Emerald Desire (Emerald Trilogy) (17 page)

“
Boody Irish bastards!" Avery hissed under his breath. His usually pale face was flushed with rage. "I'll wager they've burned Monty Webster's house."

"Who is he?" Dera asked.

"Lord Webster. The one married to that little French cream puff sitting next to you at the ball." He turned, his green eyes harder than jade. "Her cousin, young Saucier, was quite taken with you as I remember."

Dera nodded mutely, glad that he turned to face the flames. After a few moments, he ordered Anna to close the drapes. "Have my carriage brought around at once."

“
Yes, my lord."

"Where are you going?" Dera asked him after Anna departed.

"Monty is a close friend of mine. Helped me out of a scrape once. I intend to repay him by insisting he and his family reside with us until he decides what to do.”

"That's kind of you." Dera was touched by Avery's willingness to help his old friend. "I'll have everything arranged for them by the time they arrive.”

“
Thank you. I knew you’d be up to the task at hand, especially since you’ll be able to complete your tete-a-tete with young Saucier now that he'll be staying with us for a few weeks. I'm sure that will please you," he said cooly.

"Avery . . ." she began, but he had already walked away.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"
Mon Dieu
, I cannot believe this has happened!" Adele Webster wailed into a kerchief. "All is gone, the house, the clothes. Everything is lost." Her accent was thicker than usual due to the tragedy she had suffered, and Dera, who didn’t particularly care for Adele, pitied her situation. Lord Monty held his sobbing wife in his arms. His face was blackened from soot and his clothes soiled from fighting the flames of the night before. His dark hair, streaked with silver, smelled of smoke.

"Sweet love," he crooned to Adele. "We'll replace whatever we lost, but let's get some rest. Later today, we'll sort through the rubble, and I hope we shall be able to salvage something." He smiled at her tenderly, and like a small, whimpering puppy, Adele followed him upstairs.

Avery shook his head and turned to Dominick Saucier who was also blackened with soot. "Do you wish to retire?"

"I am not calm enough for sleep. Dawn will be breaking soon, and I have never been one to sleep the day away."

"As you wish." Avery glanced at Dera. "And you, madam, are you ready for sleep?"

"Perhaps later."

“
I see. Then I shall leave the two of you to enjoy each other's company." Avery walked from the room.

Dera poured a cup of tea for Dominick and handed it to him. "I've asked that your bath be prepared. I'm certain after you've bathed and rested, you'll feel much calmer."

Dominick sank into a chair and sipped the hot tea. "Such destruction. You've no idea how horrible it was."

"Tell me what happened," Dera pressed gently.

"Just after supper, we heard a loud crash and screaming. At first, we had no idea what had happened until we saw the servants scurrying away into the countryside like frightened rabbits. They didn't stay to help. That's why everything was lost. It was almost as if they expected it. Then all at once, the flames were everywhere.”

"Did you see anyone?"

"Just shadowy figures on horseback. No one that I could identify. Besides, they were gone before we had our bearings about us. Truthfully, we were thankful to be unhurt."

Dera. looked away, a sense of relief flooding through her. Quint was safe! Finally she lifted her eyes to Dominick. "Maybe these rebels have reasons for what they do."

“
Madame Fairfax!" Dominick was visibly shocked. "These Irish are capable of violence and murder. You can't believe their cause is just, no matter how they feel about the English."

"I happen to be Irish, Monsieur Saucier," Dera said icily. "Over the centuries, the English have persecuted us for no reason. Perhaps they are getting their just due." Immediately she regretted her words. She realized she was echoing Quint's sentiments and not her own. In subtle ways, Quint was changing her.

Rising from his seat, Dominick grabbed her hand and pulled her roughly along with him. "What are you doing?" she asked in a terrified whisper.

"You shall see the damage these rebels have wrought in the name of justice." He dragged her outside into the early morning light and placed her beside him in a cart; then he drove down the winding road, saying nothing to her. She held onto the seat while the cart jerked and tumbled. When he reached his destination, he stopped and all Dera could do was gasp in astonished horror at the sight before her.

Gone was the lovely and graceful house of the Websters. In its stead was a mountain of debris and pieces of once beautiful furnishings reduced to piles of ashen rubble. The smell of smoking embers caused her eyes to burn and tear. She had never imagined such total devastation. Knowing about Quint's activities was one thing, but actually witnessing the result caused her to falter when she alighted from the cart. Dominick took her arm in support. "This is all that is left to Monty's home. Can you condone these men for destroying another man's dream?"

"I, I never imagined anything this terrible." She looked at Dominick through tears of bitterness and shock. How could the man she loved be capable of such a crime?

"Monty lived here as a boy. Imagine the happy memories he holds in his heart. Now he must rebuild, but no matter how grand the new house will be, the one he has lost is dearer.”

Dera thought of Quint and his fanatical love for Fairfax Manor; she understood now what drove him. The horror of the destruction was nothing in comparison to the torment of his soul -to lose the home of your family, only to have it used by an enemy, a man he detested. Still, she couldn't find it within herself to forgive his actions.

That afternoon, after a short rest, she found herself alone. She discovered that everyone, including Avery, had gone to the Webster estate to sort through the rubble. She dressed in a simple gray gown and hurried off to the stables. "Quint?" She stood just inside the doorway until she heard his voice drawing her into the room. He knelt by Devil Man, and when he saw her, he stood up.

