Virginian Lover

by Oliver, Marina

  'You're not very expert,' he jibed, and then suddenly pushed her away and sat up, listening.

  Bella heard it too, the drumming of a horse's hooves outside the house, and as Edward rose and crossed to the small window, peering through a small slit between the shutters, she reached for her gown and dragged it hastily over her head.

  'Stay here while I attend to it!' Edward ordered, and went through into the next room and down the stairs. He was half way down, Bella anxiously peering after him, when the door was thrown open and she heard a loud voice.

  'Come out, you rogue! Where the devil are you hiding your miserable carcass?'

  'Henry!' Bella whispered, and shrank back. It would not do to let Henry know she and Toby were in the house, for he had a powerful reason to wish them both dead.

  She saw Edward snatch a knife from the kitchen table as he went towards the hall and then, curiousity overcoming her fear, went down a few steps. She kept well into the shadows, but she could see a part of the hall through the open door.

  Henry stood, legs astride, in the other doorway, a short sword in his hand.

  'Well, what have you to say for yourself?' he demanded as Edward appeared.

  'Henry, my old friend, what a surprise,' Edward responded calmly. 'I was proposing to visit you as soon as I had made this place habitable. It has been sadly neglected since I left England. Won't you come and sit in the kitchen?'

  Bella swiftly and silently retreated back up the stairs, but she could see Henry with his back to her, as he accepted the invitation and sat on one of the stools. He prudently kept his sword by his hand, however, and Edward seated opposite him played nonchalantly with the knife he held.

  'What are you doing back in England?' Henry demanded. 'Our agreement was that you would remain in Virginia.'

  'That was what you thought I would do,' Edward replied. 'I had little choice at the time, for as you know I had to leave England in something of a hurry. But things have changed. Life is too uncertain in that fiendish place. I prefer England.'

  'Where is the girl?'

  'Is it the girl you are concerned with?' Edward asked sneeringly. 'Do not trouble yourself, she is safe.'

  'And contesting my inheritance for that brat. I might have known you were not to be trusted, Edward Sutton! I thought you were behind it when the claim was first made, and then I heard you had been seen near here. Well, we will soon show you how unhealthy it is for such lying dogs in England!'

  So saying he leapt to his feet, kicking away the stool on which he had been sitting, and thrust his sword across the table at Edward. But Sutton had been expecting the attack, and sprang aside, dodging round the table and hurling one of the pewter mugs at Henry as he did so.

  It caught Henry a glancing blow on the side of the head, and for a moment he was caught off balance. It was enough for Edward to leap forward, beating Henry's sword arm out of the way and striking at him with his knife. At the last moment Henry realized his danger and gave ground, but he slipped on the loose rushes and fell backwards, crashing to the floor with Edward on top of him. Abandoning his sword, which was useless at such close quarters, Henry fought desperately to disarm his assailant. He hung grimly on to Edward's arm, attempting to twist it and force Edward's fingers to relax their grip on the knife.

  Agonizingly, slowly, Edward felt his hold slackening and he brought his knee viciously up to catch Henry in the groin. With a gasp of pain Henry released Edward's hand, and as Edward drew back, ready to strike with the knife, Henry rolled aside, conscious even in his physical anguish of the need to evade his opponent. He rolled towards the fire and knocked against the cauldron, setting it swinging wildly on the hook.

  Edward thrust with the knife, but the blow merely scraped Henry's shoulder, tearing his doublet and producing a small spurt of blood. As Henry attempted to stagger to his feet Edward jabbed him in the stomach with his elbow. Henry collapsed onto the ground again, clutching at the cauldron as it swung towards him and bringing it crashing to the floor. Edward coolly bent down to retrieve Henry's sword.

  'I'm sorry, my dear Henry, that you will not live to see me take your house,' he sneered. 'It is quite an attractive one, worth far more than that miserly sum you gave me to take your inconvenient sister out of your way. And the brat does have a valid claim, as you must know.'

  Gloating he watched as Henry, still suffering excruciating pain, attempted to crawl out of his way. He followed and when Henry hauled himself to his knees, kicked him contemptuously. This sent Henry sprawling headlong through the doorway into the hall. Edward followed, the sword raised, and stabbed Henry in the back.

