The Prize (29 page)

She closed her eyes
and shrugged. "I don't care. It's better this way. If
Eastleigh
thinks to marry me off to some
stranger, now I can simply tell the truth about what happened and no one will
have me." But she did care. She was in pain, terrible pain, and she had to
go away, she had to be alone.

"Don't do this
to yourself. This was not your fault. You are young and inexperienced, a
perfect target for someone like Devlin. How could a girl like yourself resist
my brother's

seduction?" His
laughter was harsh. "It is times like these that I detest him. He is
better off gone and we should hope he never returns."

"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 then: 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.

240
'                        

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. Be-

sides, 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.

Which meant that the
tall, dark man with her had to be the Earl of Adare, Edward de Warenne.

Virginia thought
about fleeing before anyone saw her, then pleading a headache, as she felt
certain they had come to dine, but it was too late.

"
Virginia
." Sean had seen her and he
smiled widely. His gray eyes were sparkling. "Come meet my parents, Lady
Mary de Warenne and my stepfather, Lord Adare."

The couple turned
simultaneously and
Virginia
met two piercing stares. For one
moment, she felt certain that she was being thoroughly inspected. Slowly, she
came forward, filled with unease and dread.

But Mary smiled.
"Hello, child. We returned from
London
yesterday and as soon as we heard the news, we rushed over."

Virginia
actually curtsied. "My
lady."

"Leave it to
Devlin not to say a bloody word," Adare said darkly, staring closely at
her.

Virginia
looked at Sean in confusion. He
seemed bewildered, as well. "How is Devlin?" he asked dryly.

"He was up to
his neck in a ruckus of his own causing," Adare said grimly. "He was
once again accused of disobeying direct orders—rumor has it he attacked an
American ship."

"What
happened?" Sean asked grimly.

"There was a
hearing arranged by Admiral Farnham with the clever help of Tom Hughes. Devlin,
however, claimed to have come to the aid of a foundering American merchantman,
insisting he attacked no American ship. Several of his men testified that this
was true. The ship, the
Americana
,
was apparently lost in a gale and there
were no survivors. Farnham was outvoted two to one by
St. John
and Keeling—the motion for a court-martial
dismissed."