Goddess Born (34 page)

Henry nodded curtly, and together we left the courthouse.

* * *

Anne Boyle looked at me, her steady gaze unnerving. “And this is the whole truth?” she asked.

Nora remained silent while Anne spoke, though I was fairly certain she wondered the same thing.

Henry sat right next to me on the sofa, my hand held securely in his own. “I promise, everything is true,” I said, letting my eyes fall to the floor.

By altering some of the facts for the magistrates, Henry had saved me from being publicly humiliated and possibly even from a day or two in the stocks. Once the hearing was over though, and we had returned home to find Anne and Nora in the sitting room waiting for news, I had insisted on telling the truth.

It had taken a full hour to recount the entire story, beginning from when I had met Nathan Crowley on the road the day before my father had died, all the way through to Dirk Fletcher charging after me inside the meetinghouse. I had confessed to everything—my desperation after learning of my cousin’s death, and coercing Henry into marriage with the idea that he could simply leave in a year or two when Nathan no longer posed a threat. I had also told them how Henry and I had inadvertently fallen in love while pretending to be husband and wife, and how we planned to marry for real once he was officially released from his current engagement.

To be sure, my confession spurred an abundance of guilt, but pouring out all of my secrets was also strangely cathartic. Well, almost all of them—there was still one that had to be kept.

“And this Dirk Fletcher is dead?” Anne asked.

There hadn’t been time to change since coming back from the hearing, and my eyes darted to the spots of dried blood on my skirt. “Yes,” I said. Henry had made sure of it.

“Well, I don’t care whose name you used,” Anne said, turning to Henry. “You stood up together and proclaimed yourselves to be husband and wife. So far as I’m concerned, the marriage is legal.”

“That might be the case if I were Quaker,” Henry replied politely. “But I’m not, and neither is Selah, for that matter. Her name has never been read into the meeting. As she has already explained, the marriage occurred under duress and with a false identity. I don’t think the King would allow it under English law. And I would prefer not to push the issue at the risk of losing my birthright when we can simply be re-married in the near future.”

“Oh, posh,” Anne huffed. “Have it your way, Henry Fitzalan. But be assured, I acknowledge only one Lord in this world, birthright or not.”

Henry smiled at Anne’s forthright opinion of the peerage. “I would have expected nothing less,” he said.

Anne looked at him wryly, but couldn’t help returning the smile. “And, I’ll make sure all the ladies in Hopewell know that Selah has remained virtuous during your brief stay at Brighmor. Not that I condone your actions,” she said, the smile disappearing as she glanced sternly back to me, “but this world can be a difficult place for a single woman. You took the only course you saw at the time, and I’ll not have other women condemning you for it.”

“Thank you, Anne,” I said, gratitude flowing through me. Once again, I felt the benefit of having her on my side.

Nora shifted restlessly in her seat.

“You’ve been unusually quiet,” Henry said, glancing at her. “I hope you can also overlook my unfortunate birth. Your friendship would be a most grievous loss.”

“Who am I to judge?” she laughed. “My grandfather was a pirate and a scoundrel of the worst kind. If my family could survive such an ancestor, there must be hope for you still.”

“Glad to hear it,” Henry said, his smile widening. “It would be sad indeed to know that you had given up on me.”

A light knock sounded on the door, and Alice came into the room.

“The constable is here for ye, sir,” she said to Henry. “Would ye like me to show him in?”

Anne stood up and smoothed her skirts. “That won’t be necessary. Nora and I will go speak with George.”

Taking her cue from Anne, Nora also got to her feet. “Godspeed to you, Henry. I truly hope to see you again.”

“Thank you, Nora,” he said, standing to say goodbye. “And thank you, Anne, for helping Selah. I am in your debt.”

Anne looked at him kindly. “Clear your name and marry her, then your debt will be released.” She picked up her straw hat and put it on, neatly tying the ribbon beneath her chin. “I should be able to convince George that you can find your own way over to the tavern in an hour or two. Good day, Henry, and safe journey.”

Nora gave me a quick hug and followed Anne out of the room.

Once they were gone, Henry sat back down at my side with a heavy sigh. I should have been grateful for a little more time, but all I could think about was how much I dreaded the morrow.

“I can hardly bear the thought of you leaving,” I said, tears coming to my eyes. “I don’t know why the magistrate had to be so stern today.”

