Chapter Text
Chapter One
It was always a mystery how Mr. Bean, Sidney Parker's butler, knew someone was going to knock on the door before anyone heard a sound, not the sound of hoofs sticking the flat paving rocks, nothing, complete silence. And yet as soon as Mary Parker touched the golden lion's head knocker Mr. Bean was opening the door.
“Mrs. Parker,” he exclaimed, never cracking a smile at anyone, except the cook Medline. Stiff as a board, he stepped back.
Mary, Tom Parker's wife often called on her brother in law for aid with issues pertaining to her husband. This was one of those times.
“Oh, Bean is Sidney here? I must speak to him at once.” She pushed past Bean and moved towards the study where Sidney and his fiancée Eliza, were settled in separate chairs close to the fire, blazing bright orange and red flames in the brick and stone firebox, smoke escaping up the chimney. The room was masculine, down to the polished oak desk. Papers were neatly stacked on the side along with an ink well and pen. A dull knife with a pearl handle was displayed next to the documents. The walls, full of pleasant landscapes, pets and ancestors filled the wall space. Shades of blue and light green fabric covered the settee and wingback chairs. A glass glob lamp filled with oil cast shadows across the room.
Sidney had a crystal glass half full of bourbon in his hand, swirling it around watching the color dance from the light glowing from the lamp before he took more than a sip. Inside he was angry, hell, more than that he was burring with furry. He could feel his blood boiling and not in a good way. To think one time when he wasn’t himself he could let her seduce him into her bed. He must be powerful as she said the result was she was with his child. But it just couldn’t be, he was sickened at the thought. He hadn’t been thinking or he was thinking she was someone else. Someone he could love, someone he could live with, enjoy, share pleasures and raise a family with.
It was his townhouse in the Mayfair section of London. Eliza wanted them to live there after they wed. She drank from a crystal flute, red wine she so enjoyed. Most of the time she enjoyed it entirely too much.
She studied the room and thought of all the changes she would make. The colors of Spring and Summer would be replaced with darker browns, golds and greens.
He had books everywhere, heavy tables and chairs, the wood polished to a shine. Figurines placed on the tables close to the lamps, pictures in gilded frames, who cares about animals, or landscapes full of bubbling brooks and flowers? A portrait of his parents hung over the massive fireplace. A painting of him hung out in the hall, she cringed every time she saw it. Of course it would be replaced with one of her. She would have her way and change everything except Sidney. He could stay as infuriated as he liked, it did not matter to her, no, indeed not at all.
He was gorgeous, he kept his hair short with just a hit of curls but also he could be hateful, she noticed he saved all that only for her. He occasionally worked on the docks, loading and unloading his ships and giving his muscles a workout. Tall with broad shoulders, slim hips and if he would let her and he would not she knew his arms must be strong, it showed in his big hands. He had beautiful dark brown eyes. Perfectly shaped lips only she never got a taste. However there were other things she wanted from a man with a conscience and she was determined to get them.
When Sidney heard the commotion in the hall he stood shaking his head, motioning for her to stay where she was.
The door was open when Mary saw him, standing stone straight with that same frown on his handsome face. The crease between his eyes looked like it had become permanent, especially when Eliza was around. He had been frowning, unsettled ever since he had engaged himself to her. She had a way of seducing a drunk man before he knew what was happening. Sidney was the third man that thought he was going to be a father. So far, he hadn’t found a way out of it.
“Sidney,” Mary cried, “help me, I can’t find Tom.”
“What do you mean, you can’t find him.” Sidney took her arm and led her to the chair he had just left.
Mary was about to burst into tears, she had been crying, it showed in her red swollen eyes. “We argued about the fire. I shouldn’t have but he was so neglectful and now,” she buried her face in her hands, then looked up at the snarl on the other woman's face. “Oh, Eliza, sorry to intrude.” Eliza shrugged it off, apparently she didn't care.
Tom Parker had rented a townhouse not far from his brother in Mayfield, an exclusive neighborhood of London. He thought himself a man of business until most of it went up in flames. Six newly constructed apartments were lost. He had stuck his head in the sand, not wanting to spend the money to pay insurance so all was lost. He felt it best to leave their home in Sanditon, a sleepy little village situated on the sea shore. He couldn’t rebuild, he couldn’t pay the workers, he wanted to just hide and so he took his family and did just that.
Eliza smiled the fake smile she was so good at. As far as Eliza was concerned, Mary was a pitiful little creature, she had no time for the likes of her.
Small in stature, golden curls around her face, Mary was the kindest woman Sidney had ever known. He didn’t know how marriage worked but if he could find a woman like Mary he would like to find out.
Eliza detested Mary’s husband, Tom Parker, the swine, always needing his brother to save the day. Once she was Mrs. Sidney Parker, Tom wouldn’t dip his hands in Sidney's pockets , that was for her to do.
Eliza was having a difficult time pinning Sidney down on a wedding date, claiming to be with child, she was running out of time. Of course she wasn’t with child, she had herbs to take care of that. Besides once he was in her bed he passed out never touching her. Once she was married she would explain to Sidney the child had been lost and life would move on. She had him believing he had slept with her, this time the scheme would work. She knew he didn’t care for her but she didn’t care, all she wanted was in his bank account. A Duke and a Viscount paid her to go away but Sidney had a conscience and faced his responsibilities.
