From this high place she had an unimpeded view of the harbor and the causeway that led to Greystones. At least a dozen men were heading for the house, and their leader appeared to be William Montague!
She stared in horror as her stomach knotted with fear and loathing. And then she saw clearly that Montague was not leading the men. He shambled along in front because he had been captured. Her fear suddenly receded, leaving ample room for hatred to take its place.
Amber picked up a gun, rested the sight against the windowpane, held her breath, and took careful aim. When she pulled the trigger, the gun kicked into her shoulder painfully as it fired. That"s another bruise I can chalk up to you, William, but it will be the last. The gla.s.s was gone from the window and she could hear the men shouting as they gathered about the heap lying on the ground.
Sean detached himself from the others and sprinted toward the gatehouse. As he mounted the steps two at a time, he was shouting orders to Shamus to cease shooting. O"Toole"s tall dark shadow fell across the doorway, then stopped dead.
His pewter eyes took in the elegant woman in the gray silk gown with amber-colored hair. They stared at each other without speaking for long minutes, then the corners of Amber"s mouth lifted slightly in satisfaction.
"Always do what"s expedient and you"ll never go far wrong."
38.
When Emerald heard a shot ring out so close to the house, she began to tremble. She handed her daughter to the nursemaid. "I must know what has happened."
Kate crossed herself. "Don"t go out there, child. You promised Sean the women would stay inside where it"s safe."
"Kate, I cannot remain here one moment longer in complete ignorance. Sean is my whole life; if he is hurt, I must go to him."
Emerald ran downstairs and flung open the front doors of Grey-stones, then ran across the wide lawns in the direction of the sea. She immediately saw the group of men on the causeway, gathered about someone lying on the ground.
Don"t let it be Sean, don"t let it be Sean!
When she recognized Johnny, her heart almost stopped. Then, as she reached her brother"s side, she saw the man on the ground was her father. He had been shot in the chest and lay dead at their feet.
"Where"s Sean?" she whispered through bloodless lips.
Johnny looked at her blankly for a second. "He"s in the watch-tower."
Emerald picked up her skirts and ran across to the gatehouse. Her mother had been wrong. This was not self-defense, it was revenge! As she reached the foot of the steps, Sean was about to descend. She stared up at him, her emotions in total chaos. Relief that he was unharmed warred with the knowledge that he had just committed a supreme act of violence.
"Why did you have to shoot him down like a mad dog?" she cried.
"Because he was a mad dog," Amber said, stepping from the tower room, still holding the gun.
"Mother!" Emerald ran up the steps, concern and compa.s.sion sweeping away all other emotions.
Sean took the gun from Amber"s hands and Emerald led her back into the tower room.
"Shamus sent me for his gun. He swore a sacred oath to kill him if he ever set foot on this land. I had the gun in my hands when I saw Montague, and I knew I had to do it."
Johnny came through the door, his eyes widening in comprehension as he realized it wasn"t Shamus who had done the shooting. He immediately went to his mother and gathered her into his arms. "It"s over; he"ll never harm any of us again."
Johnny"s eyes sought Sean"s. "What will happen to her?"
"Nothing. Castle Lies keeps its secrets to itself."
"Thank you," Emerald cried, throwing her arms about Sean and burying her face against his chest. "You"re soaking wet!"
"The reckless fool swam out to Father"s ship, knowing any second he could be blown to bits!"
"You did that for my sake, to try to prevent more violence." Emerald was openly crying now because Sean had kept his word to her at great risk to his own life.
"When I reached the Seagull your father had already shot Jack Raymond.
You are a widow, Emerald."
"Ia"I can"t believe it." She looked at her mother and they realized they had become widows on the same day. The relief was overwhelming.
By the time the FitzGeralds recovered Jack Raymond"s body from the sea, Paddy Burke had two stout coffins built.
Amber and Johnny decided to take the bodies to England for burial and while they were there, they would put up for sale the Portman Square house they had always hated.
On the morning they sailed, Johnny kissed Nan and his son goodbye, while Amber warned Sean, "Don"t you dare have the wedding without me."