Henry brushed an errant tear from my cheek. “Ely thinks I’m a bad influence. To his credit, he was acting to protect you.”

“All he has done is taken away the sole source of my happiness. The next five months will be unbearable without you.” I had already done the calculation numerous times. Five months was the best-case scenario for him to return with a royal pardon. If the weather or the King proved difficult, Henry could be gone for a year.

If he returns at all...

The wretched thought pricked at my heart. What if the Duke of Norland demanded Henry abandon me for the sake of his birthright? Would the memory of our love be enough to sustain him? Or, over time, would my features begin to blur into another lady’s face? Even from three thousand miles away, I could sense Princess Amelia lurking in the shadows, eager to welcome Henry home.

He picked up my hand and pressed it against his lips. “It doesn’t have to be that way,” he murmured, his breath tickling my skin. “You need not be unhappy on my account.”

“Of course I do. How else am I supposed to feel while you’re gone?”

He focused on my hand for a moment, slowly tracing the lines along my palm until I shivered from his touch. Then he looked at me with a shy smile. “Come to England with me,” he said.

The breath stuck in my throat, and I stared at him, speechless.
He can’t be serious...
The very idea made my head spin like a whirligig.

“I’ve been working alongside Ben nearly every day since I arrived in Hopewell. He’s more than capable of bringing in the wheat. And Mrs. Ryan can manage Brighmor in your absence.” Henry’s fingers closed around mine. “Selah, I’ve been thinking about this for some time now. It might be an uphill battle trying to convince my father and the King to let me give up Princess Amelia for an unknown lady from the Colonies. But once they’ve met you, they’ll have to agree with my choice.”

His deep voice flowed over me, weaving together the most terrifying and exciting possibilities, and before I knew what was happening, the first seeds of hope had taken root inside of me. No doubt Henry was right about Mrs. Ryan and Ben managing in my absence. And by engaging Alice’s help, I could easily be packed by morning. But what of the altar? How would I renew my powers?

Brigid’s warning came back in a flash...
Refusing to drink from the spring will ultimately end in your death.
What if I didn’t refuse, per se, but lacked access? Would my fate be the same? And what did she mean by
ultimately
? A few months or a few years? I’d never tested the limits of my power, but longer periods had to be possible, or my grandparents would never have made it to the New World. Surely once I arrived in England I could find another altar. And if that failed, then Ireland was only a skip away, and no doubt covered with places to cross over.

Henry gazed at me in earnest. “I love you, Selah. Please, come with me to England.” Thinking his words might not be sufficient, he drew me into his arms and kissed me.

My initial hope grew into a giddy joy that filled my heart beyond anything I had ever felt before. Nothing at Brighmor, or in all the Colonies for that matter, was more important than Henry. I loved him and had already risked everything so we could be together.

Henry pulled away just enough to see my face. “Will you come with me?”

Only a fool would let him sail to England alone, back into reach of a princess. And I was no fool. Amelia might be the daughter of a king, but I was the direct descendent of the high goddess Brigid. Henry was mine, even if it meant standing up to every peer in England to keep him.

“Yes, I’ll go,” I said, the words tumbling out in a mix of laughter and tears.

His arms tightened around me, and I leaned into him, overjoyed by this sudden turn of events. Whatever lay before us, I no longer dreaded the morrow.

* * * * *

About the Author

Kari Edgren did not dream of becoming a writer. Instead, she
dreamed of everything else and was often made to stay inside during kindergarten
recess to practice her letters. Despite doting parents and a decent school
system, Ms. Edgren managed to make it through elementary school having completed
only one book cover to cover—
The Box Car Children
,
which she read approximately forty-seven times. Things improved during high
school, but not until she read Gabrielle Garcia Marquez’s
One Hundred Years of Solitude
in college, did she truly understand
the power of a book.

Ms. Edgren aspires to be a Vulcan, a world-acclaimed opera
singer, and two inches taller. She resides in the Pacific Northwest where she
spends a great deal of time torturing her husband and children with strange food
and random historical facts. Ms. Edgren hasn’t stopped dreaming, but has finally
mastered her letters enough to put the stories on paper.

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ISBN-13: 9781426898365

GODDESS BORN

Copyright © 2014 by Kari Edgren Miller

Edited by Kerri Buckley

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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