“Where was he the last time you saw him?” Sidney asked as he finished off his drink.
“It was hours ago, he was angry at me and the situation. He just went out the door without a word. I’ve looked everywhere.” Mary felt the cut in Eliza's eyes but she pressed on.
“Maybe he went to White’s.” Sidney reasoned .
“Well, of course he would gamble what’s left,” she mopped her cheeks with the handkerchief Sidney handed her.
Eliza continued to drink and grin at Mary, it was the grin of someone evil .
“Mary, you go on back home and see to the children, I’ll find him, he’ll be all right.”
He never gave Eliza another thought.
“Sidney, you aren’t leaving me here,” Eliza sighed, “all alone.”
He studied her with a scowl on his face. “You’ll be fine, I’ll have the coach wait out front to take you home.” He sneered back at her. He thought when in his right mind he never did like the women. Her parents were about to lose everything they had and she was simply out to gain enough wealth to help them. The first two men had been smart enough with their coins to get past her lies but Sidney was all about doing the right thing. Damn his hide.
Mary left sobbing but hoped in her heart that Sidney would find her husband and bring him home. She promised herself she would never bring up the apartment fire again. Sidney had offered the money Tom needed to rebuild but Tom had refused.
Younger brother had a fleet of ships, buying and selling goods at every port on the continent, and doing quite well. He would be able to afford to help his brother and become part owner of the business. If only Tom would listen.
It would soon be dark, fog rose up from the ground strangling anything in its way. Dark and dangerous, a light drizzle started to fall and it was cold. Sidney pulled his great coat snug around himself, adjusted his hat and walked.
Tom wasn’t at the famous gambling establishment known as White’s, no one had seen him. Sidney left and started to walk the back allies leading to the not so famous gambling hells. The alley was offensive with its trash and smells of urine, it wasn’t the safest place in the city. Off in the distance he could hear the coaches and the hoofs of the animals pulling them. He walked on, looking side to side in the dark alley. What if Tom got drunk and passed out? That seemed to be the way of the Parkers as of late.
He heard a sound almost like a child's whimper. He stopped to listen to see where the sound was coming from. Trash was piled up along the back walls of the buildings when he saw something move. He stood in front of a coat or possibly a blanket, something with a lump behind it. He reached down and yanked it away, then he heard the scream and dropped the offensive rag.
“Don’t hurt me again please. I can’t,” she sobbed burying her face in her hands.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Who are you, what the hell happened here?” Sidney reached for her arm to pull her to her feet so he could see who or what was sobbing uncontrollably. The blanket, he pulled off was wet and smelled of something rotten. She smelled of dirt and trash and God knew what else.
It was a girl, a small young girl was all he could assess from the size. He reached down once more to help her up but she was too weak to stand, her legs buckled. The only thing left to do was pick her up and carry her like the child he thought she was. Her head lolled back. She had used all her strength to scream and there was nothing left but a moan. Her arm flopped with each step. Half dead, he carried her to his brother's house. He kicked the door to be let in. The butler opened and stepped back at the sight of Mr. Sidney with an unconscious person in his arms.
He pushed past Mr. Tomas in search of Mary. There in the parlor stood Tom with Mary in his arms.
“I need some help here,” he took a step closer.
Mary pulled away from Tom and rushed to see. She frowned. “Who is this?” she gasped when the smell hit her.
“I don’t know,” he looked down in her face, “I don’t think she’ll be telling us anytime soon.” He kept watching the girl's tear stained dirty face.
“She’s in desperate need of a bath, poor thing. What happened?” Mary leaned in for a closer look.
“I don’t know, I found her in an alleyway hunkered behind a rotten old blanket. She was scared and begged me not to hurt her again. She couldn’t stand, I guess I scared the life out of her, when I picked her up she passed out.”
“How far have you come?” Mary started towards the stairs.
“Not far, but she weighs next to nothing.”
“Bring her up to the spare bedchamber, I’ll get the maids to help tend to her. Poor little thing.”
She really was as light as a sack full of feathers, he’d moved pillows that weighed more. With better light he could see she wasn’t just a little girl, she was a young woman and white as his sheets, probably from fear and shock.
Sidney laid her on the bed with Mary and her maid moving around gathering clean warm water, towels and blankets. Mary rushed out while the maid dabbed the wet clothes on the girl's face. Sidney just stood there looking at her. She had long brown hair and a little nose, high cheek bones and a small dimple in her chin. Her lips looked like they were turning blue. He shook his head there was something about her he couldn't quite figure out. He turned to leave as Mary rushed back in with a white cotton nightgown.
“You go on,” she pushed him towards the door, “this baby needs to be cleaned up some. We’ll do the best we can until she is able to have a bath.”
Sidney was speechless with worry and why the hell should he be worried about some women he didn’t know. But he was worried, he could see she had once been lovely. Heart pounding he went back down stairs to tell Tom he needed to grow up, accept his help and quit acting like a spoiled child.
