‘There is no time, Thomas. A decision has to be made.’
Antony felt quietly confident. If Thomas had not meant to accept his request, he would have rejected it firmly. His promise to think about it was almost as good as acceptance. He would consider it and do battle with his conscience, but he would do it.
Antony was right. Thomas had reached a decision. ‘If marriage to this...this Captain Fitzgerald is what she wants, then I am more than happy to do this small service for her. I can only hope that he makes her happy.’
There was no mistaking the sincerity in his voice and Antony, exultant but somewhat shamefaced, turned away. ‘It’s settled, then?’
Thomas nodded. ‘It’s settled.’ He grinned. ‘I give you my word, coz, that I shall keep Mr Cornelius Clay sinfully occupied, thus rendering him incapable of conducting a wedding ceremony—bogus or otherwise.’
* * *
The only cloud hanging over Shona at this time was the island’s gossip circle. The ladies were already clucking their tongues in disapproval of her behaviour, echoing one another’s vicious words. After all that fine schooling, more than one said, didn’t she know how to behave...? How could she? There were some kind souls who tried to defend her, but the gossipmongers were no longer listening.
In the eyes of the elite on the island she was a shameless wanton, soiled and used, unfit company for unsullied young ladies and gullible young men. She had broken the rules governing moral conduct and not even with someone that she was acquainted with. She might as well start packing now, they said.
To avoid causing any more trouble for herself, Shona threw herself into preparing for her new role in life as the wife of a shipping magnate. There would be much to learn and, in truth, more responsibility involved than she had expected. But she was excited and impatient to be Zack’s wife. Her marriage became more real by the hour.
To avoid coming into contact with her neighbours she limited the days’ activities to reading in her room and short walks around the garden. She had looked forward to spending time with Thomas, but he had left the house shortly after his arrival, which she thought most odd. With brusque impatience, Carmelita told her he had returned to the ship which had brought him to Santamaria, that he had things to do and could by no means stay at the house until the end of the week. Both Antony and Carmelita had about them the air of grim irresolution that Shona recognised as the prelude to crisis. She noted Carmelita’s tone as she told her, the haste. Hastily she memorised the signs on her face, to puzzle over and interpret later.
* * *
With the wedding just days away, disconcerted by Shona’s silence and long seclusion in her room, feeling better disposed to her now she was to leave Santamaria, Carmelita sought her out in her chambers. The walls of her bedchamber were a soft magnolia complemented by the subtle hue of pastel-green and the vibrant turquoise of the chairs and sofa. A luxurious Aubusson carpet combined all the colours in the room and a green silk canopy hung from the large tester bed.
‘You mustn’t take things so hard, Shona,’ she said, crossing to where the young woman was curled up in a wicker chair on the balcony, an unopened book in her lap. ‘Despite that unfortunate incident in the creek, this marriage is really rather a good thing when you think about it. A lot of girls will envy you and not a few grand ladies, too. And Captain Fitzgerald is very handsome. You may even grow to love him. Whatever happens, you will be a titled lady and kept in the manner to which you are accustomed.’
‘I am sure you are right, Carmelita,’ Shona replied drily. ‘Although I don’t imagine for one minute you are concerned one way or the other.’
Ignoring her sarcastic remark, Carmelita let her eyes stray towards the rows of Shona’s shimmering gowns through the open door to her dressing room. ‘You must instruct Morag to begin packing your things, Shona. Captain Fitzgerald has insisted that as soon as the ceremony is over he wishes to leave the island.’
‘Do not concern yourself, Carmelita,’ Shona said, opening her book and looking down. ‘I’ll be ready when the time comes.’
