He descended the sixteen steps of the wharf, the frenzied clamor of thousands of people
ringing in his ears. The barge swayed beneath him as he stepped down into it, acknowledging Hardy’s salute and taking his place beside him. The clamor rose to a deafening thunder, and, as the oarsmen pushed off from shore, separated itself into three distinct and mighty cheers that shook the very clouds in the sky above.
God bless Lord Nelson! God bless Lord Nelson! God bless Lord Nelson!
Misty-eyed and overwhelmed, he took off his hat and waved it to the crowds. “I had their
huzzahs before,” he murmured softly to Hardy. “I have their hearts now.”
And in that vast, swelling crowd, the new Lady Falconer stood with her own admiral and the family that Nelson had given back to her. She thought of her last tearful good-bye to the brave hero and the shining future that awaited her as Gray’s wife. Through the din she heard her husband talking to her father, felt the press and breath and heat and life of thousands of bodies around her—but in those last, melancholy moments everything faded and it was just she and the little admiral. She watched the oars rising and falling in precision as the barge, diminishing now in size, moved toward the ship that would carry him to Cadiz . . . to the British Fleet . . . to battle . . . to glory— And, she knew—to Eternity.
Good-bye . . . she thought, her eyes blurring with tears. And thank you.
Author’s Note
“My last thought shall be fixed on thee, yes my last sigh shall go to my own dear, incomparable Emma. I see nothing terrible in death but leaving thee.”
On the 21st of October, 1805, Horatio, Lord Nelson—after more than two years of waiting,
planning, and praying—finally brought the British and Combined Franco-Spanish fleets to battle off the Spanish port of Cadiz.
He never doubted a glorious victory. The Battle of Trafalgar, as it came to be called, won Britain a supremacy over the seas that was to last for the next one hundred years. Ending forever the threat of Napoleonic invasion, the triumph was darkened only by the loss of Nelson himself, who, at the height of the battle, was hit by a French sniper who spotted the gleaming medals of his coat as the admiral and his flag-captain, Hardy, calmly paced Victory’s shot-torn quarterdeck.
He died three hours later, after receiving word of a complete and overwhelming victory.
-- the end --
About the Author:
Bestselling, multi-award winning and critically acclaimed author Danelle Harmon has
written ten books, previously published in print and distributed in many languages worldwide.
Though a Massachusetts native, she has lived in Great Britain and is married to an Englishman; she and her husband make their home in New England with their daughter Emma and numerous
animals including four dogs, an Egyptian Arabian horse, and a flock of pet chickens. Danelle welcomes email from her readers and can be reached at [email protected] or through any of the means listed below: Connect with me online!
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WICKED AT HEART
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"The bluest of blood; the boldest of hearts;
the de Montforte brothers will take your breath away."
Meet the dashing and aristocratic De Montforte Brothers by Danelle Harmon:
THE WILD ONE
THE BELOVED ONE
THE DEFIANT ONE
THE WICKED ONE
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MASTER OF MY DREAMS
TAKEN BY STORM
PIRATE IN MY ARMS
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My Lady Pirate Page 35
