Ignoring Nathan momentarily, Raven sat down beside his bride and took her hands in his. He had wanted only to save her father’s life, but he knew the first time he had made that offer he had coupled it with a demand that she remain married to him, and also keep her marriage to Alex a secret as well. Perhaps it was no wonder that she would question his motives now, but it hurt him all the same. Despite the rapport they had enjoyed since coming to the plantation, he knew neither of them trusted the other as completely as a husband and wife should. This was certainly no time to discuss the causes of their doubts, however.
“I’m not going to join the Confederate navy, Eden, I’m just offering to take your father’s place until he’s well.”
“I can’t believe you would even consider such a mad scheme, let alone agree to it.” Eden’s gaze swept his face, searching for a clue that would reveal his reason.
Raven had expected Nathan to object, and strenuously, but not Eden. “What is it you really want to know—what I expect in return?”
Eden tried to withdraw her hands from his, but he increased the pressure of his grasp to prevent her escape and she ceased to struggle. “You’ll have to admit it isn’t like you to do anything unless you’ll receive some type of gain.”
Raven glanced toward Nathan, who now appeared several shades paler than when they had entered his cabin. Eden was all the family Raven had, but he understood why she would question his efforts to save her father’s life and thought he probably deserved it. If his character actually had a noble side, he knew she had seen damn little of it. Seeking to give her a reason he knew she would readily understand, he released her hands and rose to his feet.
“You’re right. I do have an ulterior motive. For once I’d like to do something for you that Alex hasn’t done first. Let me know what you decide.”
Stung by the bitterness of that retort, Eden made no attempt to prevent Raven from leaving the cabin. As tears started to pour down her cheeks, she turned toward her father. “I’m sorry, Daddy, but what Raven really wants is to be a partner in the shipyard. I’m sure that’s why he’s willing to take your place.”
Nathan’s whole body ached, while his right leg burned with an agonizing pain that never let up. As he saw it, the only choice he had was whether he would be buried on Jamaica, or at sea. The least he could do was give his men a fighting chance to survive, and with Raven Blade, they would certainly have it.
“Ask him to come back, sweetheart. I don’t care what the bastard wants. The Southern Knight is his.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
March 1864
Julian Ryan hurriedly read
the instructions Clifton Endecott had left for him and then waved the neatly penned pages for emphasis. “I thought Raven had taken leave of his senses when he allowed your father’s ship to use his docks for repairs. Now you tell me he’s the acting captain of the Southern Knight and that I’m expected to run a Confederate hospital?”
As this was one of the few times he had paid a call at the Clairbourne plantation in the morning, Rebecca Yardley had accompanied her brother hoping for a chance to visit with Eden. While she thought Julian was being very rude, she was as astonished as he by the reason he had been summoned to the house. She had always admired Raven Blade’s dashing good looks, but going off to fight in America’s Civil War struck her as being reckless in the extreme. She stood at Julian’s side, her eyes wide as she tried to think of some way to help him control his temper when she was every bit as dismayed as he.
Eden had been up all night and was in no mood to coddle Julian’s outraged sense of propriety. “If your principles will not allow you to attend my father and his men, then there’s no point in prolonging this discussion. Yadira is talented in the preparation of medicines and we’ll simply rely on her until another physician can be found.”
“You can’t treat gunshot wounds with folk remedies!” Julian contradicted belligerently.
“It appears we have no choice,” Eden responded coolly.
Julian glanced down at his sister’s anguished expression. Clearly she was siding with Eden and thought he should treat the injured without regard to their nationality, but he was loath to agree. The deciding factor was not one of principle, however, but one based purely on self-interest. The care of seven severely injured men would require him to make more frequent visits to the plantation and the prospect of Yadira making every one memorable was irresistible.
He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as though his decision had been a difficult one to reach. “I don’t approve of Raven’s involvement in the War, but as a responsible physician I can’t in good conscience refuse to treat wounded men regardless of who they are or how they received their injuries. Where have your father and his men been quartered?”
While Eden thought Julian a pompous ass, she was relieved she would not have to send to Montego Bay or Kingston for another doctor. “My father is in Alex’s room. We put cots in the room next door for the others.”
“Eleanora’s room?” Julian asked in surprise.
“I saw no reason to scatter them among the guest bedrooms. It will be far easier for us to care for them if we don’t have to constantly traipse up and down the hall to do it.”
“I’ll not argue with that, my lady. I was merely surprised at your choice of room.”
“From what I’ve heard, Eleanora was too sweet a woman to object to her room being used temporarily as a hospital ward. I’d like for you to see the men now, so if you have any suggestions for their care, we can implement them immediately.”
Julian picked up his bag. “Of course, but I think I should give whatever directions I have to Yadira. It wouldn’t be wise for you to tend the men yourself, my lady. There’s too great a risk you’ll become overtired and that could easily bring on premature labor. You mustn’t take that risk.”
Eden had been far too worried about her father and his men to consider her own well-being and refused to do so now. “You know our servants are either former slaves, or their descendants. I can scarcely ask them to tend Confederate soldiers. I worked in a hospital in Richmond before going to England, so I’m experienced in caring for wounded and I can do it again. I’ll rest whenever I’m tired.”
“I could stay and help,” Rebecca volunteered, and when her brother started to object, she interrupted him. “I really want to do this. You’ve trained me as your nurse and we can’t expect Lady Clairbourne and her housekeeper to care for seven men on their own.”
Grateful for Rebecca’s offer, Eden accepted before Julian had time to forbid it. “Thank you, but I must insist both of you call me Eden rather than Lady Clairbourne.”
“If you wish,” Rebecca responded shyly while Julian merely frowned at the young woman’s disregard for tradition.