“George?”
“Aye, mum?” he replied and raised his head. One eye had definitely been blackened.
“Whatever happened to your eye, George? It’s all black.”
“Aye, mum,” he agreed.
“Well?” she persisted.
He looked to his captain and cleared his throat. “’Twas a matter what needed setting straight in Charleston, mum.”
“What matter?”
He glanced around uncomfortably and drew a chuckle from Jeff.
“’Twas Dickie, mum. You remember Dickie?”
“Aye, George,” she, nodded. “I remember Dickie. And how many black eyes is Dickie sporting?”
“Two, mum, and he’s awfully sorry for the trouble he caused you, mum, and swears not another word, drunk or sober,” he said in a rush.
She nodded again and turned to take her husband’s arm, but then threw a smile over her shoulder at the servant.
“Two, did you say? Thank you, George.”
“Aye, mum,” he grinned.
After she redressed Brandon’s wound and donned a cool muslin gown, she sat apart from the men with her back to Jeff and put Beau to her breast. As Brandon talked with his brother of their adventures of the previous evening, she glanced around their bedroom, feeling its warmth and friendliness. Her gaze swept briefly to a table beside her then returned quickly. Brandon’s miniature portrait of his mother rested there. The green eyes which the artist had painted so well seemed alive, full of impish satisfaction, and Heather wondered at the power of a dead woman to take care of those she loved. It was surely her earrings which had brought everything out in the open and exposed Mr. Hint for what he was. Was it truly possible?
“Don’t you agree, pet?”
She glanced up, startled from her thoughts. “What, my love? I’m afraid I wasn’t listening.”
Brandon laughed. “Jeff is going to buy Oakley and I insist he take the land as a birthday gift. Don’t you agree he should?”
She smiled at her husband with something close to worship in her eyes. “Most certainly, my love,” she replied and glanced back briefly to the portrait. The eyes had regained their dignified stillness, but Heather wondered if she had imagined the gleam in Catherine’s eyes. They shared a secret, these two Birmingham women, which their men would never know. To the world they seemed frail and in need of protection, but their love gave them greater strength and courage than was believable. From the grave their influence still shaped events. A knowing smile curved Heather’s lips and she nodded to the portrait of Catherine Birmingham.
About the Author
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss wrote the very first historical romance novel in 1972 —The Flame and the Flower created a genre and made Ms. Woodiwiss one of the world’s most popular writers, with 36 million books in print. In celebration of Ms. Woodiwiss’s new novel, The Reluctant Suitor (2003), HarperCollins e-books is publishing Ms. Woodiwiss’s classic backlist, including the complete Birmingham Family Saga: The Flame and the Flower; The Elusive Flame; A Season Beyond a Kiss. Also available are Ms. Woodiwiss’s Ashes in the Wind; Come Love a Stranger; Forever in Your Embrace; Petals on the River; A Rose in Winter; Shanna; So Worthy My Love; The Wolf and the Dove.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
KATHLEEN E. WOODIWISS
“A LEGEND!”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A PHENOMENON”
The New York Times
“THE FIRST LADY OF THE GENRE.”
Publishers Weekly
“EXCELLENT!”
Ottawa Citizen
“A SENSATION!”
Washington Post Book World
“WOODIWISS REIGNS!”
Life
Works by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
The Birmingham Family Saga:
The Flame and the Flower
The Elusive Flame
A Season Beyond a Kiss
And also:
Ashes in the Wind
Come Love a Stranger
Forever in Your Embrace
Petals on the River
A Rose in Winter
Shanna
So Worthy My Love
The Wolf and the Dove
The Reluctant Suitor
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER. Copyright © 1972 by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition v 1. MARCH 2003 ISBN: 9780061743696
First Avon Books printing: October 1972
90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81
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The Flame and the Flower Page 49