The Birthright (33 page)
Nicole placed her hand on his chest. “I leave my heart here with you, Uncle, so that it might help give strength and comfort to your own.”
“And I in turn offer you but one wish,” Charles said, taking her hand and walking her toward the waiting longboat. “That you live well. Live well and enjoy God’s many blessings.”
As soon as she was safely on board, the captain barked, “Shove off, there! Bosun, have the men lay heavy on the oars!”
Nicole remained standing at her seat amidships, watching as the rowers pulled them ever further from the quayside where the gathering was waving her off. She waved back and cried out her farewells till the longboat passed around another ship at anchor, when Nicole had no choice but to turn and look ahead. Yet she gazed past the vessel to which they were rowing and focused on the horizon instead.
Out beyond the harbor walls, dazzling pillars of sunlight broke through the clouds to settle on the white-capped sea. Nicole searched further still, wondering at what she was leaving behind, at what now lay ahead.
They made swift progress across the waves. As they pulled up alongside the waiting ship, the bosun’s chair was lowered. Emily Madden was the first to be lifted to the main deck. Scrambling up and down the rope ladders, the seamen were busy hefting bales and barrels and chests. Their actions were propelled by the rough cries coming from the captain and the officers on the quarterdeck. Even before Nicole set foot on deck, the sails were being unfurled, the anchor raised, the longboat secured. She stood as the ship gave way before the wind, heard the sails snap taut with the first press of the breeze, and watched as the people and houses lining the quayside turned gray as they intermingled with the sea mist and the distance.
To the wind and the future, Nicole whispered the question, “What is my destiny now?”
But there was no answer except the crying of gulls circling overhead. It seemed to Nicole that they sung the chant of her life, a voyage without end, bound by mystery and questions that would be answered only in God’s holy presence.
Then heavy feet marched across the foredeck and descended the stairs near where Nicole held the railing. She knew the sound meant an officer approached, for only officers wore leather boots. She dried her eyes and prepared herself to speak with Captain Madden.
But when she turned, instead of facing the captain, she stared blankly at a tall, dashing officer with copper-blond hair and a slash mark under his right eye. He doffed his hat, bowed deeply, and said, “Forgive me for not being here to greet you upon your arrival, my lady. But all haste was required to make the tide.”
“Captain Goodwind,” she said, “what a nice surprise.”
“Captain Madden requested that I accompany him on this voyage,” Gordon Goodwind explained. “He and his wife are uncertain how long they will remain in the colonies, and such a ship as this must be kept busy.” He hesitated, then added, “When I learned who was to accompany us, I was genuinely delighted.”
Nicole felt a warmness spreading over her cheeks and neck. She could not recall feeling thus for ages, not since departing from Louisiana. It left her feeling almost shy as she said, “I shall eagerly await your company at dinner, sir.”
For some reason, her words brought a similar flush to Goodwind’s strong features. He bowed again, lower this time, and said, “Your servant, my lady.”
Nicole watched him as he returned to his station on the foredeck. She then turned back toward the sea, while the ship passed the harbor’s final rocky promontory on which rose a tall, white watchtower. Behind her, Captain Goodwind bellowed a string of orders. The ship made a graceful turning about, beating upwind. Footsteps raced across the main deck, and more sails opened with snapping force.
Nicole used her hand to brush the hair from her face, then lowered the hand to rest it on her chest. Strange that her heart would trip in time to the racing sailors. Stranger still was how she could stand there, so full of sorrow over having just left her loved ones behind, yet now thrilled by what lay ahead.
The same startling peace followed Charles throughout the journey home. And although the questions that had carried him across the Atlantic in search of his brother still remained unanswered, somehow it did not matter any longer. The questions that mattered to him now had changed beyond all recognition.
He sat alone on his side of the carriage, with Anne and John and Judith sitting across from him. They sensed his thoughtful isolation and granted him as much silence as John would allow. For if there was anything the youngster loved as much as horses, it was Charles’s carriage. John stood by the open window, bouncing up and down in Anne’s careful grasp, blurting out in his own language at everything that caught his eye. The boy’s excitement filled the carriage. Charles watched him with a smile, sighing contentedly as he reflected on how he’d reached a very special juncture. For even though nothing had been resolved, still everything was settled. Though he might face the dissolution of his estate and titles following his imminent demise, he honestly felt he could finally let go and die in peace. Whatever the future held, however short his remaining days, Charles felt he was ready. He welcomed the future as never before.
Judith looked over at him, and his smile tinged with a fond regret. It would have been so wonderful to come to know this fine woman better. Indeed, for the first time in many years he could consider the prospect of marriage with some genuine desire. But he turned away from her playful eyes as he reminded himself there was not sufficient time left for a budding romance.
