Virginian Lover

by Oliver, Marina

  'I still do not know how he could have borne the parting,' he said lightly. 'Had you been married for long?'

  'No,' Bella replied briefly. It was the nearest Adam had come to referring to his lovemaking and she wondered whether he meant to attempt another seduction. 'Are there many settlers now?' she asked quickly.

  'A couple of thousand or so, but there have been many hundreds sent out during the past three years, and many have died, so it is difficult to judge.'

  'Why have so many come?'

  'The opportunity to hold land which they would never have in England. By the headright system each man can hold fifty acres if he pays his passage, and fifty more for each person he brings with him or later. If the Company pays the passage land is available at the end of their term of indenture to the Company.'

  'That is a new system?'

  'At first all the settlers were servants of the Company, and it was intended to form a commonwealth with everyone sharing and holding no property.'

  'I would not have thought that was popular.'

  'It did not prove successful,' he replied wryly. 'Then the King sent malefactors out to get rid of them. But the new men will be successful. They are used to hard work, and have three crafts we need out in Virginia. Your husband is going for the land?' he added abruptly.

  'Yes.'

  'Is he a farmer?'

  Bella was at a loss. She knew so little about her husband that she did not even know the answer to this question. She was unwilling to admit to Adam how little she knew, and so she answered ambiguously.

  'He can farm. Why do you ask?'

  'Then you are not likely to live in Jamestown. I hope your husband has taken land further up the river, on higher ground. The town is set on marshy land and is unhealthy. The air is heavy and some of us believe the humours are bad. One day, perhaps, when we have found a way of living at peace with the Indians, we can build in a healthier spot.'

  'Are the Indians dangerous?'

  'Untrustworthy. Their Chief, Powhatan, died three years ago and his brother, Opechancanough, although he has sworn friendship, is not so honest a man.'

  'What strange names. But I suppose they find ours just as odd.'

  *

  For some time longer Adam talked of Virginia, telling Bella about the early struggles of the settlers. She led him on to talk of his own plantation, and from what he said guessed it was one of the largest and best run.

  Adam discovered her to be intelligent, quickly appreciating the problems of the new colony, and his desire for her, which he had never successfully subdued, became more intense. Had he misunderstood, he wondered, when she had appeared to offer herself to him in return for his help? He had been certain she had responded passionately at first to his lovemaking that morning in the cabin. Why had she then repulsed him? Had it not been deliberate, as he had thought at the time, when his pride was hurt that she had turned the tables on him? There might have been some other reason. His heartbeat quickened at the thought.

  It was strange, he thought, that he did not want her to prove too willing. He knew that if she had succumbed to him in those first few days he would by now have tired of her, as he had grown bored with so many other women. But now, for the first time in his life Adam felt the need to protect a woman.

  Bella realized it had grown dark as they talked.

  'I must go,' she said quietly, moving from where they had been standing, his arm about her. 'Goodnight, Mr Tarrant.'

  He turned and took her arm to guide her past the cluttered mounds of new stores that lay about the deck, not yet properly stowed in the lower hold. She stumbled as she trod on a loose rope, and for a moment he caught her to him. She felt his lips on her brow, but as she murmured an apology he released her and led her towards her cabin. She was trembling at the brief physical contact and bade him an abrupt farewell as she opened the door and went into her cabin.

  The next day she found herself dreading yet hoping to meet him, terrified he would take advantage of last night's weakness, but dizzy with longing to feel his arms around her again. She did not know whether to be relieved or sorry when he greeted her with the merest bow and a lazy smile in his blue eyes. Alice gleefully aware of the situation, contented herself with scathing references to Edward's lack of chivalry, brutal behaviour, and probably inability to provide them with any home other than a rough shelter. And day by day she watched her mistress becoming more restive as Adam walked and talked with her – impeccably courteous, but distant.

