Remember Me - Regency Brides 03 (2 page)

Helen told him the practice of bartering for a woman was just plain barbaric!

Helen shivered again as she got back to Josie's comment.
"Ladies
do not
eat-"

"I know, I know," Josie interjected. "Ladies do not eat
anything
that
crawls
around on its bel y. It's
quite
uncivilized!" she mocked, using Helen's higher pitched English accent.

"Scoff if you must, but you will do well to---"

"Miss Helen! Miss Josie!" a male voice cal ed out from behind them. They turned to see George, the Baumgartners' house servant who usual y ran their errands in town, running up the dusty drive.

Though the Baumgartners owned many slaves to run the vast plantation that consisted of thousands of acres, a sugar mil , the slave and servant quarters, not to mention the huge three-story white mansion, they had freed many of those who worked in the house and the higher-ranking field hands. The Baumgartners were good people who treated every worker and slave fairly, but Helen secretly felt the whole slave system was unjust and inhumane.

"What is it, George?" Josie asked as he stopped before them and tried to catch his breath. "The preacher..." His voice cracked as he took another deep breath.

"They found him. He ain't dead like they thought."

Helen and Josie exchanged a disbelieving look. "You mean he did not drown as we were al told?" Helen attempted to comprehend. Just over a week ago, the people of Golden Bay had been informed that the preacher for whom they'd been waiting had fal en overboard with another man and had drowned. The Baumgartners, LeBeau, and Whitakers were al distressed and saddened, since it was these neighboring families who had gotten. together to build a church and then pay for his voyage from Scotland.

If this news was true, they wouldn't have to go to the trouble of searching for another minister!

"A couple of fishermen pul ed 'im out of the gulf and took 'im back to they cabins

'bout thirty or so miles from here," George explained. "They sez that he didn't wake up fer about fo' days, but they found a Bible on him that had his name on it.

They sez he didn't know who he was when he final y woke up, but after they told

'im his name and that he was a preacher headed for our town, he seemed to remember."

Josie clasped her hands together. "Why, that sounds like a bona fide miracle!"

she exclaimed. "Is he in town? Can we go see him?"

"Yes'm, Miss Josie, you sho' can. That's why I ran back lickety-split." He ran the back of his sleeve across his beaded brow. "They's wantin' the mastah to come out and give 'im a proper welcome with any food or house gifts to help 'im get settled."

"Oh, this is exciting, isn't it?" Helen whispered eagerly as she looked from George to Josie. "It will be so refreshing going to a proper service again instead of waiting for the circuit preacher to pass by. It will be just like it was in-"

"England! We know; we know," Josie finished for her with exasperation. "Let's just hurry up and tel my parents so we can meet him!"

It didn't take long for the family to assemble the goods they had set aside for the new preacher and to load their wagon and carriage. Ten or so minutes later, they pul ed into the smal town that consisted of the blacksmith, a general store, and the newly built church. The town was actual y owned by three plantations, unlike many others along the river that were self-contained. The three families signed an agreement that they would share the profits from the businesses, as wel as the labor to keep them running.

There was already a smal crowd in the tiny yard of the church, with its smal parsonage on the side. Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner stepped out of the carriage first, fol owed by Josie and Helen.

As they drew nearer, Josie walked on her tiptoes, trying to see over everyone's heads. Helen, herself, tried to see around them but could only see the top of a man's head. In fact, the hair was such a pretty golden blond, a person couldn't help but notice through al the dark heads gathered around him.

Helen was final y close enough to see better, and as the crowd parted, she was disappointed to see the man's back was turned as he spoke with Mr.

Baumgartner. She studied his longish, wavy hair, then the width of his broad shoulders for a moment. He seemed almost familiar to Helen, as if she had met the gentleman before, yet she was sure she had never heard of a Hamish Campbel until she had arrived in Louisiana.

"Oh, I wish Papa would turn him around so we could see him! I had imagined he would be an older man, but he appears to be younger than I thought," Josie whispered as their neighbors chatted excitedly around them.

