyes, and then fear, and then for one brief moment, he thought she may lie to him. But this was Eleanor, and he knew enough of her to know that she was not going to run away from this. From him. Not after the evening they had shared. And again, he was shocked by how amazing she was. She must have made so many sacrifices for her family in her life. He understood her now. She was so much like him in so many ways.
“Your Grace…”
“Storm”
She blushed remembering that they were post formalities.
“Storm, when I was a young girl, my father and I would go to that rose garden every morning at sunrise while the rest of the house was asleep. And at night, we would go back to the rose garden and watch the stars appear in the sky. It was my most favorite place in this whole world. But, as I suspect you know, if there comes a time when you must choose between saving a place you hold close to your heart, or saving your family, the decision is clear.”
Storm watched as tears came to her eyes and he was so caught up at the sight, he almost missed her soft whisper.
“It broke my heart to abandon that rose garden.”
Impulsively, Storm reached out and wiped her tears away. It was a gesture that he was becoming far too adept at. Then she looked into his eyes and Storm actually thought he saw her broken heart.
“I am so sorry Eleanor. How…how bad…”
Storm took a seat next to her, his hand resting gently over hers.
“We came to London with funds enough to get Felicity through one season. I prayed she would find a match. Our solicitor was here yesterday to let us know our manor had been sold. That will cover the rest of what the family owes, and leave a modest dowry for her. After this season, Marcus is heading to the army and I thought I may get a position as a governess or a companion. But if Felicity does not meet someone,” she looked down slightly ashamed, “I fear what will happen. That is why I was wearing those blasted shoes. Every cent we have is going to Felicity. She can never know the truth.”
And then she did cry. The tears she must have held back for years seemed to be unleashed. So, Storm did the only thing he could do. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as the tears flowed. All this time he had no idea who she really was, and now that he did, he had the unexplainable urge to save her. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to go about doing that. Then, when her soft arms came around him to complete the embrace, the anger he had felt three nights ago returned.
“Eleanor was your brother responsible…”
She pulled back from the embrace almost instantly. He felt the loss of her warmth, but he was happy to see her sobs were now just light tears.
“No. It was papa. Marcus had no idea until father passed that there were any financial problems. Honestly, if it were not for him, I am not sure we would have even managed to survive this long.”
Then, to his surprise, she fell right back into his arms. Storm just held her closer, his cheek resting against the top of her hair. Right now, there was nothing as precious as Miss Eleanor Pinecrest. He stood holding her for what seemed far too long and far too short at the same time. Finally, she pulled away from him and started confiding in him all the secrets she had been hiding these past few years.
Storm was fully aware that he needed to listen to her, however, all he was capable of doing was staring at her. Even with tear swollen eyes and the tiredness of carrying such a burden, Eleanor was remarkably pretty. Her eyes were wider than most women, which was very becoming on her. Not to mention those lovely long lashes she had. He had never been able to ignore the effect they could have on a man. But now, when he looked very closely, her lashes were not the most becoming thing about her eyes. When he looked deeply into them, he could swear there were slivers of green that shown through the edges of the brown orbs. How had he failed to notice that before? And how had he failed to notice her lips for that matter. Storm reckoned they were near the most perfect lips he had seen. Full and luscious, and when she paused in her speech he noticed that she would nibble the lower lip as she took a breath. It was alarming what affect that had on a man. For one moment he wondered if they would feel as soft as they looked. Was he actually thinking about kissing Miss Eleanor Pinecrest?
Eleanor stopped speaking. Clearly Storm was not listening to her. She could not quite understand actually what he was doing. He was just staring at her.
“You are not listening to me at all are you?”
She could tell that he knew she asked him a question, but she had still not gained his full attention. Eleanor hoped he was not going to be ill.
“I confess I was distracted. You have my sincere apology. What was it you were saying?”
She could not explain why, but his words had stung and she felt the tears come to her eyes instantly. All Eleanor could think about was that she finally found someone she could talk to about all the burdens she has had to handle the past two years and he just stopped listening.
She rose quickly and tried to avoid his gaze.
“You… you do not have to listen to me prattle on.”
He was instantly on his feet. Softly reaching out to her he turned her to face him.
“It was inexcusable of me to lose focus, Eleanor. I truly am here to help you in whatever way I can. It just… well in all honestly… I just realized how very pleasant your face is and it was, to be frank, distracting.”
“Oh,” Eleanor responded with surprise. Then to confuse her further, he continued.
“You have the faintest emerald flakes in your eyes that are very enchanting.” Eleanor stared at him for a full minute to try to determine if he was lying to her. Storm held her gaze with only honestly in his eyes.
“That was very kind of you to say.”
Eleanor could feel her heart racing. Had he actually just told her she was pretty? They remained silent again for a moment and finally Storm shook his head as if to clear his mind and motioned back to the chaise.
“Did your solicitor mention who purchased the estate?”
Eleanor took a seat again and sighed.
“I did not ask, and he did not offer. In all honestly I am not sure I truly want to know.”
Eleanor was surprised once more when he gently took her hand.
“I will do what I can to get it back for you.”
This time she looked at him.
“Oh no, Storm, really that is too much. I could not ask you to do that. I do not want to be in your debt. The friendship of your family this season has made these circumstances barely and money always causes problems between friends. I just needed a few days to accept that the estate is gone now. I just want to spend what little remains of our time here to enjoy the season. After Felicity marries, Marcus will join the military and I will be a governess. It will be hard enough to lose your family when that time comes. I will not let money come between us before then.”
Storm actually felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. And he knew, far too well, what that felt like. This might have been worse. The thought of Eleanor becoming a governess and not being able to visit his sisters for tea everyday was unacceptable. Bonnet would be heartbroken.
“Do you not want to marry?”
Eleanor laughed.
“Wanting to marry and being the kind of woman a man would marry, are two entirely different things.”
Storm frowned.
“Eleanor, you have many fine qualities a gentleman would desire in a wife.”
She sighed clearly not convinced. A distant clock chimed midnight. If he did not leave soon someone was bound to notice he was here so late. The last thing he wanted was to ruin her reputation.
“I should go.”
They both rose and Eleanor followed him to the door. Quite unexpectedly, Storm turned back to her and cupped her chin.
“I promise I will find a way to fix this.”
Smiling weakly, Eleanor met his gaze.
“You are not responsible for having to save me Storm.”
He laughed at that, grabbing his hat and cloak and opening the door to leave.
“Bonnet would have my head if you were unavailable for tea every afternoon.”
And as suddenly as he arrived, Storm was gone.