Petals on the River (12 page)

times I really had my doubts that I would survive."

Gage handed her another cake and waited patiently as she consumed it,

this time with a little more dignity.
 
She finished the last of them and

immediately began to long for something to drink.
 
Her new master seemed

to read her mind as he motioned for the elderly vendor to bring a cup of

cider to her.

Shemaine's initial hunger and thirst had been sated before she realized

they were attracting the attention of nearly everyone who passed along

the lane.
 
Some of the villagers had paused nearby to stare in

slackjawed wonder.
 
A few seemed wary of looking at all and tried to

hide the fact.

Others were nosy enough to step around to where they could get a better

view.
 
A handful of British soldiers, standing some distance off,

laughed at remarks being made by several in their number as they eyed

her openly.

It was not difficult for Shemaine to imagine what people were thinking

or even saying.
 
Lacking shoes and with the stiff breezes snatching her

tattered skirts and unkempt hair, she could believe she looked as wild

as some red-haired heathen.
 
But she noticed that whenever any of the

townspeople caught sight of her, their natural reaction was to glance at

her escort to see what sort of person might be with her.
 
Facial

expressions registering varying degrees of astonishment became almost

predictable the very moment the onlookers recognized Gage Thornton. Just

as the other couples who had fled aboard the London Pride, they seemed

suddenly intent on making good their escape before they fell under his

grim stare.

Gage nodded a curt greeting to several male acquaintances, but they

seemed almost flustered to have been caught gawking.
 
Without giving him

more than a disturbed glance, they hurried on their way. Finding no

tangible reason to challenge them, Gage settled a curious gaze upon

Shemaine.
 
He was hardly surprised by the stares she received from the

men.
 
They'd have to have been blind not to see the girl's beauty behind

all the grime.
 
She was as delicately boned as his dead wife, but that

was where the similarity ended.
 
Compared to Victoria, Shemaine was

almost vividly hued, shorter by several degrees and generally smaller,

except that she had more of a bosom than his wife had been endowed with.

"Shemaine O'Hearn," he murmured thoughtfully, hardly realizing that he

had spoken until she glanced up inquiringly.

"Sir?"

Gage could think of no credible excuse for staring at her so intently

and harkened back to his earlier conjecture.
 
'Irish, eh?"

The emerald eyes flashed with sudden indignation.
 
So!
 
Shemaine

mentally jeered, Gage Thomton will be like all the rest of the

Englishmen who detest the Irish!
 
Raising her chin to an imperial level,

she replied with emphatic crispness, "Aye, sir!
 
The name is O'Hearn!

Shemaine Patrice O'Hearn!
 
Daughter of Shemus Patrick and Camille

O'Hearn!
 
Half Irish I am, to be sure, sir, and half English, if it

matters a wit to you colonials!"

The dark brows jutted upward in curious surprise.
 
However innocent his

remark had been, Gage realized he had ignited that passionate spirit

which the girl had warned him about.
 
"There's no crime in being one or

the other, Shemaine, or even both," he replied, seeking to allay her

suspicions and resentment.
 
"But tell me this, if you would.
 
Annie said

you are a lady, and though I've seen evidence of that fact, I cannot

help but wonder how you came to be aboard a prison ship."

Shemaine's anger dwindled rapidly as she gleaned some evidence of his

tolerance, but she was slow to answer.
 
It seemed she had tried a

thousand times to convince Ned, the thieftaker, the glum-faced

magistrate, and the gaoler of her innocence, but none had lent credence

to her tearful supplications.
 
Perhaps they had been motivated by a

hefty bribe, just as she had oft suspected.
 
Whatever their reasons, she

had grave doubts this stranger would believe her either.

"I didn't kill anyone, Mr.
 
Thornton, if that's what you're worried

about."

Gage responded with a dubious chuckle.
 
"I never imagined you had,

Shemaine."

His gaze was indomitable, and it was apparent that he awaited her answer

and would not be satisfied with a feeble excuse.
 
Heaving a sigh,

Shemaine mentally braced herself for the ordeal of explaining and

plunged reluctantly into the mire of her predicament.
 
" Twas nigh to

eight months ago when I had the pleasure, or perhaps one might say the

misfortune, of becoming engaged to the Marquess du Mercer of London. His

grandmother, Edith du Mercer, was not as receptive t o my lack of

aristocratic breeding as Maurice had proven to be.
 
