“I will be happy to pay for a honeymoon on
the continent for you and your bride, Parson Adams, so long as this
wedding takes place in less than a month.”
The two men grinned and shook hands on it,
and Jane couldn’t remember a happier moment in her life.
Henry rode away, leaving Jane misty-eyed and
overwhelmed with this sudden turn of events. She looked into
Nicholas’s eyes. “You knew I was…going away last night. Thank you
for not trying to stop me.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “You were
Egan long before I met you. Your dedication and honor were on the
line tonight. I knew you would not have me until you felt your duty
had been done.”
“You helped me…helped us. You saved our
lives.”
“But I cannot take credit for the events of
tonight.”
“I recall Stanmore mentioning some
correspondence regarding Musgrave when we were in London.”
“That was just a preliminary step,” he
admitted, smiling crookedly. “Through some people I know, I was
able to persuade the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that Musgrave was
teetering on madness. Sir Robert was issued an order and called
back to England, but when we arrived here, I found out that the cur
was ignoring the order.”
They nudged their horses down the hill and
away from Buttevant.
“Someone else was far more influential in
what happened tonight.”
Her mind raced, trying to think of whom he
could mean, to no avail.
“Sir Thomas,” he said.
As the name sank in, a hundred feelings
washed through Jane. Shame mixed with pride. Relief mixed with
disbelief. Gratitude mixed with hope. She looked blankly ahead and
they rode along in silence.
“He saved my life,” she finally blurted out.
“He saved the lives of these men and their families. And yet, I…I
cannot bring myself to face him…to thank him.”
“I think he knew as much. He asked me only
to tell you, ‘he is trying.’”
She stabbed away at a runaway tear. “It was
so much easier to hate him—to ignore the possibility that he had
some compassion left in him.”
Nicholas’s hand reached for hers again. He
pressed her fingers again to his lips. “I do not believe he expects
you to forgive and to forget overnight. At the same time, I believe
that he is trying to be a different man. Perhaps you should simply
let it rest at that.”
Jane looked up to the sky lightening in the
east. A new day beginning. She let out a ragged breath and tried to
cleanse her mind and heart of everything that was past. She met
Nicholas’s loving gaze and thought of their own new beginning—of
their marriage.
“Us! I love that word,” he teased. “Us!”
“Us,” she repeated and then smiled. “I must
say you were pretty easily gulled into paying for my sister’s
honeymoon.”
He laughed. “I would pay for a honeymoon for
everyone from Cork City to—where did Patrick say?”
“Limerick.”
“I would pay that and more for that smile on
your face.”
She leaned toward him. “I should have asked
for more.”
“Anything, my love,” he said, pressing his
lips to hers.
She drew away, but for only a moment.
“Well…” she whispered, smiling happily.
“This is all I shall ever want. Just ‘us.’”
London, Christmas Eve
She could have been murdered on the
Cheapside. She could have been drowned in the Thames. She could
have been kidnapped in Westminster.
Nicholas stormed in the front door, stomping
the snow off his boots. He’d been to Stanmore’s and to his mother’s
new house. No one had seen any sign of her.
He threw off his cloak and hat as Charles
appeared. “We’ve been scouring the neighborhoods, Sir Nicholas.
Nothing. Mrs. Hannagan’s about to have a stroke for worry, sir, and
the guests are arriving in an hour.”
“Damn the guests.” He turned to one of the
grooms. “Did you check again with Mrs. Cawardine?”
“Aye, sir. The painter lady was certain that
her ladyship had promised to come by for luncheon with Sir Joshua
Reynolds himself, sir, but she never arrived.”
Nicholas glanced at his pocket watch. It was
already past six. The queasiness had gripped his stomach an hour
ago when she should have been home, and it still had him. She
hadn’t looked very well this morning. He should have been more
forceful in asking her to stay at home.
If anything had happened to her, he’d
just…
“The carriage, Sir Nicholas!” the footman
shouted in the front door. “Just coming up the Square, sir!”
