“Never, my love,” Jude assured, his eyes searched my face. I snuggled into him to stay warm. The feel of his solidness against me brought comfort to my weary mind. I breathed in his scent and touched his face then closed my eyes as emotions threatened to overwhelm me. I buried my face in his chest and wept softly. His strong arms tightened around me, and we rode that way most of the way home until I had no tears left.
As we rode into the courtyard of my home, every street light was lit and the house was awash in light. I could hear someone calling out, alerting the household that we had arrived.
Moments later the doors flew open as Mother, Father, and Jonathan came rushing out.
Jude climbed down then reached up to help me down. My feet had no more than touched the ground when Mother whirled me around to look at her. Tears of joy rolled down her face as she took me in her arms and buried her face in my neck. “I thought I would never see my angel again.”
“Well, get her upstairs, man, she has to be freezing dressed like that,” Father said as he looked directly at Jude.
“Where is the monster?” Jonathan asked with murder in his eyes.
“I had the men take him to the local constables to be locked up,” Jude answered him.
“Mother, Father, this is Maggie. I would not be alive if it were not for her bravery. Will you take good care of my friend for me?” My words nearly lost in the commotion as Jude lifted me into his arms. He carried me into the house and up the stairs to my room with Anna leading the way.
“I have a bath ready and the fire is burning, so your room is warm,” Anna babbled all the way up the stairs like a crazy person, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Anna, I am fine now. I really could walk, but Hercules here is afraid I might stub my toe,” I said, tipping my head sideways to smile at Jude.
Entering my bedroom, Jude turned to address Anna. “Anna, could you give us a few minutes of privacy, please? And shut the door on your way out.” Turning back around, he headed for my bed as I looked at Anna over his shoulder helplessly. “Thank you, Anna, I’ve got it from here,” Jude said, dismissing her.
Anna walked to the door then hesitated a minute before closing it quietly behind her.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“Well, let’s see. You have been held by a madman for four days. I thought I would never see you alive again, and I have been sick with worry. Oh, and there is this little matter of you carrying my child,” he finished by setting me down on the ground in front of the bath. “Turn around, I will undo your gown so you can get in the bath,” he said with his left hand on his hip rotating his other hand in a circular motion over my head.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have this conversation after I got cleaned up? What if someone walks in?” I said, trying to stall him.
“Angelina, what is going on? Turn around and I will help you,” he said with a hint of suspicion in his tone. Not waiting for me to turn on my own, he turned me and started to undo my gown.
I heard the intake of air as Jude saw the blood on my slip. Slipping my gown from my shoulders, I didn’t even fight him as it hit the ground. His hand frantically searched for the tie in the front of my slip. Finding it, he pulled it and stripped the thin material from my back. I heard a second intake of air and an animalistic growl when he saw the marked flesh.
Dropping the slip to the ground, I stepped into the tub and sank beneath the water. Enjoying the feeling of being warm for the first time in days, I savored every second of it until I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. Coming out of the water, I leaned my head on the edge of the tub.
Jude retrieved the special soap I had for my hair that smelled of lavender and lemongrass. He massaged it into my head until he had created a wonderful lather. Next, he soaped a cloth and began to scrub my neck and chest. Working his way down my arms, I heard another sharp intake of air when he reached my wrists.
Pulling my hand away, I held them under the water to soak the pain from the joints.
Jude fetched the pails of water being warmed by the fire to rinse the soap from my hair and body. I stood up, then he wrapped a clean sheet around me, and lifted me out of the bath. He carried me to a stool by the fire to keep me warm as he gently patted me dry.
“I’m going to have your mother send for the doctor to examine you,” Jude finally said, his voice sounding concerned.
“Examine me for what exactly?”
“I just want to make sure that you and the baby are fine,” he replied gently, touching my stomach.
“If you are asking me if I have lost the baby, I didn’t. I just need rest and food. That reminds me, I am starving. Could you ask Anna to bring me some food?” Turning to him, I touched his face. He looked torn and guilt ridden. “Jude, it wasn’t your fault.” I placed my hands on either side of his face, directing him to face me. “Darcy Montgomery is a very disturbed man. He killed those women.”
“What women?” he asked, confusion written on his face.
“The woman on the boat at the king’s party. Darcy was watching me the entire night. He was angry because I had insulted him earlier that day and he wanted to teach me a lesson. Oh, and the other woman found with her heart cut out. Darcy was behind that murder too. He also told me he had arranged my kidnapping.”
“But why those women and what does their murder have to do with you?” he asked, looking directly at me.
“He felt that I had disrespected him and he wanted to teach me a lesson. He said that he was going to show me how to treat a man. The man was truly deranged. Did you know that there is a secret society out there doing pagan rituals and human sacrifices?” I shuddered, then stepped into his embrace in search of comfort and distraction from those memories. “I can’t do this now, too many bad memories. Just promise me he won’t go free, Jude.” Looking up at him, I pleaded with him. “Promise me,” I whispered, then buried my face in his chest.
Anna knocked on the door, then poked her head into the room. “Is there anything I can get you?”
