Without Refuge
Page 30
Her heart swelled with warmth, as it always did at being near him. “Since I have so little to move, I am.” Bettina stroked his hand and glanced beyond the orchard. Up a rocky path, their small chateau, modeled after airy French and Italian influenced-villas with an open front courtyard and balconies, overlooked the ocean. “I’m glad we’re living here. I feel such roots with this place, these people. I belong here, with you beside me.”
“You do belong here.” Everett hugged her and kissed her cheek. “As do I, much more than I ever realized.”
Chris rode Onyx along the trail and waved to them. “Can I gallop him, Papa?”
“No, put him in the stable for now.” Everett grinned at his son. He turned back to her. “I’ll have him a great horseman before too long.”
“Here comes Miss Maddie!” The boy glanced down the hill.
Maddie traipsed up from the direction of Sidwell. Her white cap fluttering in the breeze, she carried a broom.
Bettina called to Genevre who now had sea-pinks poked into her blonde tresses.
Everett waved to Maddie then walked over and patted his boy on the back, and led horse and son toward the old stable beside their little cottage.
“Nay, I don’t intend to ride this.” Maddie smirked and held up the broom. “It’s for you, to sweep any bad luck from your new home.”
Bettina waited for Maddie and the two women and child walked up the path to Chateau Camborne, as Bettina had dubbed the house. The pinkish-hued stones glistened in the sunlight.
The two-storied home had Arch shaped windows with wide overhanging eves supported by decorative wrought iron brackets. The roof had a cupola for ventilation.
“This place should catch all the breezes perfectly, all light and airy.” Bettina spread out her arms. “In this open courtyard I plan a beautiful garden.”
“Aye, it’s a gorgeous house.” Maddie swept the broom over the courtyard cobbles. “You know Old Milt still calls it the Eye Talyon eyesore.”
“I tried for French, but the architect made it more Italian. I can’t believe Old Milt’s still breathing. What is he, a hundred?” Bettina laughed, remembering the cantankerous old man who’d teased her throughout her working at the inn.
“At least, an’ the devil don’t want him yet. Now all you need in this courtyard is one of them fancy fountains with water spewing outta some private body part.” Maddie winked. “That’s sure to impress the old codger.”
“Vraiment.” Bettina watched her daughter skip through the nearby lime saplings where buttercups and primroses spread in patches among the clover. She relished the sun on her cheeks, the scent of plants. “I much prefer this to Bronnmargh, and so will the children. I refuse to rattle around in any more gloomy manor houses.”
Everett’s ancestral estate loomed, square and forbidding, far to their left, still owned by the retired admiral who had purchased it from Bettina before her voyage to America.
The two women strolled to the right of the chateau. Bettina pointed down the southern slope and up the next hill still tangled with gorse. “You can see where the foundation is being dug for the hospital. I can’t wait for it to be finished. The people around here need good medical care.”
“Sure you want it so close? An’ running it as a charity hospital, you’re certain to lose money.” Maddie shrugged. “Yet I understand your meaning for the need.”
“I don’t care about the money. Hobart invested Everett’s share, and we have enough. Everett’s set aside trusts for the children and Frederick. Why not share the bounty? I’ll enjoy running the administrative side of it.” Bettina walked with her back to the courtyard. “When are you selling the inn?”
“I still fret over that, but I will. Hard to imagine the place when I’m not there no more. Dory’s been managing much for me, so she’s ready to take it over. With her new fella, they should be fine.” Maddie’s thoughtful frown softened. “She insists on not changing the name, if it were all right with me. I said it was.”
They strolled through the newly planted rose bushes, passing a small round pond at the center of the courtyard.
“How is Charlie?” Bettina asked. “I hope he has time to visit us here.”
Maddie’s cheeks colored. “Guess Hester got her wish from last year. He wants to wed soon, an’ we’re happy, that’s the important thing. The girls need me too, an’ little Charlie. Let’s pray I don’t find farm life too quiet.”
“I’m looking forward to a quieter life. Still, I wouldn’t change my adventures, no matter what false light forced me to this shore in the first place. Except for my separation from Everett.” Her heartbeat picked up at seeing her husband stride toward them.
