“Take them to the boats and let’s be off,” the lieutenant snapped coldly. “We’re done here.”
Deirdre felt Hendricks release her, and she stood frozen as the seamen hauled Roddy and his friends down the hill, slipping on wet rocks and cursing the Irish rain, the Irish cold, the Irish seas that awaited them. She stared dazedly at the proud profile of the English naval officer, suddenly realizing just what he had done.
No fair and handsome knight was he.
“My brother!” she wailed, throwing herself at him and beating her hands against his back. “Please, don’t take my brother!”
He turned and caught her flailing fists. “I said go home, foundling.”
“But ye can’t take Roddy! Ye just can’t! He’s my brother!” She struggled madly against his iron grip. “Roddy!” she screamed as the last seaman disappeared over the far side of the hill. “Roddy!”
Her struggles quieted, and hanging from his grip, she collapsed in great, convulsing sobs of terror and grief. She heard the wind moaning across the dark pasture, and the voices of the seamen fading to a few barks of laughter, a curse, then nothing as they reached the beach far below. Her cheeks streaming tears and rain, her wet hair hanging in straggly spirals around her face, Deirdre raised desperate eyes to the lieutenant. He stared down at her, an anguished look on his handsome face, and for a moment she thought he was going to recall the men and release her brother. Then his jaw turned hard and unyielding, the set of his mouth resolute. “We are at war with France,” he said harshly. “And while I despise the methods our Navy must employ to obtain its seamen, as an officer my loyalty and duty lie with my country, not with my own inclinations.” His eyes softened. “I’m sorry, little wren.”
He abruptly released her and turned on his heel, striding down the hill without a backward glance. She watched him melt into the darkness, heard his footsteps fade, until she was all alone with nothing but the sad patter of falling rain and the mournful crash of waves against the beach far below.
Moments later, she saw lights bobbing out on the sea, fuzzy and dim in the mist, as the boat headed back toward the man-of-war and carried her brother away forever.
Deirdre stood there for a long time, the wind blowing her hair in wild, wet tangles around her shoulders as she watched the lights fade to tiny pinpricks in the foggy darkness and then to nothing. At seven years of age, she had just learned there were more frightening evils in this world than the banshees whose low moans could even now be heard through the darkness of the gathering night. Choking on a last sob, she wiped her eyes, gripped in both shaking hands the ancient cross that had once belonged to her formidable ancestress, and raised her chin, her gaze fixed out to sea.
Someday, she’d be old enough to go to England by herself, seek her cousin Brendan, and obtain his help in getting her brother back.
Someday, she would find that English lieutenant and make him pay for what he’d done.
Someday, she vowed — she would see that English lieutenant dead....
* * *
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Also by Danelle Harmon
Introducing
The Bestselling, Award-Winning, Critically Acclaimed
DE MONTFORTE BROTHERS SERIES
“The bluest of blood; the boldest of hearts;
the de Montforte brothers will take your breath away.”
# 1 Kindle Store bestseller: The Wild One
The Wild One
The Beloved One
The Defiant One
The Wicked One
The Wayward One
The Admiral’s Heart
The Fox & the Angel
My First Noel
HEROES OF THE SEA SERIES
Master of My Dreams
Captain of My Heart
My Lady Pirate
Taken by Storm
Wicked at Heart
Lord of the Sea
Heir to the Sea
Never Too Late for Love
Scandal at Christmas
Pirate in My Arms
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Danelle Harmon has written twenty critically acclaimed and award-winning books, with many being published all over the world and translated into numerous languages. She and her family make their home in New England with numerous animals including several dogs, an Egyptian Arabian horse, and a flock of pet chickens. Danelle enjoys reading, photography, spending time with family, friends and her pets, and sailing her 19th century reproduction Melonseed skiff, Kestrel II. She welcomes email from her readers and can be reached at [email protected] or through any of the means listed below:
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