Petals on the River (95 page)

with him, knowing there's a chance you might not be safe...
 
that he

might kill you, too?"

"Mama, please," Shemaine murmured cajolingly.
 
"Don't worry about

Gage...."

"I can't help it, Shemaine," Camille moaned in abject misery. "You're

our only child .
 
.
 
.
 
our darling little g*l.
 
We could not bear it if

you were slain!
 
And you are so very young!
 
You've not had much

experience with men!
 
Gage is so much older...."

"He's no more than two years older than Maurice," Shemaine argued

desperately.
 
"Do those two years make such a difference in your mind?"

Camille's brows flicked upward briefly as she tried to find a suitable

justification for her prejudice.
 
"Gage seems much older."

"Perhaps because he's not had the world delivered to him on a silver

tray, Mama.
 
He's had to work hard for what he has achieved. Just like

Papa had to do once."

"Your father was much younger when he and I married."

"Let this discussion be at a end," Shemaine urged.
 
Her mother tried

once more to speak, but her daughter shook her head passionately.

"I'm going outside to show Gage my gown.
 
When I return, I hope you will

have settled it in your mind that I'm married to him and I will not let

that fact be undone.
 
You have a grandchild on the way, Mama, and I'd

like to think that you are looking forward to that event as much as I

am.

Please, don't waste your time telling me how you abhor and distrust my

husband, because it will only drive me away from you."

Camille shook her head sadly and sniffed as she wiped her nose on a

dainty handkerchief.
 
"I do not abhor Gage, Shemaine.
 
Truly, if I could

be assured the accusations against him are only lies, I'd be content and

pleased that you love him so." I "Then I shall pray that something may

come to light to ease your fears," Shemaine said softly. "Because I

cannot bear to see you cry."

Shemaine gently kissed her mother and then left, closing the bedroom

door behind her.
 
William was the first to notice her change of attire

and artfully arranged coiffure, and offered praises equal to those of a

courtly swam.

"I'd have sworn by the glow filling the room that the sun had risen for

a second time today, but I can see for myself that it's only your

beautiful radiance."

"You're most gallant, my lord," Shemaine responded with a gracious

smile, dipping into a curtsy.

Stepping to the front door, she paused there to look back at Andrew, who

had charmed his way onto his grandfather's lap.
 
"I'm going outside to

see your father, Andy.
 
Want to come along?"

"Going' ta see Daddee!" he informed William happily, and wriggled quickly

to the floor.

Taking the child's small hand in hers, Shemaine met her father's worried

stare and managed a fleeting smile before she took her leave.

Her return to the ship caused both Gage and Maurice to stop and stare in

deep appreciation of her beauty, but as her husband slipped his arms

about her and drew her close for a kiss, Maurice felt a torturous pang

of envy wrench his vitals.
 
The need to escape the couple's presence

became needful and paramount.
 
He had endured their marital courtship

too much for one day.
 
With hands clenched, spine rigid, he stalked

across the deck and never looked back as he descended the building slip.

In the absence of his daughter, Shemus hurried into the bedroom to find

his wife weeping silently in her handkerchief.

"Did ye have a chance ta talk with her?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, but no good came of it, Shemus.
 
Shemaine is determined to stay

with Gage.
 
She says she loves him and will have no other."

"Damn the Irish pigheadedness!"

"Shemus!
 
For shame!
 
She is our daughter."

"Aye, but tis me own stubborn self I see in her."

"Perhaps she's right, Shemus," Camille offered dolefully.
 
"What right

do we have to condemn the man when we know so little of the truth?

Shemaine swears tis envy behind part of the gossip.
 
A spinster who

wanted Gage to marry herþ"

"We'll see what Maurice can do," Shemus mumbled, hardly hearing his

wife.
 
"Perhaps he'll be able to talk her into coming back with us.
 
She

said she loved him once, and I know he loves her."' "I don't think

Shemaine will come home with us, Shemus, not without her husband.
 
And

if we force her, she'll hate both of us forever."

"Have we lost her?"

"Aye, Shemus, tis what I now fear.
 
We've lost our little darling.

She's grown up into a woman, and she has a mind of her own."' , .
 
i2J

CHAPTER 22

"They're comin' now," Flannery announced shortty after Gillian had taken

Andrew out to scout the woods for small animals.
 
