Chapter 3

Sebastian had spent most of the meals seated beside her father, talking and laughing with them and charming Sophie a lot.

He seemed to be a kind and funny person, with an open heart and a sweet side.

Sophie wondered if that was the sort of man she would end up marrying someday. Someone who could make her smile, make her laugh, a man who got along with her parents as well.

Of course, she had no idea why Sebastian was headed to London, he had not said anything over dinner, but it was an interesting thought…

Just because she had not felt a spark around that man did not mean a thing. She was not even sure what a ‘spark' was supposed to feel like, it was just something that she had read about in books.

Maybe it was something writers made up, who knew?

"Did you hear the captain at dinner time?" her mother asked, dragging her attention back to the present moment. "There might be a storm tonight. We should be careful."

"A storm?" Sophie had to admit that she had not heard the captain speaking. She had been too distracted, too lost in her own thoughts. The closer they got to London, the more the nerves started to take over. She was still excited, of course, that would not subside, but the reality of everything was creeping up on her, and she was afraid. "How bad? Did the captain say?"

"He did not mention," her father responded. "But I am hoping it will not sway the ship around too much because I do not wish to get seasick."

At least he was worrying about that and not the boat crashing. Because that was the first terrifying though that crossed Sophie's mind. The idea of the ship overturning, with everyone on it, hit her hard.

"As long as we stay in our cabins, we will be fine," her mother tutted. "You do not need to worry about that. We can simply rest until morning when it will have passed over us."

As her parents started to talk about getting dressed for bed, Sophie made her excuses and headed to her own bed, closing the door behind her.

She took a glance out the window, but that did not give her any clue about what was to come. The sky looked peaceful, like nothing was on the horizon, but if the captain had talked about a storm, then it was probably on the way.

"Come on, Douglas," she said quietly to her dog. "Get on the bed with me."

She sighed heavily as she pulled out her night dress to prepare for the night ahead, but she felt a little wired. Like she might not be able to switch off and sleep for even a moment, which was unlikely, and not just because of the storm overhead, but because her mind felt absolutely jumbled with thoughts. Thoughts that were simply piling up because she did not have anywhere for them to go.

***

Sophie was enjoying herself, dancing in a fancy ballroom in a gorgeously lavender gown with a dark-haired gentleman who kept smiling at her as if she was the best thing to have ever happened to him. She did not even know his name, but he seemed to be in love with her.

He had the look of adoration in his eyes as if he wanted her to be his wife already, and she had to admit that she wanted this to. Because he was a prince, about to be king of England one day.

But all of a sudden, before she could quite wrap her head around what was happening, the prince had staggered back from her, and he had a look of horror in his face.

A cracking sound knocked him backwards.

He fell to the floor.

The rumbling as a thousand dogs came speeding towards the prince knocked her backwards too. She could not get to the prince however hard she tried. The dogs barking did not want her to either. They were growing louder and louder with every moment.

Sophie gasped.

She bolted up right in bed, covered in sweat as she tried to work out what was real, and what had just happened in her brain.

Because that was a dream, right? It had to be.

Yet the next cracking sound really made her jump, and as the lightning flashed into the room, Douglas began barking once more, making all the sounds from her dream all too real.

But there was no ballroom and certainly no prince.

"Douglas, come here," she whispered to her pet. "I need you…"

But the next flash of lightning showed Sophie that she really should be terrified. That there was a reason for this ice-cold fear currently cascading through her body. Because the swaying of the ship had flung her door open, out into the hallway, and now Douglas in his fearful state was running through said door.

"No! Douglas!" she cried.

Without even a moment of hesitation, Sophie knew what she needed to do. She had to get Douglas back before anything happened to the poor boy. He was always temperamental during storms. He truly did not like them, and there was no telling how her poor boy would react.

The idea of her poor dog getting hurt or even lost was utterly unbearable. It made her heart hurt, her whole chest ached, but she used that to drive her forwards, to keep her running. She did not even think about the other people on the ship and who she might be waking up with her yelling. The desperation to find her precious dog overshadowed everything.

"Douglas! Oh no…"

The moment she crashed on deck, her heart sunk.

The wind was terrible, blowing her all over the place, and she was immediately soaked to the bone.

If she was in this mess, then what about Douglas?