“Yes, Anna, we need some salve, bandages, and food for your lady. She claims that she is starving,” Jude sweetly asked, looking at me.
“I will be right back,” Anna said, closing the door behind her.
Leaning down, he kissed my forehead, then each eye, and finally capturing my mouth. His desire was clear, but he kept it in check.
“I truly feared I would never see you again, ma amour.” His words were laced with heavy emotion as his eyes misted over. “I don’t know how I would have survived if anything had happened to you,” he ended, unable to say anything more for the knot in his throat.
“I don’t know if I can explain to you everything that happened to me right now. It was such a nightmare. I just don’t want to go through it again.” The panic I felt just talking about it caused me to shake all over.
“We don’t have to talk about it now or ever if you don’t want to. The only thing that matters is you are here with me now.” Jude picked me up and carried me to the bed as Anna came in with the salve and bandages.
“Cook is fixing you a tray and will send it up when it is ready,” Anna said as she brought the supplies over to Jude. “Can I help?”
“Yes. If you will treat her wrists, then wrap them loosely. I will work on her back,” he instructed her as if I wasn’t there.
Over my shoulder I looked at Jude when he pushed my wet hair over the other shoulder, then pulled the sheet down in the back, causing me to blush.
Anna started working on my wrists, keeping her head down, refusing to look at me, but I could see the unshed tears in her eyes.
“Ouch!” I cried, then shifted uncomfortably.
“Sorry,” Jude said from behind me.
“Ouch!” Crying even louder this time, I glared at Jude over my shoulder.
“If you would hold still, I will be done in just a minute,” Jude replied, then cussed in French under his breath.
Anna looked up into my face, and I just smiled w
hile she wrapped my last wrist.
Reaching around me under the sheet, Jude grazed my breast. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was an accident, but then he did it again, and I knew for sure that it was deliberate.
“Anna, would you be so kind and hand me a nightgown? The thin one, please. I don’t think I could stand the thick one tonight,” I sweetly begged.
Jude leaned forward to nibble my neck the minute Anna went to fetch the gown.
“You have lost your bloody mind,” I scolded him at the same time I relished the feel of his lips on my skin.
“I, madam, find you irresistible under any circumstance,” he murmured suggestively in my ear.
“And you, sir, are a flirtatious lecher tantalizing a hapless victim when she is most vulnerable,” I teased seductively.
“Anna, how long did you say that tray of food would be?” Jude called out just as Anna stepped back in the room carrying my nightgown.
“I will check on that right now. Would you like me to inform the rest of the family that you are very tired and would like not to be disturbed until the morning, Lady Stewart?” she replied, slipping the gown over my head. Then she gave me a wink and rushed from the room.
“I think she is on to us, Lord Deveraux,” I said beguilingly as I turned on my knees to face him.
Entwining his fingers through my hair, he pulled me to him this time, kissing me more passionately. My pent-up anxiety from the last four days was released as I straddled his legs. The hunger for nourishment had nothing to do with my belly.
“Is it safe?” he asked, pulling away from our embrace.
“Shut up and kiss me,” I demanded, clawing at his shirt.
“Someone has to be the voice of reason here, my love.” His words did not match the passion I saw smoldering in his eyes.
“If you think it best, I will acquiesce to your wishes, my lord,” I said coyly while dismounting my position from his lap. “Food is not what I require just this minute,” I said boldly.
“Regardless, Anna will return any minute now, and I do not wish to be caught in a compromising position.” His rakish smile promised more than his words alone could.
“Then perhaps the sitting area would be a more appropriate place than the bed,” I said somewhat disappointed with a slight pout as I resigned myself to the fact that he was right.
“In that case.” Throwing me over his shoulder, he twirled us around like one would play with a child, making me squeal.
“Jude, have you lost your faculties? Put me down!” I demanded, trying to sound stern while I giggled.
“Your wish is my command, my love,” he replied as he playfully but gently depositing me on the settee.
Anna knocked, waited a few seconds, giving me time to straighten my gown and Jude time to fix his hair. Then she entered with a tray of food.
“Thank you so very much, Anna. I thought I would expire if I had to go one minute more without nourishment,” I said innocently, directing my words at Jude while I pulled faces at him behind Anna’s back. Childish I know but sometimes he could be aggravatingly right.
“Do you want me to get you a robe, Lady Stewart?”
“Anna, you can drop the proper maid act. It’s only Jude, and he will be the master of the house soon,” I said to her. “You have called me Angelina for years now, and I don’t intend on changing everything just because I am getting married,” I said while looking directly at Jude.
“Please don’t change things on my account. We both know I am anything but a proper gentleman.” Directing his statement at me, as his words double meaning hit home.
“So then it is settled. Anna, you will continue to call me Angelina in private without fear of repercussions.” I smiled genuinely at her as she looked between Jude and back at me, unsure exactly what to make of the entire situation.
“Very good then, can I get you anything else this evening?” she asked.
“It’s getting late, Anna, or should I say early and you need some sleep. I will probably sleep late in the morning, so don’t worry about getting me up. I will call for you if I need anything. And, Anna, thank you for everything,” I said, giving her a hug and a wink.
