The Heavens Shall Fall (33 page)

He couldn
’t take his eyes from her: her lovely face, the fine lines of her figure. She still had power over him. He wanted her. Moreover, for some reason, he needed her.

All the years he had fought in this damn war, he had lost sight of the reasoning behind fighting their own people. He was tired of doing the right thing because of duty and honor.

He broke the silence. “I never meant to leave you, Hannah. It was not my choice.”

Hannah
’s head rose ever so slightly and she met his eyes. “But it was, Marcus. It was your choice.”

“
No, Hannah. I was told you had lost the child…”

She shook her head.
“It would have made no difference. What could you have done then, Marcus? Would you have left your wife, your position in life, your country for a bastard child and mistress?”

The words hit him hard. Another awkward silence.

“You told me then to live. You said you wanted me happy. I held to those words.” She choked back emotions that built within her. “Giles gave me what you could not. He gave my son a name, a good name. He gave me hope.”

“
Here? Good Lord, Hannah, you live as a tavern keeper’s wife!”

“
Ah, Marcus, that is what gnaws at you! That your son lives here. That the one who is
his
father owns a tavern. It is beneath you.” She pressed with a sudden fury. “It is what you have never understood. You told me once when we first met that my grandparents could offer me riches. I told you then I did not need them. I do not need them now!”

“
Then what is it that this man has given you that I could not?”

“
Love. I wanted to be loved,” she whispered. She bowed her head. “I wanted nothing more than to be loved.”

“
Love?” He stood. In one quick motion, he pulled her up to him. “I have always loved you, Hannah. No one could love you the way I do…will always. I have a need for you that has never faded. Come away with me as we planned.”

He gave
her no time to respond; he took her prisoner in his arms. His mouth crushed hers. Something within him exploded with only one thought—the woman he held in his arms. He was lost in her: the taste of her lips on his, the fragrance of her hair, the touch of her skin.

She did not try to resist…only…only she broke away from his embrace. Her eyes fixed on his with her hand over her mouth. Shocked. Stunned. She stumbled backwards.

“It’s wrong, Marcus. Ever so wrong.”

“
No, no, Hannah. Don’t say that. We can have what was denied us…”

“
Oh, Marcus, you never understood.”

“
Understood?” he said harshly. “I have lived without you…I understand only too clearly.”

She shook her head
; tears welled in her eyes. “We…we were doomed from the start.”

“
No, Hannah, it doesn’t have to be that way.” He stepped toward her. She retreated back and raised her hand to halt him.

“
Listen, Marcus, please,” she begged. “Don’t come near me. I need to say the words you have to hear. Please.”

Anger swelled within him. He didn
’t want to hear a protest. He thought of sweeping her in his arms and taking her forcibly with him, but her eyes…her eyes pleaded with him. He said nothing and gave her what she wanted.

“
Even when I agreed to go with you to England, I knew…I knew it was wrong.” She hesitated, as if she struggled to find her words. “I was willing because I wanted to be with you even if it was for a short time…eventually, though, you and I both know it would have ended.”

“
No, Hannah,” he protested. “I would never—”

“
Let me go?” she asked. A small smile emerged on her lips. “You did already. You let me go when your honor was in question…but, Marcus, it does not matter. I am happy. I didn’t think I could be again…then I met Giles.”

She drew in a deep breath and walked over to the window. She looked out and then back at him.
“He is a good man, loyal and true. He saved me when I was broken. He gave life to my son. I told him when Seth was born, he might not be his son by blood, but in his heart Seth will always be Giles’.”

Marcus stood
, disbelieving the words he was hearing.
No, goddammit! The boy was his!
This is not what he thought…wanted to happen. He wanted her to stop talking, but she pressed.

“
Seth is a happy child, Marcus. Is that not important to you? He has a name and will not be ridiculed for being a bastard. He can grow up, hold his head high and be proud of who he is.” She paused. A sudden sadness invaded her eyes. “But that is the difference between us.”

“
What? That I can give the child a life better than this! You believe he will be tainted for being my son. It will not be that way in England…”

“
But he isn’t in England!” she cried. “Don’t do this to me! Don’t do this to Seth…not if you ever loved me.”

He closed the ground between them.
“Loved you? You talk of this Giles, that he saved you. But what of me? Who protected you even when I suspected you betrayed my country? Is that why you came to my bed? To use me? Betray me?”

She raised her arm, but he caught
it before she could slap him.

“
Let go of me,” she demanded. Her breathing quickened. She hurtled words at him. “Why are you being so cruel? I never pretended to be anything other than what I was. You knew this before
you
seduced me.”

Undaunted, he drew her up to his face. His fury surged forth.
“You did not answer me. Did you use me?”

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She shook her head and whispered,
“I could never…I love…loved you.”

Outside the walls, a sudden commotion arose. The door swung open and that man…her husband… entered
, followed by sentries, muskets in hand. Marcus released Hannah, and gestured for the sentries to halt.

The man posed no threat to him. The man
’s only concern lay with his wife. Immediately, Hannah rushed to her stricken husband’s side.

Marcus
’ eyes bore into the sight…seeing her seek comfort in that man’s arms. Realization dawned upon him that she had what she said she had always wanted. It disturbed him more than he would ever admit.

