The Ocean's Daughter (Sequel to Sirene)

Chapter 14.

Oceana sighed with joy as she entered the little cottage she had called home for nearly eight years. “My, it is good to be home!” She exclaimed.

“Aye,” Callum agreed with her, carrying the trunk into the house. “It is good to *hae ye back, lassies. Th' hoose was very quiet without ye, Oceana.”

“You could have come with us,” Oceana pointed out. “Come Beth, we had better go and change from our travel clothes. Oh, it is such a pity you are leaving back to London in only two days. I hate the fact that you live so far away.”

“I’m afraid that can’t be helped,” Beth giggled.

“Ye should hae put her on a train to London right *frae Edinburgh.” Callum couldn’t help from saying.

“No a chance. Call me selfish, but I want to keep Beth for as long as possible and since school only starts into two days I intend to have her all to myself.”

“I troost yer stay at Edinburgh went very well. I *cannae say I got any letters frae ye, which was rather disappointin'.”

“Oh dear, I am so sorry about that, we quite forgot to write you with all that was going on.” Oceana hastily apologized. “You see, Beth sprained her ankle on our very first morning there and this doctor came up…”

“A doctor ye say?” Callum lifted an eyebrow. “Is it just me, Oceana, or do ye hae some sort of magnetic attraction to doctors. Seems to me ye tend to find them all over th' place.”

“That very well may be,” Oceana said in a teasing voice, “but I assure you this doctor was not attracted to me. It was Beth he was after.”

“He was not,” Beth shot back at her.

“Yes he was. It was painfully obvious to everyone how he practically drooled all over you.” Oceana tue to her nature dramatized all the facts out. “He carried her back to the hotel when she sprained her ankle and for the entire week he sought out every opportunity to come over and see her. He brought her a walking cane, got his cousin to drive us around in a car, took her to bookshops and the list goes on. And here is the best part; on the evening we were leaving he brought her daffodils, Beth’s favorite flowers, even though we are in the middle of winter. Didn’t want to tell us where it was he managed to find them, but this made it even more mysterious and romantic.”

“Oceana, I don’t know where you get these ideas from.” Beth had flushed a deep red and was talking in a hurried voice. “He wasn’t any more attentive to me than to you.”

“Elizabeth Warren, I beg of you,” Oceana patronized. “That man worshiped the very ground you walked on. His eyes never left you while the train was pulling out, and he followed for as long as the platform would allow.”

“Oceana, I don’t know what you are talking about,” Beth burst out and ran into the bedroom, shutting the door loudly behind her.

Callum looked over at Oceana with a perplexed look. “I swear ye lassies can be a wee too much at times,” he said.

“I don’t understand her,” Oceana shook her head. “Perhaps I should talk to her in private and try and figure out what the matter.”

“That is a bonnie idea, only let her cool *fur a little,” Callum suggested.

***

It was the evening before Beth was to travel back to London and Oceana was to go back to teaching in the school. Callum had long gone to bed, but the two girls sat by the cackling fire in their nightgowns and shawls. A lone lamp stood on the table, giving a warm glow, blending in with the sparks the fire caused. A slight snow was falling outside and the house was peaceful and still.

“It is so wonderful here,” Beth whispered. “You have no idea how sorry I am to leave. I know this village is poor, but somehow I feel at peace here. Tomorrow I will have to return to London, return to society and I’m not at all excited about it.” She sighed and wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders.

“Beth, may I ask you something?”

“Ask me whatever you want, Oceana.”

“It’s about Dr. Blackwood.”

“Oh, I would rather not talk about him.” Beth turned to stare into the flames.

“Why not? Don’t you like him? I was sure you did. The two of you got along so splendidly. Whenever the two of you started talking you would completely forget about my existence. But whenever I would bring him up you get red and angry and deny everything. Surely you could see how he fell for you.”

“Oceana, please, spare me,” Beth pleaded.

“Spare you from what?” Oceana couldn’t understand Beth’s behavior. “Didn’t you like the doctor?”

“I did like him,” Beth found herself giving in. “He was kind and concerned and even though sometimes I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me, I enjoyed talking with him. But I don’t want to remember him.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because he’s got his life and I have mine and they are not going to cross again. I must return to London and keep on going down the path society has laid out for me. He may be a good man, but he is of no family.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“His whole family is involved in trade, and you know how the aristocracy looks upon those who are in trade?”

“But you are not part of the aristocracy.”

“Not really, but Miss Patterson is a very good name there. Her own sister is married to a Lord and she has friends in high places. She is a woman of property and has many connections. My own mother married into trade and her family was very upset, to the point that they didn’t care to take me in and I had to go to the asylum. I’m not saying everyone in London society is going to be so drastic, but still, Miss Patterson is not going to care for a doctor whose only connections are in the steel business.”

Oceana rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand how you could care for that. So he’s not a man of property, so what?”

“You don’t understand because you don’t live in that world, Oceana. And anyway, it is not like I am going to see him again, so there is really no point talking about it.”

“What about visiting him in the summer? Didn’t he want to show you a field of daffodils or something?”

“Oceana,” Beth shook her head. “I’m not really going to go. Miss Patterson wanted to visit Switzerland this summer.”

“But you told him…”

“I told him we’ll see how it goes. I couldn’t openly say no.”

Oceana frowned and leaned against the wall.