* * *
Three days later, on the day that Zack was to marry Shona, but with no sign of the reverend on board, cursing quietly, Zack went in search of him. He was directed to the Ship Inn. A chorus of rowdy voices greeted him when he pushed his way into the dim interior. A fiddler’s bow scraping a jarring note on the strings battled to be heard above the din of voices. The place was crowded, the air thick with the fug of tobacco smoke, stale ale and unwashed bodies. Zack’s nostrils flared in disgust. Men seated on upturned barrels argued over a turn of a card, or squatted in circles wagering upon a throw of the dice. His eyes narrowed and his lips set in a grim line as his eyes located the reverend propped in a corner—it soon became apparent that he had been there for some time. Zack strode towards him, taking hold of his shoulder.
‘You mule-headed idiot,’ he barked. ‘You sure pick your time to get stinking drunk. Get up, you laggard. Have you forgotten where we’re meant to be in an hour’s time?’
His command penetrated the reverend’s deep torpor and sluggishly he raised himself to a sitting position. Through half-open eyes he looked up at his captain. Something must have penetrated his inebriated brain for he managed to shove himself to his feet. Taking a few tentative steps, he slumped back down and his eyes rolled back.
With his shoulder propped against the frame of the open door, Thomas watched with unbridled amusement as the captain again tried to force the Reverend Clay to his feet. ‘Look at that, will you?’ He laughed. ‘The man can’t even walk without stumbling.’
Zack let go and stepped back. ‘God damn it! The man’s drunk!’ The problem now was what to do next. He could hardly parade a drunken cleric in front of the McKenzies.
Thomas looked at him and cocked a brow. ‘Can I be of help?’
‘Not unless you’re a damned good actor,’ Zack growled.
‘Oh, I can act all right,’ Thomas said, cocksure of himself, ‘for a price... Why, didn’t I appear in The Merchant of Venice as Shylock once—and again as Romeo to a rather delectable Juliet!’
He had Zack’s attention. He looked at him hard. ‘How much?’
‘That depends on the part.’
‘What’s your name?’
Thomas shrugged himself away from the door and made a flourish of a bow. ‘Thomas Franklyn—at your service, Captain.’
‘Come with me.’
‘It will be my pleasure.’
‘Wait until you hear what I’m about to ask of you before you consider it a pleasure.’
Quietly triumphant, with a smug smile and a spring to his step, Thomas followed jauntily in the captain’s wake.
* * *
Quietly confident that he had everything under control and that things would go his way, accompanied by Singleton and Thomas Franklyn, Zack arrived at Melrose Hill as the light was fading.
From the window of her bedchamber, Shona watched him leap from his black horse with a strange tight feeling round her heart. As always he looked striking, in his buckled shoes, lace at his throat and olive-green coat. She was not surprised to see Thomas with him—Antony had told her that in the absence of the island’s curate, he was to perform the ceremony. He had also told her that for reasons that he would make clear to her later, she must treat Thomas as if he were a stranger to her. Knowing Antony would have his reasons and wishing to avoid further argument, she had not questioned this, but she did consider it an odd request.
As soon as she had seen the two of them disappear into the house, Shona left the window and waited till she was summoned. It was hot, but she shivered in her embroidered ivory dress. Looking at the trunks ready to be taken to the ship the following day, she felt a sudden terror seize her now the moment had come for her to confront the man who would take her away from Santamaria. Her hands were icy and she shivered
all over in a sudden panic.
Muffled but ominous noises through the house reached her ears. Suddenly the door opened and Carmelita appeared. She pursed her lips when she caught sight of Shona standing there.
‘What are you doing? They have sent for you. Come along and try to put a good face on things,’ she advised, turning and walking ahead of Shona. Incapable of showing any reaction by now, Shona followed docilely.
Entering the drawing room, where the ceremony was to be performed, Shona was aware of people standing around, but her eyes became fixed on Zack Fitzgerald conversing quietly with Mr Singleton. With a prayer book in his hands, Thomas, standing alone, appeared a sombre figure in his black surplice. When she appeared, however, Zack and his first mate stopped talking and looked at her. She was acutely conscious of Zack’s unrelenting gaze. He watched her with a slow, unhurried intensity that unnerved her.
