บท 5: Chapter 5 - The Stolen Gold
"Madam, our ship, and our wares everything is gone. Our ship has sunk!" The maid cried out loud.
Her mother trembled and shook. "My lord, have mercy," she held her chest and panted loudly. She stumbled back a little unsteadily.
Eloise ran out from behind the wall and held her trembling shoulders. "Odette, let's go inside and talk," she supported her mother and led them to their room.
"Miss...miss, let me," Odette held her mother's hand gently and helped as well.
Eloise laid her panting mother on the bed and covered her with the silk sheets.
"Eloise.... My dear Eloise, what have I done? We.... we are poor now. What shall I do? How will I marry you off now, who will marry you? oh god bless my soul," She cried loudly, holding her chest. Her breathing became more rapid.
"Mother, take breaths. Follow me," Eloise held her mother's cold hands and placed it over her heart. "Follow my heart sounds Mother, take deep breaths,"
But her mother's breathing did not go down. Rather it turned into loud wheezing.
"Odette, Odette, come here, help mother remove her corset," she held her mother up and gently removed all the ribbons one by one.
"Eloise, my dear Eloise.... what to do now? What shall I do now?' she kept crying loudly.
"Mum, don't panic, we can find a way. Stop crying it was just a ship, we can handle it Mom," Eloise cried and hugged her trembling shoulders. "Odette, what are you waiting for come here," she urged the frozen maid close.
Odette swiftly ran close and helped remove her mother's corset and helped her change into a loose nightgown.
Her mother softly cried and wheezed for a while and cried herself to sleep. All the while Eloise sat beside her, holding her cold hands firmly. It was the first time... first time panicking over someone's health.
Her thumb gently glided over her mother's clear skin. "Mum.... mum.... this is the first time I have a mother.... I didn't expect this feeling to be so... soo good. So mom, don't get sick. It breaks my heart to see you like this. We can earn a ton of money it later but if you leave me what will I do? How can I be without your warmth?" she whispered, wiping her tears roughly.
Odette slowly opened the door and came in with a bowl of warm water. "Miss, don't cry," she whispered while her eyes were tearing up as well. She placed the bowl on the table and hugged her shoulders. "Little miss, don't cry. Nothing will happen to madam." She whispered softly.
Eloise patted her hand gently. "Call that doctor over,"
"I have summoned her, but she is tending to some of the wounded sailors that were rescued from our ship," the maid whispered while gently placing a wet towel on Madams' forehead. "Miss.... what shall we do now?"
"let's talk in my room,"
The room they were staying in had two attached bedrooms and one drawing room.
Eloise sat down on the comfortable sofa in the drawing room and peered up at her. "Now tell me, what is going on? Why did our ship sink when this one is well and running?"
"Miss, the sailors there are saying that the wind and waves were too turbulent for our old ship to handle so... so it sank,"
Eloise gritted her teeth. 'Even with the rain and thunder, it's not possible for that ship to capsize so easily. Something must have happened...'
Eloise gently tapped the ebony table in front of her. "Odette, do you know what kind of wares we had?"
"Cups, saucers, and tea sets. Mostly our company products were being shipped. Since Madam dissolved our company, she had hopes of starting another one in her hometown. Oh, and the ship also had our income in gold stored as well. Madam stores all of them carefully inside the ship. Oh poor madam, no wonder she is so heartbroken," Odette whispered in a small trembling voice.
"Wait gold? Did you just say gold!! Why did Mom store it there? We could have taken it to this ship, right?"
"we..... we were only allowed a certain weight of wares in this ship, so madam stored misses dresses and carriage here," Odette whimpered wiping her already red cheeks.
'Mother darling.... why did you store the gold there? Anything precious should always be stored close. 'sigh' I guess I have a lot to teach my mommy,' Eloise caressed her aching head. Glancing up he met the red face of the maid. She got up and gently held her hand. "Stop wiping so much, you have already rubbed yourself red."
"Miss!!!" she cried and hugged her tight. "Miss, my heart aches for you. First, you got sick and now madam is sick.... Miss, I'm scared. Has our luck run out?" she whimpered.
