Chapter 6 #4
“Where is he?” Cliff demanded, but quietly. His palm covered her shoulder. “You know we will do anything to help him, although I might kill him for hurting you this way.”
She managed to look at him through her tears. “He is in mortal danger—but he thinks, as he always does, to protect everyone but himself!”
Cliff and Rex exchanged a potent look. Rex spoke. “If you have been in contact with Sean, then you know that his crimes are exceedingly serious and we must race the clock.”
She was so anguished that the fact that both of her brothers seemed to know about Sean’s status as an escaped felon only mildly surprised her. “When did you find out? And why was I not told?”
“Two nights ago, Captain Brawley stopped here to ask the earl and Tyrell what we knew. As we knew nothing until that moment, we had nothing relevant to impart to him,” Rex said.
“Was anyone going to ever tell me the truth?” she managed to ask with bitterness.
Cliff spoke. “I think one and all decided that you did not need this distraction on the eve of your wedding. Clearly, that judgment was the right one.”
“And when did you learn the truth about Sean?” she cried, finally becoming indignant and even angry. “Oh, let me guess! The moment you walked in the door! I am merely a woman, so I did not need to know that the man I have loved my entire life was still alive and in dire need of my help!”
“We understand that you still believe yourself to be in love with him, but he needs to flee the country, and I intend to help him do so. He needs my help, not yours, Eleanor.” Cliff stared.
His expression was one she had never before seen and she realized this must be how he appeared on his ship when about to do battle with his enemies.
Eleanor shook her head. “He begged me to keep his confidence. He is afraid that the earldom will fall, that Devlin will lose his estates—and he is right.”
Cliff’s dark brows slashed upward. “And you, also, planned to run off with him. I hope, Eleanor, that you have come to your senses, because jilting Sinclair on the morrow and fleeing with Sean could only hurt him, not help him.”
“I have realized that!” she cried. “But you would not understand! You have never been in love! I have missed him so terribly these past years, I thought I might die from heartache. Now, you will sail him to foreign shores! I will never see him again and I will never be able to convince him that I am the woman he must love.”
“Where is he?” Cliff had clearly decided to ignore the outpouring of her heart.
“In the woods.” She briefly told them how to find Sean.
“He is hurt?” Cliff asked, clearly making plans.
“He is scarred and thin, and his voice is weak and strange. He is terribly wounded, not physically, but in his soul.” She had to sit down and she collapsed into a chair.
“So he is physically able to ride and to walk?”
She glared at him. “Yes! But he is filled with pain, Cliff! Not that you can possibly understand.”
He was rigid. “I despise seeing you so distressed, but given the circumstances, I am not sorry he has rejected you. Sean has no future now. You have no future with him. Your future is with Sinclair.”
“You are arrogant and obtuse!” she cried, ignoring his surprise. “I hope you are struck by Cupid’s arrow one day and that the lady realizes you are nothing but a boor.”
“You are my only sister, and it is my duty to look after you and do what I think is best,” Cliff said, his jaw flexing.
He turned to Rex. “I prefer that we leave Father, Ty and Devlin in the dark. I will send a man to Limerick to order The Fair Lady readied to set sail. I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.
” And before Rex could even nod, he had strode from the room.
Eleanor wished she had a book to throw at his departing back, or any object in hand, but she did not. She glared after him instead.
Rex pulled an ottoman forward and sat down beside her. He handed her an immaculate handkerchief, embroidered with his initials. She accepted it, wiping furiously at her eyes.
“I understand,” he said quietly. “I understand the extent of your love—or at least, I think I do—and I also understand the extent of the sacrifice you are making.”
She stilled, meeting his kind brown gaze. “Thank you.”
“You are very brave, Eleanor, but your courage has never been in question.”
“My heart is broken,” she replied.
“He is a fool,” Rex said with heat. “And I intend to tell him so. Any man—except Cliff, obviously—would give his right arm to be so well loved.”
“Before the war, you were a romantic. You are still one, I see,” she managed to say.
He touched a curl. “I will arrange a farewell for you.”
She gasped in surprise, and then she seized his hands. “Thank you, Rex…thank you!”
He smiled. “What? You will not insist I am your favorite brother?”
She had no words left. She merely nodded, using the linen against more tears.
He took up his crutch and stood. “You have done the right thing for our stepbrother.”
Eleanor closed her eyes against the stabbing pain. It was a moment before she could speak. “I know,” she said.