When the Heavens Fall (34 page)

“I would like that very much. Now I think I'll go up on deck.”

“Are you sure? Do you feel up to it, sir?”

“Oh, yes. I feel very well.”

“Well, let me dress you.” Philemon scurried about, trying to
find his master proper dress; they had had to leave their clothing in Spain. He'd been forced to buy clothing from crew members. “When we get back to England, sir, it'll be an enjoyment to dress you again as a gentleman should be dressed.”

Moving rather slowly and cautiously, Brandon made his way up the steps. The wound he had taken was not serious, but loss of blood had weakened him. As soon as he got to the deck, he saw Dolores speaking with Captain Kirkegard. For a moment he stood and studied her. She was looking at the captain and did not see him. The wind was stronger now. It ruffled the wealth of dark golden hair that framed her face, and he noticed the touch of red in it. She was serene one moment, laughing the next, and it came to him that he thought she was altogether quite charming. She turned as he approached, and he saw her whole expression light up. “Brandon,” she said, coming to him. “You shouldn't be up.”

“I'm fine. The air will do me good. The wound really wasn't all that bad.”

“Well, the Lord was with us,” Captain Kirkegard said with a smile. “I'm always happy to be a part of one of God's miracles.”

“You really think it was a miracle, Captain?” Brandon asked curiously.

“What else could it be? We were lost, I tell you. My men would have been defeated had we allowed those villains to get on our ship. They would have cut us all down. We'd all be dead by now. Don't be short with God, Winslow. When he does something, praise him for it.”

Brandon dropped his eyes and shook his head. “That's what my uncle would say too.”

“You need to get right with God, young man. You could have been killed and would have gone directly to the pit. Aren't you afraid of that?”

“I—I try not to think about it too much.” He glanced at Dolores, who was watching the conversation unfold with great interest.

“Oh, that's foolishness.” Kirkegard shook his head impatiently. He put his hand on Brandon's good shoulder and squeezed it. “Give your heart to God, man! Give your heart to God! It's the only way to live. Well, I'll leave you two alone. I have a ship to run. We'll be in England tomorrow, God willing, and then you two will no doubt get married and as in all the romantic tales live happily ever after.”

Brandon glanced quickly at Dolores and saw her eyes light up and a smile touch her lips. Quickly he said, “Thank you for your offer, Captain, but I want to be strong when I take a wife.”

“He's a wonderful man, isn't he, Brandon?”

“Yes, he is. I like him a great deal.”

“He's very outspoken about his religion. I don't have that kind of faith.”

Brandon turned to face her. “Are you satisfied with your Catholic faith?”

“To tell the truth, Brandon, I never gave it much thought. I just did what I was told to do by the priests and by my father. I went through the routine, but I never felt like Captain Kirkegard does, that God is present inside you and directing you. And Philemon—he feels the same.”

“Some people seem predisposed to it. My family is.”

“I'd like to be like that too. Maybe when I meet your uncle, since he's a preacher, he could help me.”

“I'm sure he'd be happy to. Come along. Let's walk around the deck. I need to build my strength up.”

The
Flower
plowed through the whitecaps that were tossed up by the brisk speed of the ship. Night had fallen. Already the stars overhead were flickering. Brandon looked up and said, “My
uncle told me once that there are billions of stars and God knows the name of every one of them.”

“I think that's wonderful. I don't know the name of any of them.”

“Well, I don't know many of them.” He leaned on the rail. She stood beside him. She took his hand; it had become her habit. He noticed that she seemed to need to touch him constantly—almost as if to reassure herself that he was there for her.

“I'm so happy,” Dolores whispered. “You saved me from a lifetime of misery, and we're going to have a beautiful life together, aren't we?”

At that moment Brandon was torn internally by two opposing forces. The first was a deep sadness and grief for what he was doing to this young woman. He knew she had fallen in love with him and for him to tell her the truth would be a terrible thing. The other, which disturbed his mind, was that he found himself drawn to her as a man is drawn to a woman he loves. He stood silently leaning on the rail and listening to her speak of the wonderful life they would have, and suddenly he knew that the time had arrived. They would be arriving in England tomorrow, and she would find out then, anyway. He had to tell her the truth.

He said, “I'm—I'm not the man you think I am.”

“Why do you say that?”

Haltingly Brandon said, “Well, sometimes a man does a wrong thing to—to do right.”

“I don't understand that.”

“I have to tell you something, Dolores, and I want you to listen carefully.”

“You're frightening me, Brandon. Is there something wrong?”

“I'm afraid you'll think so.”

“What is it?” She leaned against him, and he felt the warmth
of her body and smelled the fragrance of her hair. But this was not the time for that. He cleared his throat and spoke slowly, halting at times.

