Seduction (35 page)

“I will always be here for you.”

He smiled grimly. “So I am forgiven for behaving like an utterly selfish and self-absorbed aristocrat?”

“There is nothing to forgive.”

More tears arose. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I am so glad you are safe and home! Dom, please, I beg you—never go back!”

He searched her eyes. “I am needed in London, Julianne.”

Silently, she thanked God and any other powers responsible for such a decision.

“Will you come back to London with me? So I can court you properly?” He almost smiled.

She trembled. “Of course I will. But what, exactly, do you mean?” Had her brothers already spoken to him? Did he know about the child?

He smiled through his tears at her. “I love you and I must make an honest woman out of you.” He hesitated. Dominic was never uncertain, but he was uncertain now. “Will you marry me, Julianne?”

Her heart leapt. She had never wanted to hear anything more! “Have my brothers forced you to ask such a question?”

He started in confusion. “What are you speaking about?”

He didn’t know, she thought, stunned. Her heart racing, she pulled her shawl apart. He glanced briefly at her exposed bodice—and then his eyes widened and he glanced lower. Julianne took his hand and swept it over her hard, rounded belly.

“You’re with child,” he gasped.

She held his hand against their son or daughter. “Yes, Dom, I am carrying our child. I pray that my news is pleasing.”

He looked up, his green gaze glistening. “I have come home in utter despair. So many have died. They razed the vineyards…” And his gaze moved to their clasped hands, atop her slightly swollen abdomen.

No one should have to suffer as he had—as all of France was suffering.

“Julianne, in this time of dark despair, you are bringing me joy and happiness!”

She smiled as he pulled her back into his arms. He looked at her, his eyes still brimming with tears, but they were also shining with love. He said, “We are going to have to elope.”

She laughed. “I do not mind eloping, Dom, but everyone else might.”

He smiled. “Everyone else?”

Julianne took his hand and they turned. Crowded in the doorway were Catherine, Nadine and Amelia, with Nancy, Jeanne and Garret behind them. Everyone was beaming, even Catherine, who wept silently with a mother’s joy.

Dominic turned and took her back into his arms. “So I am the last to know?” he asked softly.

“You are the last to know,” she said as softly, her heart skipping.

He tilted up her face and kissed her again, but this time, slowly, deeply, with purpose. “Shall we elope before or after I take you upstairs?” he asked, smiling.

“After,” she managed breathlessly, new visions dancing in her head.

His grin was wicked. “Temptress,” he said softly.

“Rogue,” she returned.

Julianne smiled as he took her hand, holding it tightly, as if afraid to ever let her go. And as they returned to the house, Dominic was descended upon with hugs, kisses and a great many declarations and questions. Julianne stepped back, to allow him his reunion with his family. Her heart was filled with joy. Her body was filled with desire. And there was so much love.

He was alive, he was home—and he had come back to her.

He glanced at her and mouthed, “Thank you.”

And she knew she had given him the greatest gift of all—the gift of new beginnings—the gift of hope.

* * * * *

Dear Reader,

It wasn’t all that long ago that my publisher asked me to start a new historical series. My muse led me to the fascinating period of the French Revolution and the revolutionary wars. I was instantly intrigued by the politics and dynamics of the era. Spying on both sides was endemic! The British spent a fortune on their spy networks in France, they infiltrated the local police forces, and even tried to rig elections! The small radical movement in Britain was at first feared, and then repressed. And soon, the British began to truly fear a French invasion on their shores. What a great backdrop, I thought, to set a series of love stories! And so The Spymaster’s Men series was born....

I have tried to accurately portray the events of the period, yet do so in such a way that my reader is neither overwhelmed nor bored. One quick note—the Pantheon, where Julianne meets Marcel, was actually destroyed by a fire the previous year, and while it was subsequently rebuilt, it would not have been standing in the summer of 1793 as I described.

The story of the La Vendée royalist rebellion in 1793 ensnared me from the start. I have very loosely based my fictional character Michel Jacquelyn on their leader, the nobleman Henri de La Rochejaquelein. The rebels were not just dispossessed noblemen, but peasants and Catholic clergy, too. The rebellion against the new French republican government began in the spring of ’93 both as a protest against military conscription and secularization of the clergy, but there was also genuine outrage over the execution of the king—not to mention serious bread shortages and high unemployment. A series of surprising victories over the far greater French forces did follow, but as I described, the rebels were lacking in arms, food and other supplies. By the fall, this shortage was critical. The rebels were starving to death.

The British had begun to promise aid in the summer, but were distracted by the various war arenas in which they were engaged. Some sources claim that the convoy was supposed to rendezvous with Rochejaquelein and his men off Brittany (Granville) in mid-October, but it never came. Other sources claim no such plans were finalized, and Rochejaquelein besieged Granville in order to attain the port for a resupply effort. In any case, the siege of Granville was a disaster, and in retreat, his army was split. Thousands in the columns caught behind enemy lines died.

On December 2, twelve thousand British, German and émigré troops arrived off the coast of Brittany with supplies to join the starving rebels. But the rebels weren’t there—so they sailed away.

Rochejaquelein and his army were defeated on December 12 at Le Mans. And on December 23, just north of Nantes, his men were annihilated. A few thousand escaped in small groups incapable of mustering up a strong resistance. Rochejaquelein was killed in January of 1794. “Final Pacification” of La Vendée was begun then. Farms and villages were burned and razed to the ground; the residents of La Vendée, regardless of age, gender of political affiliation, were hunted down and murdered. The very last rebel band of six thousand men was finally wiped out in April of 1796. And thus ended the La Vendée rebellion.

The Spymaster’s Men live in dangerous times. Each hero faces death on a constant and daily basis, whether at home or abroad. As Dominic remarked, there is no honor in war. War changes everyone. But these wounded heroes can be salvaged, their souls saved—as you have just read.

I hope you have enjoyed Dom and Julianne’s passionate romance. I am looking forward to writing the rest of the series and I hope you will enjoy the soon to be told tales of the rest of the Spymaster’s Men.

À l’amour,

Brenda Joyce

ISBN: 9781459220379

Copyright © 2012 by Brenda Joyce Dreams Unlimited, Inc.

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