Royal Courtship Page 10

  'Bella? Good girl, stay calm.'

  It was Charles, and Bella turned to cling to him.

  'What is it? Who are they?' she demanded.

  'It is the English. They are attacking the boat,' he replied calmly. 'They have scored one hit, but we are not very far from the coast.'

  Bella stared at him in amazement. 'Will we all drown?' she whispered.

  'If we do not reach the coast quickly.'

  The boat gave an odd little lurch. Bella stumbled and was thrown against Charles, who held her tightly.

  'What was that?' she asked, looking up into his face and discovering that his eyes had remarkably long lashes for a man. What a stupid thing to notice, she chided herself, when in a few minutes she might be drowned.

  'The boat is shipping water. But look over there. You can see land!'

  Others had seen it, too, and gradually the panic gave way to hope.

  The boat, shipping water fast, but with every sail hoisted, limped slowly across what seemed an endless stretch of water towards a low spur of land. Bella was conscious of a coolness in the air, and looking round saw the sun had set. The English boats, too near the coast of France, had drawn away.

  As darkness fell, Bella stood and watched the coastline as long as it was visible, with Charles's arms about her, and his lips caressing her forehead. She didn't know that tears were falling slowly down her cheeks, for the cruel waste of the love she had to give him.

  ***

  Chapter 10

  It seemed like hours before the lookout signalled from his post high in the rigging.

  'Land ahoy!' he cried, and a great cheer went up from the passengers.

  'How can he tell we are near?' Bella demanded, standing at the rail with Charles's arm about her waist.

  'He will be able to see lights inland from that height,' Charles suggested, and he was right. A few minutes later, Bella saw for herself the faint glow from a building straight in front of them.

  'Where is the shore? Can the ship reach land? How far away is it?' she demanded, straining to penetrate the enveloping darkness.

  'Near enough to swim, I'm sure,' he replied cheerfully.

  'I cannot swim!' Bella gasped in dismay.

  'You can hold on to me. I will get us both ashore.'

  'Does the ship not have small boats? Surely that is one over there.'

  'Only a couple of small ones, not enough for everyone. And there may not be time to launch them.'

  Wordlessly she clung to the rail. She was sure the boat was listing heavily to one side, the deck sloping more than it had before.

  'Come to the other side,' Charles said quietly, and Bella moved with him, grateful for the support of his arm over the steeply sloping deck.

  'Why?' she asked.

  'If the boat goes suddenly, it will be that side first. We would be swept into the water by all these loose packages and the press of people. Here we can hold on to the rail and help ourselves more.'

  The ship somehow limped on, and in the faint starlight Bella distinguished a darker ridge some way ahead.

  'Is that the shore?' she asked.

  'Yes, it must be. Not far away now.' Hardly were the words uttered than the ship struck something, and keeled over at a grotesque angle. Screaming passengers were thrown to the decks, and slid and rolled helplessly to fall into the seething waters below. If Charles had not been holding her in a grip of iron, Bella would have followed them.

  Bella realised in some detached part of her mind that the moon, fortunately full, was rising far behind them and beginning to light up the scene. Several passengers had, like themselves, been able to cling to the rail or other solid parts of the ship, and some of them were crying out in panic, or calling for loved ones no longer with them.

  'Come, we must move. Do exactly as I say,' Charles said softly.

  He began to edge along the deck towards the stern, taking Bella with him. When he found a coil of rope, he used his dagger to hack away a length of it. He tied one end firmly round her waist, the other about himself, leaving a yard or so slack between them.

  'I am not losing you now,' he said, grinning at her puzzled look.

  He found a rope ladder which dangled free from the side of the ship.

  'That will make our descent easier to control,' he muttered, and he picked Bella up and swung her over the rail.

  'I cannot!' she jerked out, but he was beside her instantly, and dropped a swift kiss on to her lips.

  'Of course you can. I will be right behind you.'

  He tested the ladder, which was firm, and eased himself on to it. Then he pulled Bella in front of him so that she was cradled between his arms.

  'Hook your elbows over my arms, and hold the ladder above my hands. You cannot fall.'

  Bella took a deep breath and firmly chastised herself. She was in a far better situation than the poor wretches who'd been flung into the water, whose cries she could hear below as they thrashed about amid the debris of the scattered packages and other items hurled with them from the decks.

  Gradually she managed the descent, feeling with her feet for the rungs, and wishing she still retained her masculine attire. Some of the other passengers still on deck were trying to follow, while others loudly demanded help from the captain and his crew.

  'Let go the rope now,' Charles said in her ear, and Bella instinctively obeyed him, only to wave her arms wildly in a desperate attempt to grasp it again as she felt herself falling backwards.

