When the coach came to a stop at the castle door, the doorman opened it, and seeing a familiar face acknowledge him, “Lord O’Neal, Master Edward is waiting for your arrival.” He bowed, his legs weakened, yet he stood tall and erect. Colum strode closer to the large doors. Six of Edward’s men were standing on either side of the doorway wearing stone faces. The door opened and Colum waited to be announced.
An elderly man of fifty, dressed in a black coat and pants with white silk shirt and gloves faced the crowd of lords and ladies and stated, “Lord Colum O’Neal, Earl of Tyrone.”
Elizabeth grabbed Edward’s hand and held it tightly. Then she whispered, “Edward he will know that I am with child.”
“Yes my dear, I want him to know. I sent him a special invitation. He does not know anything further. No one knows but you and Beth. I will not disclose anything to him and it will not be in the interest of you are your child to say a word.” Edward’s dark eyes met Elizabeth’s eyes. “We have a bond Elizabeth that cannot be broken. Remember he will never marry you, Edward warned.
Elizabeth lowered her head, and when she raised her eyes, Colum was standing in front of her and Edward. “I am pleased that you have found someone that will cherish you. I have been a fool and I want to ask for your forgiveness.”
“I forgive you Lord O’Neal and perhaps you can be in attendance at the christening of our son or daughter,” Elizabeth said with tears welling in her eyes.
Colum’s face grew pale. Then the heat returned to his astonishing handsome face and it glowed with anger. “I would have told you if you were not married that I would give all that I had to be with you. I would have told you if you were not married that I would indeed marry you and have a life time with you, but all my words are for naught because you are married with child.” He raised Elizabeth’s gloved hand to his lips, and kissed it. Edward did not hear Colum whisper to Elizabeth because his attention was on Beth.
“My lord Colum if only you had told me sooner. If only…”
Edward who diverted his attention to Beth turned quickly to see Colum kissing Elizabeth’s hand. He stood closer to Elizabeth and said, “I will have a son soon?”
“I know it is a son, but I will love the child even if it is a girl,” Edward said with a guarded smile.
Colum could not bear to hear more and he decided to leave after only a few minutes of looking on Elizabeth’s face. All his hopes are gone. He drifted through the doors and never said a goodbye to Edward or Elizabeth.
As he waited for his carriage, he heard the guards whispering. “Lord McHugh is parading around as if he is the father to the child Mi Lady is carrying. After his service and with the war, everyone in his castle whispered that he could never father a child. All of a sudden he is married and there is a child on the way. That cannot be.”
“Perhaps it is just a lot of gossip between servant wenches with nothing to do.”
“He had an old nurse they swore to secrecy and his mother paid her well. My wife’s mother was that nurse.”
Colum could not hear all of the conversation because they were whispering, but he heard enough. He wheeled around and marched back into the great room with all the lords and ladies pretending that they were happy and rich. When in fact many were having their lands taken and their livestock confiscated to the point that hardly anyone could afford such a grand ball.Finding Elizabeth was easy. She sat alone near a large hearth.
With her head down, she glared at Colum’s shoes and she knew it was him. Her face had a glow Colum had never seen. She was stunningly beautiful. He reached for her hand and took it. “Come with me.” She rose to follow him out to the marbled terrace leading into an enormous garden. He kept walking until they were out of sight of Edward and the guest. Suddenly Colum stopped behind a large hedge. “Whose child are you carrying?”
Elizabeth’s eyes blinked and she turned her face. “Edward will see that I have gone.” Colum gently turned her face to his.
“He will not. He is drunk, and by now, he is probably in the bed with that chamber maid Beth.”
“Why would you be so cruel to me? I tell you that because I love you, and I want you to know who you have married.”
“I know who I have married. A man who would never turn me away because I was not born into his station in life, and a man who is not ashamed to call me wife.”
Colum fell to his knees clutching Elizabeth’s hand. “I am sorry Elizabeth, what can I do?” He held her hand and burrowed his head into her dress. “Forgive me.”
“It is too late.”
