Chapter 12 #2
“You don’t mean that,” she managed.
“I feel that way now, as I have all night. The truth is, he is my brother, he would give his life for me, and I do love him. But I will never forgive him for this.” Sean’s eyes were as dark as a stormy sea.
The immense betrayal struck her again. He was gone. He had taken her innocence, and now, he had left. He didn’t care. Not about anyone, not about anything. He was a monster, not a man. “I have to sit down,” Virginia choked. “My knees are oddly weak and I cannot see.”
“You appear as if you will faint again,” Sean said grimly, sweeping her into his arms. He carried her to the house.
Virginia had no will to resist. It was too late to do anything about it, but she realized her heart was broken because she had, stupidly, fallen in love with a terrible man.
Virginia lost track of the days. It began to rain, more often than not.
Sean gave her free rein and she spent her mornings on horseback while the sky remained clear.
Her afternoons were spent wandering the house or reading one of the many books she found in the library.
Sean went out of his way to avoid her when once he had been so gallant, amiable and kind.
He was courteous when their paths happened to cross, but distant, as if a stranger.
Virginia took her supper on a tray in her bedroom.
She thought about escape and made the attempt one single time.
She found some coins in Sean’s bedroom, where she dared to trespass.
Dressed as a boy, she took the bay mare and set out for Wexford, some hundred miles to the east. It was another gray, rainy day.
She had expected to be able to find her way quite easily, but at the first crossroads, she was at a loss, for there was no sign.
The choice was north or south, and Wexford lay directly east. She surmised she should go right, which was north.
Many hours later she realized she was heading directly north, deep into the heart of Ireland, and that somehow, she was lost. She was also soaking wet and freezing cold, enough so to think about turning around and going back.
And the little mare was tired and beginning to falter.
But she didn’t have to turn back. Late that afternoon Virginia paused at a roadside inn to ask for directions, which only confirmed that she was far off her course.
And that was when Sean appeared on a black charger, frantic and furious.
But instead of shouting at her, he didn’t say a word.
He booked two rooms and Virginia was given a hot bath, clean dry clothes and a hearty meal.
The next day they returned to Askeaton, riding the entire way in terse silence.
And when the manor lay in sight, Sean pulled his steed to a halt. Virginia halted also and their gazes locked. “I want your word,” he said fiercely. “Give me your word you will not attempt another escape. If you do not, I will have to put you under lock and key.”
This was their first real conversation since the day Devlin had left. “I don’t understand,” Virginia said slowly. “You have said repeatedly that you disapprove of what your brother is doing, yet you will not look the other way so I can escape?”
He was grim. “I more than disapprove. But I swore to Devlin I would keep you safe at Askeaton and I will.”
“You don’t have the backbone to go up against him,” she said.
His expression hardened and his eyes flashed. “He wants us to marry.”
Virginia choked. Surely she had misheard, hadn’t she? But the walls of her world, already so fragile, crumbled then and there. “What!”
“He thinks it would be best, in the end, after the ransom, if we wed,” Sean said.
Virginia could not absorb the words, the notion. She spurred the mare into a gallop, racing for the manor and the surrounding barns, reeling from the blow. She was to be handed off to his brother. He had used her once and now he thought to cast her off to Sean.
At the house she dismounted, handing the mare over to a groom. Sean galloped up to her and slid off his horse. “I know. It’s inexplicable.”
“Stay away from me,” she warned, striding toward the house. She felt as if she had been punched in the chest. She couldn’t breathe and a red haze had formed over her eyes. Pain and anger blurred, impossible to separate.
If she hadn’t hated him before, she hated him now.
And images from that night overcame her, heated and lusty, images she wished were a result of her imagination and not the very real past.
She could not wait to be ransomed.
That night, Sean came to her room. Standing in the hallway, he politely asked her if she would come downstairs to dine.
Virginia stared at him from the sanctuary of her bedroom, clinging to the open door.
He looked grim, an expression now characteristic for him, and he also seemed torn. “Don’t do this,” she said.