  The water was very cold, and for a moment the shock made Bella gasp for breath. It covered her head, and she swallowed some water, then found herself choking and coughing as Charles held her in his arms.

  'It is not far to the shore, and soon you'll be able to walk in the shallow water,' he told her. 'Go limp, do not struggle, and I will tow you along on your back. And keep your mouth closed this time.'

  'I wish you had warned me before!' Bella said raggedly.

  'I do not expect I will have many opportunities to tell you to stop scolding me,' he murmured in her ear as he swiftly turned her round and grasped her under the armpits. 'Leave it all to me now.'

  The next ten minutes were the most terrifying in Bella's life, and seemed more like ten hours. Utterly helpless, her skirts dragging at her legs, she found herself unable to see much apart from the crippled ship, or hear anything for the water which filled her ears. She was aware of others swimming beside them, and screams from farther away, and suddenly began to pray with desperate urgency that they would all be saved from a terrible death.

  Suddenly the movement stopped, and she found Charles lifting her higher in the water.

  'You can stand upright here, my love, and we can walk the rest of the way.'

  And with one arm about her, he forced her to begin wading through the increasingly shallow water.

  'What about all the others?' Bella asked as Charles struggled to undo the knots in the rope which had held them together.

  'Some have swum ashore already, look,' he said, and she saw several men sprawled on the sand.

  'The boats?'

  'They launched one, and are picking up some of the passengers. Now stay here. I'm going to go back and see if I can help.'

  A little while later, Bella noticed a pair of children clinging to a plank of wood, crying weakly. They were only a few yards offshore, and Bella immediately set off to try and reach them.

  She waded out almost to her waist before she could seize the plank. The older child gave her a faint smile, and spoke in French.

  'Take Louise. She has almost fallen off.'

  'Hold tightly till I can get back!' Bella ordered. She grasped the younger child, lifting her high in her arms as she turned to wade back to shore.

  A man who had seen what she was doing went past her.

  'I will get the other one. They are building a fire. Get her there and warm.'

  Bella turned and saw flames licking at a pile of wood which had somehow been gathered near the dunes. There were also the lights of la
nterns, so presumably someone on shore had seen the wreck and come to help them.

  At that moment a woman flung herself on Bella, and the child was lifted out of her arms, the two of them weeping and laughing with joy at being reunited.

  'Maman, Maman!' the little girl wept, and Bella turned back to the water with a smile to see if there was anything else she could do.

  'Bella!' She heard her name called and as it was repeated saw Charles wading out of the water with another child in his arms.

  'Take this lad to the fire,' he said briskly, and Bella once more found herself carrying an exhausted child towards the welcoming warmth.

  She waded into the sea several more times to help the people brought ashore by the boats or by those who could swim.

  Most were exhausted, almost too weak to stagger through the shallows, but they were helped by the stronger ones and taken to rest beside one of the many fires which had been lit.

  Bella moved as if in a dream. She had had almost no sleep the previous night, had spent most of the day in terror, and several hours wading into the water and carrying children. When a sailor took her arm and led her towards one of the fires, she went unresisting.

  Bella sank on to the sand, and dimly realised the sun was rising. Her last thought before she fell asleep was that it would help to dry her clothes, and she needed help. She was cold, so very cold.

  Seconds later she found herself being carried in strong arms. Hazily she opened her eyes and found that in some strange fashion the sun was high overhead. But she was still cold, and her wet clothes clung stickily to her body.

  'Charles?' she murmured, and he answered immediately.

  'I am going to find somewhere and make you dry and warm again.'

  She looked about her. He had left the dunes behind, and was striding across what seemed to be open heathland. She drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

  When next she woke it was because Charles had stripped off her gown and was struggling with the tapes of her petticoats.

  'What are you doing?' she asked.

  'Trying to get you dry,' he replied briskly.

  'But where are we?'

  'At the side of a haystack.'

  'A haystack!'

  He laughed, and gave a final tug at her petticoats.

  'Warm, soft, dry, something to rub life back into us, and cover us when we are ready to sleep. It even smells good.'

  Bella sniffed appreciatively. It was true. There was a tantalising mixture of sun-dried herbs amongst the hay! Then she realised she was almost naked and hastily clutched her shift about her.

  Charles laughed. 'I'll spare your modesty while I get out of my own wet clothes. Take off every last stitch of clothing, spread it out to dry, and then rub yourself dry with some hay. You can bury yourself in it afterwards.'

  It felt decidedly strange to be wandering around naked on the edge of a haystack finding suitable places for laying out her clothes, then sitting in the warm sun, scrubbing at her body as if she were a horse being groomed. The thought crossed her mind that Charles could be rubbing her down if she were a horse, and a deep crimson tide of embarrassment swept over her whole body.