  It was not until several evenings later that Bella once again found herself alone, leaning on the deck rail, listening to the quiet hiss of the water against the ship's hull, watching the moonlight turn the sea to silver. So exquisitely peaceful was the scene that she suddenly felt overcome by sadness. In comparison her life seemed unbearably ugly, the thought of her future with Edward sordid beyond endurance. Silenty, unheeded, the tears began to slide down her face.

  She did not see his shadow, or hear his footfall, only felt strong hands encircle her waist, felt him pull her round – and found herself in Adam's arms as his mouth came down on her own. For one brief moment she gave herself to him completely, then she pulled back in panic, pushing frantically at his chest until he released her and stood there, looking down at her with a quizzical expression in his eyes. Unable to bear his scrutiny, she turned and fled. Later in her cabin Bella tossed sleeplessly, her emotions in a turmoil as she desperately asked herself what was happening to her, what it was she really wanted, and why, when she hated men, so many of whom had treated her evilly, she forgot that in Adam's embrace.

  *

  On the following day Alice was sitting on the deck with Joan, who was very near her time, trying to make the girl forget her apprehensions about the coming birth.

  'I'd hoped to be in Virginia!' Joan said worriedly. 'I did not know the voyage would take so long!'

  'You'll do very well with me to help you. I've delivered quite a few babies in my time,' Alice said comfortably. 'I'm looking forward to when Miss Bella has her own child.'

  'She must be anxious to be with her husband again,' Joan said, sighing. 'I don't know how she could have borne to be parted from him.'

  'She hardly knew him before they were wed. It wasn't a good match. I'd not weep to find Edward Sutton vanished, he'll not do well by my mistress. She could have done a great deal better for herself.'

  'Mr Tarrant seems very taken with her,' Joan commented.

  'Aye. More's the pity she didn't meet him before her husband. From what she's told me he's very rich, with a lot of land in Virginia as well as being heir to a baron! His brother's not wed, Daniel tells me, and he's well past forty.'

  'Mr Tarrant has not paid that Bolton hussy much attention this past week. She's seething mad from what I can see!'

  Alice chuckled. 'Too forward! It don't pay to make a man think you're too anxious to jump into bed with him. Mistress Bella has too much sense for that! And she's no need to fear Mary Bolton's success! That one lost her chance by being too bold. Make a man sweat running after you, that's what I've always said. Then he'll appreciate what he's had to work for!'

  Joan's husband then arrived and Alice said she would go and see what Master Toby was up to in the cabin. As they walked away Adam, who had been standing a little distance away, concealed from view by a pile of water barrels, looked thoughtfully after them.

  So Bella was regretting her hasty marriage to a man of moderate means, was she? Had she, as Alice's words appeared to suggest, deliberately tantalized him by her aloofness? All his doubts, which had been stilled during the past week, swept back. If Bella Sutton was playing a deep game because he was rich and heir to a title she would soon learn that she could not win.

  Angry and suspicious, Adam kept to his cabin and avoided Bella for the rest of the day. During the night the weather grew stormy, and by daylight the small ship was tossing wildly on massive waves, lashed by furious winds. The Captain had taken down all but the minimum sails and was attempting t
o run before the storm. The hatches had been battened down, and the passengers in the hold had no alternative but to remain there, terrified and bewildered in the dark, listening to the thunderous noises above them and being thrown about mercilessly.

  Towards evening the storm abated and Adam ventured out of his cabin. The ship was now being lifted up on gigantic surges and then flung into deep black valleys. The motion was more bearable, but just as dangerous since the abrupt movements could throw men overboard or against a bulkhead in a trice. Realizing that his presence on deck was one more anxiety for the hard-pressed Captain, Adam turned to go back to his cabin. He was just in time to see Bella, who was trying to fight her way to him against the fierce wind, thrown to the deck and roll towards the side of the ship.