Elizabeth turned to walk away and Colum rose to his feet and grabbed her hand and turned her around to face him. “I have loved you from the first time I set eyes on you when you were a child. I dreamed of you each night and hoped that you would love me as I love you.”
“I did. But you took my love and then…” Elizabeth began to cry and started to run away.“Don’t go Elizabeth. Is that my son you are carrying?” Colum raised his hand and passed it over her stomach and at that moment he felt a movement. He smiled, “I felt him move.”
Elizabeth looked into Colum’s face and she did not have to say a word. She shook her head, yes. “We are leaving here this minute,” Colum demanded.
“I cannot leave with you. I am married to Edward.”
“You will get an annulment.”
“And do what?”
“Marry me Elizabeth.”
“Edward is too powerful. He will never let me go.”
“I cannot prove that it is not his son without bringing shame to my family and you.”
“I do not care about that anymore. I have nothing in this land that I care about except you and my child. I will not allow that drunken Edward to claim anything that is mine. Leave with me tonight.” Colum stared into Elizabeth’s eyes and Elizabeth knew the answer. She would go with him anytime and any place.
“I will leave with you, but…” Colum placed his gloved hand to her lips.
“There cannot be any regrets because you are leaving behind every one that you know and love. I planned to leave Ireland for the Americas because there was nothing left here for me. I am sailing tonight. Will you make the voyage with me as my wife? I know we are not married and until you have the marriage annulled, we will always have that over our heads.”
“But you are giving up everything for me?”
“I know that I will never love another but you, and I never shall. I have nothing and I am nothing without you dear Elizabeth. I have to confess that I have lost all my lands and money. I have few things of value to bring to you. We will be starting out with nothing but our love and a child. No titles and maybe a bounty on my head.”
“You forget that I am not a high-born lady and I do not expect much, just your love and devotion.”
Colum reached for Elizabeth’s hands, brought them to his lips, and kissed them. He had loved the most beautiful and kind child like woman and she loved him back. He felt that not gold or silver or precious jewels were worth the moment and life he saw ahead of him.
Leading Elizabeth through the maze of trees near a brook that ran at the back of Edward’s castle, then he sat Elizabeth on his cloak to wait for his carriage. Colum walked slowly around to the entrance and requested his carriage. The four horses was an unsuspected gift because it would take four horses to get them to the ship before Edward awakened from his drunken stupor and realized that Elizabeth had disappeared.
The four geldings trotted forward pulling the last of Colum’s connection to his riches and the last of the Earl of Tyrone that will grace the shores of Ireland. He is starting a new life where his titles made him a slave to its traditions. He felt renewed.
The footman was told to stop at the oak tree that bent in the direction of the brook. Colum leaned out and saw that Elizabeth was not there. His heart raced and he became overwhelmed with his thoughts. Then he saw her running from the castle with a cloth satchel in her hand. He had seen her many times racing through the castle with her s
trawberry blond hair and her heavenly green eyes. As she neared the coach she raised her hand to signal Colum.
He opened the door and before he could leave the coach she hopped in. “Are you alright Elizabeth?”
“I am fine. I had to retrieve the things my mother gave me and I needed some clothing.”
“I was concerned. You know with the child and all.”
“I am from sterner stock. I was not born into royalty. I have been working since I was a child and I know life will not be easy. I am prepared for the worse.”
Elizabeth laid her head on Edward’s strong shoulder. He glanced down on his young love. She glanced up to meet his soft eyes and smiled. It was a small happy one. “I dreamed of you last night, Colum.”
“Don’t speak; lay your head on my shoulder. I need to feel your need for me.”
He did not know what lay ahead for them, but he was certain that they would be happy. He could not have loved anyone or anything as much as he loved Elizabeth.
– THE END –
Book 2 in the Seduction series
coming in the winter of 2012
Historical Novellas
by Rachel E. Rice
Book #1: The Captain and The Virgin
Book #2: The Captain’s Lady and The Pirate
Book #3: The Captain’s Revenge:
A Triangle of Love and Sex
Seduced by an Earl Page 9