“I believe that is my cue to leave.” Walking to the door, she quietly closed it behind her.
Sitting back down on the settee next to Jude, I reached for the bowl of warmed soup cook had made for me: split pea with ham, my favorite. I savored every delicious mouthful with fresh sliced bread.
Jude stood up to tend the fire. “Do you want another log on or should I let it burn out?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
“Let it burn out. I am feeling tired and full now,” I replied, placing the bowl and spoon back on the tray. I stood and walked to him. “Will you hold me tonight? I don’t want to be alone in the dark.”
“Of course,” he said, kneeling before me kissing my stomach before he stood up. “I will never leave you alone again, ma bella ange.” Taking me in his arms, he carried me to the bed and gently lay me down.
I watched as he walked to the chair and removed his boots and stockings, then his coat and vest before untucking his shirt. Coming back to bed still half-dressed, he saw the puzzled look on my face. “I will stay until you fall asleep. I can’t have people talking badly about my future wife and the mother of my children.”
“Since when have you concerned yourself with convention and what others think?” I questioned.
“Ever since I started putting my life in order. I wish to be viewed as a proper gentleman for myself and my house. Which will include you shortly,” he quipped, giving me his best aristocratic gesture as he looked down his nose at me.
“Do tell,” I queried, sitting up in bed a little taller like a child, waiting for their fairy tale story.
“Honore and I have officially retired from the privateer business,” Jude proudly announced. “Your family business has expanded. Your father, uncles, and I have completed negotiations, and it will be official soon.”
“Darling, that is incredible!” I said, thrilled at the prospect of Jude being connected to my family after we wed. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his face. “I can’t believe it. This is wonderful news. But how did all this come about?” I asked as my curiosity peeked.
“I went to your father awhile ago with an idea and proposal to join the family business, which would keep us all connected and provide income without putting my neck in a noose every time I went out to sea,” he said very matter-of-factly. “Besides, if anything ever happened to me, Honore will see to the daily running of the business and that way you will always have a piece of your family’s business just like your brother, Jonathan.”
“Are you expecting something to happen to you?” I asked suddenly, concerned.
“No, my love, absolutely not,” he reassured. “But should something happen to me in the future, you and our children will be well taken care of.”
“Are you sure nothing is going to happen to you and there isn’t anything you aren’t telling me?” I asked, looking at him suspiciously.
Snuggling me into his arms, as he laid my head on a pillow, he laid his head next to mine. “I am positive, ma chere, nothing is going to happen to me. We will be married soon and then we will set sail for Bayonne where you will give me many strong healthy sons and everything will be fine.”
“You promise?” I asked with a yawn as my eyes got heavier.
“I give you my word,” he said reassuringly as I yawned again, snuggling in closer to him as he stroked my hair, lulling me to sleep.
The last thing I remembered was the cracking of the fire and Jude’s hand cradling my head.
19
SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1763;
A NEW DAY DAWNS
BLOODCURDLING SCREAM RANG THROUGHOUT THE halls of the Stewart family home in the early hours of dawn for the third morning in a row.
Sheer panic ran through my veins like ice water, causing me to shake uncontrollably, unable to tell the difference betwee
n my nightmares and reality in those moments before consciousness.
The horror of being trapped by my subconscious glazed over in my eyes as Jude held me in his arms trying to awaken me. His reassuring words telling me that it was all a bad dream and that I was safe did nothing to stop the night terrors I experienced.
“Darling, please wake up. I’m here, and I won’t let anything happen to you I promise. You are safe now.” Jude’s loving words finally penetrated my brain and my vision began to clear. I lay in his arms crying like a child. I was inconsolable.
“I will fetch some tea and toast,” Anna said before leaving the room.
Father burst through the door like a wild bull. “I don’t care what the staff says or whose tongue starts to wag, you have my permission to stay with her through the night, Jude. You seem to be the only one who calms her when she gets like this,” Father announced to the entire room.
“Jon! Her reputation will be ruined,” Mother protested.
“We never thought that she would agree to marry anyone, but here we are, and just days before the wedding. If we had given a damn about her reputation, we would have raised her differently. My main concern is her well-being,” Father countered, and Mother looking directly into her eyes.
“Are you sure about this, darling?” Mother asked, slightly scandalized by Father’s declaration.
“We have tried having Anna and Sarah stayed with her to no avail. The only person she recognizes when she is like this is Jude,” he said gruffly.
“Father is right, Mother,” Jonathan chimed in. “About the only thing we haven’t tried yet is drugging her before she goes to bed like the doctor suggested.”
“No!” I screamed. “Darcy drugged me and I will not be drugged again.” Anger was apparent in my tone as my hand automatically went to my stomach. Jude recognized the protective gesture while everyone else was busy discussing what to do with me as if I weren’t in the room.
“Angelina is right. She will experience night terrors until she no longer has them. Patience is the key here,” Jude informed everyone. “I guess it is a good thing that I am a very patient man.” This time his words were said directly to me as he gazed into my eyes and stroked my cheek.
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