Everett nodded toward Maddie. “Miss Tregons. I trust you and your fiancé will join us tomorrow to celebrate? Bring the children.” He clasped Bettina’s shoulder.
“Aye, sir, we’ll do our best. Charlie is busy with the farm.”
“Papa! Look what I have.” Genevre rustled up, her hands full of clover and wildflowers. She stood on tiptoes to receive her father’s kiss on her plump pink cheek.
“Spring’s treasures, my darling, as you are.” Everett caressed the little girl’s head.
Chris loped into the group, all elbows and knobby knees at almost nine. “Papa let me rub down his horse. Bon jour, Miss Maddie.”
“You are such a help to your father.” Bettina took the broom from Maddie and handed it to her son. “Set this at our new front door. Tomorrow, I will sweep away evil.”
“Yes, Maman. I will fly it over and cast good spells.” He straddled the broom handle and swept in wide circles through the courtyard.
Genevre held up her pickings. “Make me a fairy crown, please, Miss Maddie.”
“I will, sweeting.” Maddie sat on the pond’s stone rim, the items in her lap. She started twisting the stems and flowers together. “S’pose Charlie and I should wed soon, so the village gossips stop denouncing me in church. Not that I haven’t been denounced afore.”
“We’ve all had dark rumors spread about us.” Everett chuckled and squeezed Bettina’s hand. “I’m thankful for the people who believed in me.”
“Mais oui, we all have our secrets and sins.” Bettina stood on tiptoe and kissed her husband’s lips. “We’ll be fortunate if we end up in heaven when the time comes. Though maybe that realm will be too boring for us.”
“Nay, heaven could never be a dull place.” Maddie winked then settled the fairy crown on Genevre’s head. “Not with my Kerra stirring up mischief.”
“You’re right, mon amie.” Bettina laughed and leaned into Everett. He massaged up her back and she along his. “The truth is, my paradise is right here.”
About the Author:
Diane Parkinson (Diane Scott Lewis) writes book reviews for the Historical Novels Review and worked at The Wild Rose Press from 2007 to 2010 as an historical editor.
She has two published historical novels: Elysium and The False Light (winner of the CTRR Award in 2010).
Visit her online at:
http://www.dianescottlewis.org
More titles by Diane Scott Lewis:
Elysium
The False Light
Also by Diane Scott Lewis:
Elysium
by Diane Scott Lewis
eBook ISBN: 9781615723713
Print ISBN: 9781615723720
Historical Romance
Plus-Novel of 139,528 words
In 1815, after the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte and a few loyal followers are exiled to St. Helena.
On this remote, volcanic island, Amélie Perrault, the daughter of Napoleon’s head chef, struggles with her low station in life and a fascination with the fallen French emperor. When her beautiful singing voice catches Napoleon’s attention, she is drawn into his clas
h with their British jailers, court intrigues, and a burgeoning sexual attraction.
Napoleon is soured on love, yet this young woman’s selfless devotion tugs at his heart. After political maneuvers fail to release him from the island, he desires freedom no matter the risk—but will he desert the only woman who has loved him for himself?
Elysium, in Greek mythology, is where the gods are sent to die. Amélie suspects someone in their entourage is poisoning the emperor. Will she uncover the culprit in time and join in Napoleon’s last great battle plan, a dangerous escape?
Also from Eternal Press:
Silence in the Mist
by Leah Marie Brown
eBook ISBN: 9781615724376
Print ISBN: 9781615724383
Historical Romance
Novel of 77,257 words
After bloodthirsty revolutionaries murder her family, Françoise Despres vows to avenge their deaths and fight the violent mob destroying her beloved France by becoming a spy for the counter-revolutionary cause. She knows great success, silently slipping between the shadows to carry secret messages that thwart her foes. But she never expected to come up against Sebastien de Bréze, a daring, clever cavalry officer in the revolutionary army and master spy hunter. Who will win this dangerous game of cat and mouse? When Sebastien discovers the spy he has captured is actually a wily, elusive young woman cloaked in men’s garb and shrouded in secrets, he finds himself intrigued and titillated. But the crafty woman slips through his grasp and soon he finds himself chasing her through France. Undaunted, he makes it his mission to recapture Françoise Despres, body and soul.