  The rail at that point had been smashed earlier when a spar had come crashing down onto the deck, and there was nothing to save Bella from sliding into the turbulent, deadly ocean. Desperately Adam threw himself across the intervening yards of the deck and caught Bella about the waist as she hovered, poised helplessly on the rim of the deck. Holding her with one arm clamped hard about her, he clung with the other to an end of a rope that flapped about the deck, the only thing there was to grasp. Praying that the other end was firmly attached, he edged gradually away from the dangerous gap until he could seize a more solid support and then, half carrying Bella, fought his way to safety.

  'You utter imbecile!' he raged at her, shaking her in his fury as soon as he set her on her feet. 'Have you no more sense than to walk out on deck in such a storm? You could have been killed! You ought to have been killed! What in the name of God were you thinking of?'

  'S – stop it!' Bella pleaded, her teeth chattering together from both shock and his roughness. 'I – I was going for the Captain,' she gasped as he ceased shaking her, though he still kept his hands tightly gripping her shoulders.

  'You were going for the Captain! As if he has not enough to contend with! What did you want? For him to stop the wind blowing? Or did you think it a good moment to complain about the conditions in your cabin!'

  'You don't understand!' Bella returned, almost weeping with frustration. 'Thank you for saving my life! I do realize that! But Joan – she needs help! Her baby is coming!'

  'The Captain cannot deliver a baby!' Adam said more calmly, as his first anguished fury abated.

  'Of course not! And neither can I! I wanted to ask if any of the women in the hold could help me! Those stupid sailors would not open the hatch for me!'

  'Where is Alice?'

  'She is prostrate with sickness again. Joan's husband came for her, but she cannot stand up, and so I sent him back to Joan and said I would fetch help. There must be someone below who is not ill and who could help!'

  'Go to Joan and try to keep everyone calm. Babies take a long time to come into the world. I cannot say I blame their reluctance sometimes! I will find a woman to help.'

  She smiled tremulously at him, tears in her eyes, and turned away towards the small cabin Joan and her husband occupied.

  'Are you hurt?' he asked.

  'I'm not sure if my head is very securely anchored,' Bella replied, glancing back at him through lowered eyelashes, her lips curving into a delectable smile. 'Otherwise I am battered and bruised and truly grateful to you for saving me! Please hurry and find someone!'

  She went swiftly away, and Adam knew at that moment that even if she had been deliberately tormenting him during the past few weeks, tantalizing him so that she could use him to escape from her detested marriage, it was of no importance.

  Chapter 5

  Adam managed to find Peg, a woman travelling in the hold who had given birth to a dozen children, and during the rest of that night as the ship was tossed about remorselessly, and the wind howled through the rigging, Bella gave what assistance she could to Peg as she tended Joan. As a pale dawn broke, the rain ceased and the wild surge of the waves abated, although the ship was still being driven fast before the wind, Joan gave birth to a lusty, squalling son.

  When Alice, loudly lamenting that she had been feeble and unable to help, went to see Joan and the baby, the proud father laughed and hoped that his son would not prove to have a tempestuous nature in tune with his birth.

  Bella, exhausted by the efforts of the night, went on deck for some air. She stood and surveyed the havoc wreaked by the storm, shuddering as she recalled her own narrow escape. The rigging was tangled where a spar and part of the mast had broken away, the sailors were already climbing amongst it, splicing ropes and attempting to repair some of the damage. A rope stretched across the gap where the rail had been smashed, but formed a very precarious barrier.

  The deck was littered with broken barrels and crates, and Bella found one containing several hens, some crushed by the roof of the crate which had been forced inwards, but half a dozen peering out with rather more than their normally aimless frenzy in the confined space that remained. Incredibly, in the soaking wet, filthy straw pushed into one corner, lay an egg, shiny white, smooth and whole.

  Adam was near the bows, helping some of the sailors coil the ropes neatly again and secure a torn and flapping sail. As he saw Bella he spoke briefly to the man beside him and came towards her.

  'I trust you were not hurt last night?'

  'No, no, of course not! I wanted to thank you for saving my life!' she replied. 'I can see the danger better now!'

