Promptly he decided to lock it away in the secret compartment in his desk drawer. Knowing Madeline’s inquisitive nature, she might wish to see it, and that was out of the question. She would never agree to leave Yorkshire if she knew the truth—that the woman Coates was expecting to wed was her sister, Diana.
Chapter One
The British Colony of Nova Scotia
Seven weeks later
Charlie Coates nearly skidded sideways into the large cherry oak table in the dining room. “The ship’s in the Basin!”
His father, Adam, seated at the table, looked up from his book and calmly removed his spectacles. He set them down beside the sterling silver candelabra.
“Calm down, son, and catch your breath. It’s just a ship.”
“But it’shership, Father!”
“Yes, that it is.” Adam couldn’t deny the tremor of anticipation that moved through him at his son’s reminder. “I suppose I should go and greet her, shouldn’t I?”
He gave his youngest son a smile and rose to stand.
“I’ll hitch up the buggy!” Charlie offered. The boy spun on his heel and dashed out of the house.
Adam stood at the dining room table for a moment and listened to the mantel clock ticking.
How many years had it been? Twenty? No, not twenty. Fifteen. He couldn’t pretend, not even to himself, not to remember the exact day Diana had jilted him to marry another.
Nor could he forget how long he had been married to Jane, God rest her soul, for her violent outbursts had taken their toll on him, to be sure. He was not the idealistic man he used to be….
Glancing down at his simple clothing—his plain white shirt and tawny breeches—Adam wondered what Diana would think when she first saw him. Would she recognize him?
His appearance hadn’t changed that much over the years, except for perhaps a few gray patches in his hair and the lines around his eyes. He was forty-three now, but he was as strong and vigorous as any man half his age. Stronger, even. He held out his rough, callused hands and looked them over. Most of the changes, he supposed, she would not be able to see. At least not right away.
Good Lord, what wouldshelook like? How had the years treated her? Had they darkened her exquisite golden hair or tarnished the clean, pale complexion he remembered?
Not that it mattered, he decided. She would still be Diana—hisDiana—and he would adore the changes, whatever they were.
With a mingling of euphoria and nervous anticipation, he walked out of the dining room and went upstairs to quickly change his clothes.
Madeline stood with her hands tight on the rail, her feet braced apart on the rolling deck of theLiberty.The glorious wind whipped her skirts and cloak, and a salty spray cooled her cheeks. She closed her eyes to breathe in the moist, clean scent of the sea and listen to the schooner’s heavy keel slice through the frothy waves below.
It wouldn’t be long now, she thought dreamily. Then there would be no more waiting, no more imagining what it would be like to see Adam again after all these years.
Adam.Should she call him that when she first saw him? How strange to use his Christian name, when he’d always been Mr. Coates to her. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to force the word past her lips with any measure of casual dignity and sound like a wife.
Well, she wasn’t his wife yet, but she would be soon. Very soon.
Her heart did a little dance inside her chest at the thought of marrying her ideal, even though she had been just a child when she’d last seen him.
Anxious gulls squawked against the blue sky overhead, swooping over the billowing sails as the boat neared the dock at the mouth of Cumberland Creek. The schooner docked smoothly and surely. Soon Madeline was stepping down the gangplank to the wharf below and gazing eagerly up at Fort Cumberland on the hill in the distance.
Madeline paused there a moment to take in her surroundings while the crewmen unloaded her trunks. The salty tang of the sea whisked by on a fast wind, whipping her skirts around her ankles and tugging at her dainty bergère hat. She reached a hand up to keep it from flying off, while the ribbons flew wildly beneath her chin. She squinted toward the rolling, windswept expanse of grass that stretched for acres and acres into the distance, flanked on either side by ridges of wooded upland.
This land—this magnificent land—it would be her home. It hardly seemed possible!
“Come along! This way!” Mr. Ripley called out, waving toward his family. He and his wife had been Madeline’s guardians and companions during the crossing. Madeline hoped the kind family, who knew nothing of her scandal, would find land nearby and become her neighbors here.
“You, too, Madeline!” Mr. Ripley called to her. “Follow us this way to the fort. We had your trunks put in the wagon with ours.” Madeline picked up her skirts and began the long trek along the cart road, stepping carefully over the loose stones. They reached the top of the hill and made their way to the fort’s entrance.
While Mr. Ripley located an empty room for his family in one of the barracks, Madeline glanced around the courtyard. Wondering if Adam was already there waiting, she searched the faces of the tradesmen and farmers.
