Regency Belles & Beaux

by Michele McGrath

  “I thought you wanted to come with me?” he breathed into her hair.

  “I do but I didn’t think it would be like this,” she said equally softly.

  “Uncle John will get us away. He’s done it before. Don’t be afraid.”

  “I’ll try.” She leaned back against him. How strange, this is where I wanted to be, in Patrick’s arms. She was still frightened by the sudden change in her life but she knew deep inside that she did not regret the circumstances that had brought them together at last. The future was uncertain and the thought of being caught terrified her but O’Rourke seemed so confident she fought her apprehension. In the unchanging darkness, the minutes dragged endlessly. During that time, Lucy was prey to regrets. I’ve let my grandmother down and my aunt and uncle. Nell too, especially Nell. They’ll wonder what’s happened and think me so ungrateful. I must write to them and set their minds at rest.

  When the door opened at last and the light streamed in, they were both dazzled. Aunt Sarah led them into the kitchen.

  “I’ve sent the girl out on some errands,” she told them. “Uncle John came home and said he has found a means for you to leave Dublin. You must change your clothes. I have laid everything out in the bedroom for you, Lucy, and Patrick can stay here. Hurry now.”

  Lucy had been given a rough dress, a shawl and an apron.

  “You’re too clean,” Aunt Sarah said, scooping up a handful of ash and smearing it onto her face. When Lucy looked at Patrick he grinned at her through a similar layer of grime. His hair had been cut raggedly and the ends were burning on the fire. He wore a leather waistcoat and cap as if he was a working man.

  “Will we do now, Aunt?”

  Aunt Sarah nodded. “You’ll do.”

  “I must tell my family; they’ll be so worried about me,” Lucy said. “If I write some letters, can they be delivered when we are gone?”

  “No, not now, not until we’re out of the country. They would incriminate those who are helping us. Write in Belfast just before the boat sails. I have a friend there who can send them for us.”

  With that, Lucy had to be content. They went back into the cellar and Lucy spent the time composing what she wanted to say to her family and to Mrs. Beckwith as well. It helped her to organise her thoughts.

  Even if they disown me, all of them, at least I owe them an explanation and the reason why I had no choice but to leave. Above all I have to tell Nell how much she means to me and that I will never forget her. Perhaps one day I can come back and see her again.

  The fishing boat butted into the waves, casting up a fine spray. Lucy huddled into Patrick’s arms, enjoying the experience. Dublin lay behind them and Belfast Lough was in sight. Uncle John had returned, the maid was sent out with a message to Aunt Sarah’s sister and the fugitives emerged from the darkness. Uncle John handed Patrick a package which he bade him hide under his clothing and keep safe. Then he led them through the twisting and malodorous alleyways of the city. Two other men joined them when they were almost at the dock.

  “These are Brian and Fintan, friends of mine. They’ll see you to Belfast and onto a ship. Once you’ve sailed they will report to me.” Then he hugged and kissed both Patrick and Lucy. “Marry her in Belfast so you can go aboard as husband and wife. Fintan has a brother who’s a priest; he’ll arrange it. God bless you both.”

  Lucy had a sudden pang, leaving these people who had been so good to her and she knew that Patrick felt the same. They were silent for most of the way as they sped along the coast of Ireland.

  Fintan’s brother, Father Colm, agreed to marry them. He even let them stay with him in his small cottage while Fintan and Brian arranged their passage to America. Father Colm gave her paper and ink so she might write to her family in Dublin and London. Lucy found the letters very difficult. She thanked everyone for their kindness and explained what had happened to her in such a way that she did not reveal who had helped her. By the time you read this, I shall be married and on board a ship bound for America… She knew that it was unlikely that she would ever see or hear from any of them again. The ones to Nell and Mrs. Beckwith were the worst and cost her many tears, but in the end they were done. Father Colm sealed them for her and promised to ensure that they would be delivered as soon as possible.

  “There’s no danger,” he told her. “Friends will take them for me and put them into the right hands.”

  A look from Patrick warned her ask to ask no questions.

  In the middle of the night, Lucy stood before the altar in Colm’s tiny church. Her wedding could not have been more different from the one she had fondly imagined when she was younger. No flowers or silk dresses or a veil. There were candles and incense and a language she did not understand. The Latin words rolled over her. Fintan, who with Brian were their witnesses, had to tell her what to say when she was asked a question but she understood Patrick’s kiss at the end. They scrawled their signatures in the register. Father Colm gave Patrick a letter which said that he confirmed to anyone who asked that he had married them according to the rites of the Holy Catholic Church. The fact that Lucy was an Anglican and marrying without her guardian’s permission did not seem to matter. When Lucy had told him, the priest asked,

  “Do you want to marry this man?”

  “Yes I do,” she replied.

  “Then in the sight of God you will be married. Rules are made by men but God sees the truth in every heart. Be a good and faithful wife to your husband as he will be a good and faithful husband to you. No one will question your marriage where you are going. This other letter introduces you to some friends of mine in Boston who will help you.”