“I have to tell you what's happening in England. Queen Mary was raised a Catholic by her mother, Catherine of Aragon, who came from Spain. She was a godly woman, and she instilled Catholicism strongly into her daughter. When Mary became queen, she was kind and wanted to please everybody, but her mother's teachings had stronger roots than she thought, Dolores, and she began to insist that people accept the Catholic religion and give up the new faith that had come under the reign of her father, King Henry.”

“I have heard some talk of this. But what does it have to do with us?”

“Some time after she came to power, she began demanding that people become Catholics, and when they refused, she had them punished.”

“Punished how?”

“Some of them she put in prison, some of them she had burned at the stake.”

“How awful! That happened in Spain too. It's called an
auto-da-fé.
My father wanted me to go, but I could never stand the thought of people being burned alive. I couldn't understand why God would demand such a thing.”

“Queen Mary has become a fanatic, and since she married Philip, the two of them have caused hundreds to be put to death.” He hesitated and then said, “My uncle, Quentin Winslow, was on a list of people to be arrested. I found out about it when a man named Lord John Fairfax came to talk to me.” Brandon studied Dolores, waiting to see if she recognized the name. But she remained still and waiting. “As a matter of fact, Lord Fairfax is a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council, the highest body in the realm, and he told me that any person on that list who refused to recant would be burned at the stake.”

“How terrible!” She lifted a hand to her chest. “Your own dear uncle!”

“Lord Fairfax is not a vicious man. He did not want anyone to die, and he knew my father slightly, so he came to me with a proposition. He told me that he could save my uncle, or at least stave off his arrest. He said he could do this, but only if I would do him a service.”

“What did he want?”

Brandon could not face her for a moment. He looked down at the deck. Then he forced himself to meet her eyes. “He told me that he and his wife had only one child, a girl. She was on a ship with her governess, and pirates attacked the ship. Everyone on the ship reportedly died. Lord Fairfax and his wife were crushed.”

“That must have been terrible.” She knitted her brows in confusion, and he could almost see what she was thinking:
Why is he telling me all this?

“Yes. It was many years ago, but the pain and grief are still with Lord Fairfax. I could see it in his eyes.” He hesitated slightly then said, “A short time ago a man came to see him. He was a Spaniard. He had been a sailor. He told Lord Fairfax that the child did not die. She was taken captive by the captain of the pirate vessel. He took her to Spain with him and adopted her.”

The wind whispered. The sails flapped in the breeze. Brandon watched Dolores and waited. Even by moonlight he could see she was pale.

She finally whispered, “Are you telling me, Brandon, that I was that little girl?”

“Yes. The pirate's name was Jaspar Mendoza, but you're not his daughter. You've always known that.” Brandon knew she was frightened by his words, but he knew the story must be told. “You are the daughter of John Fairfax and his wife Barbara. Your real name is Eden Fairfax. Your parents are two of the finest
people in England, and they love you dearly. They've never forgotten you. They asked me to bring you back to them.”

“I can't believe it. But it must be true if you tell me.” And then she said, “And you found a way to get me to accompany you. You fell in love with me.”

“I—I couldn't think of any other way to get you free of Mendoza's power. I had to do something.”

“But you did fall in love with me?”

“I wish I could—”

Seeing his expression, she cried, “You—you don't love me!” She backed away from him, shaking her head. “It was all a lie. Just a trick to get me away to take me to England!”

“It—it was the only way I could devise in the short time I had.” Brandon saw that she was trembling and he reached out to seize her arm. He wanted to embrace her, but she struck him in the chest with her fists.

“Don't you ever touch me! You lied to me, you deceived me! I never want to see you again!” She turned and fled down the deck.

Brandon felt absolutely drained. He saw that his hands were trembling. “I never thought anything could do that to me,” he whispered. Absolute misery seized him. Perhaps the hardest of all to bear was that only in the last few days had he realized that he felt for her things he had never felt for any other woman he had known. Was it love? He didn't know.

One thing was certain, Brandon decided, as he leaned against the rail and shut his eyes. He was the most miserable man on board.

 

You know, my dear, in a way this is your birthday.”

Eden gave her mother a startled glance. “Why, Mother, my birthday is in January.”

“I know, but it's exactly two years ago today that you came back to us. I'll never forget that day as long as I live.” She put her arm around Eden and hugged her. Ever since Eden had come home, there had been love flowing from John and Barbara Fairfax almost like a river. Eden could not enter a room, it seemed, without one or other of them giving her a slight touch, an arm around her shoulder, something to reassure them that their daughter returning to them was not a dream.