There was a certain tension in Zack’s body, his eyes transfixed by Shona’s beauty, as he watched her slowly walk into the centre of the room. Shona’s lowered eyes prevented her seeing the look of wondering admiration which spread across his face.
Taking her place by his side, Shona drew herself upright. Her slender figure seemed taller in the rose, dancing sunlight. Her resplendent golden hair enveloped her in a sort of radiance, which suddenly made Zack’s heart ache. Her beauty was almost blinding and Zack, more drawn to her than he cared to admit, had a presentiment that she was one of the rare women for whom wars were fought, for whom men killed themselves—women who rarely bring happiness to the men who love them.
But as he stood by her side to recite the words that, unbeknown to him, would bind them together for all eternity, his expression was one of resolve. However much he wanted to, he couldn’t let himself make love to her. He couldn’t let his objectives slide. He swore Shona McKenzie and her brother would pay for intimidating him and trying to manipulate him, and by damned, they would! No one could blackmail him, then be as sublimely happy and content for doing so—as the woman by his side was at this moment. It was the devil in him that wouldn’t let him be tested and pride was the devil’s name.
Thomas made sure that the marriage ceremony was brief. He was uncomfortable with what he was about to do. His desire to please Antony, and at the same time grant Shona her heart’s desire to return to England, had overcome his reservations. Now he was set on a path of deception that might have disastrous consequences.
Shona heard herself answer ‘yes’ to Thomas’s questions as though in a dream. Her voice had sunk to a whisper and he had to lean forward to catch her responses. Zack, for his part, had spoken up in a calm, indifferent voice.
The warmth of his hand replaced the coldness that had threatened to engulf Shona only moments ago when she had sat waiting in her chamber. From time to time she stole a glance at this man who was shortly to be her husband. She thought back to the moment he had arrived on Santamaria, relived each breathless, daring second—the pressure of his lips, the taste, the wanton way her body had responded to his touch. So long ago now, it seemed. So many ages past, yet it was only days.
Is that what love should be like?
The thought that it should be struck her like a thunderbolt. Her heart was suddenly full, almost bursting with excitement beyond words. Surely she didn’t...couldn’t...be in love with him?
How handsome he looks, she thought. He had his eyes fixed straight ahead. Without warning, she knew a moment’s panic. Somewhere in her mind a voice cried out that she was making a terrible mistake, committing herself to a man whom, deep in her heart, she knew held a deep resentment for her. From this point there would be no turning back. They were caught up in an implacable destiny, that whatever the future held, they would have to endure together all their lives. There was a curiously unreal, almost sinister air about the whole thing. Recalling the happy ceremonies she had attended when friends of her family had married, Shona told herself that this was easily the most depressing wedding she had ever been to.
The words that bound them together were spoken quietly. Shona’s eyes misted over when Zack promised to love, honour and cherish her. With all her being she wanted the words to be true. The ring was placed on her finger and the ceremony was concluded when Thomas pronounced them man and wife.
He gave a nod to Zack. ‘You may now kiss the bride.’
Shona flushed and would have turned away for fear of being rebuffed. A small gasp of surprise escaped her as Zack tightened his arm about her waist and pulled her round to face him. Slanting its way across his firm lips was a rather wicked, wayward grin and slowly he lowered his head to hers. All reason fled as his lips hovered close above her own.
‘Bear with my kiss, Shona,’ he murmured, his breath warm on her mouth. ‘Everyone would be disappointed if I were remiss in not doing so.’
Suddenly his lips were moving over hers in a warmly seductive kiss that stirred some strange, unexplainable brew that sapped the strength from her limbs and made her head spin and her heart race wildly. Without her being aware of it, she placed her hand on his waist, causing a murmur of approval from those present. It acted on her like a douche of cold water. Coming to her senses, she stepped back and turned her face aside. Zack straightened and turned away.
