Sean’s narrowed eyes slowly turned back to the sea. “I’ll hold you to that.” He must have felt that enough had been said on the subject, for he turned the conversation. “I wish she had been able to learn the truth of her parentage. Father O’Leary promised me that he would do what he could to find out more aboutEoinO’Malley and Moira Burleigh. He even planned to travel to Castlebarto see if anyone was still alive from the days of the famine that might remember them.”
“I will hire the best investigators that Dublin haveif that will causeFallontorest easy. And if the newsthat is uncovered isn’t what she is hoping for,at leastI will be there to comfort her.” He turned to Sean and he hoped that the intensity of his feelings carried through to the other man. “I shall make it my new mission in life. To make her happy.”
Finally, a hint of a smile broke through the rough, Irishman’s demeanor. “I know you’re an honorable man, or I would have never joined the Raven and his band of misfits. While I shall miss our adventures, I’m thankful to have Atticus Clare as mypartnerin trade.”
Atticus lifted a brow, a grin forming on his face. “Is that so? And what if another merchant offers me a better offer?”
Sean shrugged. “Then I suppose you’ll have to turn it down.”
Atticus laughed richly now, and he realized he had never felt more free and… happy as he did in this moment. It was a rather strange sensation, for while he’d been relaxed orcomplacent in the past, he hadn’t been truly contentedinquite some time.
So this is what it’s like to be at peace.
Chapter Nineteen
“We’re home.”
Fallonblinked as the sound of Atticus’s soothing deep voice roused her from sleep. She sat up, clutching the blanket to her naked chest andlooked towhere he sat perched on the edge of the mattress.He was already fully dressed, his hair pulled back in hisusual,slick queue. The British merchant had returned and gone was the devil-may-care pirate. She would have mourned the loss if she didn’t see the same mischievousnesstwinklinginthe midst ofthose dark eyes.
“We’vealready made it back to England?” she asked. “Just how long was I asleep?”
He grinned and her heart skipped a beat. “Don’t worry about that.”
With a heavy sigh, shesat up.“Isuppose Ishould get dressed.”
Atticus glanced down at her breasts, whichhad been puton full display. He reached out and tweaked a nipple with his thumb and forefinger. “You should put those away before I decide to keep you as my hostage.”
Sheeyedhim flirtatiously. “Would that be so terrible?”
“Minx.”He stood up and tossed her the items she’d previously worn. “Iwould love to let youchange my mind and take you up on that tempting offer, but unfortunately, there is someone who is demanding to see you and if I don’t let Eliza see for herself that you are unharmed, she might just break down the door.”
He walked out the door,and Fallonstilled.Eliza was anxious to see her. Not her cousin, not any longer.She couldn’t claim any familial ties withher dear friendas much as she might have wished it to be so.
With her spirits somewhat dampened by theemotion ofher return, Fallon prayed that she wouldn’t have to suffer Francine’s companyfor long.
A short time later,fullydressed and as presentable as she could make herself by combing her hair with her fingers,Fallonwalked across the deck inthe early morningdawn.She spied Sean and Atticus standing with Brendan Hayes, but it was the woman with dancing, blond curls and a cornflower blue dress that rushed over and embraced Fallon amida shower of tears. “Oh, Fallon! I’m soglad you’re back!I’ve been beside myself with worry that something dreadful had happened to you!”
Guilt settled on Fallon’s shoulders, for while she had intended to write Eliza when she’d arrived in Ireland, circumstances had kept her from doing so. “I’m sorry, Eliza. I didn’t wish to cause you any unnecessary concern over my wellbeing.”
As Eliza pulled back, her blue eyes brighter than usual from her emotion, shereached out her hands and took Fallon’s in her own. “I’m the one who should be apologizing.Where do I even beginto atone foreverythingyou’vehad toendure?It pains me tono end tothink that youcouldn’t trust me, orcome to mefor assistance,but I suppose you had good reason. I’m so angryabout the ill treatment you sufferedat the hands of my mother!” She shook her head. “I honestly had no idea she could even consider such a dastardly thingas to conspire with that venomous snake, Martina Durmor!Nor that she found it acceptable to conceal her debts from me! I would havetried tohelp if I would have known, but nowI fear she is on her own.”
Fallon frowned. “What are you talking about?” she asked cautiously.
She fished out a handkerchief from her reticule and waved it about the air as she dabbed at her eyes. “You weren’t theonlyone my mother lied to. For years, she kept it concealed that she was one step away from debtor’s prison, that too many failed investments had drained the last of my father’s generous stipend when he died.Even my dowry is gone!” She took a calming breath, although her voice still shook with emotion when she spoke. “Thankfully, Brendan is a man above measure and he is weathering the scandal with me, as his future bride.”
Fallon’s joy at this news was not fabricated. “Oh, Eliza! I wish you both every happiness. You deserve every bit of it, especially in light of what you just told me.”
Eliza patted her arm fondly. “My father always warned me that we shall reap what we sow and while I may lament the outcome, mother was taken toTothill Fields inLondon just this morning.I don’t know when she’ll be released, but I hope she returnswiserthan before.”
While Fallon wasn’t pleased that Francine was gone for Eliza’s sake, she also prayed that her daughter was right and she would come back to Southampton some day with a changed mindset.
Thatjustleft Martina Durmor and Locklyn.
But when Fallon would have dared to ask about them, Eliza rushed on to add, “I daresay I’m surprised to see you with Mr. Clare.”
Fallon tried to appear nonchalant, but inside, her nerves were screaming. “Why?”
“I suppose because I didn’t expect him to be returning from Ireland, and on the same ship withyou, when Brendan told me that he’d left for London with Josephine Stuart.”