Sean laughed. "Emerald wants to be courted, but don"t be away too long; I"m not a patient man!"
On a glorious day at the end of May, when every hawthorn tree was crowded with bee-filled blossoms, Greystones was celebrating. Not only was there a wedding today in the lovely chapel, but once that ceremony was solemnized, the twins were going to be baptized with their father"s name.
Emerald sat before her mirror in her own bedchamber, brushing her dark hair into a cloud of smoke, then pinning on the wreath of cream-colored rosebuds. She smiled softly at her reflection as she thought about Sean"s courtship.
He had pursued her relentlessly, flattered her outrageously, and wooed her shamelessly. He continually showered her with attention, paying homage to her beauty, and praising her virtues, so that when he proposed marriage her answer would be yes. At the same time he was merciless in tempting her to allow him intimacies.
He cornered her in every chamber, stealing kisses, teasing, touching, whispering, laughing. He made it almost impossible for her to say no, but somehow she managed to keep him, if not at arm"s length, at least the few crucial inches from his goal!
Finally, Father Fitz told them it was scandalous to delay holy matrimony any longer when their union had already produced two children. Emerald relented and told the priest he could post the banns.
Sean groaned, "That means three successive Sundays. I can"t hold out any longer; you"ve tortured me enough!"
She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. "Irish, I haven"t even begun."
In the final week of abstinence, her dreams became positively indecent, making her curious about her lover"s dreams. She blushed whenever he looked at her and became aroused every time she saw him or heard his deep voice. They spent every day together, then every evening, only parting at their bedchamber doors.
Scan took her riding, sailing, swimming, and to the theater in Dublin.
Wherever they were, he could not keep his hands from her and every conversation had a smoldering sense of foreplay. His was no gentle wooing, but a bold and blatant seduction!
In the mirror Emerald saw the door behind her open as Amber joined her.
"Darling, everyone has gone to the chapel; it"s time."
"Mother, you look lovely in lavender. Are you ready to give me away?"
"Sean O"Toole has had your heart since you were sixteen, I believe."
"He has."
As Emerald walked down the aisle on Amber"s arm, the chapel overflowed with FitzGeralds. She felt Irish down to her bones, wearing a cream linen gown embellished with old Irish lace. Her face softened with love as her eyes fell on her babies in the arms of their nursemaids. Then Emerald only had eyes for Sean as he waited by the altar.
Though he had returned to the fun-loving young man he had been when she met him, his youthful appearance was gone forever. The high cheekbones, dark pewter eyes, and the planes of his face gave him a stark look that was pure Celt.
When she reached his side he flashed her a smile that was c.o.c.ksure and arrogant.
My Irish Prince; how I love him.
The scent of candle wax mingled with incense and the fragrant roses in her hair. Father Fitz"s face was beatific as an archangel"s as he said the holy words, mixing Latin and Gaelic outrageously.
Kate Kennedy looked up at the tall figure of Mr. Burke looming beside her.
"I"ve often considered a permanent relationship. Have you ever thought about it, Paddy?"
"That I have, Kate, but who would have us?" he asked, winking. Then he became serious. "Do you think you might consider me?"
She gave him a saucy look from head to toe, then tossed her head. "I might, if I was courted properly."
Kate wasn"t the only female feeling mischievous today. When Father Fitz asked Emerald if she promised to love, honor, and obey Sean, she replied sweetly and clearly, "I do," then, lowering her voice so that only her bridegroom could hear, added, "upon occasion."
Sean bent a severe look upon her, but his eyes told her of his pa.s.sion and his delight. Her humor matched his own; what more could a man ask? He slipped on her wedding ring with loving hands, then bestowed the most chaste kiss of his life.
"I now p.r.o.nounce you man and wife, and may G.o.d have mercy upon you,"
Father Fitz added fervently, before launching into the sacrament of baptism.
The bride and groom emerged from the chapel into the brilliant sunshine and led the way back to Greystones, where long tables had been set up outside for the feasting.
"The babies were smiling, did you see, Sean?"
He looked down at her and cupped the curve of her cheek with his long fingers. "They weren"t smiling, they were laughing at their father for being so besotted with their mother!"
