Chapter 13

Eleanor and Nathan, after a few more minutes of being wrapped in each other's arms, returned back to the room where the man lay dying. When they returned, the other men were covering his body with a white cloth.

Eleanor's breathing hitched. He had passed.

She turned to Nathan who had his head hung low. He was showing respect for the departed like the other men in the room and Eleanor, too, followed them in their actions before they all left the room, Nathan closing the door behind them.

'We shall cremate him as soon as possible.' Nathan's words cut the silence which had persisted and Eleanor looked at him. His words had been directed towards the youngest of the men - he was tall and lean and had a moustache much like most men she had seen in India. Like the rest, he wore a long, loose white shirt and a white cloth which wrapped around his legs.

The man nodded at Nathan before relaying what he had said to the other men who all nodded in reply.

'For the lady's sake,' Nathan said, inclining his head towards her, 'we shall henceforth speak in English. She does not understand Hindi and shall be with us the coming months.'

The man who Nathan had spoken to before bowed low before her. 'My thanks to you, Your Grace, for agreeing to aid us in our mission,' he said in a thickly accented but melodious voice. 'It is an honour to have you with us.'

Eleanor acknowledged his words with a tilt of her head and smiled faintly. 'The honour is all mine, kind sir.'

'I am sorry, Your Grace, but my men do not know much English. Although they can speak a little - very little - they find it extremely difficult to converse in the language. Do excuse them. I am well-versed in the language, though, and anything you wish to relay to them, I shall do so.' His eyes which were a deep black and held much warmth which soothed Eleanor's frazzled nerves on account of the state of the departed man.

'Thank you,' she said softly. 'Forgive my manners but what is your name?

The man smiled warmly. 'My name is quite long and hard to pronounce for an English tongue. For your sake, please call me Ram.'

'Ram,' Eleanor tested out the name and turned to Nathan who had been observing the conversation silently. His face showed amusement. No doubt he was amused by her inability to pronounce the name which she knew held no resemblance to what Ram had said.

'It is a pleasure to meet you, Ram,' Eleanor said, still mispronouncing it. 'I am Eleanor.'

Ram bowed his head and the other men too, quickly did so.

'We shall reconvene tomorrow, gentlemen,' Nathan interrupted, his loud voice booming. There was a murmur of assent from the group and Eleanor knew that they had understood those words.

'Until tomorrow, Your Graces.' Ram bowed again and Nathan held Eleanor gently by the elbow and steered her in the direction of the stairs.

'What do you think?' Nathan asked her as they made their way down to the room below and out of the building. The clouds in the sky had grown darker since she had last seen them and she knew that if they did not reach shelter soon, they were going to be drenched.

'Beg pardon?'

'What do you think of my men?' Nathan asked again as he hailed the carriage driver who sat idly a couple paces away on a rickety old wood chair.

'They are polite,' she answered after a moment's thought. 'And it surprises me that Ram knows English. Quite well, at that.'

'Yes,' Nathan replied. 'At first, I too, was surprised. But I quickly learned that Indians are not what they seem. Ram is just one of a million people who speak the language.'

'Truly?' Eleanor asked, agape.

Nathan nodded. 'Growing up in a country ruled by Englishmen, one learns quite a lot. Especially language.'

The carriage had drawn up in front of them and Nathan helped her into it before getting in after her and shutting the door. He tapped the ceiling with his cane and they were off.

They did not speak for a long time, on the journey back, until Eleanor decided to out with what was bothering her.

'Nathan,' she started. 'I'm sorry.'

His brows furrowed. 'Whatever for?'

'You know what,' she answered with a sigh. For a whole week, she had been trying to find a time to apologise to him and now that she finally does, it is in a carriage - closed off, preventing her from running should he react badly. Not that that should be of much concern. He had held her in his arms when she had cried, had he not? He had showed no ill bearing towards her then. But doubt did linger in her mind, its clutches on her making her frightened.

Nathan's face transformed just as quickly as the rain started pouring outside. 'I think it best if we do not talk about it anymore. It was a misunderstanding which lead to a fight which lead to more misunderstanding. Besides, I was the one who did wrong. You have nothing to apologise for.'

Eleanor's heart clenched. Here was another reason she had grown fond of her husband. She was mostly to blame for the awful fight between them and yet, he took the blame on himself. Truly, he was the perfect gentleman!

'However much I wish it were true, you and I know it is not,' she said. 'I turned the conversation around and twisted it into something so horrible. And the dreadful things I said about you! I did not mean them, nor do I mean them now. Please do accept my apology, Nathan. I am very sorry.'

Nathan's mouth quirked up at the corner. 'Apology accepted.'

Eleanor's heart soared and a grin threatened to paste itself onto her face.

'But on one condition,' Nathan added and the grin which had been pulling her lips ceased to stretch. What condition must she fulfil to gain his forgiveness? She hoped it wasn't anything difficult. But she was prepared to do whatever he wanted for he must forgive her.

'Anything!' Eleanor exclaimed.

Nathan's smile widened. 'Will you dance with me in the rain?'