Nicholas strode out the door, pushing past
the man and frowning up at the worried-looking driver reining in
the team before the house. As the carriage lurched to a stop,
Nicholas yanked open the door, only to see his beautiful wife’s
smiling face greeting him. She was shivering in her gray wool
dress. No cloak. No hat and gloves, and God knew what else was
missing. At least she had a blanket around her.
“You gave them away again to some poor
beggar on the street, didn’t you? By ’sblood, Jane, how many times
must I tell you that if you catch your death in this cold…”
“Now, Nicholas…there is no need to frighten
these two friends of mine.” She pulled down the blanket covering
her lap and the filthy faces of two street urchins peered out from
either side of her.
He immediately climbed into the carriage and
closed the door to keep out some of the cold. “Who are these two?
And where did you find them?”
“They haven’t told me their names, yet.” She
hugged each of them to her side. “But I think proper introductions
can only be made after they get a warm meal in their bellies and a
warmer bath.”
Nicholas sighed in resignation. “And would
you like Mrs. Hannagan and Charles to entertain the guests while we
take these two to Angel Court?”
“No! It is Christmas Eve, Nicholas.” She
gave him a pleading look. “Can’t they stay with us…for a while,
anyway?”
It was impossible for Nicholas to refuse his
wife anything. He wrapped his coat around her and motioned through
the window of the carriage for Charles to approach.
The children were wrapped in the blanket and
hurried into the house, but Jane put a hand on his knee, holding
him for a moment.
“Nick, it is all right, isn’t it?”
He put his arms around her, grateful that
she was home and safe.
“The poor creatures were so lost…and
alone…and hungry. Everyone I asked on the street said they’d just
been sleeping in an alley and begging there for weeks.” Her eyes
shone with her tears. “You don’t mind me bringing them here, do
you?”
He shook his head and pulled her tightly
against his chest. “I don’t mind at all, my love.”
She held tightly to his hand. “But you’ve
already told me it is generally better for these children to move
into one of the houses…since there may be other children there that
they know…and…”
“It is very well to bring them here, too,”
he assured her, kissing the wetness off her cheeks.
“And we can raise the three of them
together. We can take…”
“Three?” he asked, looking around the
carriage.
When she took his hand and guided it to her
belly, his words caught in his throat. He stared at his own fingers
spreading possessively over the life that was growing inside
her.
“Jane…”
She nodded once. “One more wee one won’t be
too much trouble?”
There was no fighting his emotions.
“Not at all, my love.” He drew her tightly
against him again and let his own joyful tear fall. “Not at
all.”
AUTHOR NOTE
Since the 12
th
century, England’s
heavy hand has gripped Ireland’s heart.
Peaceful settlers. Conquerors. Colonizers.
The English have been a part of Irish history for nearly a
millennium. Since almost the beginning, they have tried to dominate
and plunder this land of artists, scholars and saints.
In the early 18
th
century, the
governments under the first Hanover Kings began instituting “Penal
Laws” that were intended to strip the Irish of all land and all
civil rights. The brutal and repressive policies imposed on the
Irish at the time have been described as no less than cultural
genocide. By the mid to late 1700’s, however, the English
landowners and merchants who had been long settled in Ireland were
also chafing under the repressive colonial policies. Many saw the
essential unfairness of the situation for the Irish, too, and
petitioned for changes. They were, however, largely without a voice
in Parliament. The situation for the Irish was truly desperate, and
they began to organize themselves into resistance movements from
Tipperary to Ulster.
The Whiteboys that you have just read about
were a real part of that resistance. All over Ireland, these groups
sprang up. The Ribbonmen. The Defenders. The Oakboys. The
Rightboys. Every part of Ireland had its own bone of contention,
and every resistance movement had an organized response to it.
When we introduced Sir Nicholas Spencer in
THE PROMISE
, we knew—long before we ever finished Rebecca’s
and Stanmore’s story—that he was a man who needed a very special
heroine. Jane Purefoy and her volatile and dangerous world in
Ireland seemed to offer us just that. We hope you enjoyed the
story.
