Edward looked grim as he quickly stepped in, taking the arm of the wilting figure slumped over the rail.
“Oohhhh,” Elizabeth moaned, a sound of abject misery. Michael, on her other side, was supporting most of her weight.
Edward cast a speaking glance at Caro; she stared back at him. They hadn’t thought…
She blinked. Turned to Ferdinand. “Do you have a cabin—some place she can lie down?”
“Of course.” Ferdinand squeezed her shoulder. “I will have it prepared.”
“Wait!” Michael turned his head and spoke to Ferdinand. “Tell your captain to turn around. We’re now in the Solent—he needs to get back into calmer waters, and closer to shore.”
Caro realized the ride had become considerably more choppy; used to tipping decks—this was mild compared to the Atlantic—she hadn’t truly noticed when they’d emerged from the relatively protected reaches of Southampton Water and heeled southwest into the Solent.
Glancing at the limp figure Michael was holding upright, Ferdinand nodded curtly and left. On the way to the wheel, he called orders to one of his crew; the sailor scurried to open the doors to the companionway leading to the lower deck. Looking Caro’s way, he beckoned, called “Come, come” in Portuguese, then disappeared down the steep stairs.
Caro exchanged glances with Michael and Edward, then moved to the rail, taking Edward’s place; stroking Elizabeth’s back, she tried to look into her face. “Don’t worry, darling. We’ll get you downstairs. Once you’re lying down, you won’t feel so poorly.”
Elizabeth gulped in air, tried to speak, then weakly shook her head and moaned again.
She slumped even lower. Michael tightened his hold. “She’s close to fainting. Here—stand back.”
He stooped, then lifted Elizabeth into his arms. He settled her, then nodded at Caro. “Lead the way. You’re right—she needs to be horizontal.”
Getting Elizabeth—who truly was as good as unconscious—down the narrow stairs was no easy feat. With help from Caro and Edward, Michael managed it; once he gained the lower deck, Caro looked past him and called to Edward, who’d been helping from behind. “Cold water, a bowl, and some cloths.”
Grim-faced, Edward nodded. “I’ll get them.”
Caro turned and hurried ahead to hold the door to the stern cabin open. Michael angled his awkward burden through, then walked to the bunk bed the sailor had hurriedly made up, and laid Elizabeth down.
She moaned again. She was whiter than the proverbial sheet—her fine skin looked almost green.
“She lost her breakfast over the rail.” Michael stepped back, met Caro’s worried eyes. “Is there anything else you need?”
She bit her lip, then shook her head. “Not at present—just that water.”
He nodded and turned for the door. “Call me when she wants to come up again—she won’t be able to manage the stairs without help.”
Distractedly, Caro murmured her thanks. Leaning over Elizabeth, she brushed tendrils of damp hair off her forehead. She heard the door softly close; glancing around, she confirmed the sailor had left, too. Gently, she folded Elizabeth’s forearm over her chest.
Elizabeth moaned again.
“It’s all right, sweetheart—I’m going to loosen your laces.”
Edward brought the water in an ewer with a basin; Caro met him at the door and took them. “Is she all right?” he asked.
“She will be.” Caro grimaced. “It never occurred to me she might be seasick.”
With a worried glance, Edward left. Caro bathed Elizabeth’s face and hands, then eased her up so she could sip from a glass. She was still very pale, but her skin no longer felt quite so clammy.
She sank back on the pillows with a sigh and a little shiver.
“Just sleep.” Unwinding her shawl, Caro draped it over Elizabeth’s shoulders and chest, then brushed the pale curls from her forehead. “I’ll be here.”
She didn’t need to look out of the portholes set across the stern to know the yacht had heeled and turned. The chop and slap of the Solent’s waters had faded; the hull was once more riding smoothly, slowly gliding back up the estuary.
Elizabeth dozed. Caro sat in the cabin’s only chair. After a time, she rose and stretched, then crossed to the row of portholes. She studied the catches, then opened one, pushing it wide. A faint breeze drifted in, stirring the stale air in the cabin. She opened two more of the five round windows, then heard a rattle and a great splash.
Glancing at the narrow bunk, she saw Elizabeth hadn’t stirred. Peering out, she glimpsed the shore. The captain had dropped anchor. Presumably lunch would be served soon.