Love Sneaked In (Montgomery Family Trilogy) (25 page)

Even though they got a late start the following morning, the trip back went well, and they were home by one o’clock. Christina and Catherine told Miss Wilson all about their great adventure. They were so excited that they seemed to talk a mile a minute. Helen and Matthew left them in the schoolroom and made their way to their rooms to freshen up for tea.

When Helen went into the drawing room, Margaret was already there. Smiling, Helen asked, “Did you have an enjoyable day yesterday, Margaret? We had a marvelous time in Plymouth. Christina and Catherine were little angels the entire time. I was a little worried about taking them without any servants, but it worked out well. How is everything with Mr. Boling?”

“Peter and I went for a long ride yesterday,” Margaret replied, “and we explored more of the caves. He’s fascinated by them, and he thinks he’s going to find buried treasure. I keep telling him that all the tales are just myth, but he says that it doesn’t hurt to take a good look around anyway. After all, those caves were used by smugglers, and they may have left something behind.”

Helen was relieved that Margaret and Boling seemed to be getting along so well, so maybe this wouldn’t turn out to be the disaster they had expected it to be. Helen poured a cup of tea for Margaret and handed it to her. “I’ve never been in the caves. I’m not sure I would enjoy exploring them. I don’t like dark damp places.”

Looking over at Helen, Margaret wistfully said, “It seems strange, not going back to school. I know I only had one more year left, and I’m going to miss it. I don’t regret marrying Peter though.”

“I’m pleased that you and Mr. Boling are getting along so well. I was worried that he might be restless since he was forced to marry you so quickly. Both of you are so young to be thrust into adult responsibilities when both of you should still be in school, but if you’re happy, then I hope you’ll continue to be so.”

“Helen, you worry too much. I know Peter and I are young, but we really do love each other. We’re going to be fine.”

Matthew and Boling joined them, and soon they were all drinking their tea and enjoying their biscuits. Both Matthew and Boling ate several sandwiches each. After tea, Matthew excused himself, because he had a meeting with Wilcox. Boling went with him. Matthew was teaching him how to manage an estate, since Boling would have his own to manage in the future. Helen decided to go to her room and start her new book that she’d gotten in Plymouth.

The next week went peacefully by. Each morning Helen would go on her morning ride with Matthew, and then meet with Mrs. Smith. Every afternoon she would spend time with Christina and Catherine either playing tea or going to the garden. They hadn’t called her mama yet, but Helen believed it would be soon. She’d also gone to several committee meetings and had gotten to know Meredith much better. In fact, they’d gone riding on the beach several times.

Helen and Matthew spent their evenings playing cards with Margaret and Boling or listening to music. Overall, Helen was very content with her life. She still hadn’t told Matthew that she loved him. She was just too afraid to reveal her feelings, and she knew it had to do with Hanford. She’d received a letter from Melody, and she had urged her to tell him, but she was just not ready yet. She was hoping that Matthew would say something about his feelings first.

Chapter 16

Late September 1820

Two weeks after their return from Plymouth, Helen and Matthew went for their usual ride on the beach. Once they got down to the shore, they let their horses go and were soon galloping along the water’s edge. Suddenly, Helen started slipping and she went tumbling off her horse. Matthew watched in alarm as she fell, knowing he couldn’t get to her in time to stop her fall.

As Helen hit the sand, Matthew’s heart stopped. He pulled Apollo to a halt, jumped off him, and rushed over to her. She wasn’t moving, and she had a large gash on the side of her head from Ginny’s hoof that was bleeding profusely. He was afraid to move her at first because he couldn’t tell if she’d broken anything, but he found a pulse, so he knew she was alive. He felt along her arms and legs and nothing seemed to be broken.

“Thank God,” he cried. “Please wake up my darling.”

When he tried to pick her up, he noticed that her shoulder looked odd and was scared that she may have broken something after all. He was afraid to move her, but he knew he had to get her out of the water. Matthew gently lifted her and carried her to dry sand.

He looked around and saw Margaret and Boling coming down the path, and he called out, “Boling, Margaret, I need your help! Helen has taken a fall. Something’s wrong with her shoulder, but I don’t think anything else is broken. Boling, go up to the house and get something for us to carry her on.”