A small banquet awaited the few wedding guests in the dining room. It was a quiet, strained affair in spite of Mr Singleton’s efforts to lighten the atmosphere. Shona, seated beside Zack, scarcely touched the food which was placed before her. She ate a morsel or two of the superb fish course, cooked in herbs, but the food stuck in her throat when she swallowed.
The champagne had a cheering effect on the company. Antony had mellowed enough to try to draw Zack into the conversation, and even though he maintained a reserved composure and was well skilled at putting a fine cutting edge on his civility, the atmosphere became quite convivial. Shona felt isolated and alone like a spectator at a play as she sat back and watched them all laughing and talking. She couldn’t wait to escape.
* * *
When the meal was over, Carmelita escorted Shona to her room, where she instructed Morag to prepare her mistress for bed. Fully aware of the deception that had preceded this marriage, positively preening with her success in getting her irritating sister-in-law married off at last, Carmelita couldn’t help her lips forming a semblance of a smile.
‘There, you see. Everything went well. That wasn’t too difficult, was it?’
‘Not for you, maybe, but I wouldn’t say that.’
Carmelita dismissed her comment with a careless shrug of her shoulders and returned to the guests.
* * *
From where he sat Zack watched Shona leave, knowing he was expected to follow when he had given her enough time to get ready for him. He had thought he had solved the problem of his lovely wife by refusing to go near her, but his plight somehow only became more unbearable at the thought of leaving her.
* * *
When Morag helped her remove her clothes, Shona took a new and intense pleasure in the beauty of her own body, which was very soon to be presented to her husband. While Morag stood behind her, combing out her golden hair till it shone as brightly as the sun, Shona dabbed a few drops of jasmine on her neck and wrists. When she moved she felt herself enveloped in a cloud of fresh, delicious but subtle fragrance.
The polished mirror in its elaborate frame reflected back a charming picture, all rose-pink and pale gold. It was such a ravishing sight that Shona’s eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation, confident that the grooming of her body would prove to be an irresistible magnet, a delicious trap for her husband. She longed for him with all the ardour of her proud heart and all the passion and vigour of blooming youth.
When Morag had finished, with a happy tear in her eye, she, too, stood back a little distance to admire the enchanting vision of womanhood reflected in the mirror. ‘There, you look lovely, Shona. If there
’s nothing else, I’ll leave you now. Your husband will be with you shortly.’
‘Yes—yes, Morag,’ Shona said, throwing her arms about her maid’s neck and hugging her. ‘Tomorrow we sail for Martinique and then England. I’m so excited and happy I’ll have you with me. In fact, I’m so excited I have to keep pinching myself.’
Shona stood motionless when Morag had left, her nervousness returning as she waited for Zack to come. One minute she longed for his presence and the next she prayed he would not come. She both feared and desired him.
* * *
When Zack opened the door the first thing he saw was Shona standing in the middle of the room, her slender body outlined beneath the gossamer-thin nightdress, the golden nimbus of hair drawn back from her face so as to reveal her long, supple neck. She looked like some pagan goddess. His glance flickered over the shadow of her breasts through the soft folds of material, provocative and arresting. Yet the gown was so simply cut that her nakedness beneath seemed innocent, almost vulnerable. He stood looking at her, as if not wanting to spoil the lovely picture she made, not wanting to disturb the beguiling innocence that hid the burning fire within.
Closing the door, unable to take his eyes from her, he moved slowly to where she stood. ‘Your sister-in-law told me it was time I retired.’
Shona looked up into his saturnine face, her lips forming a trembling smile. ‘And there’s no disobeying Carmelita. I feel like a wayward child who has just been sent to bed by a strict governess,’ she said with an awkward laugh.
‘The woman is an arrogant fool. You are no child, Shona—though more than a tad wayward,’ he said, giving the first carefree laugh Shona had heard from him all day.
In the pale light his sensual features were darkly handsome and she knew the desire in his eyes was mirrored unashamedly in her own.
He turned from her.
Mishap Marriage Page 10