* * * *

A chill edged the ocean breeze, but Marcus took no notice. He stood on the deck of the ship, and contemplated his life. Soon, he would be back within Charles Town with the war still raging around him.

He had much to contend with on his return to the South. The first on his agenda was Dr. Corbett
’s wife. He had long suspected the woman tricked him by sending a warning to her sister-in-law. He didn’t believe in coincidences; it was the only explanation for Hannah’s absence when he first arrived in Setauket.

He had made no attempt to confront her, but the days of leniency were no more. He would make Rebekah Corbett rue the day she had decided to make a fool of him. He had enough of these games…and of her husband.

Dr. Jonathan Corbett had become a thorn in his side. He had greatly underestimated the man. Had he only known that Corbett would cost them not only a crowning glory with Arnold’s defection, but cost Andre his life!

Corbett was too much like his sister
: tenacious, obstinate, and stubborn. If it had been any other who had seen Andre, Marcus was certain that Andre would have talked his way out of the situation. But with Corbett’s presence, Andre had been doomed.

Marcus lamented the fact, not only for the loss of a friend, but knowing the hope of winning this damn war faded with Andre
’s death. Hannah told him once that repressing the rebellion was an impossibility once a man questions the binds upon him. All men want to be free.

He would argue about the myth of liberty and freedom the
Rebels declared was the cause of this rebellion.
All men were created equal!
 The hypocrites! The ones who wrote that line exploited their own selfish needs. Severing the ties with the Crown had been nothing more than a criminal enterprise.

But on the propaganda battlefield, the Americans were winning the war
, for a fire had been reignited within them. Marcus had to acknowledge that it was not the death of Andre that ignited the flame within the bellies of the Rebels, but Arnold’s betrayal. Andre’s crowning glory had become a Rebel battle cry—death to the treacherous Arnold!

Marcus thought briefly of resigning his commission and returning to England. His brother, Charles, would return from Antigua and stop in Charles Town to visit. He could return with Charles, but he had quickly dismissed it.

His character demanded he put country and king before his own personal desires. If anything could be salvaged from this conflict, the hope lay with the South. Thus, he would stay.

Furthermore, he had not decided what he was going to do about his son. It was the source of his never-ending frustration—to be denied what was his!

He had never experienced the immediacy of affection the child had called forth within him. A lively boy with a charm that couldn’t be denied, Seth had captured his heart.

He had not been there for his other children
’s youths, but in truth, it mattered little. Had he been in England, he would have had little interaction with either of his children until they grew older. Though, pride surged forth in him with his oldest. Julian had his bearing and the promise to follow in his footsteps, a son that would do honor to his name.

Why then could he not leave Seth? Hannah
’s husband had taken the boy as his, evident in watching the interaction between the two. But it was a bond that tore at his soul.

Marcus enacted a new arrangement with Giles Cooper. Until he had the time to review the situation, the child would be allowed to stay in his present position. The difference
was the child now had his protection if ever needed.

Marcus doubted that the man would ever call upon him for any help unless it was dire circumstances, but it alleviated a worry of his. He wanted to ensure the safety of Seth…and his mother. Realizing he could not rely on Giles Cooper to convey their needs, he set eyes upon Hannah and Seth and would receive regular reports on their well
-being.

Hannah may no longer play the game and no matter the confession of
Susanna, nothing would convince him that Hannah had not spied while living under her grandfather’s roof. The Hannah he had known had played a very dangerous game. If he had not removed her from the situation, he doubted that she would be alive at this moment. She had been headed for an untimely demise as her cousin now faced.

Unbeknownst to Hannah, she lived under a threat, an ominous threat…one that her husband could not protect her from if it came to be. Persistent rumors had emerged that her cousin, Georgie Boy, had reemerged. If the madman ever discovered Hannah lived, she would not be safe, nor would her children.

Marcus would never allow harm to befall Hannah. No matter his aggravation, she weighed upon him; time had done little to diminish the feeling she aroused within him.

He had always been a man of honor and wished to God at times that he was not. Guilt gnawed at his soul. Hannah had
flung at him that he had put his honor and duty before her. It was an accusation he couldn’t deny.

Nor could he deny that he had wanted her to turn her back on her own beliefs. She had been raised by a moral code, one that would never allow one to live with another without the benefit of marriage.
 She had denied it for a time, a time when she had been at her most vulnerable.

She would never do so again. He had seen the life she had created. Instead of the web of deceit and fear she had lived in New York, she was swaddled
 in a cocoon of love and affection within a small village…with a husband who obviously adored her.

But nothing she said would convince him she did not return his feelings. He saw it when he looked into her eyes, tasted it on her lips when he had captured her in his arms, felt it when she shivered at his touch…

The thought gave him little comfort. She refused him. He could not accept that she would never be his again. He couldn’t. The whole of his being fought against the thought.

Perhaps it was as she said. They came from different worlds: he from one that set one
’s course on the status of their birth; she from one where there would be no boundaries, where one would be judged only on their merits.

She dreamed of a world such as that—he dreamed of her. An agony he couldn
’t escape.

* * * *

The years had worn on Jonathan. Tired and weary, a long journey lay before him, but he had to return. He ignored the dangers he would face if he returned to the South; he knew only he would not rest until Rebekah was safe in his arms.

Behind him, the fears for Hannah eased. His sister seemed content with the life she had with her husband in Setauket. When he said his good-bye, he had done so without guilt.