Boling dashed away, and Matthew took his jacket off and wrapped it around Helen’s head, which was still bleeding copiously. Soon Boling was back with the footman, carrying a flat plank with them. Matthew gently moved Helen to the board, and they carried her up to the house.

Once Boling and the footman got Helen up to her room, Matthew laid her on her bed. Helen was unconscious, and no matter how he tried to stop it, her head was still bleeding. Between him and Sally they got her undressed, but they had to cut off her riding habit to avoid moving her right shoulder. It was swollen and turning purple. Once they had her undressed, they didn’t try to put on her night rail because they were afraid of hurting her shoulder, so Matthew pulled the covers up to hide her naked body and to keep her from getting chilled.

Sally brought a wet cloth, and Matthew bathed the blood off Helen’s beautiful face. It was her temple that was bleeding, so they wrapped a bandage around her head. Wells brought the doctor up to Helen’s room.

Dr. Moore turned to Matthew after he finished examining Helen. “She has a dislocated shoulder, and I’m going to have to get it back in its socket. The trauma to her head is what has me most concerned, so you’ll need to watch her closely. The pain is going to be excruciating for her when I try to get her shoulder back in place. I need to do that right now. My lord, you’ll need to hold Lady Collingswood down and try to keep her from moving while I attempt to get her shoulder back in place.”

Dr. Moore grabbed her arm and pulled. When he did, the shoulder went immediately back into its socket, but Helen remained unconscious. Matthew started pacing back and forth. Helen should have screamed when the doctor pulled her arm, and she didn’t even flinch.

Oh God, please let her be all right!

Dr. Moore cleaned her head injury and stitched the wound to close the gash. After that, he put on a fresh bandage. The doctor looked over at Matthew. “When she wakes up she’ll need to keep her right arm in a sling to immobilize her shoulder. The best thing you can do for her is get some water down her. She’s going to have a terrific headache when she wakes up, so give her this medicine, which should help her pain.”

“Doctor, is my wife going to be all right?”

The doctor slowly answered, “I’m sorry that I can’t assure you she’ll be all right. If you’re a praying man, I’d recommend you do it, since only God knows whether she’ll come through this. I’ll come back this evening, and hopefully she’ll have regained consciousness by then. If not, she could have a fractured skull, which would be very serious. If that is the case, she may not wake up.”

Matthew refused to leave Helen’s side. He sat by her bed and held her hand for hours. Margaret tried to get him to let her sit with Helen, but he refused. He asked Peter to get Edwards and have him find Ginny, then see if he could find out what could have caused Helen to fall. Since Helen was such an accomplished rider, it made no sense that she’d fallen. Something must have happened to her equipment. She looked so pale lying there, and it was heartwrenching to see her lying so still.

The doctor returned at six o’clock, but Helen was still unconscious. As the doctor was examining her, he noticed she was bleeding slightly. He shook his head. “My lord, I believe your wife is with child. The bleeding is light, so there’s still a chance she won’t lose the babe, but only time will answer that question. Please continue to try to get water down her, and I’ll return in the morning.”

Matthew wouldn’t allow anyone else to take care of Helen. He stayed by her side all through the night, but she remained unconscious. When Dr. Moore examined her the next morning, he said, “The bleeding has stopped, my lord. I don’t think she’s lost the babe, but it may not matter if she doesn’t wake up soon. I’ll return in the morning to check on Lady Collingswood. Please don’t hesitate to send for me if anything changes.”

Since Helen had been unconscious for forty-eight hours, Matthew knew what Sanderford would do if something happened to her and he hadn’t been informed, so he immediately sent word to him.

Finally, Margaret convinced Matthew to leave Helen’s side long enough to bathe. He was back by Helen’s side within the hour. While he was away, he went and talked to Edwards and found out that the girth on Helen’s saddle had given way and that was why she’d fallen.

