The Eternal Shadow

Chapter 18

XVIII

Francesca awoke to find Lydia sitting upon the bed.

She'd barely slept an hour.

"You're lucky it's me sitting here and not your father." Lydia meant it seriously but a small smirk on her lips betrayed her amusement. "Really Fran? Sneaking out at night to visit boys?!"

Both women laughed.

Then Francesca remembered. She turned abruptly to look at Guy.

"It's alright! He's alright..." Lydia said softly, "he looks terrible but he's still with us."

She was correct in her assessment; he did look terrible. He lay curled up and shivering at Francesca's side, looking gaunt and frail. His swollen nose engulfed his bruised and battered face and his skin was waxy and bathed in sweat. He was sleeping but not peacefully, his brow was taut with tension and his jaw clenched. His whole body seemed to be tightly wound, like a bow string about to snap and it was as if the only thing that was keeping him tethered to the world was his fingers twisted in Francesca's skirts.

But he was still with them.

He lived.

He had survived the night and although he looked worse than ever, he had not given up.

Francesca watched the sleeping man and smiled tenderly. Lydia knew her cousin well and had never doubted her feelings for Guy, but at that moment, seeing her look at him that way, the realisation that Francesca was in love with him hit her with full force. It made what she had come there to say all the more difficult.

"I've come to fetch you."

Francesca sighed. She had been expecting this. "I promised him I would stay with him."

"I know but as soon as uncle discovers you are missing he will come here and you know what that means."

She did indeed. Her father would drag her out of there if he had to and there would be no talking him out of it. She continued watching Guy and her heart sank.

It was then that Betty made her presence known, she'd arrived earlier and had overheard the conversation but remained silent not wishing to interrupt. Now she decided to put Francesca at ease, "There now milady, don't you fret, I'll keep an eye on him for you I promise. You don't go upsettin' yer father now, the last thing we be needin' is him comin' here scoldin' and makin' a racket."

Francesca knew she was right, that would be no good for any of them right now. "I will come back..." she said, her voice thick with tears.

Betty folded her into an embrace, whispering soothing words in her ear; "yes you do that love, as soon as you can; we'll look after him for you till then alright?"

She nodded and then set about trying to extract Guy's fingers from her skirts. As she did so, he murmured and clung to her fingers instead. This made her very nearly burst into tears but she closed her eyes to stop herself, brought his fingers to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss upon them.

She leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I will come back. I promise."

**********

The Cavendish family dined together that morning and to the unknowing eye, nothing was amiss.

Lord Cavendish and his eldest daughter were in excellent spirits, indeed, one would never had suspected that anything untoward had happened the previous evening. The remaining member of the Cavendish family however, was noticeably quiet: Francesca found she had nothing to add to their conversation about Prince John and wisely remained silent on that subject and all others. Fortunately, her father and sister assumed that her silence was the result of the dressing down they had given her and although their anger was often the reason why Francesca was cowed into silence, the actual reason was because her thoughts were very much elsewhere, namely with Sir Guy of Gisborne.