  Pausing only to push her belt containing the jewels into the hay beneath her, she made frantic haste to bury herself deep in the loose hay. Then she pulled more down on top of her until only her face was visible.

  Some time later her dream disturbed her and Bella woke with a scream.

  'Hush, my love, you're safe now,' Charles said soothingly, his arms about her. 'Go back to sleep, my love. It will be dawn in an hour or so, and then we can plan how to continue our journey.'

  Still exhausted, but warm and comfortable, Bella forgot everything else in her need for sleep. It was long past dawn when she woke again and, with sleepy recollection, stretched out her hand towards Charles. He had gone.

  'Charles?' she called softly.

  'Bella? You're awake at last!'

  He appeared round the side of the haystack, his clothes streaked with the seawater and stiff with salt. The sight made her aware of her own lack of clothes, and she hastily buried herself more deeply in the hay.

  'When you are dressed, we will go in search of breakfast,' he said calmly. 'Your clothes are all dry.'

  He dropped a bundle on top of her, and chuckled as he turned away. Bella fastened on her belt with the jewels and struggled into her clothes, finding them in no better state than his.

  Their walk across fields to the small village some way inland was silent. Bella was embarrassed still by her memory of sleeping in Charles's arms during the night, and he did not appear to wish to talk.

  In the village they were greeted eagerly, and taken into the huge kitchen of a large farmhouse where they were plied with bread and cold meats. They found themselves in the company of a dozen more survivors of the wreck.

  Afterwards Charles, who had been talking to some of the other people, came back to her. 'We need to talk,' he said abruptly.

  Bella rose and followed him out of the kitchen, into a small orchard where the trees were laden with apples.

  'When you were dreaming, you were trying to fight me off, crying that you would not marry me,' he said slowly. 'Is that what you really want?'

  'You offered to please Grandmother,' Bella replied quietly. 'I do not wish to hold you to a promise you might one day regret.'

  'If you really mean it, why did you come with me to France?'

  'I meant to go to Bordeaux, to my aunt.'

  'Bella, you are not meant to be a nun. You are a beautiful, vital woman, meant for loving. No, listen to me. I will have my say and then you may make your decision. If you choose to go to Bordeaux there are people here who would be happy for you to join their party and travel with them. I will make no objection, but I hope you will choose to stay with me. Can you not bring yourself to try to love me?'

  'But you cannot mean it! You offered to please Grandmama!'

  'I offered to please myself, and you, too, I hoped. I flattered myself I would be a more acceptable bridegroom than King Henry. I hoped that even if you did not love me, then you might come to do so. I became utterly ensnared the moment I set eyes on you in the Great Hall, and have since then thought of little but how I might make you my wife, make you love me, spend the rest of my life pleasing you, caring for you, cherishing you. But I will not constrain you against your own wishes. If you cannot bear the thought of marriage to me then I will regret it all my days, but never blame you.'

  Bella stared at him, deeply moved by his sincerity and finally convinced he did love her. She could now admit her own love.

  'I thought you did not love me,' she whispered softly. 'I could not bear it if you married me as a duty, or because of a promise. I loved you so much I could not become a burden, causing you to do something you might regret.'

  For a few incredulous moments, Charles stared at her, then he swept her into his arms and kissed her until she was laughingly begging for mercy.

  'Shall we go to Paris and marry there, or wait until we reach my home?' he asked, breathless.

  'Is there not a priest here? Once the passengers have gone their ways, might he have time to marry us? After all, what would people think if we were to travel alone, and were not married?'

  'They would undoubtedly be shocked, and it might be a little difficult to acquire boy's clothing for you! You are sure, my love?'

  'Yes.' She sighed contentedly. 'I was sure a long time ago, but I could not bear it if you were not.'

  'I shall spend the rest of my life proving to you how much I adore you, my lovely Bella,' he said huskily, and took her in his arms once more to kiss her in a manner which left her in no doubt as to the truth of his words.

  THE END

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  Marina Oliver has written over 60 novels, and has converted most of them to ebooks. Others have been or are being published as ebooks by other publishers.

  For the latest information please see Marina's web site:

  http://www.marina-o
liver.net

  You might also enjoy my story about another King in danger:

  HER CAPTIVE CAVALIER

  By Marina Oliver

  Determined not to allow a band of roaming Cavaliers to enter her home, Caro threatens their leader with a pistol. When he ignores her challenge she shuts her eyes and fires.

  Compelled to nurse him when her shot grazes his head, she gradually realises she must protect him from his enemies.

  But that is not enough. His enemies become hers, and to escape them she has to trust herself to his protection.

  *