"He lost a shoe," Quint said.

"Did it happen last night after your attack on the Webster estate?"

"Aye." His answer was so simple as to take her aback. He faced her squarely, with no sorrow or regret in his eyes. "You're aware that I'm the leader. Do you think my love for you has softened my heart toward the English or toward the impotent dog you married?”

She was surprised how well he could read her thoughts. No person knew her as well as Quint. Why couldn't she agree with him? "I saw the destruction. What you did was wrong," she found herself saying.

"So, it starts again."

"What?"

"You're nagging me to give up my cause and to play dead. I won't, Dera. Not for you or anyone. We have acted out this scene many times before. I am weary of it."

"Quint, this is one fight you'll not win."

"You don't believe in me, Dera. I see that fully now."

"I believe in you, but not in this senseless violence. There's no chance you'll accomplish your dream in this way. Could it be you no longer have a dream but wish only for revenge and love the danger?"

"A man must fight or he is not a man. To give in would be worse than death."

She tugged at the front of his shirt. "Why can't you listen to me? Understand what I'm saying to you. I love you and I don't want you harmed."

He removed her hands from him. "Try understanding me for once. This time I allowed myself to believe that you were one with me, but I am a fool for loving you. Go back to your husband."

"But I love you!"

"You don't love me enough to follow me and believe in me. I don't want a woman who has no trust in me."

Dera couldn't deny he spoke the truth. With all her heart, she loved him, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to blindly follow this man when she believed he was wrong. She stared at him and tried to remember every detail of his ruggedly handsome face. "It will never be over for us, Quint. We'll never stop loving one another."

"Leave me be, Dera," he said treating her as a stranger suddenly.

She turned away from him and left him without any further words of love spoken between them.

Back at the manor the tears she had expected to shed didn't come. She loved him and needed him, yet seeing with her own eyes the rampant destruction had upset her in a way she couldn't comprehend. This time there was no Peg McConnell to blame. Destiny and vengeance had woven insidious fingers around their happiness and wrenched them apart. Again....

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Even before Dera’s feet touched the floor, she was aware of the sick feeling in her stomach. She barely made it to the wash basin and heaved until her stomach settled into place. With shaking hands, she reached for a cloth to wipe her mouth. This was the third time in a week that she had been ill. At first, she had blamed the slight queasiness on the lamb the night before, but being sick twice more confirmed her suspicion.

Anna tapped on her door and when Dera let her in, the woman immediately saw that she wasn't well. "You've been sick again this morning," she said.

Dera couldn't keep anything from Anna's sharp eyes. "Don't say anything, please.”

"If you're with child, I think you should tell Mr. Quint. He should know."

Dera vehemently shook her head. "No, it would make no difference. First, I have to think of a way to explain this to Avery, though I suppose the truth will have to do. I suspect I'll be home with my uncle before long."

Anna helped her pull the white nightdress over her head and eased her into a green and yellow print gown which rivaled the colors of spring outside Dera's window. "You're small enough where you don't show yet, but soon I'll have to let some seams out. Just make certain you tell his lordship of the situation beforehand."

After Dera dressed, she applied rouge to her cheeks to minimize her paleness and headed downstairs. When she reached the bottom step, she was astonished to see Jem McConnell, leaving Avery's library.

"My lady," he said sarcastically. He was as crude looking as always and seemingly pleased with himself; he made a great display of bowing.

"Does Lord Fairfax know you've been sneaking about his house?” She gritted her teeth at his lecherous grin.

"His lordship had matters to speak with me about."

“
We'll see. I can't imagine Avery requesting your presence." She moved to open the library doors, but Jem gripped her upper arm.

"I warn you, Dera. Stay out of Lord Fairfax's affairs. He did send for me."

"I don't believe you."

"T'will be a sorry day if you ask him. He does run a huge estate and I am valuable to him. There are some things he needs my advice on now that Timothy can't concentrate on his duties."

"What of my uncle?" she asked in alarm.

"His wife is a problem, just as all wives are problems to their husbands. She be a loony, out of her head. If you ask me, he should beat her within an inch of her life."

"Nobody asked you, you brutish idiot." She tugged until he dropped her arm. He sneered at her; his breath on her face.

"One day, my fine uppity lady, you're going to beg me to touch you and t'will be my pleasure." He laughed at her reproachful look but left her standing outside the library.

She detested Jem McConnell, but she decided not to press the issue with her husband. Ever since the arrival of the Websters a month earlier, Avery had become more irascible and moody, more like the Avery Fairfax she remembered from her childhood. As far as she knew, he wasn't drinking but on his best behavior because of his guests. He left her to her own amusements, and she found solace in Dominick Saucier, who provided her with endless hours of conversation. She liked Dominick and was appreciative of his attentions and looked forward to the picnic she had planned for them by the lake that afternoon.

The ride to the lake was delightful. Dera and Dominick talked casually, sitting side by side, in the small cart as she pointed out various landmarks to him. He reined in the horse and Dominick politely helped her down. She bubbled with excitement at the beauty of the spot: misty purple hills on the horizon reflected in the clear water, as did the azure sky. "I love the spring," she told him. "This is heaven on earth."