The desperation to find her little dog became even more intense.

It took her a moment to spot him, to find her best friend in the whole wide world, but she soon spotted Douglas up front, cowering in some rope.

"I am coming, Douglas," she called out after him, even though she could almost feel her voice floating away on the wind. "Stay where you are."

But the deck had become slippery, and Sophie did not have any shoes on her feet. She kept sliding, almost tumbling to her feet as the boat rocked…

Before she could make it to Douglas, the ship was tossed so violently that she could not hold her body upright any longer. She lost sight of Douglas as she was slammed into the side of the boat, her whole body smashing into the railings. The force was so much, the storm so huge, that her feet seemed to leave the floor. Just for a moment.

No, not just for a moment, she was soaring.

By the time Sophie felt anything again, it was the rope that she had instinctively grabbed hold of to keep herself from splashing into the waves below.

If she hit that water, it would fill up her lungs and she would most certainly die. No one would even know where she was to save her, and Douglas…

Well, she simply could not die for Douglas's sake.

A scream burst from her chest the moment her body slammed against the side of the ship, almost knocking the air from her lungs completely. It was a sound that went nowhere, it simply seemed to cycle around Sophie as she clung desperately to the rope, but it was all that she had.

She did not have the arm strength to pull herself upwards and get back on deck, and there was nothing there for her to grip onto. Certainly not with the wind still blowing violently and the boat still rocking violently on the waves.

"Help!"

It was a pitiful cry, likely to go nowhere, but she had to keep going.

"Help me, please…"

Had her prayers been answered?

Or was this her brain's way of letting her know that she had nothing left, and it was giving her a reason to let go?

No, that was silliness. She could feel the warmth of hands gripping on to her. The electricity surging through her body.

There were fingers lacing through hers, pulling her up with a powerful strength that actually allowed her to feel a little safer once more. She was being tugged up, freed from the rope and the idea of plunging to her death below. She was being saved.

A crack of lightning allowed her to see the man's face as he grabbed her and pulled her even harder.

It was a face that she had a glimmer of recognition of, but she could not place him. She did not know him enough.

He was handsome though, that much she could see from here.

Another flash of lightning and she could see how his dark hair hung just above his hazel eyes, which held a depth unlike anything Sophie had ever seen before. She could hardly catch her breath because of the deep impact that vision had on her. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

In that brief moment, time seemed to stand still and that was just fine by her. She loved this moment, looking at this man, realizing that she was about to be saved…

Everything seemed to come rushing back to Sophie the moment her body slammed against the cold wet floor of the deck once more. It winded her, and she could not get enough air into her lungs no matter how hard she tried, but there was one word that she needed to get out.

"… Douglas…"

"Your dog?" the man asked in a chocolaty smooth voice. "Because I already have him. I scooped him up earlier, so he did not get hurt…"

Sophie's eyes widened in joy. "You have him?"

The man had tied Douglas' leash to secure him, then lifted Douglas in front of him, which caused her to break down into body wracking sobs. But not because she was sad this time, because she was overwhelmed and happy to have her baby back. It was also heart breaking to see how shaken up the poor creature was, knowing that she must look the same way.

"I think we should get you out of the rain," the gentleman said quietly to Sophie. "I do not think it will do you or the dog any good to become any more soaked than you already are."

Sophie scooped up Douglas into her arms and allowed the man to lead them, albeit staggering, back inside. The rain fell so violently on her face that she could not see a thing, but her powerful shudders as the cold impacted her was impossible to avoid. She did not know if it was ever possible to get dry again…

"Sophie, oh my goodness, there you are."

Her mother was out in the hallway, seemingly looking for her. Something must have woken her up, the storm perhaps, and she had realized that both Sophie and Douglas were missing.

"You are soaking wet," her mother cried out in horror. "What happened to you? Why have you been outside in the storm. I told you, the captain said we must stay locked up."

"The… the door," Sophie blurted out through her chattering teeth. "It bl… blew open and Douglas…"

Her father appeared with a blanket and concern in his eyes. He enveloped Sophie in an embrace which nearly had her collapsing in to tears all over again. How would her parents feel if they knew that they'd almost just lost her? That she was flung overboard in her desperate search for her dog? They almost lost her, and her parents had no idea about it.