"Silly girl, do you think I will let anything happen to my darling mother?" she gently patted her head. "Nothing is going to happen, so don't cry."
Odette cried even louder.
"Oh dear, stop with your tears, what is the use in shedding tears over spilled milk," Eloise gently caressed her head. "Now Tell me, where are those sailors? I need to talk to them,"
"They are down below near the fire room," she whispered, wiping her eyes.
"Good, you stay here and take care of Mum. I will take care of this issue," Eloise strode out confidently. 'The gold... my heart tells me that this is somehow related to that,'
Walking down he could already smell the bloody stench from outside the room. The door opened from inside and a blond man wearing a long black trench coat walked out.
"Oh it's you, Lady Eloise what brings you here?" he closed the door behind him.
"Sorry mister, I would like to go in," she gently pushed past him.
"Wait, miss, it's not appropriate for a woman to go there at this time," he whispered with a frown.
Eloise glared back at him. "Sir, it's none of your concern. Please make way,"
"But... but,"
Eloise shouldered past him and opened the door. The sailors inside were all half-naked, wearing only their pants.
"Honourable lady!!" the screamed aloud. Some ran and hid behind each other while some hid inside their torn-up bedspread.
"Sorry for intruding at such a time, but I have something important to discuss with you. The ones who are healthy and could move dress up and come out," she said sternly and closed the door.
The man in the trench coat smirked at her. "That is why I stopped you, little lady. You must be flustered looking at so many naked men,"
"No, why should I be? I think it sir who was being rude trying to stop me from talking to my workers," Eloise said with a kind smirk while inside she grunted at him, 'Who is this guy? Look at how phrases his words. It makes me seem like the bad guy.' Peering into his smiling eyes, she gently scoffed. "If you will excuse me, I would like some privacy with MY servants,"
But that guy smilingly followed her to the meeting room. "I said for you to leave sir,"
"Yes, lady, but this is a common space," he mumbled with a shrug.
Eloise scoffed loudly. 'This guy is doing this intentionally,' she waited for a while and the sailors filed in slowly. Only three came in. "how badly are the others hurt?"
"Honourable lady, we lost three men and five are mortally wounded," one sailor bravely said.
Eloise nodded. "Now, I would like to discuss what happened on that ship. I need every single detail. One of you stay here, the rest wait in the next room," she gestured to the attached room nearby.
They all hesitantly glanced at each other. Two in particular caught her eyes. A brown-haired guy dresses in black and one in white with a golden front tooth. Their look was weird as they looked at each other. 'Interesting...'
She interviewed the first guy with a routine question, after which she instructed him firmly to go to the infirmary.
The guy nodded and left. Feng stealthily watched him enter the infirmary.
The next was the white shirt man with the golden tooth.
"Sir, I'll get straight to the details. What happened? Can you recount your part?" Eloise whispered, sipping her cold tea.
The blond-haired guy suddenly walked up front and poured her some hot tea. "Little lady might get sick" he whispered with a small smirk.
Eloise peered at him. 'Why is this guy insistent on standing here?' without a word she took a small mirror out of her shirt and paced it, leaning against the teapot. 'Let's see if this guy is involved or not?'
The white shirt man tremblingly said that the waves were so high that the ship overturned. He was on the deck, so he was able to escape easily. "I had to swim n waves my lady, itz so hard," he said with a heavy accent.
Eloise nodded while glancing at the mirror. The guy behind her was peering at her continuously through it.
Without a word, she instructed the sailor to go back immediately to the infirmary and not to leave without command.
Like last time she watched him enter the room. But the guy was sweating so much as he entered the room.
The next sailor came in, the black shirt guy. He said that he was working on the sails and the waves washed him away. Thankfully, his friends had taken a safety boat and rescued him.
"Who is that friend?" she whispered. "How does he look?"
"He is gruff and tall, oh and he has a golden tooth," he said with a smirk. "I bet you met him earlier honourable lady,"
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