It was as if nothing at all had happened. Seeing the well reconciled bride and groom, the guests relaxed. The celebration continued on into the night. The bride and groom were put to bed with as much decorum as was possible. The guests departed. The servants cleared away the debris of the celebration. Lady Devers sought her bed with a rather large carafe of wine, while Sir Shane sat with his elder son over full whiskey tumblers in his library before a blazing peat fire.
“A successful day, Da,” Kieran said to his parent.
“Aye,” the older man answered. “No one was maimed or killed despite our William. ’Twas fortunate the duke of Glenkirk was unarmed, or he might have defended his stepdaughter’s honor after your brother insulted her so gravely. She’s got a cool head, that one,” Sir Shane remarked. “I don’t know of any young woman so affronted who would not have caused an even greater scene defending herself, or castigating your brother before everyone with the plain truth. She’s a strong lass.”
This was the perfect moment for it, and Kieran knew it. “We’re being married on October fifth, Da,” he said quietly. “I’d like you to come, but I’ll understand if you don’t. Willy isn’t to know until he and Emily have returned from Dublin. You understand why.”
Shane Devers nodded. “Aye, I do.”
“You don’t seem surprised,” Kieran said.
“After seeing you two together today, I’m not, laddie,” his father responded. “How did it happen? Did you want her from the start, Kieran? Was William correct in his accusations?”
“I honestly don’t know, Da. Fortune and I met up the day you left for England, and I was just returning from the coast road. After that . . .” He shrugged. “We fell in love.”
“We can’t tell your stepmother about this until after the fact,” Shane Devers said. “There’s going to be hell to pay when she learns you are to have Maguire’s Ford and Erne Rock.”
“But Da, we’re not,” Kieran said. “The estate really is going to the two younger Leslie sons. My stepmother can dream her dream of matching Willy’s first daughter with one of those lads. Mayhap it will even come to pass. Fortune and I will go to England with the duke and duchess. Lord Baltimore is mounting an expedition to the New World in order to found a Catholic colony where all faiths may live together in peace,
especially the Catholics.
Fortune and I intend to join that expedition, and start over. We will not be anywhere in evidence where my brother, or my stepmother can see us, and be chafed.”
Shane Devers said nothing for a long moment, but finally he spoke. “That it should come to this,” he said sadly. “That my eldest son should be driven from his heritage, and the land of his birth.” He slowly drank down the tumblerful of whiskey, and held the crystal out for more, tears running down his weathered face. “I saw the handwriting on the wall when I married Jane, but I didn’t want to fight. I just wanted peace and comfort for us all. Now yer leaving us.”
Kieran poured the amber liquid into his father’s tumbler, and then set the decanter aside again. “Da, you know that I never felt truly at home here. I don’t understand it, but there it is. Ulster is not where I belong. Fortune feels the same way. She has lived in England, in France, in Scotland. She is well loved by her family, and yet she, too, never felt comfortable anywhere. We are two like souls, drawn together in spite of ourselves. The New World beckons to us, Da. We must be together. We must go away from this old world.”
“You’re certain, laddie? This isn’t just a compromise because you’ve fallen in love with Fortune Lindley?” Sir Shane looked directly at his son, seeking the truth.
Kieran smiled. “We’re certain, Da.”
“Then God bless you, laddie, and your lass too. I’ll be at your wedding no matter your stepmother’s outrage afterwards.”
“Colleen will be there too,” Kieran said softly.
The older man nodded his head. “This will be the first secret I ever kept from my Jane, laddie. I love you greatly to do so.”
“Ah, Da,” Kieran told his father, “in all the years since my mam died, the one certainty I’ve always believed in was your affection for me. I return it, sir, and thank you for your blessing upon Fortune and upon me.”
“I tell you, laddie, I am grateful I have lived most of my life when I see how the world is changing about us,” Shane Devers mourned.
“Changing with the world while holding fast to your ideals and ethics seems to be the only way to survive,” Kieran said quietly.