That made sense because Matthew knew Helen wouldn’t have just simply fallen without a reason. It almost looked as if the girth had been cut, but not enough to break immediately, just enough to weaken it. When they started galloping, as they usually did, the strain caused it to pull apart the rest of the way. Matthew couldn’t understand who would have done such a thing. Surely, it must have been cut by accident. Just to make sure, he told Edwards to find out if anyone strange had been around at the time of her accident.

Helen was losing weight, and she had dark circles under her beautiful eyes. It was tearing Matthew’s heart apart to see her like this. Fortunately, Matthew was able to get water and gruel down her by massaging her throat, so at least she was getting some nourishment for her and the babe. Two more days went by, and she still didn’t wake up.

That day, after Dr. Moore came to examine Helen, he sighed. “At this point, if your wife doesn’t wake up in the next few days, I don’t expect your wife will make it. I’m sorry, my lord. I wish I had better news for you. I’m amazed that she hasn’t lost the babe. I’ll come by again in the morning.”

Matthew just sat there looking at Helen as the doctor left the room, too overcome to reply. Bowing his head, he felt the tears forming in his eyes. He allowed them to come, knowing that he wouldn’t want to continue to live if he lost Helen. Dropping to his knees beside Helen’s bed, he began to pray harder than he had ever prayed in his life.

The next day, Henry and Melody arrived. Matthew gained strength from Melody because she was as determined as he was that Helen would survive.

Matthew would talk to Helen constantly, hoping she would hear him and come back to him. He wasn’t eating well and he’d also lost weight.

Each night Matthew would hold her in his arms as he fitfully slept. Eight days after the accident, he fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. He dreamed that Helen was well and that she gave birth to their son. It was such a pleasant dream, and he didn’t want to wake up, but the sound of someone moaning forced him to stir. As he awakened, he realized with a start that it was Helen. This was the first sound she’d made since her accident. He looked over at her, and she had a gentle smile on her face as if she were having a pleasant dream. It was also the first smile he had seen since before the accident.

“My darling, please wake up! I need you so much…we all need you to come back to us. Christina and Catherine have been asking to see their Helen.” Then crying to the heavens, he prayed, “Oh God, please help her…I can’t lose her…I don’t think I could live without her! She’s my life, my reason for living!”

Matthew felt tears rolling down his face. He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, “Please come back to me, my love. You have so much to live for, my darling…you’re going to have a baby. Please…I love you!”

Matthew looked down at Helen, and she had the sweetest smile on her face as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. “Why are you crying, Matthew?”

“My darling! Thank God you’ve come back to me!”

“Where have I been?” Then reaching up a hand she touched her forehead and whispered, “Oh, I have a terrible headache. Why does my head hurt so badly?” Helen tried to sit up, but she cried out and fell back against the pillows.

Holding her close, he said, “Don’t try to sit up my darling. You’ve been unconscious for eight days, so you’re very weak. We were afraid you would never wake up. My love, I’ve missed you so much. You took a fall from your horse as we were riding on the beach, and one of Ginny’s hoofs hit your head. You dislocated your shoulder when you fell as well. Do you remember any of this?”

Helen lay back and closed her eyes. “I can’t remember anything. Have I…really been unconscious for that long? Oh Matthew, I don’t feel very well…I think I’m going to be sick.”

Matthew jumped out of bed and rushed to get the chamber pot, hurrying back to her side. He barely reached her before she cast up her accounts. He held her head, and when she was through, he wiped her face with a damp cloth and gave her some water to rinse her mouth out. He climbed into bed with her, pulled her into his arms, and she laid her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. He held her throughout the rest of the night, praying fervently that she would wake up again in the morning.

Helen did wake up the following morning, and she told Matthew that she felt much better. Her shoulder hurt a little, but not bad, and her headache was almost gone. Matthew wondered if Helen had heard him tell her that he loved her. She didn’t say anything, so he thought that she probably hadn’t heard him. He was just grateful that she was alive.

Melody entered the room, and when Helen saw her, she said, “When did you get here? I’m so glad to see you. Is Henry here too?”

Melody smiled. “Yes, darling. We’ve been so worried about you. Thank goodness you’re all right. We’ve been praying every day for you to wake up.”

“Can I see Henry?” Helen asked.

“Of course. I’ll go get him,” Melody replied, and left the room to bring him to her.