**********

'It is freezing out here!' Eleanor screamed over the pour of the rain as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Her awful husband - yes, he was indeed awful- had dragged her to the terrace of the house as soon as they had arrived despite the chill of the rain. Her gown clung to her body and her hair was a soaking mess which plastered itself on her cheeks.

Nathan, who stood apart from her, laughed and held out his hand to her. He too was drenched and Eleanor could not help but notice the way his breeches hugged his legs and his wet shirt exposed the skin beneath it. Her cheeks reddened and she felt a wave of warmth engulf her.

'It is not!' He screamed over the patter of the rain. 'Now, take my hand and dance with me!'

Eleanor shook her head frantically. Her husband was indeed out of his mind!

'There will be no dancing until you let me go back inside the house! Where it is warm!' she screamed and proceeded to turn to go back into the house. She didn't reach far because a hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked her back. She yelped at the sudden action and collided with a hard plane.

And by God, what a lovely hard plane that was.

She hadn't been able to fully appreciate the art that was Nathan's chest before for he had stood a distance away from her and the rain had blurred her vision. But standing so close to him with his chest directly in her line of sight, she could see very clearly the hard planes of his chest through the thin, wet shirt and the smooth, pale skin which stretched over his muscles even through the droplets of water which clung to her lashes.

Eleanor gulped. There was a low chuckle from above and she looked up to find Nathan smiling merrily down at her. 'Do you like what you see?' he asked, his voice husky.

Eleanor managed to scoff at him -with much effort. 'Of course not. Although, you really must invest in better clothing. I daresay, this shirt is too flimsy. Imagine the scandal you would have caused had you been caught like this in public!'

Nathan's arms went around her waist until they settled comfortably at the bottom of her spine, alarmingly close to another part of her body which she preferred kept quiet. She gasped as he pulled her closer and began to sway her around to the rhythm of the falling rain.

'That would never happen, Ellie,' Nathan answered throatily.

Eleanor gulped again. He had called her Ellie despite her prohibiting him from doing so. But for some reason, she liked the way it rolled off her tongue unlike when Gabrielle called her that. Choosing to ignore the feelings he evoked in her, she asked instead, 'And why is that, my lord?'

He leaned down and placed his lips next to her ear before answering. 'Because you are the only one I will let see me in any state of undress.'

Eleanor's mouth dropped open but she was saved from answering by the voice which interrupted them.

'Your Grace!' a female voice called. Eleanor turned to look at the person who had saved from the embarrassing situation but her demeanour instantly tensed at the person who stood by the door to the terrace.

It was the housekeeper, Miss Lucy Abbott, the wrench.

The smile on Nathan's face dropped as soon as he spotted her and his voice was clipped when he replied. 'What is it?'

'You should not be out in the rain, Your Grace!' she yelled. 'You could catch a cold!'

Nathan's eyes darkened a shade and he was about to respond when Eleanor beat him to it. 'His Grace may do whatever he wishes. He does not need you to tell him what and what not to do,' she said coldly.

The housekeeper's face grew grim and she flashed her a cold look before looking at Nathan and flashing him a sickly sweet smile. 'Your Grace, you really should not be out here. You should not let Lady Eleanor sway your decisions. If she wants to be out here, let her! But please do come inside. I have made a cup of hot chocolate too.'

Eleanor's heart dropped. Miss Abbott was very pretty and she doubted any man could resist her charms.

But, to her surprise, Nathan did.

'That will not be necessary, Miss Abbott,' he replied darkly. I will stay out here, with my wife, however long I want to for the idea was mine to come out here. Now, please leave us immediately before I get the footmen to haul you out of here!' Nathan's voice had risen and he yelled out the last words, making Eleanor move back, involuntarily.

Miss Abbott's eyes widened in fear before she scrambled away.

For a while, there was nothing surrounding the two of them but silence, broken only by the continuous pattering of the rain.

'I'm sorry,' Nathan suddenly said.

Eleanor whipped her head up and looked up at Nathan's sorry-ridden face. 'Why do you say that?'

'I am sorry you had to see that,' he replied, letting out a sigh at the end.

Eleanor could not help it, for she burst out in laughter at his words.

'What is it?' Nathan asked, his eyebrows furrowed together. 'Why are you laughing? I did not jest, did I?'

Eleanor shook her head, laughter continuing to bubble in her for some unknown reason. She really did not know why she was laughing! 'No, you did not. I just do not understand why you apologise even when it is not your fault.'

'Beg pardon?'

'It is what you do! You apologise quite often, Nathan. Why, it is the second time this day you are apologising! The first, you did when I saw the man bleeding to death. And the second, now! Why do you do it? You are hardly to blame for both instances!'

Nathan's mouth quirked. 'I believe you are right,' he said, the smile blossoming.

Eleanor nodded, her amusement ceasing. 'I do believe I am,' she added.

'In any case, I would apologise to you a thousand times over. But only you.'

Eleanor's heartbeat quickened at his words and she found herself itching to know the reason why.

So she asked.

'Why?'

He answered and the reply made Eleanor want to dance a jig right then and there.

'Because you're worth it.'