During the entire day there wasn"t a stain in the sky as the celebrants feted the newlyweds. They feasted, drank, sang, danced, laughed, shouted, and argued the day away, enjoying life as only the Irish could.
When the afternoon shadows lengthened into evening, Sean looked for an opportunity to spirit away his bride, but the merrymakers wouldn"t let them leave until Sean promised to dance his famous jig on top of a keg of ale.
Emerald called for two kegs to be set up, side by side. Then she lifted her skirts and matched him step for step. The applause was like thunder. Sean jumped to the ground, held out his arms, and Emerald tumbled into them, gasping and laughing.
The applause turned to shouts of encouragement as Sean threw her over his shoulder and began to run. He didn"t stop until they were inside Greystones"s master bedchamber with the door firmly bolted against all comers.
He lifted her from his shoulder and let her body slide down his. "How is your leg?" he asked with tender concern.
"My leg is absolutely perfect," she murmured, lifting her face for his kiss.
He touched his lips to hers. "I"ll be the judge of that," he murmured, sliding up her skirt so that he could slip a seeking hand beneath the creamy folds.
"Oh, ouch, it hurts dreadfully!"
He slid his hand to her bottom cheek and gave it a pinch. "You little tease, that"s the wrong leg."
"Me? Tease? Never!" she vowed.
Sean slipped his other hand beneath her skirt. "You"ve been c.o.c.kteasing me for the last two months."
She touched her lips to his. "And loving every delicious moment."
"Let"s get you out of this wedding gown; I"ve never seen a countess naked."
"What about that Lady Newcastle?"
"She was a d.u.c.h.ess, and she kept on her corsets," he teased.
"You devil, Sean O"Toole!"
He kissed her then, slowly, possessively, deeply, leaving her in no doubt that she was the only woman he wanted, now or ever. "We have memories to make," he murmured as he helped her from the gown.
Emerald was proud of her body. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were luscious, her belly flat once more, her skin pearlescent in the lamplight. She wanted to flaunt her beauty before him in all its splendor. She moved away from him and slowly walked nude across the bedchamber. His pewter eyes never left her.
Emerald felt her skin tighten; her blood, already hot, suddenly blazed into a firestorm. She came back to him as he removed the last of his clothes, unable to resist his hard nakedness one moment longer.
He lifted her against him, burying his face in the soft loveliness of her scented skin. As he carried her to their bed, she knew she could never escape the power of this man. She melted against him with desire, knowing their bodies would soon be coupled in love, legs entwined, as he plunged inside her.
He eased her back against the snowy drift of sheets, spread her cloud of smoky dark hair across the pillows, then touched his mouth to every inch of her silken skin. "My heart forever, Beauty," he vowed, then his desire, long simmering, exploded in white-hot demand. He loved her in every way possible for a man to love a woman.
As Emerald lay replete, sprawled against his heart, he whispered, "Did you see the words inside your ring?"
She slipped it off her finger and held it to the lamplight so she could read the two words. Trust me.
"I love you, Sean O"Toole," she whispered.
"Love is a journey from the first blush of physical attraction to a marriage of souls."
Her fingertips drifted over his face, throat, chest, then she curled her fingers into his so that their hands and their hearts were joined.
In that moment Sean realized that he had had to let go of the past before he could embrace the future, just as Emerald had told him. How could one small female possess so much wisdom? He simply adored her. From this moment on, he would hold nothing back.
Emerald drew in her breath as she felt him quicken once more against her thigh. With his mouth against her ear, he whispered, "Do you remember when you were sixteen and you slapped me?"
"I do," she murmured languorously.
"I promised you that someday I"d do something to you to earn that slap."
Emerald slid her hand between their bodies. As her fingers closed about him, she gasped at the size of his arousal, but refusing to let him have the last word, she sighed, "I"ve waited forever; ready when you are, milord!"
Author"s Note 1 chose the island of Anglesey, Wales, as the place where my lovers first meet because of its extremely mild oceanic climate. Warm spring sunshine bathes Anglesey so early in the year that flocks of newborn lambs are taken there so they will thrive.