Tom was leaning on the fireplace mantel, fingering the adornments. Silver candle holders, this and that, he wondered where they came from. Had they been there all this time and he hadn’t noticed?
“Tom, what the hell, walk out on your wife and cause her to have to come to me for help.” Everything was crushing down on him, sharp pain in his stomach confirmed it.
Tom whirled around to face his brother. “I’m sorry if she disturbed your evening.”
“That’s not the point.” Sidney lowered his voice, thinking of the girl upstairs.
“I’m always glad to help but for you to treat Mary that way, the woman was beside herself with worry.”
“I know, I’ve apologized and it won’t happen again.” Tom mumbled.
Sidney went to the side table and poured himself a bourbon. He stirred the golden liquid around, which seemed to be his habit. Drank. “Tom accept my help to get the apartments rebuilt, then pay me back when you start getting rent payments.”
Tom gritted his teeth, little brother's help was the last thing he wanted. “Mary thinks it’s the best way out of this mess.” Tom replied.
“And so do I, you’re so hardheaded, it’s time you think of others.” Sidney sipped his drink looking into Tom's eyes. Thinking of others, he was thinking about the girl, found lifeless in a cold, rat infested, dirty alley. Had he seen her before? no that wasn’t it. He had carried her close to his chest and felt her faint heartbeat.
Now that the air was cleared Sidney took a seat, crossed his legs, settled back with his drink. Thinking, always thinking how he got himself in such a predicament with Eliza and what the hell he was going to do about it. So far marriage was the only answer. He would hate it and her, soon they wouldn’t even speak. Hell, he thought, I’ll just live on one of my ships. If it weren’t for a child he wouldn’t do what was right.
Tom sat in the chair facing him, “who do you suppose that girl is?”
Sidney watched his drink as it swirled, “I have no idea, bothers me she was so afraid of being hurt again. While her clothes were dirty and ripped at one time the dress was above the average. She might have come from wealth.”
“Someone has done something to her, possibly something unspeakable.” Tom murmured.
“I don’t suppose we’ll know until she wakes up.” Sidney took a deep breath and blew it out trying to relieve himself of the tension creeping up the back of his neck. “I think the doctor needs to look at her, she could have been raped.” he thought out loud.
Mary joined them, “I was thinking the same thing. Maria is sitting with her, when she wakes I’ll try to find out who she is, where she’s from and we’ll call for the doctor.”
“How does anyone get that thin?” Sidney stood to pace.
“She hasn’t had enough to eat, I’m sure of it,” Mary sat next to Tom, “ and she’s pale, not to mention the dirt.”
Sidney, still pacing, “We’ll never find out.”
“You don’t know that,” said Tom. “Mayhap she will know who hurt her.”
Sidney put another log on the fire, he had some odd feeling he couldn’t shake. Picking her up, scaring her into unconsciousness, wanting to kill whoever hurt her. He shook his head as if that would make these thoughts go away.
Moreover, he tried to reconcile his engagement to Eliza. He stared into the flames of the fire, his memory was better now. He didn’t do anything to ruin his life.
He had gone to Babbington’s country estate for a weekend party. The men had hunted during the day and played billiards in the evening, drank, joked and told lies and drank some more.
He was well into his cups when Eliza took his arm and led him out to the terrace where she had more whiskey for him to sample and he was just enough inebriated to drink it. As his memory faded in and out, his frown turned to a scowl, his hands tighten into fist. She had maneuvered him to her bedchamber, too drunk to care he went. End of story or was it?
When he woke his shirt was pulled out of his trousers, the flap of his trousers was unbuttoned, he was miserable. She lay next to him in her red silk robe saying things about how good he was. Good at what?? for God’s sake!
He remembered her trying to get more familiar, her hands were roving under his clothes. He moved her hand away and sat up with a splitting headache. He remembered asking her what the hell happened and she laughed trying to kiss him. The woman was a vulture, plain and simple. He pushed her away and got out of the bed. The pain in his head took his breath away, as he scrambled for his boots. He didn’t, he couldn't have, besides all that, he wouldn’t have wanted to.
“Eliza I don’t really remember what went on here, but in the end, if I’m sure and I almost am, you manipulated me up here thinking you would have your way with me.” He took a breath and retreated to the door.
“Sidney, how could you? You wanted me, that’s all and we, well you liked it.”
“I’d remembered but I think I laid down and passed out. I wasn’t interested before and I’m not interested now. What time is it?” He looked back at her over his shoulder. She was smiling at him like she knew something he didn’t.
“Early, come back to bed and I’ll make you remember.”
“No thanks." Boots in hand, he flung the door open and escaped. There were plenty of men she could have her way with; he just wasn’t one of them. Damnit.
“Sidney,” Tom was standing in front of him. “Come back, where have you gone?”
Sidney shook his head and answered, “what?”
“You’ve been thinking, and by the look on your face it wasn’t pleasant.” Tom clasping a hand on his shoulder.
“I, well, this mess with Eliza,” he shrugged. “I don’t think it’s true, I never had that woman. The thing for sure is I’ll never over indulge in drinking again.”
Tom snorted, “Only until next time.”