Surrender the Dawn (53 page)

He reached to touch her. Worried she was only a dream. Worried she would not welcome his caress, but needing to touch her anyway, needing it more than anything. He brushed a thumb over her cheek.

Leaning into his hand, she smiled. “John told me everything, Luke. I’m so sorry I doubted you.”

“Sorry?” Luke snorted. “Lud, woman. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

She swallowed. “You did what you had to. I should have trusted you.” A tear spilled down her cheek.

Luke brushed it away. “I gave you no cause.” He reached for her hand, hoping it wasn’t too late to win her heart. “But if you’ll give me a chance …”

A chance? Cassandra nearly laughed. She would give anything to own the heart of this honorable, courageous man. In fact, her own heart had not ceased to dance wildly in her chest since she’d spotted him, standing by the docks: dark hair hanging in his face, open shirt flapping in the breeze over his muscled chest, the sharp cut of his stubbled jaw, his flashing blue eyes the color of the sea he loved so much, and stains of blood and dirt smudging his clothes.

Earlier today, she thought she’d never see him again. And now she knew she could never live without him.

Blood!
Alarm snapped her gaze to his arm. She touched the stains on his sleeve. “Are you injured?”

He cupped his hand over hers and drew it to his lips. “No. It’s not my blood. I was at the fort.”

“During the bombing?” Cassandra could hardly believe anyone could survive what she had witnessed all night.

He nodded, kissing her hand. Warmth spread up her arm. He entwined his fingers with hers and stared at her, caressing her with his eyes, drinking her in as if she were a deep pool after crossing a desert.

Flustered and overjoyed at his perusal, she lowered her gaze. “Thank God you weren’t kill—”

His lips touched hers. Moist, warm, gently caressing. He drew her close. Pressed her against him. She felt the heat through his damp clothes. A tempest swirled in her belly, a pleasurable tempest she hoped never to
dissipate. Then he withdrew slightly and leaned toward her ear. “Marry me, Cassandra.” His whispered breath caressed her neck, sending shivers down her back. Delightful, glorious shivers.

Air escaped her lungs. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. Didn’t want this moment to end. But then he backed away. A breeze filled the space between them. She wanted him back. Wanted to dwell in his arms.

But uncertainty clouded his face.

“Marry the town rogue?” She gave him a coy smile, hoping to brighten his mood. “Surely, you jest.”

Lowering his chin, he stepped back. “Forgive my presump—”

She placed a finger on his lips. “Yes.”

A devilish glint sparked in his eyes. “Yes, you’ll forgive my presumptuous behavior?”

“No, you fool. Yes, I will marry you.”

One side of his lips cocked in that beguiling grin of his, before he hoisted her into his arms and flung her around. Their laughter mingled in the air above them.

Soon, clinging to Luke’s arm, Cassandra led him to their friends. As they approached, wide grins and knowing looks met them as congratulations were passed all around. John could hardly contain his glee.

Another boom of victory sounded from the fort, drawing Cassandra’s gaze. Throwing one arm around her and his other around John, Luke drew them both close. Overcome with thankfulness at what God had done, Cassandra glanced at her friends: Marianne and Noah stood arm in arm, Jacob perched on Noah’s shoulders; Rose leaned back on Mr. Reed’s chest, his hands folded protectively in front of her.

All of them gazed with pride at the massive flag flapping in the wind over Fort McHenry.

“God had a great destiny for us all in this war,” Marianne said.

“Destiny and love,” Rose added, exchanging a glance with Mr. Reed.

Cassandra gazed up at Luke then lifted her face to the light of the sun. “He did indeed. And I don’t think He’s done with us yet.”

  HISTORICAL NOTE  

A
t noon on September 11, 1814, the British fleet sailed to the mouth of the Patapsco River and anchored off North Point, just fourteen miles from Baltimore. Arrogantly spurred on by their successful march into Washington, DC, three weeks earlier, the British planned to attack the “Nest of Pirates,” as they called the city, from both land and sea. Early in the morning on September 13, while British troops advanced on land from North Point toward Baltimore, five bomb ships and several other warships maneuvered into a semicircle two miles from Fort McHenry. Just after dawn, the bombing commenced.

Major Armistead, commander of the fort, would later estimate that in the next twenty-five hours, the British would hurl between 1,500 and 1,800 exploding shells at them. A few never hit their mark, but most exploded directly over the fort, showering destruction on the defenders. One bomb exploded on the southwest bastion, destroying a twenty-four-pounder, killing Lieutenant Levi Claggett, and wounding several men. Soon after, another shell crashed through the roof of the gunpowder magazine. By the grace of God, it did not ignite. Major Armistead soon ordered the barrels of powder removed and stored elsewhere.

While the British land invasion was failing due to the courage and preparation of Baltimore’s militia, the bombardment of Fort McHenry continued throughout the long night. Finally at 7:00 a.m. on September
14, the shelling ceased, and the British fleet withdrew. Major Armistead immediately brought down the dripping storm flag that flew over the fort and hoisted in its place the forty-two-by-thirty-foot flag sewn by Mary Pickersgill, the action accompanied by the fort’s band playing “Yankee Doodle.”

Eight miles away, aboard an American truce ship, Sir Francis Scott Key, overcome with emotion at the sight of the flag, penned what would become our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Miraculously, Baltimore successfully defended itself against an attack by the greatest military and naval power on earth. The humiliating defeat suffered by the British changed the course of the war, and three months later, on Christmas Eve, Britain made peace with the United States at Ghent. In Baltimore, the
Niles Weekly Register
announced the news with the headline: “Long live the Republic! All hail! Last asylum of oppressed humanity!”

May it ever be so!

“The Star-Spangled Banner” Lyrics
By Francis Scott Key 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
    What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
    O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
    Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
    Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
    As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
    In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

’Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
    That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!
    Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
    From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
    Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
    Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
    And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Dexter

Other books by MaryLu Tyndall

S
URRENDER TO
D
ESTINY
S
ERIES

Surrender the Heart
Surrender the Night

C
HARLES
T
OWNE
B
ELLES

The Red Siren
The Blue Enchantress
The Raven Saint

T
HE
L
EGACY OF THE
K
ING’S
P
IRATES

The Redemption
The Reliance
The Restitution

The Falcon and the Sparrow