"Indeed," Helen murmured, as she tried to inch her way closer to him. She noticed he was quite tal . Though they seemed to be a little ragged and faded, his clothes were very wel made, cut like those worn by the nobility.

When she final y was able to hear him speak, Helen suddenly realized who the preacher reminded her o£ He was the same height and build and sounded just like ...North, the Duke of Northingshire.

Helen briefly rubbed her brow, thinking that of course she must be mistaken and perhaps had been in the sun too long. The preacher was supposed to be a Scotsman, and the accent she thought she heard was clearly a cultured English one.

"Ah! Here are my wife and daughter," Mr. Baumgartner said, motioning toward Helen's direction. "Let me introduce you."

As she began to turn, Josie bumped her as she scrambled to go to her father, and then Mrs. Baumgartner stepped in front of her, again blocking her view. She heard the man speak to her employer and his daughter and again was struck by his rich voice.

I just miss North. I am clearly hal ucinating.

' And this is Josie's companion, Miss Helen Nichols, who has come from England and been with us for three months now," she heard Mrs. Baumgartner say, as she stepped back. For the first time, Helen got a view of the tal man's face.

For a moment Helen said nothing, frozen by the sheer shock of seeing the man before her. It
was
North! And he was smiling pleasantly at her without so much as a gleam of recognition shining in his light blue gaze. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Nichols," he responded smoothly with a nod. Helen was horrified that he did not recognize her. She had spent many hours in his presence in the past and thought it humiliating that she didn't seem familiar to him at al . But then she had a second thought:
Why is he pretending to be a
preacher?

Confused, she found herself blurting, "North? Do you not remember me?"

An immediate hush fel over the group as every eye turned to stare at Helen, including North. Helen focused only on him as she watched the strange expressions move across his handsome, strong face.

At first it appeared to be fear, then it went to what looked like confusion, and then it was as though a mask fel across his face, shielding her from his thoughts entirely. He seemed to compose himself as he nervously glanced around the group and then turned his gaze back to Helen.

His eyes were unreadable as he smiled at her and final y responded. "Of course I do. It's just … I suppose it has been quite awhile, hasn't it?" Helen wasn't sure if he was tel ing or asking. Neither would make a bit of sense to Helen since she'd only seen him four months ago. "It is good to have a friend nearby," he finished cryptical y, perplexing her even more.

She was about to ask him what he was doing here, but he turned from her suddenly, stopping any further communication between them. Doubts assailed her as she thought maybe the man wasn't North after al . Perhaps he had a cousin who looked like him.

But then, she amended her thoughts, why did he pretend to know her?

Oh, it was very vexing on her nerves to reason his behavior al out in her mind.

"You know him?" Josie exclaimed, startling Helen back to the present. "Why didn't you tel us you knew the preacher?"

Helen shook her head absently as her eyes stayed on who she was sure was the Duke of Northingshire. "I didn't know his Christian name. I've always cal ed him North," she lied, since she knew very wel that his name was Trevor Kent and certainly
not
Hamish Campbel !

Josie frowned. "You addressed a preacher by cal ing him North? That's strange and not at al the civilized thing for a lady to do." She paused for effect.

' According to you."

Helen licked her lips nervously as she tried to answer without too much lying involved. "I knew him when he wasn't a minister." She final y dragged her eyes away from the confusing man and tried to appear nonchalant. "I don't suppose I knew him as wel as I thought." That was an understatement!

"Wel , you shal have plenty of time to get to know him
in
the future," Josie reasoned, as she took Helen's hand and pul ed her toward the nice lawn beside the church. "Let's sit over there and wait for my parents." Helen agreed and al owed Josie to pul her to the white wooden benches, which were placed under a great oak shade tree.

As soon as they sat down, Josie immediately brought their conversation back to the preacher. "Don't you think he is the most handsome man you've ever seen?

