Strong arms settled around her waist as the kiss gentled, generous calloused working hands clutching her so close she could feel every muscle, each wiry detail – which included a lump in his…
“Whatisthat beneath your shirt?” And she delved between the ties to pluck out…
A ring upon a neck cord.
Time had planted a sheen upon the smooth wood carved with delicate motifs, the slender silver that had once been stamped into it now partly absent.
Yet still it was the most precious and beautiful item she had ever seen.
The past invaded and buffeted, and she closed her eyes, the tears burning nonetheless as she conjured the image of Redmond whittling it from an oak branch in the forest, recalled him hammering out a silver sixpence and fitting it to the inlaid carving. Remembered when he’d placed it upon her finger…
And when her father had wrenched it off.
“Ya father threw it at me after his lackeys had beaten me,” rasped Redmond. “Told me that no daughter of his would wear such rubbish.”
“I adored it. Would have worn it forever.”
“I hid it, and it became a…keepsake that I wear around my neck. A reminder that life could turn on its heel in a moment. That happiness could be snatched away.” A hand lifted her chin and she opened her eyes. “Or given back?”
Beatrice caressed his stubbled jaw. “At seventeen years of age, I pledged eternal love, Redmond O’Conner. That pledge was never broken. Do you feel the same?”
Tempestuous kisses peppered her face. “Hell, yes, my darlin’ Bea. That has never been in doubt. But…” He heaved a sigh. “As a youngster I believed I could do anything, be anything… Yet here I am, no more than a stable master with a few coins saved, a missing tooth, work-worn hands and an estate cottage, I cannot give ya–”
She kissed him to silence his tongue. Everyone, it seemed, was fearful when in love.
“I love you, Redmond. At my age, I will not hear of bestowed status or the amount of coin in the bank. What we have we will share. And we will live the life that was stolen from us. If you would have me, Redmond?”
Those work-worn hands tightened about her waist. “Ya were in my blood from the first time I set my gaze upon ya, the first time I heard ya laugh. Ya never left, Bea, were forever a part of me…and still are.”
“You were always the most romantic of men,” she purred, “but that’s not a yes.”
“Ya cheeky wench.” And he clasped her cheeks. “Yes,” he whispered fiercely. “For love might be hell and heaven combined, but it’s all I ever wanted from ya.” They kissed as lovers do when they know they are to part – desperate and ferocious. “I’ll miss you, my Bea. Return to me soon.”
Beatrice stepped back, lips twitching. “I’ve a feeling that I won’t be too long, my love.”
“THEE BE A DIZZARD,”declared Grampy Tom, who’d limped to Ernest’s side. “That wary lass needs thee now, she does.”
They watched the Rothwell carriage sluggishly trundle the moat bridge and the puff of dust as it bounced onto the track beyond.
Ernest exhaled, eyes closing. “But do you remember that bird?”
“I know I be a little vague at times, but thee will have to give I more than tha.”
“The injured one.”
Grampy Tom peered to the sky and gently nodded. “Ah, so I do.”
Years past, when Ernest must have been, oh nine or ten years of age, he’d found a blackbird injured in the woods, brought it to the castle and tended it, and when it’d recovered, he’d not wanted to release his companion.
He smiled at the remembrance of Grampy Tom’s wife stridently scolding him when she’d found the bird’s little grey gifts upon the furniture. She’d softly explained that Ernest must allow it to fly free. That it was cruel to keep it.
Dejection had settled heavily as he’d been alone with no one for company, both Will Skelton and Casper at Eton, parents in London. So with doleful heart, he’d plodded to the Tower roof and opened his palms.
To let it soar, swoop and find freedom.
Yet the little bird had just hopped to the crenelated parapet and cocked its head. Fluttered to the next and twittered. Ernest had flapped his hands to shoo it… But it’d just hopped about.
He’d turned his back and stomped away.