“The young can change,” his father replied fatalistically. “The old cannot, or do not want change.”
Kieran chuckled. “You’re not that old yet, Da,” he said.
“I’m old enough to want peace in my house, and peace in the land,” Sir Shane said. Then he downed his whiskey, and stood up. “I’m off to my bed now, laddie. I would suggest you not be around in the morning when your brother leaves with his bride for Dublin.”
Kieran nodded. “I agree, Da. Perhaps I will ride over to Erne Rock tonight. There’s a fine moon rising, and there’s no rain. Tell Colleen I will see her on the fifth. Molly and the girls will be there too.” He chuckled. “All your black sheep, Da.”
His father laughed. “Black sheep are far more interesting than the docile white ones,” he noted, and then left the library.
Kieran sat for several more minutes before the peat fire; then he arose, and set his crystal tumbler on the silver tray by his chair. Going out into the empty antechamber of the house he looked up the staircase. His father would be in his own bedchamber now. His stepmother would have been lulled into sleep with wine. William would have, by now, it was hoped, breached Emily Anne’s virginity. He would do little more, Kieran suspected, and smiled to himself. He wondered if there was any depth or passion to his pretty sister-in-law, or his brother. No matter, he thought, leaving the house, and going to the stables where he saddled his horse.
Riding out he thought his wedding night with Fortune would be more interesting and active than his brother’s. Willy, however, would do his duty, and provide Mallow Court with children for the next generation. They would be more English than Irish though, Kieran realized, and sighed sadly. There were some changes he didn’t like either, he realized.
The ride was uneventful, although he did spot the shifting shadows of several local poachers. They, however, recognized his horse, and ignored him as he passed by. He rode down the main street of Maguire’s Ford, passing two cottages where he knew he would be more than welcome. His horse clopped across the little drawbridge of Erne Rock, and into the courtyard. A sleepy stable lad came to take his mount, leading it away as Kieran Devers mounted the staircase, and entered the castle.
He found his future father-in-law awaiting him in the hall.
“I thought you’d come tonight,” the duke said.
“I’ve told my da I am to wed Fortune,” Kieran replied.
“And?”
“He’ll be at the wedding, and gave us his blessing,” the younger man replied. “My stepmother is planning to match a granddaughter with one of your lads.”
James Leslie laughed aloud. “She doesna gie up, does she? Well, Leslie men, nae matched in the cradle, tend to wait to wed. She could hae her wish in the long run. I want nae feud between our families, Kieran. ’Tis yer brother who is the difficulty. ’Twill be up to yer da and his wife to keep William in line. I’ll nae hae my lass insulted by him again. ’Twas fortunate I was unarmed this day, or the bride would hae been a widow before she was deflowered.”
“I suggested the same thing to my brother Willy,” Kieran said.
The duke nodded. “Yer a good man, Kieran Devers. I’ll be proud to call ye my son. I only regret that yer stubborn nature will take Fortune from her family, but if she’s content to go wi ye, then we must be content also.”
“Were not your family once Catholics, my lord?” Kieran asked.
“Aye,” James Leslie replied. “But times change, laddie, and what good does it do to argue over semantics in the matter of religion? Faith is what counts, Kieran. Our good Lord Christ once said that in his father’s house were many mansions. Surely one road alone canna lead to all those mansions. But while I will nae condemn ye for the manner in which ye worship, there are those who will, and laws to punish ye if ye do nae conform. I dinna agree with such laws, but I will follow them until they are changed. When we are in England ye must obey the king’s law for all our sakes. Yer nae the stuff martyrs are made of, laddie; and I’ll nae hae my family endangered by yer rebellion. Is that understood, Kieran Devers? If ye want my help, ye must play my game by my rules. Ye do understand that, don’t ye?”
“Aye, my lord, I do. I will do whatever I must to see that Fortune and I can make a good life together. I swear it!” he said.
