“When it was off our ships, Father Ourique and I rode to the governor’s palace to get Velvet and Pansy. When we got there, the bastard who is their governor told us that he had sent Velvet and her servant to the Mughal as a gift. I thought the Jesuit was going to have a fit where he stood, for he is an honorable man; and had it not been for the governor’s bodyguards, Mother, I would have killed Don Marinha-Grande then and there! I will give Father Ourique credit. He threatened the governor with excommunication, but the Portuguese bastard just laughed at him. It was no sin, he claimed, to send a heretic Englishwoman to Akbar’s harem. When the Jesuit reminded him of Velvet’s faith, that she was not a heretic but a loyal daughter of the church, the governor laughed and said that the Spanish king would not punish him for ridding the world of an English bitch.
“We left the palace then, and I spoke with the padre about retrieving my sister. He told me quite frankly that it was impossible. We could not remove Velvet from a caravan meant for the Mughal without an army, and once she arrived in his capital of Lahore it would be impossible to see her ever again. The Muslims are jealous of their women, and although the Mughal is more civilized than most, he is still a man of India. Father Ourique said we must face the fact that Velvet is lost to us.”
“The Jesuit is a fool then if he thinks I will allow my daughter to spend the rest of her life in some Muslim’s harem!” snapped Adam de Marisco. He turned to his wife. “How soon before we can set sail, my love?”
“Not soon enough,” said Skye. “Velvet is already a part of this ruler’s life. We have dealt with this sort of thing before, Adam. We must plan carefully, for we will get only one chance to retrieve our child. We have an advantage in that they will not suspect we are coming.”
“Their capital is hundreds of miles from the coast, Mother,” said Murrough. “We might get there, but could we get back? It will not be as simple as your escape from Fez once was.”
She nodded. “I know. This will have to be different, and I will need time to consider it.”
“Every minute we waste brings Velvet closer to that devil’s bed!” exploded Adam.
“My darling,” Skye said matter-of-factly, “if Velvet was sent as a gift to the Mughal, he has already most certainly bedded her. It is not the worst fate that can befall a woman.”
“You were older, stronger, more worldly,” Adam replied.
“My precious little Velvet is barely a child.”
“Your precious Velvet is an impossible minx who led me a merry chase at court before finally being brought to the altar,” said Alexander Gordon, who had only heard the end of Adam’s sentence as he entered the room. “Murrough! What the hell possessed ye to take my wife off to India, and where is the wench? I’ve a score to settle with her, leaving me wounded and half-dead to be nursed by strangers!”
Murrough O’Flaherty’s jaw dropped open in his complete and utter shock.“You’re dead!”he said.
“If I am there’s none who’s yet dared to tell me so,” came back Alex’s amused reply.
“Murrough,” said his mother, realizing that there was very definitely something amiss, “I want you to tell me why you took Velvet with you when you left London. Alex, sit down.”
“First tell me where Padraic is,” demanded Murrough.
“What the hell has Padraic to do with this?” asked Adam.
“Where is he?”
“Why do you want Padriac?” asked Skye. “What can he possibly have done? He has been down atClearfieldsfor months now, and I was only able to get him to come to London for Twelfth Night because I told him you should be back from India before the end of the month.”
“Exactly how long has he been atClearfields, Mother?”
For a moment Skye’s brow furrowed in thought, and then she said, “I don’t really know, Murrough. Is it important?”
“Get him!” said his elder brother grimly.
“Daisy,” said Skye. “Fetch Lord Burke. Murrough won’t continue his story until you return.”
Daisy hurried out the door, and an uncomfortable silence descended upon the room. Skye looked at her husband of over seventeen years. He would be sixty this year, and his dark hair was already well silvered, but it only had the effect of making him more handsome and distinguished, she thought. His dark blue eyes were still lively. If he had a weakness it was his only child, their daughter, Velvet. How often over the years had she deferred to him in the raising of their child and all because she could not bear that he have any less than a perfect relationship with Velvet. She realized now that she loved them both too much. She wondered if Velvet would be able to cope with what life had forced upon her, for despite her short-lived marriage Skye knew that her daughter was still innocent at heart. Skye reached out and took Adam’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
He managed a weak smile at her and squeezed back, but then his eyes fogged over as his thoughts returned to his only child. In his mind she was still a little girl. Oh, granted she had been twelve and a half when they had left on their voyage, and many a girl was not much older when wedded and bedded; but he and Skye had arranged that she not have to marry until she was sixteen. They had intended to give her a little time at court under their careful supervision. He sighed. They had protected her and sheltered her so carefully, perhaps too carefully, he was now beginning to think. How would she survive the ordeal of being incarcerated within a harem? What did Velvet know of love except perhaps the little Alex Gordon had taught her in their short time together? He let his glance rest on the son of his old friend.
Alexander Gordon, the Earl of BrocCairn, sat stiffly and grimly in his chair. For close to a year he had been without his wife.His wife!That cunning, willful jade had deserted him in his hour of need to run off to find her parents. She had had him convinced that she was content to return toDun Brocwith him and behave like a proper wife. Instead she had taken the first opportunity she’d found to desert him. His hand itched to make contact with her delightful bottom. When he got his hands on her, she was going to learn what it meant to behis wife, the Countess of BrocCairn.
The door to the apartment opened and Lord Burke and Daisy hurried into the room. Murrough leaped forward, his face a mask of fury as he hit his brother a clout that sent the younger man sprawling to the floor. Everyone else in the room gaped in surprise as Murrough reached down to haul his brother up and hit him once again.
“You’re certain?I asked you! Do you remember, Padraic? I asked you if you were sure that Lord Gordon had been killed. You assured both Velvet and me that he had been. As I remember it you even became insulted that I should dare to question your veracity! Do you know what you’ve done, Padraic? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“You’re back safe!” blubbered Padraic. “I made an error, Murrough. I’m sorry, but you’re back safe, and ’tis all right now, isn’t it?”
“Your sister is at this moment the prisoner of India’s Grand Mughal!” roared Murrough. “She’s locked away in his harem, and we’ve precious little chance of ever seeing her again! Would you call that all right?” He pushed his youngest brother from him disgustedly. “Jesu! You’re just like your father, Niall. You’re charming but totally heedless of your own selfish actions! You didn’t even stay long enough to tell Alex what really happened, did you? You ran back toClearfieldsand hid away. Why didn’t you own up to your error and save him the anxiety? I could kill you with my own two hands!”
Padraic Burke, sprawled upon the floor, looked up apprehensively at his elder sibling. Murrough was totally right, and he knew it. Desperately he tried to explain his actions. “How could I tell Alex what a fool I had been running back to Velvet to announce his death, when if I had waited a few more minutes I would have learned he was merely badly wounded?”
