Page 56 of Pursuing Mr. Mattingly

As best he could with the current jostling and yanking at him, Oliver clung to the gnarled wood with one hand while he explored her skirting with the other. Ducking beneath the muddy water line, he attempted to keep his eyes open for as long as he could before they burned too much. The branch was quite large and the bulk of it was beneath the water. Sure enough, the delicate muslin had been snagged and the yards of fabric wrapped about the debris. The water had done the rest, and Sophia was more or less a prisoner of her skirting.

Once he’d broken the surface once more, he jerked his head in the hopes of removing his sopping hair from his face. “I’m going to need to tear the dress. It’s the only way to free you.”

“Do it.” She nodded, but he didn’t trust how pale her skin had grown. Her lips held a faint bluish tinge. “I’m fading.”

“Stay with me.” Oliver grabbed a handful of her skirts where they remained snagged on the branch. It was only a matter of time that the current would quicken, and the branch would continue on its way. Using strength he didn’t know he had, he wrenched at the fabric. Though it was wet, it eventually tore, and he kept on with his task until a large panel of the gown had come free. She would have to endure embarrassment when returning to the manor house, but at least she would be alive. “You’re free.”

With a cry, Sophia she clung to him, her arms securely about his shoulders. “Please don’t let go.” She shivered in his hold.

“Never.” He glanced toward the creek bank. It would be a perilous crossing, but damned if he wouldn’t try and extricate them both. Pressing a kiss to her wet temple, he forced down a hard swallow. “I’m going to try to swim back to the bank. Do you have enough strength to hold tight to me?”

“Yes.” Her voice wasn’t as strong as he would have liked, but he couldn’t worry about that now.

“Good.” His pulse still pounded as he gauged the distance between the tree branch and the bank. “It will seem as if we’re moving too far down, but it’s easier than fighting the current. Ready?” A few yards away, there was a stretch of grass bank that he could hopefully use to pull them both out of the water.

Sophia nodded.

Though his body already ached from exertion and the relatively cold temperature of the water, Oliver released his hold on the tree branch. Immediately, the current caught at his body, pressed Sophia more tightly into him, but he wrapped one arm around her waist and used the other to execute awkward half-strokes that would hopefully pull them both toward that grass.

He moved diagonally through the current. Sophia’s whimpers in his ear both alarmed and comforted him. And still he concentrated on the task at hand. Water continuously splashed into his face, stung his eyes, speckled his lenses, but he ignored it all. His first priority was getting his wife to safety.

Soon enough, his shin bumped what would have been the natural creek bank had not the recent rains swollen the waterway. Ordinarily, the creek probably would have come to his thighs, but trying to find purchase on the slippery bottom with the waves smacking him at chest level made everything more difficult. “I’m going to give you a boost, but I need you to climb upward until you clear the current. Can you do that for me?”

An expression of shock etched her face, but she gave him a curt nod.

“Good. Here we go.” Turning them about so that the raging current slammed against his back, Oliver put both hands at her waist, and with clenched teeth, he heaved her out of the water and then released her.

Sophia landed on the patch of water-logged grass. She scrambled upward, grabbing at the grass with both hands until her fingers were muddy. At some point during her impromptu swim, she’d lost a slipper. The backside of her dress was, of course, gone, but the linen shift kept her from being exposed, and she climbed.

“Mama!” Hannah arrived at that moment, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She dropped the flower bouquet that she carried. The scattered blooms provided an odd splash of color in the drama. “Oliver?”

“Help your mother. Get her to dry land.” When the girl did exactly that, he took hold of the grass and began the task of pulled himself upward as well. The mud-slick bank proved a challenge, but finally he gained the more solid ground at the side of the gurgling water. He collapsed onto his back as his chest heaved and his heart raced. Dear God, he did not wish to do that again any time soon. “Is she well? Please tell me she’s still breathing,” he finally croaked out and turned his head to glance at Sophia, who lay on her side facing away from him.

“She hasn’t moved.” Panic threaded through Hannah’s voice. “Her eyes are closed. What should I do?”

Well, damn.Oliver’s mouth tasted of grime and dirt. Grit crunched against his clenched teeth. “I’ll have a look at her.” As every muscle in his body protested, he scrambled to his knees and then crawled the short distance to his wife. “Help me move her onto her back.”

“Is Mama going to die?” Hannah’s eyes were wide and full of worry as she rested on her knees. Obviously, strain was becoming too much for her.

“I don’t know.” Gently, Oliver eased Sophia onto her back. When she still didn’t stir, he hauled her body into his lap with her head resting on his chest. “Sweeting, please let us know you are well.” Fear put a waver into his voice, but he didn’t care. This was no time to be strong. Hannah needed to see that emotions were a part of life and that it didn’t make one weak to show them.

“Why isn’t she saying anything?” A whine had set up in Hannah’s voice mixed with fright. “Is she dead?”

“Give it some time.”

Finally, Sophia opened her eyes, and he’d never been so glad to see those blue depths in all his life. She stared up at him. Realization clouded her face as well as shock. “I didn’t die.”

“No, love, you didn’t.” He grinned, and with a glance at Hannah, he brushed the wet hair from Sophia’s face.

“But I should have. That was the largest shock I’ve experienced since I was given the news of my condition. The doctor told me to avoid anything of that nature.” Awe lingered in her voice along with fear. Slowly, she brushed at the droplets of water that splashed upon her cheek from his dripping hair. “Why didn’t I die?”

Then that same awareness plowed into his chest with the force of a blow. His wife was correct. She hadn’t expired, and by all rights should have. If her heart was truly as weak and diseased as her doctor had indicated, she shouldn’t have been able to survive the terror of being swept away in a rain-swollen creek and the fight for survival afterward.

“No, you didn’t.” But why? He stared at her and she stared back. Horror crowded her eyes and her chin quivered. Hannah kneeled beside them and quietly cried. “Why didn’t you die? The doctor was certain that a shock of that magnitude would have done you in.” It wasn’t a question, but he desperately needed to know the answer.

“I don’t know.” Her face was pale, her lips had a slight blue tinge. She shivered in his hold despite the July sunshine that bore down on her. “My chest hurts, but not as acutely as it has before, but my whole body aches, as well, so it could be due to that whole incident.” Sophia reached out for Hannah and touched her hand. “I’m still here, dearest. In fact, with the exception of being tired from that dunk into the creek, I’m feeling quite… fine.”

“Then you won’t die?” Hannah bounced her watery gaze between Sophia and him. “Is she cured?”

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