“Good,” James Leslie said, well pleased. He thought the lad would behave himself if importuned. “Now, I see nae reason for yer returning to Mallow Court other than to obtain yer belongings. Can ye find the room which ye shared wi yer brother, and which was yers the last time ye visited wi us?”
“I can, my lord,” Kieran replied with a smile.
“Then welcome to Erne Rock, laddie, and welcome to this family of ours. Ye hae nae idea what ye’ve let yerself in for, Kieran,” the duke chuckled. “Oh, try not to let Fortune seduce ye before the wedding. She’s ripe for trouble, but then I suppose a day or two will nae matter.” Then James Leslie laughed for his about-to-be son-in-law actually blushed. “Go to bed, laddie,” the duke said. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t know the women in my household well, and yet they sometimes surprise even me.”
Kieran bowed to the older man, and hurried from the hall and up the stairs to the guest chamber where he had twice stayed in the past. The hall was chill with late September. The torches lighting the passageway flickered eerily. Entering the chamber he closed the door behind him, and then turning caught his breath with surprise.
“I knew you would come tonight,” Fortune said softly. She was lying naked upon his bed, her red-gold hair her only adornment.
“So you mean to seduce me, do you?” he said in equally soft tones, walking across the small room to stand over her.
“Aye,” she replied. “You want to be seduced, don’t you?” Reaching up she drew him down upon the bed.
“You are the boldest virgin I have ever known,” he told her.
“I didn’t know you knew any virgins,” Fortune responded with a wicked grin. “Kieran, you know I’m mad for you, and I know that you love me. In less than a week we will be man and wife. Why must we wait until then to enjoy each other?” Her lips were dangerously close to his, temptingly moist, and half-parted.
I’ll never be a saint, he thought, as he kissed her slowly, deeply, his mouth working against hers. His head spun with the nearness of her. The perfumed scent from her body surrounded him. “One taste, sweetheart, and then no more until our wedding night,” he said sternly. “I’ll not have you coming to the altar looking too sated and well satisfied. Do you think that’s a secret you could keep, my bold innocent?” His hand swept down the curve of her body slowly, sliding around to fondle the cheek of her bottom.
Being touched so suggestively was entirely different than she had anticipated, Fortune considered. It had seemed to her the right thing to do when she had decided to await him in his bedchamber. Now she wasn’t certain she was ready for such intimacy. When he pushed her back upon the pillows her heart began to hammer wildly. Fascinated she watched as his fingers trailed lightly over her silken flesh. It was utterly delicious, but now she wondered if she gave herself so freely to him before they were married whether he would marry her at all. His big hands were lightly holding her shoulders as he bent his dark head and began to kiss her breasts with tiny, feathery kisses that set her all a-shiver. His tongue laved her nipples gently, and they grew taut in response. Fortune clenched and unclenched her fingers nervously.
This had been a mistake.
She had to tell him to stop right now. She whimpered nervously as a hand brushed over her belly, tensing as it rested itself, palm down, upon her Venus mont.
Kieran could feel Fortune trembling with both her fear and her rising desire. He half sat, removing his doublet and his shirt. Her eyes widened at the sight of his smooth, broad chest. Now he leaned forward again to press his bare flesh against her bare breasts. His tongue teased her ear, and he murmured hotly, “Do you like that, my sweet Fortune? Ahh, lambkin, you are so soft and warm against me.”
It was wonderful!
Fortune sighed, and boldly put her arms about him. She could not for the life of her, however, speak. The moment was far too intense. She loved him. They were together as lovers should be. Shyly she let her palms smooth down his back. Then suddenly she stiffened. He had pressed his length against her, and she could feel the hard ridge within his britches pushing into her naked flesh.
“I can’t!”
Fortune gasped.
He immediately sat up. “It took you long enough to decide it, you damnable little tease,” he growled at her, taking her hand and putting it against what to her eyes seemed an inordinately large bulge. When she sought to pull her hand away he held it firm. “Your touch will soothe it,” he told her. “It’s either that, or . . .”
“How did you know?” she demanded, rubbing him gently.