  *

  Bella heard Henry give a scream which was cut off abruptly, but she had spied Edward's knife lying unheeded amongst the rushes, and she ran swiftly down the stairs in an effort to secure it. She reached it as Edward, the sword dripping red with blood, came back into the kitchen. As she straightened up and backed away from him he gave a grunt of laughter.

  'Were you proposing to assist me, my dear?' he asked sarcastically. 'Come here.'

  Bella remained where she was.

  'Have you killed Henry?' she asked quietly.

  'Of course. Could you doubt that I would? Do you wish to make certain, my dear wife? He'll not come creeping up to us when we resume our interrupted activities.'

  Bella bit her lip. He was stronger than she was and Henry's sword was a better weapon than the knife. It was most unlikely she could fight him off. Fleetingly she thought that to die from a thrust of the sword would be preferable to submitting to Edward's lusts. But for Toby's sake, peacefully asleep upstairs, she had either to agree or discover a way of escape.

  Aware of her hesitation, Edward began to walk towards her. Bella tried to strike him with the knife, but it was to no avail, for he parried it with the sword and then, grasping her hand in his, forced her to drop it.

  Throwing down the sword he held Bella to him and ruthlessly, despite her struggles, removed the gown she had so short a time before put on again.

  'So you prefer to fight do you?' he demanded, panting somewhat for she was putting up a spirited defence and it was all he could do to hold her.

  Bella fought desperately, but he gradually forced her backwards against the table, and tried to bend her arms up behind her back.

  When she twisted away so that he could not he suddenly lost patience. With a sudden push he threw her to the floor and before she could recover her breath had thrown himself across her.

  'If you'll not submit peaceably I'll take you here!' he snarled, and while he held her down with his own body he began to wriggle out of his clothes. It was difficult, for Bella struggled with a strength born of desperation, scratching his face and clawing at his flesh whenever she could get her hands free, and once managing to bite his arm. Edward had wriggled half way out of his breeches and Bella's strength was failing as she shrank away from the hateful contact with his nakedness, when a cool voice addressed them.

  'My dear Mr Sutton, you are hardly appropriately dressed to receive visitors.'

  Startled, Edward tried to rise to his feet, reaching out for his abandoned sword at the same time, but the breeches descending about his ankles impeded him and he stumbled, falling to his knees.

  'What are you doing here?' he demanded in a tone of utter loathing as he tugged at his breeches and hastily fastened a few points.

  'I think I arrived just in time, sirrah.'

  'Adam!' Bella exclaimed, rising to her feet and staring at him in relief and bewilderment. He smiled comfortingly at her.

  Naked, flushed, and with her hair dishevelled, she had never looked so desirable. But he noted the bruises and reddened marks where Edward had gripped her too tightly, and his lips tautened as his glance moved back to Edward.

  'She's my wife. You've no right to interfere and I'll thank you to leave my house!'

  Adam slowly shook his head.

  'There is a small matter of a dead man out there,' he said softly, 'apart from your wife and t
he child. Where is Toby?'

  'Upstairs, and safe,' Bella said, then, as Adam smiled at her again, realized her undressed state. She blushed fiercely and thankfully espied her gown, somewhat torn but better than nothing, on the floor behind Edward. She moved to pick it up and slipped it over her head before turning to face the two men again. Edward was blustering angrily and suddenly stooped to pick up the knife by his foot. As he straightened and flung it towards Adam, Adam stepped swiftly aside and closed with him, grappling firmly and forcing him to give way. They swayed perilously for a moment, and then crashed to the floor. Breaking away from each other they both swiftly regained their feet and began circling warily. Bella retreated to the stairs.

  Then Adam moved, feinting to the right and as Edward parried, he drove his left fist with shattering force into Edward's face. Edward staggered back and Adam followed up the blow with another, and a third, before Edward fell to his knees. As he grovelled on the floor, half dazed with the battering he had received, his hands came into contact with the sword and he began to swing it wildly round so that Adam was forced to stay out of range while drawing his own sword from the scabbard.