Finally, we’d like to thank Timothy
O’Sullivan for his help with Gaelic. We’d also like to thank Miriam
O’Sullivan—friend, expert on Ireland, and travel agent
extraordinaire—and her husband Greg O’Sullivan, who not only helped
us with our research, but also helped to keep us safe from ‘bears’
taking up residence in our garage! Thank you.
As always, we love to hear from our
readers.
May McGoldrick
Or visit us at: www.JanCoffey.com
Our 16th Century books...
In
The Thistle and the Rose
, Colin
Campbell and Celia Muir are introduced...
And we also introduce Alec Macpherson, who is
the hero of our second book,
Angel of Skye
...
Alec has two brothers, Ambrose and John, who
are the heroes of
Heart of Gold
and
The Beauty of the
Mist
, respectively...
In
Angel of Skye
, we also introduce a
little boy, Malcolm MacLeod, and in
Heart of Gold
we
introduce a little girl, Jaime...
When Malcolm MacLeod and Jaime grow up, they
are the hero and heroine of
The Intended
...
In
Heart of Gold
, we also introduce
Gavin Kerr, who becomes the hero of
Flame.
..
In
Flame
, we introduce a number of
characters who show up in
The Dreamer, The Enchantress,
and
The Firebrand
(the
Highland Treasure Trilogy
),
including John Stewart, the earl of Athol and a number of
villains...
The Highland Treasure Trilogy
is the
story of three sisters...Catherine Percy of
The Dreamer
,
Laura Percy of
The Enchantress
, and Adrianne Percy of
The
Firebrand
...
In
The Enchantress
, we introduce Sir
Wyntoun MacLean, who also appears in
The Firebrand
...
In
The Firebrand
, we also introduce
Gillie the Fairie-Borne, who may just have a story of his own one
day...
Colin Campbell and Celia (from The Thistle
and the Rose) also make a 'cameo' appearance in The
Firebrand...
Alec Macpherson and Fiona (from Angel of
Skye) have three sons. The youngest, Colin Macpherson, is the hero
of
Tess and the Highlander
(a young adult novel published by
HarperCollins in November 2002)...
Our 18th Century Books
In The Promise, Samuel Wakefield, the earl of
Stanmore, and Rebecca Neville/Ford are the hero and heroine...
In that book we also introduce Stanmore's
friend, Sir Nicholas Spencer, who becomes the hero of The Rebel,
which is set in Ireland...
Stanmore and Rebecca also appear in The
Rebel...
In The Promise, we also introduce Rebecca's
friend, Millicent Wentworth, who becomes the heroine of Borrowed
Dreams...
Borrowed Dreams is the start of a new trilogy
about three Scottish brothers, starting with Lyon Pennington, earl
of Aytoun. We also meet a new cast of characters who show up in the
trilogy. Violet, from The Promise, plays a big role in this book,
too. She will show up again in the third book in the trilogy,
Dreams of Destiny.
In Captured Dreams, we see Lyon and Millicent
and the entire household of Baronsford in Scotland, along with
wonderful heroes and villains that David Pennington meets in
colonial Boston.
In Dreams of Destiny, the mystery of Emma's
death is solved...
Ghost of the Thames…a Dickensian novel.
Visit us at www.JanCoffey.com and on May
McGoldrick, facebook page for discount offers of our other
ebooks.
Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick have spent their
lives gathering material for their novels. Nikoo, a mechanical
engineer, and Jim, who has a Ph.D. in sixteenth-century British
literature, wrote their first May McGoldrick novel in 1994. Since
then, they have taken their readers from the Highlands of Scotland
to the mountains of Kurdistan in bestselling, award-winning
historical romance and contemporary suspense novels under the names
May McGoldrick, Nicole Cody, and Jan Coffey.
You can contact us at
[email protected]
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