“I’m not doing anything. But after what he did, I treated you intolerably. I want to start over. I am not the enemy, Virginia. The truth is, I am your friend.”
She hugged herself. Their gazes locked. “Why did you turn away from me when I was so broken—when I needed a friend?” she whispered.
He hesitated. “Because it hurt me, too.”
It was a moment before she thought she understood. Was Sean saying that he had feelings for her, and that Devlin’s seduction had made it impossible for him?
He smiled gently. “I think it’s time we had a truce. Besides, it’s damned lonely in that dining room, night after night. I miss your amusing stories.”
She was touched. She plucked his sleeve. “I’m sorry, too. It’s not you I hate.”
“I know.”
Weeks passed into a month, then two. She dined with Sean every evening, and within a few weeks, the tension had disappeared and it was almost as if his brother had never done what he had.
Virginia began to look forward to each evening when they would share a fine supper, good wine and never run out of conversation.
Sean worked hard managing the estate, and during those evenings, his discourse would include the problems he had encountered and the triumphs, great and small.
Virginia quickly learned all about the Corn Laws and how they had saved Ireland; by the month’s end she knew as much about that crop as she did about tobacco.
Frequently their conversation became political.
Liverpool, a man who Sean apparently thought a great deal of, had formed a new cabinet and was now prime minister.
In mid-August they both read the Dublin Times, learning that the United States had declared war on Great Britain in June, even though the Orders in Council had been repealed.
British forces had taken Mackinac, a small settlement in the northwest, and a British squadron had captured the USS Nautilus.
Virginia was stunned. “How can your country think to reduce us to colonial status again?” she cried.
“We hardly think to reduce the United States to being our colonies again,” Sean had replied. “We did not want this war—our hands are full in Europe. Your war hawks are responsible for this, Virginia.”
Virginia knew something about American politics but little about war hawks.
“My father was a very intelligent man and he said repeatedly that Britain has no respect for our rights, that she wishes to regain her status as a mother country and she will never allow us free trade! How many American ships were seized like the Americana by your navy? How many Americans like myself were abducted off of those ships—and impressed? Do you have any idea how much income your country has cost us due to your restrictive trade policies?” she challenged.
And she could recall her father making the very same arguments over supper at Sweet Briar.
“Unfortunately you wish to feed and clothe Napoleon and his armies, Virginia,” Sean said calmly. “And that cannot be allowed.”
In the end, neither of them won the debate and a truce was called, but now news of the war was avidly followed by them both.
An Indian massacre of the American Fort Dearborn followed, as did the British capture of Detroit.
This new war, so insignificant to the British and so important to the United States, was not going well for the Americans.
There was no word from Devlin, not a single letter. If a ransom was in progress, he was not keeping them informed.
One evening, Sean suggested that she might enjoy riding out with him to inspect the holdings of some tenants, and she accepted.
They toured two tenancies not far from Limerick, took supper there, and the next day, she went with him for the first harvest. She began to join him on a daily basis. Their friendship blossomed.
She almost forgot he had a brother. It seemed to be true after all, that time healed all wounds, and now she managed not to think about Devlin O’Neill.
Somehow, she had buried him in some deep dark place and it was almost as if he did not exist—except that, deep in her heart, she knew he was the one man she would never forget.
Toward the middle of September the last days of summer turned hot and humid.
Virginia came down for supper one night and heard unfamiliar voices in the front hall.
Her steps slowed as she realized that both a man and woman were present, chatting amiably with Sean.
From his light tone, she could tell that he was happy.
Very curious as to whom their first visitors were, she paused before going in.
Immediately, her eyes were drawn to a tall, dark man with swarthy skin and the bearing of someone with great power.
Her gaze veered to a tall woman with sun-gold hair, a lush figure and an elegant bearing.
Virginia’s heart skipped, for she recognized this woman immediately.
Devlin O’Neill looked so much like her in feature and coloring that there was simply no doubt that this was his mother.