“Now it is my turn to ask you something,” Beth turned from the fire to look at her friend. “When we were in London, why did you insist that I don’t tell anyone anything about you? You didn’t seem to mind telling Dr. Blackwood details about yourself, but in London it was this big secret.”

Oceana didn’t answer right away. “I knew I wouldn’t fit in with London society, so I figured the less they knew about me the better. You don’t tell anyone about the fact that you lived in an orphanage once upon a time.”

“But to not even give anyone your last name, to hide every possible detail of real life and only give facts that cannot even be proven. I cannot help but think it childish on your part, and I cannot understand your motives.”

“I just didn’t want to be something that could be found later,” Oceana confessed.

“What do you mean?”

“You know something about a mermaid? You see her and you fall in love with her, but you are not allowed to have her. There is a definite border that cannot be crossed, and when it is crossed there are dire consequences.”

“But what has that got to do with you?” Beth was seriously beginning to get confused with the way Oceana was leading round and round in circles.

“I felt that if I kept myself a mystery, I would be able to keep my heart safe. You know, McDuff always says that when the Ocean’s Daughter departs from the shore and travels inland her heart is sure to be broken. I was afraid of just that, so I felt if I was something no one understood, something you couldn’t get close too, I would be safe from danger.”

“You are afraid of having your heart broken?”

Oceana looked down. “That is probably the only thing I am truly afraid of. I fear if  I give my heart to someone they will only crush it and leave me with the broken pieces, so I decided to stay away above all that.”

“But if you don’t trust someone with your heart, how do you plan to love? Love is built on such trust.”

“I don’t know, Beth, I don’t know. In matters of the heart I know nothing and I fear everything.”

The two girls were silent for a few minutes. At last Beth brought up another question she had been dying to ask. “Oceana, remember that Lieutenant? What was his name? Chesterton, that’s it Lieutenant Chesterton.”

“What about him?”

“Where you fond of him?”

Oceana let a smile creep onto her lips. “I was, I was very fond of him. There was something about him that set him apart from anyone I knew. He had this bright, honest face and a frank manner of speaking. He was honest and spoke his mind, but not in the way I do. He always had a great deal of tact about him, and I loved his sense of humor.”

“Do you think you could have fallen in love with him?”

Oceana shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. He was gone before I could fully search my heart as to what I thought about him. We didn’t exactly part the way I wanted too.”

“You fought?”

“No, no, we have nothing to fight about. It is just the day his ship sailed away for India was the day Edward Burmmington…” Oceana didn’t finish her sentence. She suddenly remember what Beth’s connection to Edward had been and felt very uncomfortable.

“Edward kept you and so you were not able to see Lt. Chesterton off?” Beth gently asked.

“Yes, I came just as the ship was sailing away. He saluted me, but that was not exactly a decent goodbye. He’s gone in exotic India right now and I don’t think I’ll see him again. But it was nice knowing him,” Oceana concluded. “I was happy to have met him.”

“Edward ruined a lot of things, didn’t he?”

“Can you talk about him, Beth?”

“I can now. I couldn’t before, but with time and thinking I am beginning to realize that perhaps it is better that everything turned out the way it did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my whole relation with Edward was built on a lie. I never told him my true story. I let him believe I was a relative of Miss Patterson. I was afraid that if he knew I was an orphan whose father had been in trade he would have turned from me. You see, I knew that money and family where the first things on his mind, but I was so desperate to make a good match I was willing to cast that all aside. I did fall in love with him, but I do not think the love was good for me. Who knows, we may have been very happy if we had married, but I would always have this dark corner in my heart, filled with secrets he should never find out. I would also always have this nagging fear that someday he would find out and all would be ruined. Though it broke my heart when he broke with me, I realized that this was probably for the better and that was why I did not renew our engagement, even though a part of me wanted too.”

“I’m sorry that it was me who had to tear you apart.” Oceana put her arm around Beth.

“If it hadn’t been you, Oceana, it may have been someone or something else. No, it is better this way, I can see that now. Despite his good looks, good family and good position, I’m afraid Edward was something of a scoundrel.”

“And he totally deserved the punch I gave him.”

“Oceana! You mean to tell me you hit him?”

“I did, right between the eyes. You should have seen the look on his face.” Oceana giggled at the memory and Beth found herself giggling with her.

“Oh my, what am I going to do with you?”

***

Beth had been back in London for a full two weeks now and was settling into her daily routine. Though happy to be back, she often found her mind wandering back to the time she had spent in Scotland and particularly the week she had been in Edinburgh.

On this particular day she had gone out to do a little shopping. Not in the mood to take the carriage, Beth decided to walk to the bookshop. The cold air helped her clear her mind and all the difficult questions that she was tired of trying to find answers too. Walking down the street, looking in the shop windows, Beth was lost in her thoughts and so jumped when a voice behind her called.

“Ah, Miss Warren, all roads lead to London it would seem.”

Beth felt the color drain from her face and her hands shook. Taking a deep breath she turned around and looked into the bright blue eyes.

“Dr. Blackwood,” she sputtered. “What an unexpected surprise.”

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What could Dr. Blackwood be doing in London? Hmmmm? And will we see Lt. Chesteron again? :) Thanks to everyone for following, reading, voting and commetning. You are all so awesome. I really hope you are enjoying the story :)

>>Painting to your right (^^or up above^^) is by artist Frederic John Lloyd Strevens and that is how I imagine Beth to look like :)

Glossary:

cannae: can't/cannot,   frae: from,   hae: have,   fur: for.