  The wedding banquet was a hasty meal and then Fintan and Brian led the newly married pair to the docks. A large brig was loading the last of its cargo and several people were boarding. At the end of the gangplank, they halted.

  “This is the ship,” Fintan told them. “She’s the first one leaving Ireland and she’ll go out on the tide. The captain has already been paid for your passage. Mr. Reilly said that you will have to travel steerage; not enough time or money to arrange better. I doubt it will be a pleasant voyage but this vessel is fast. I wish you fair winds and a safe journey.”

  “Thank you for your help,” Patrick said and put his hand into his pocket to pull out some money but Fintan shook his head.

  “Mr. Reilly has already paid us,” he told them. “Keep your coins and hide them well.” He handed Patrick a bundle he had been carrying. “Here are provisions for the journey. It’s not much, because there was so little time but it should help out with the food you will be given on board. Mr. Reilly asks that you write to him once you arrive in America.”

  “We shall certainly do so.” Patrick shook hands with both men while Lucy stood on tiptoe to kiss their unshaven cheeks. “God bless you both.”

  Epilogue

  Several weeks later Lucy stood on the deck of the brig holding Patrick’s hand and watching the land grow closer as they approached Boston. There were so many vessels in the harbour that she wondered how the steersman was able to pick his way among them.

  The voyage had not been easy. Two bad storms added days to their long journey. Lucy had been terrified during the first one, which broke as they edged out into the Atlantic just hours after leaving Belfast.

  Patrick tried to reassure her. “It’s bad, but not bad enough to sink us,” he told her, holding her close. “I know the sea and I’ve survived worse than this.”

  Nevertheless, Lucy felt battered and bruised when the storm was over. Some of the other passengers had more serious injuries. Patrick stepped forward and offered to help tend the wounded. The ship carried no surgeon and so his offer was gratefully accepted. He set the two broken legs and bound up the sprains and gashed heads. The captain gave him a small area where he could attend to these patients and those who presented themselves later in the voyage. Lucy was pressed into service as Patrick’s assistant and surprised herself by overcoming her feelings to do what she had t
o do. She was thankful that her earlier travels had given her some useful skills. If this had been her first taste of seaboard life, she would have been unable to help.

  One by one the patients improved and went back to their families. In the end only the two with broken legs remained and on a calm evening, Patrick dosed them with brandy he obtained from the captain. He slung up a piece of sacking between these men and a dark area piled with straw.

  “This is your bridal bed,” he whispered into her hair. “They won’t hear us and we’re far enough away from the others. Come to me now, I want my wife.”

  She was a little frightened but she let him undress her and lay down beside him. He fondled her breasts just as Dupré said her husband would do. This time she experienced sensations she had never felt before. Patrick went deeper. Pain, a gasp and he was inside her. She writhed for a moment and he waited for her to be still, kissing away her doubts. He stroked and caressed her while he explained what he was doing and what he needed from her. An overwhelming sense of warmth and release flooded through her and she cried out, totally unaware of where they were. Afterwards she thought that either he was an excellent teacher or she was an apt pupil.

  “Is it always like that?” she asked as she lay beside him.

  “With me it is,” he murmured sleepily.

  “Then let’s do it again, please.”

  After that, they seized their privacy whenever they could. Some of the other passengers did not have that opportunity and Lucy came to realise what all the grunts and cries and movements meant. She was glad that Patrick’s profession had gained them a place of their own away from the crowded decks to enjoy each other. It was towards the end of the voyage that Lucy began to be sick. Her breasts hurt when Patrick touched them and she moaned.

  “Oh, ho,” he said, sitting back on his heels.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked in alarm.

  “Let me look at you and then I’ll tell you,” he replied.

  His hands crept over her body but this time he did not caress her. He probed and pushed asking her if anything hurt.

  “Have you missed your courses?”

  “Yes, no, I don’t know when they were supposed to be. Am I ill?”

  “No, Alannah, you aren’t. Our baby will be born in the new world.”

  She sat upright. “A baby?”

  “Which do you want, a boy with bright red hair like me or a girl with your black curls?” He laughed.

  “Either. Am I really having a baby?”

  “Yes you are.”

  Patrick held her and kissed her while they spoke about the future. By the time they approached Boston, she had accepted the fact that she was going to become a mother in a new country.

  “If it’s a girl, can we call her Helena Caroline, after my cousins? Nell for short.”

  “Another Nell,” he mused, “that’s a good thought, and if it’s a boy?”

  “Patrick?”

  “No, I’d prefer to name him for my father, a far better man than me. What do you say to Michael Hugh O’Rourke?”

  “I like it.”

  A little while later she said, “Do you remember that day I bumped into you in London? I never thought that in a few short months I could have so many adventures and my life would change so much.”

  “Are you sorry that it did?”

  She caught the gleam of anxiety in his eyes and hurried to chase it away. “No. Love is more important than childhood dreams. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.”

  He stooped and kissed her. “I love you too.”

  Lucy clasped his hand, a determined look in her eyes. “I can face anything if you’re by my side, even America.”