  He laughed. 'Aye! But the storm has carried us much nearer to Virginia, so we have not been greatly harmed. I must beg your pardon for treating you so roughly, however!'

  'I – I understand,' Bella replied.

  'I was angry, but afraid too at the thought that you might have been killed,' he said softly.

  'You have done so much for us!' Bella exclaimed.

  'I hope you will always ask me if there is any way I can help you.'

  Was that an invitation? Bella was uncertain and Adam did not make it any clearer. She was well aware that his fury on the night of the storm had been caused by his concern for her. Did he desire her enough to fight Edward? That he would be the victor in any conflict she had no doubt, but would he choose to enter into conflict? How would the Governor in Jamestown view such a liaison? Could Edward be persuaded to accept the situation?

  For some days she hesitated, and wondered whether she could sell herself to any man, to suffer the horrors of her wedding night again and again. Yet that was what awaited her with Edward. The recollection of what she had endured on her wedding night, of his brutality and total lack of tenderness for her made her shudder with renewed revulsion. She could not bear to feel his hands on her again, his naked body crushing her, and his thrusting invasion of her own body. Surely anything was better than the repetition of that horror.

  Yet what alternative was there apart from the protection of Adam or another man?

  At the thought she shuddered, puzzled.

  She could not imagine any man's physical attentions being more welcome than Edward's, and yet she remembered the frisson of desire she had felt briefly in Adam's arms. The memory of his kiss made her tremble, and as she recalled the expression in his eyes she felt the old mixture of terror and longing sweep through her.

  Yet how could she tell him? What possible reason could she give? How did one tell a man that one wanted his protection, especially after having rejected his lovemaking so vehemently before, and now of all times, when he seemed to have lost interest in her? Whatever she did or said she would feel deeply embarrassed.

  Eventually, realizing that it was late and she had very little time left before they arrived at Jamestown, Bella nerved herself to approach Adam. Alice was asleep, so Bella slipped out of their cabin and tapped nervously at his door. She would thank him for his kindness, she planned. It was a feeble excuse, but it would have to serve.

  Daniel opened the door, and casting a swift look at Adam, invited her to enter. Suppressing his surprise he saw from under lowered lids that his master was gazing inscrutably at his unexpected visitor. With
some reluctance he said goodnight and vanished, quietly closing the door behind him.

  'We are almost there. Will you take a glass of wine with me to celebrate a safe crossing?' Adam asked, rising to his feet with a lithe movement.

  'Thank you, yes, I would like that,' Bella replied nervously, moving further into the cabin and sitting in the chair Adam held for her. He poured wine and gave it to her. Bella drank, heedless of the taste, and hoped it would give her courage for what she had come to do.

  'I came to thank you for everything,' she began in a low voice. 'You have made the voyage so much easier than it might have been, and we all three owe our lives to you. I am truly grateful, and I wished to apologize for the times when I may have been – have appeared – an ingrate!'

  'There is no need for either gratitude or apologies.'

  'Oh, but I am so beholden to you, and will never be able to repay all we owe! Adam, I was so foolish earlier, pray forgive me!'

  He eyed her closely. Her lashes veiled her eyes and she looked down at the glass in her hand, twisting it anxiously.

  'I do not desire the sort of payment you offered me earlier in the voyage,' he said smoothly. 'I've never yet asked a woman to submit unless she has wanted it too. If you are offering me the same coin now I do not wish for it.'

  'I did not know you then,' Bella said softly, looking up at him where he stood leaning negligently against the porthole.

  'You are married!' he said harshly. 'Are you not anxious to rejoin your husband?'

  Bella shrugged, and for a fleeting moment her eyes darkened with pain.

  'I did not know Edward when we married,' she said quietly. 'It was arranged by my – half-brother, after my parents died, and I had no choice. I would certainly never have voluntarily chosen him. We spent one night together, and then I ran away from him. Henry, my brother, caught me and forced me onto this boat, as you saw. Edward has no love for me, he took me for my dowry and the land he could claim in Virginia for me and Toby.'