  As Sutton stumbled to his feet Adam stepped backwards and Edward, dimly perceiving that his opponent was moving away from him, took a fumbling step forwards. Adam circled him and Edward staggered to hold the table, still preventing Adam from getting near him by wildly brandishing the sword. Then, with a tremendous effort he heaved up one end of the table, flinging it towards Adam. It was a wasted effort, for as the heavy table smashed down on the hard beaten-earth floor, crushing one of the stools beneath it with a splintering sound, Adam moved to one side and, before Edward had recovered from the strain, moved in and delivered the coupe de grace with his fists.

  *

  At that moment Toby, waking and hearing the sounds of the fight below, cried out, and Bella turned and ran up the stairs to comfort him. She was sitting on his bed, rocking him in her arms, when Adam appeared from the adjoining room.

  'Hello, young man,' he said easily. 'I thought you were too old to cry now.'

  'I am!' Toby said indignantly, and then gave a crow of welcome. 'Adam!' he exclaimed, and struggled free of Bella to run and clasp Adam about the legs. 'Where've you been?' he demanded imperiously, his fright and his tears forgotten.

  'Oh, on a ship, like you were,' Adam said. 'Now be a sensible fellow and go back to sleep. Bella and I have a great deal to say to one another.'

  With a trusting smile Toby slid back under the blanket, and closed his eyes. Adam retreated and after a few moments Bella followed. Adam was waiting for her in the next bedroom and without a word held out his arms. She gave a sob and ran to him, clinging and shivering in reaction to the terrors of the day.

  'What of Edward? Is he – ?' she paused.

  'He's not dead,' Adam said gently, 'but he will no longer be a danger to you. He is unconscious, I hit him very hard.'

  'But if he recovers, he might come up here. He is wicked, Adam, and cunning.'

  'I am aware of that. I have tied him up and he cannot move. You have no need to fear.'

  'He killed Henry. Henry is dead, I suppose?' she asked.

  'Yes, there is no doubt of that, he must have died immediately. Did that brute hurt you?' he asked, looking closely at her.

  She blushed adorably. 'Not – not much,' she replied hurriedly. 'But Adam, why are you here? How did you find us? Why are you in England at all? Oh, there are so many questions!'

  'There is plenty of time to answer them. Do you feel strong enough to ride to the nearest inn? You can use Henry's horse. I put it with mine in an outhouse. Once I have you and Toby safe I will bring a cart to take Edward somewhere until he can be charged with the murder.'

  'Will – will they hang him?' she asked slowly.

  Adam looked at her closely. Surely she could not still have any tender feelings for the man, he thought in dismay.

  'If it can be proved, and I do not think there will be any doubt. Do you regret it?'

  Bella shook her head in quick denial.

  'No, no, apart from not wishing anyone to suffer! If he had never known me it might not have happened.'

  'His quarrel was with Henry. He used you only as a pawn. He is the sort of man who would have been bound to get himself hanged one day, or killed by someone he had cheated. Will you mind?'

  'I should never again feel safe if I thought that at any moment he could find me,' Bella declared, and shivered again.

  'You are safe now. Oh, Bella, my love. I should never have let you go back to him. I should have defied the authorities in Jamestown, or taken you somewhere else. We could have made a life together in some other country. Bella, when I discovered he had left Jamestown and followed you I was in terror that I might be too late. He planned to kill Toby and claim your father's lands for himself.'

  'You came after me, to help me?' Bella asked in wonder, and then, a coldness sweeping over her, she remembered he was no longer Adam Tarrant, a rich but simple Virginian planter, unwelcome in the England of King James, but Lord Cawston, possessor of a vast fortune, and able to regain the approval of the King if he married the lovely and wealthy Lady Jane.

  'Of course, my love, for I realized when you had gone how much I needed you,' he replied, taking her into his arms.

  'How did you follow us here?' Bella asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

  'I met Sir Francis Rowe outside the Middle Temple, just after you had disappeared. I had just arrived in England and I went straight to his house. Elizabeth told me where you were, and about Toby. I decided Henry would be the most likely person to know where Edward was, and so I rode to Clifford Manor. He had just left, but I followed him. An old man gave me the name of this house and I found a lad in the village nearby to show me the way. Is it Edward's house?'