  “Then let’s go and find out what the New World holds for us.”

  Copyright © 2016 by Michèle McGrath

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the author.

  Most of the characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. A few characters and events are historical.

  My books are fiction set in history.

  Front cover artwork:

  Copyright © Sheri McGathy 2016

  All rights reserved

  No part of the cover image may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the illustrator.

  Written in English (UK)

  Published by Riverscourt Publishing

  Thank you for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or the site where you bought it from.

  I send out new and exclusive stories to my email list. If you wish to join, please sign up on my website http://www.michelemcgrath.co.uk

  About Michèle McGrath

  Award winning author, Michele McGrath, was born on the beautiful Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea. She has lived in California, Liverpool, France and Lancashire before returning home. Living in Paris and Grenoble taught her to make a mean ratatouille and she learned the hula in Hawaii.

  Michele is a qualified swimming teacher and manager, writing self-help books on these subjects. Although she writes in many genres, her real loves are historical romance and fantasy. She has won numerous writing competitions, had second places and been short-listed many times. She has had tens of thousands of sales and downloads.

  **Visit her blog at http://www.michelemcgrath.co.uk/blog

  **Follow Michele on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/michele.mcgrath.books. She loves to chat with readers.

  **Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/benvoirrey

  What others are saying about Michele's books:

  "From the very first and magical sentence, I was hooked on this novel."

  Eddie on Kindle, reviewing Manannan's Magic.

  “Set in post-revolutionary France, Duval and the Infernal Machine captures the atmosphere of suspicion and intrigue that reigned in Paris at the time. The author does a splendid job of immersing the reader into the darker corners of the city." Simon on Kindle reviewing Duval and the Infernal Machine.

  “I have been terrified of the water ever since nearly drowning in Lake Michigan. My wife has tried to teach me to float - with no success - for 40 years. The techniques outlined in this book are easy to follow. Maybe finally, after all these years, I'll be able to swim and NOT be afraid of the water. Thanks, Michele, wish you lived in the States so I could get private lessons." Steven on Kindle reviewing Learn to Swim, even if you are terrified."

  “An intriguing and haunting short story, which the author says is based upon a real wartime experience. The fitting and satisfying ending will stay with me for a long time. An excellent story."

  Gunnar on Kindle reviewing Five Lamps.

  “Beautiful! Just 12 short pages, but it left me in tears. The author has such a delicate, lovely way with words that the sentences and sentiments were whispered over the pages. I will save this on my kindle to read again."

  Tina on Kindle reviewing The Carpenter's Bench.

  Books by Michèle McGrath

  Novels

  Regency Belles & Beaux

  Lady Alice’s Dilemma: Lady Alice is enjoying her first London Season until her disgraced brother appears in disguise.

  Miss Ridgeway’s Privateer: Following her father’s death, Lucy is sent to her grandmother in Ireland, where she is to be presented at the Viceroy’s court. These plans are interrupted when the ship she is travelling on is captured by French privateers. Lucy is held for ransom. One of her captors is the Irishman Patrick O’Rourke, the ship’s surgeon whom she has met before in unusual circumstances. How can she possibly fall in love with a pirate?

  Lord Philip’s Christmas: More adventures of Lady Alice’s errant brother culminating in Brussels at the time of Waterloo.

  Regency Belles & Beaux: Box set of three book
s.

  The Manannan Series (Historical Fantasy)

  Manannan’s Magic: Manannan McLir flees from a blood feud in Ireland and finds a tragic love with a young Celtic girl, Renny. Betrayal, a Viking invasion and a narrow escape all feature in this novel.

  Niamh of the Golden Hair: Niamh is captured by Viking raiders and unexpectedly falls in love with her captor. When he is badly injured, she must find her father, Manannan, who may be able to cure his wound.

  Emer’s Quest: Emer, Manannan’s granddaughter, dreams that her father will be shipwrecked. She rides after him to prevent him leaving but she is too late. She persuades friends to follow him. On her journey, she meets Atli, a trader who offers to rescue her father if she will marry one of his sons. Unfortunately, his son Hari does not want her.

  Manannan Trilogy: Box Set

  Duval Series (Napoleon’s Police)

  Duval and the Infernal Machine 1800: Rookie police agent, Alain Duval investigates the attempted assassination on Napoleon Bonaparte. The book features romance, terror and an unexpected ending.

  Duval and the Empress’s Crown 1804: Police Agent Alain Duval is tasked with finding the crown but time is very short and his suspects many. Present when the crown disappeared are Napoleon's sisters, Princess Elisa, Princess Pauline and Princess Caroline. Are they involved or merely witnesses? Aided by his wife Eugenie and his friends Lefebvre and Fournier, Duval sets out to unravel the mystery.

  Duval and the Italian Opera Singer 1805: Carla Cortini arrives in Paris claiming that her son is Napoleon’s child. She relates the story to Duval and enquiries seem to confirm that it is true. When Duval goes to tell her and take her to the Emperor, he discovers that the mother and son have been kidnapped.