Her father was going through enough at the moment with his worries about his mother. This was the last thing that he needed. Silently, she vowed to always be more careful in the future.

"What happened?" Sophie's mother asked, only she no longer had her attention on her daughter. She was looking at Sophie's rescuer. "How did you find her?"

"I was simply exploring the boat myself, trying to make sure that everyone was alright because I could not sleep, and I happened to see the dog sprinting up on deck. Scared, I figured. But before I could run after him, I saw a woman in a night gown…"

Sophie swallowed hard.

It was a little strange hearing herself and her actions talked about like this.

Her father tried to lead her out of the hallway, whispering something about needing to get her dry, but she was not about to move right now. She refused. She needed to hear every word that the stranger said about her.

"Well it is a miracle that you were there," her mother chuckled. "Thank you for bringing her back inside before something bad happened."

"But something bad did happen," Sophie insisted, before she even realized what she was saying. "It was not as straight forward as that. A wave knocked the boat sideways, and I tumbled over the edge. I almost fell into the water."

The last thing she wanted to do was worry her parents, to make this worse than it already was, but at the same time she absolutely needed them to know how far this gentleman had gone to save her. She might have been a little in shock, but she knew that he had saved her life.

"Oh my." Her father stepped in front of her, shock radiating off of him. "Well then, we must find a way to thank you for this. We must pay you… you deserve it. I do not even want to think about what might have happened had you not been there to save her."

"Oh no, it is fine." The man smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "That is unnecessary."

"Lord Harrington, is that right?"

"Yes, George Harrington. But you do not need to worry about any sort of reward. It is reward enough to know that everyone is alright."

"Thank you," Sophie whispered, desperately wanting this gentleman to know that she appreciated everything.

But her thanks were drowned out by her parents, who also wanted to express their praise to this man. They could not stop expressing their gratitude, so Sophie's voice could not be heard. Plus, Douglas was getting irritated again, and the last thing that she wanted was for her pet to make an escape a second time.

So with deep regret, she slid into her room and closed the door behind her, making sure to push a dresser up in front of it this time around so it would not swing open again. Once she placed Douglas down on the sheets, she let out a breath of relief, and a little confusion as well.

This had been such a strange night, and she was not sure what to make of any of it.

"Let me dry you, baby boy," she cooed as she took the blanket to Douglas. "Oh, bless you darling. I am so glad that you are alright."

The poor dog was shaken up by the whole experience, barking pitifully as she did what she could to dry him. Sophie had stopped realizing that she was cold as well because she was so concerned about her dog. She stopped shivering, worrying only about him.

It was only when her mother banged on the door, demanding to know that she was alright, that she realized how affected she was.

"I am fine, Mother," she called back, actually a little glad that the door would not open because she did not wish to be seen again in this state. "Just climbing into bed now, trying to get some rest."

"Well, keep warm, alright? And we will see you in the morning."

After tucking Douglas under a blanket to make sure that he was warm enough, Sophie peeled her own night dress off too, needing to change in to a completely dry one if she was to hope to get any sleep for the rest of the night. Although again she found herself wondering if that was possible.

Now, she could not stop thinking about the man who's face she had only really seen in the flashes of lightning as he dragged her to safety.

The man who her father had called Lord George Harrington as if he really knew him.

Perhaps that really was someone that she had met before, but she could not place him before that very moment. The intensity of his handsome eyes as they locked on hers and the way his strength seemed unmatched as he tugged her upwards, saving her from an untimely death. That was a look that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

She had not even had the chance to thank him. Not really. She wanted to let him know that she would never forget him, and that she would always be grateful to him.

Perhaps in the morning she would be able to seek him out; to speak with him.

She climbed into bed and pulled the sheets up to her chin, shivering as the cold washed over her. Every time the curtain blew up, she was given a glimpse of the ocean. That was a sight she had enjoyed when she first climbed aboard, but now it filled her with dread. Knowing that she could be in that water, left behind as the boat kept on aimlessly traveling without her, was just too much.

Sophie had to spin on to her stomach, to press her face into the pillow so she did not have to see it again.

It was not long until Douglas was tucked underneath her arm to provide her with comfort and warmth, and most likely to keep himself safe from any more terrible noises that might occur if the storm were to continue.