Gage and Shemaine

joined the shipwright at the rail as he pointed a gnarled finger toward

a large dinghy nearing the loading dock.
 
A tall man wearing a tricorn

jumped out and secured the painter to a post while his male companion

drew the oars into the craft.

The first gentleman escorted two of the young ladies up the building

slip while the man who had been at the oars lent assistance to the

third.
 
Upon espying Shemaine, the two men swept off their tricorns in

courteous manner.
 
They were as tall as Gage, but the older one had a

thick crop of dark auburn hair tied in a queue behind the high, stiff

collar of his frock coat.
 
His face was rather squarish and angular, his

eyes brown.
 
An unquenchable humor was evident in the tiny lines around

his mouth, behind which gleamed a fine collection of white teeth.

Flannery introduced him as his former captain.
 
"Cap'n Thornton," he

said, turning to Gage.
 
"This here be Cap'n Beauchamp...."

"Nathanial Beauchamp," the stranger announced, extending a hand of

greeting toward Gage.
 
"Or Nathan, if you'd prefer...."

The usual response came as promptly as expected by those who knew the

man.
 
"Everyone calls me Gage."

After Shemaine was introduced, Nathanial identified the women I

who were with him.
 
"These are my twin sisters, (,,abrielle and

Garland," he said, indicating the younger two.
 
Then he laid an arm

about the brown-haired woman who stood beside him.
 
"And this is my

wife, Charlotte."

The twins had hair as black as the mane of the younger man, and it was

he, rather than her twin, to whom Garland bore a striking resemblance.

The pair had eyes as golden and translucent as polished amber.

"My younger brother, Ruark," Nathanial announced, clapping a large hand

upon that one's shoulder.

"Your servant, Madam Thornton." Ruark flashed a dazzling display of

white teeth in a wide grin before he swept a gallant bow before

Shemaine.
 
"Your beauty bears more than a wee trace of the Irish

colleens I've seen on that verdant isle, madam."

The green eyes sparkled back at him.
 
"And you, sir, must have been

blessed with the Irish way for your tongue to be so glib."

Ruark threw back his head and laughed in pure delight.
 
"I do have a

fondness for the Irish, to be sure."

"Then I'll warrant you have excellent taste, sir," Shemaine rejoined,

drawing amused chuckles from the men.

Gabrielle came forward with a teasing gleam in her eyes.
 
"I think I'd

better warn you about my brother, Mrs.
 
Thornton.
 
He seems resolved to

remain unfettered despite his advancing years.
 
Yet he treats every

winsome maid that comes within proximity as if she were the only one who

could steal his heart away.
 
In truth, he'll steal your heart if he

can."

"For shame, you little gosling," Ruark chided his sister with a chuckle.

"You judge me freely enough, but may I point out that you've now reached

a score of years and have not yet found a mate whom you deem suitable."

"No need for your warning, Mistress Beauchamp," Shemaine responded,

slipping an arm around her husband's narrow waist as he pulled her

close.
 
"My heart has already been taken."

"You're safe then.
 
That's good!" Gabrielle tossed a teasingly

triumphant smirk toward her handsome brother, who, in good humor, lifted

a finger of warning toward her as if silently threatening her with dire

consequences.
 
She tossed her head with coquettish disregard of his

silent admonition and then gave a sudden squeal and danced away as he

stepped forward menacingly.
 
"I'll tell Mama if you hurt me again!"

Shaking her head as she observed her gamboling kin, Garland approached

Shemaine.
 
"As you've probably noticed, madam, I'm the only sane one in

the family," she claimed, drawing dissenting hoots from her grinning

brothers.
 
Snubbing them, she lifted her fine, straight nose to a lofty

angle, but her golden eyes were aglow with merriment as she turned back

to Shemaine.
 
"Please call me Garland, Mrs.
 
Thornton, and I shall also

give you leave to address my sister by her given name"þshe tossed a

teasing glance toward Gabrielle as if to shame herþ"since she lacked the

manners to do so herself."

"And I shall be honored if you'd call me Shemaine."

Strolling forward, Gabrielle shrugged her slender shoulders, totally

unrepentant.
 
"Garland thinks she's far more dignified and mentally