  'I do not know. Did you know he had been forced to leave England? I think it was because of some deception to do with gaming. I suspect from what he said once that he might have won this house before he left England.'

  Adam nodded. 'As he won his plantation, and most likely by foul methods. But you will soon be free of him, my love. Will you come back to Virginia with me, or have you been given a distaste for it?'

  He kissed her before she could answer and Bella, overwhelmed by the knowledge that he did apparently love her and had followed her from Virginia, raged inwardly at the cruel fate which must again part them. It was clear he did not know of his brother's death, or he would not talk of returning to Virginia. When he knew he would have to accept the marriage which the King and his friends expected him to make. A great longing to lie just once more in his arms overcame her, and she suddenly decided to forget for this one night that he must afterwards belong to another woman.

  When Adam drew her to the bed she went willingly, and trembled with remembered joy at the touch of his fingers and the flame which consumed her as his kisses grew harder, more sensuous and demanding. Her gown slipped unheeded to the floor. Adam soon disposed of his own clothing and drew her into his arms, thinking with wonder that never with any of the beautiful women he had known before had he found such delight.

  Gently he caressed her and Bella, with a bitter sweet knowledge that this was the last time she would ever experience such rapture, responded with an ardour she had never before shown. Fiercely quelling his own need, Adam prolonged his slow exploration of her body, rediscovering every inch of it tenderly and lingeringly while Bella, anxious to be able, in arid future years, to recall every detail of him, passed her hands over his lean muscular frame, marvelling in his strength and tenderness, the warm hard body that elicited such a passionate answer in her own blood.

  At length, when Bella was almost swooning, they came together in a fervent climax which left both of them breathless yet langorous. Warm and relaxed, all the tension of the past weeks drained out of her, Bella slept peacefully. The candle was almost finished and Adam leaned across Bella to blow it out, smiling tenderly down at her as she reached out sleepily
to catch his hand and hold it against her cheek. He took her in his arms and closed his eyes, breathing deeply, content he had at last found her again.

  It was some hours later when he woke, immediately alert in the knowledge that there was danger around them. Then he rose swiftly from the bed, calling to Bella. From the doorway leading towards the end bedroom and staircase he could see a rosy glow, and hear the ominous crackling of flames from the room below.

  Chapter 14

  The staircase, rising out of the kitchen, was already a charred wreck. As Adam reached it and looked down he could see that the fire had been started because some of the dry, brittle rushes covering the floor had been pushed into the embers of the fire when Edward had overthrown the table. The flames had crept along these rushes, and gradually the table and the pile of logs and the other furniture in the room had been set alight. Probably the fat from the overturned cauldron had fed the flames.

  As Bella came to join him he held her back, for he had just seen Edward, his clothing burned and his flesh charred, sprawled in the centre of the floor where he had left him after the fight. Briefly Adam hoped he had still been unconscious when the fire had reached him. Surely he would have cried out and given warning if he had known of the danger to himself.

  'We cannot get out that way. But the other side of the house will still be untouched,' Adam said calmly.

  He took her hand and led her through into the central bedroom.

  'Get dressed and then see to Toby,' he said briefly, pulling on his own shirt and breeches. Bella was soon dressed and went to rouse and dress Toby, who sleepily protested at being disturbed.

  While she was persuading him to cooperate, Adam came through and inspected the windows in the gable end. He pulled aside the sliding shutters and tried to force the mullions away from the frame, but they were thick and sturdy. He looked about him, then pulled the straw pallet towards the window. Smiling confidently at Toby, who was beginning to ask why there was a bonfire downstairs, he tore a strip off the blanket and went through the other room. When he came back the blanket was smouldering, and Adam sent Bella and Toby into the central room. Then, packing the straw round the bottom of the mullions, he set it alight, feeding more straw from the mattress and the one from the centre room until the mullions were charred through sufficiently for him to wrench them out of the window aperture. Throwing the blankets over the edge of the opening he doused the fire, and using other pieces of blanket to protect his hands, he worked at the charred wood until he had made an opening large enough for them to squeeze through.