Twas Edith, I

suspect, or at least someone in her service whom she could trust to be

discreet, who hired a thieftaker to snatch me from my parents' home

while they were away.
 
Only servants and an aunt were looking after me

at the time, a fact Edith knew well.
 
It seemed to me a desperate bid to

destroy the likelihood of her grandson taking me to wife.
 
Maurice can

be very adamant when he settles his mind on a matter, and Edith may have

been unable to dissuade him.
 
After my arrest, I was accused of thievery

and sentenced to prison.
 
It didn't seem feasible, after all my failed

attempts to bribe someone to take word of my arrest to my parents or to

my aunt, that my kin would discover my whereabouts by some other means.

Even if I had had the coins in hand to entice the gaolers or turnkeys to

carry news to my family, I seriously doubted that any of them would have

ventured farther than the nearest alehouse.

Rather than face the threat of being ravished or perhaps even murdered

in Newgate, I signed my name to the long list of prisoners agreeing to

be sold as indentured servants here in the colonies."

Gage had no trouble believing she could associate with aristocrats.

Though a keen ear could recognize an Irish lilt to her words, she was

articulate beyond his expectations and, in spite of her fiery temper

well mannered.
 
As far as her being innocent of any crimes, he would

have to accept her explanation as fact until he found out otherwise.
 
"

Twould seem your ill fortune has led to my gain, Shemaine.
 
Though I can

sympathize with you for what you've been through, perhaps you can

understand if I cannot pretend to be saddened that you're here."

Shemaine felt his unyielding stare and inquired timidly, "Is it meet

that I should know something about you, Mr.
 
Thornton?"

Lifting his head, Gage gazed off into the distance for a moment before

responding.
 
"I'm a shipbuilder by preference, a cabinetmaker out of

necessity.
 
I've a workshop and a cabin a short distance from here on

the James River.
 
At present, I'm involved in building a ship of my own

design, but the brigantine is still several months from completion. Once

she's finished and sold, I intend to devote my energies entirely to

building another, with the hope that someday I may become a major

shipbuilder.
 
Until then, I must pay for the labor and supplies with

what I e-am making furniture."

Shemaine could not imagine a man of limited resources being so adamant

about buying her.
 
"I was certain you had wealth to spare Mr. Thornton."

Gage had definitely amazed himself in that respect.
 
"You seem

completely suited to my purposes, Shemaine.
 
Had I searched every ship

that came into port I cannot imagine finding another like you." Pausing

a moment, he frowned and grew noticeably somber as he began to relate

his own reason for coming to the colonies.
 
"I was forced to leave

London myself more than nine years past.
 
I had a falling-out with my

father because of my refusal to marry a young woman who claimed that I

had compromised her innocence and gotten her with child.
 
She was the

daughter of an old acquaintance of his, and I'm sure twas out of loyalty

to his friend that my father sought to force me into a marriage with

her.
 
I think he was afraid our name would be besmirched if I didn't

placate Christine's demands that we be married posthaste, but I would

not be bound by wedlock to the little liar, nor would I give my name to

some other man's brat.
 
I never really knew whether it was only a ruse

to get me to marry her or if Christine was truly with child.
 
She was

pretty enough to attract more than enough suitors to her stoop, even

without her sire's wealth.
 
Because of my refusal to comply, my father

cast me out of our home.
 
So you see, Shemaine, we have both been set

adrift by the wiles of conniving women.

Twould no doubt sorely prick the tempers of those two shrews if we were

to thrive in this wild land."

"You have a better chance of doing that than I have, Mr. Thornton,"

Shemaine replied glumly.
 
"My only reprieve would be if my father

somehow found out where I had been taken and sailed here to buy me back,

but that seems farfetched, considering my past efforts.
 
He would never

dream of making inquiries at Newgate, and I have no more wealth now to

bribe a messenger to bear a letter to England than I had in Newgate.

Besides, any missive I manage to send would take months before it

reached my family .
 
.
 
.
 
if it ever did .
 
.
 
.
 
and many more months

ere they could possibly reach the colonies.
 
If I'm found at all, it

won't be within this present year, I'll warrant."

Gage spent a long moment in silent thought, understanding how thrilled

the girl would be if her father were to find her and fetch her back to

England, but he also knew the disappointment he would suffer if he had

to begin his search again.
 
Having survived an abrupt detachment from