And to think you know him!" she expressed in a lovelorn tone. She sat up and looked at Helen as if she were suddenly hit with an idea. "He is unmarried, and you are unmarried! You would make a great match!"

If only it could be so,
Helen thought longingly. But until she figured out why North was pretending to be someone else, she could not even wish for it. "Josie, he did not even recognize me. How could you think he would want to marry a lady who has made no lasting impression in his mind?" She sighed. "Besides, I am here to work and teach you to be a lady. Wishing that I would fal in love with North just so you will not have to learn your lessons on etiquette will only bring you a headache."

Josie sat back on the bench and groaned. "Why does being a lady seem so
boring?"

Helen hid a grin. "One day when you become interested in a young man, he'll expect you to act like a lady, and then you will thank God I bored you so!"

"I will never be interested in boys!" she declared.

"That is too bad, for I have a feeling you will grow up to be quite a lovely woman one day." A man's voice spoke beside them.

Startled, Helen turned and looked up to find North standing over her. "North!" she exclaimed automatical y but then quickly amended, "I'm sorry. I mean
Reverend."

He seemed preoccupied as he presented her a smal smile. North quickly stepped closer, whispering in an urgent voice, "I must speak to you alone, Miss Nichols." He nervously glanced around as if to see if anyone was watching him and then looked briefly at Josie. "There is some very important information I need, and I'm positive that only you can help me."

Helen felt butterflies of excitement fluttering about in her chest, just as she always did when North spoke to her. It didn't matter if he was acting like the craziest man alive or that he was pretending to be a minister, which Helen imagined was a big faux pas in God's book! All that mattered was North, the love of her life, had asked to talk to her. Alone!

She jumped up with more enthusiasm than was warranted, for she startled both Josie and North. "Of course, you can speak with me!" she said brightly as she reached down to pul Josie up from the bench. "Please be a dear and excuse us, will you, Josie?" She threw the request to her charge without so much as a glance and then latched her arm around North's elbow. "Let's walk, shal we?"

North looked a little dazed but gave her a tentative smile. "Not too far.

240

I would not want to bring suspicion on your character or mine. I may not remember much, but I do know that talking alone with a young woman out in the open public is considered a social blunder if she is not accompanied by a chaperone."

Helen stopped suddenly upon hearing his words, let go of his arm, and turned to stand in front of him. "Did you just say that you might not remember much?" She shook her head. "What does that mean?"

North stood there, staring down at her, looking more handsome than ever before.

His countenance, however, was not the easygoing and self-assured gentleman she'd known in England. Instead he looked tired, confused, and not at al the confident man he should be.

He took a deep breath as he stared off to his left for a moment, then slowly brought his gaze back to her. "I do not remember who I am." Helen gasped, but North held out his hand so that he might continue. "I apparently fel off the ship that I had been on during a storm. Two fishermen dragged me out of the water and brought me to shore, where I final y came to my senses. But that is where every one of my memories begins. I wouldn't even know my name except I had a Bible inside my coat that had the name Hamish Campbel etched into the leather."

Helen could not even speak for being so dumbfounded by his story. She had never heard of a person forgetting his own name and past. "So you don't remember anything? Not your family, friends, or any sort of past memory?"

He shook his head as he walked past her to lean against the oak. ' And no one knows you've lost your memory?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"No, I didn't want to make everyone think I'd lost my mind or had become crazed." He took a minute to rub the back of his head, then continued. "To tel you the truth, when the fisherman who I was staying with final y told me he'd found out where I was heading and that I was to be the vicar of a church in Louisiana, I felt even more confused. I pretended, however, that I suddenly remembered." He looked back to Helen. "That is why I am so anxious to talk to you. You know who I am. You and you alone can tel me about myself, what kind of family background I have or anything that might possibly help me to remember..
.something!"
His eyes bore into hers as if he were trying to read her thoughts. "You can also confirm I am indeed who they say I am or if it is some sort of mistake." He paused and seemed to try calming himself with a deep breath. "Helen, am I the Reverend Hamish Campbel ?"