Despite this, Judith was unwilling to release him so easily. “It is remarkable, Sir Charles, how the bonds of generations have brought us together.”
“Indeed so, ma’am.” Charles was glad for the reason to turn back to her. Judith Mann was not only pleasant to look at, he also found in her countenance all that his two earlier marriages had lacked. He was then hit with piercing regret over the many mistakes he’d made during his lost and wandering years. The neglected opportunities, the false paths. “Yes, I count it a great blessing that my niece had the wisdom to marry herself into your family.”
Anne glanced over from her dutiful attending of the bouncing John long enough to reward Charles with a look from the heart. Then she turned back to the boy and said, “Yes, that’s right, John. Many, many birds.”
“I count it a godsend to call Anne my friend and daughter,” Judith replied. “But that is not of what I speak.”
“No?”
Her smile turned anxious. “I hope you will forgive me for divulging secrets, Sir Charles.”
He felt a sudden drumming through his body, as if the road had risen to shake his very soul. “I am not certain I follow you, ma’am.”
“There is in fact a
second
miracle that intertwines our families.” She then looked at Anne and said, “Ever since our first meeting I have wondered if I should mention this, and now I find I can withhold the secret no longer.”
Charles leaned forward slightly. For some reason, he was finding it hard to breathe now. “What secret is that, ma’am?”
“The secret of our shared heritage,” Judith said. “You see, my mother was your father’s half sister.”
Charles felt as though he’d been blasted back into his seat. He worked his mouth, yet could not speak.
It was Anne, wide-eyed with shock, who managed to ask, “They were what?”
“Siblings,” she confirmed, looking pleased over the response to her words. “Sir Charles, your grandfather had two wives. The first died young, giving birth to my mother. The old earl then remarried, and eleven years later, his second wife gave birth to your father. My mother had long before this time fallen in love with a Welshman, a gentleman far below her station. Your grandfather was by all accounts a most domineering man and vengeful when crossed. My mother ran away to wed the man of her heart, and your grandfather never permitted her name to be spoken of again.”
In reflex to his thundering heart, Charles reached up to massage his chest. It only added to his astonishment to discover that his heart was not hurting him.
“I fear my mother carried a good deal of your grandfather’s same force of character,” Judith continued, “for it was only when my mother lay on her deathbed that she shared with me the secret. How we were related by marriage to one of England’s wealthiest scions. She asked me to guard this mystery well—which I have.”
“Good woman!” Charles finally managed to gasp. “Do you have any idea what you are saying?”
In reply, Judith turned to Anne and said, “Naturally, when you and Cyril wed, I had no earthly idea who was your adoptive father’s brother. It would not have occurred to me in a dozen centuries. Only when you wrote and told me of your visit and where you were staying did I then realize. It gave me such a start, I cannot begin to tell you.”
“Gave you a start!” Charles laughed out loud. He lifted his cane and hammered hard on the wall that separated them from the driver. “My dear Mrs. Mann, gave
you
a start!”
As the carriage slowed down, Judith’s expression showed her worry. “Oh, I do hope I haven’t done anything wrong in sharing this secret with you both.”
“Wrong? Wrong!” Charles leaned out the window and shouted up to the driver, “Is there a lay-by ahead?”
“We’re at the outskirts of a village, m’lord. There must be a place for watering.”
“Then pull in and turn this carriage around!”
The driver bent over so that his astounded face showed through the open window. “Around, sir?”
“You heard me! Now make all possible haste!”
“Oh, oh, dear me,” Judith moaned. “I have ruined a perfectly splendid day with words I should never have uttered.”
“My good woman, nothing could be further from the truth.” Charles wanted to stop the carriage, fling open the door, and race around dancing a jig. But there was no time to waste. None. “Nothing whatsoever could be further from the truth!” he repeated.
Both women were alarmed as they stared at him. “I-I fear I don’t understand,” Judith said.
“My dear Mrs. Mann, you have made this day perfect!” He reached over and grasped her hand with both of his. “Do you have any idea, any idea at all the miracle you have just revealed to us here this very day?”
Anne gasped with the shock of realization. Her eyes grew round again as she looked from Charles to Judith.
The carriage swung wide and made the turn around, then the driver’s head appeared once more. “Begging your pardon, sir, but what is to be our new destination?”
“London!” Charles laughed as the shock spread to Judith’s features, as well. A blood relation, Percy had demanded. Someone who was linked to the Harrow name by blood would be the only assured heir, the only indisputable link to an earthly legacy. And now it was his. “Make all possible haste!”
“London it is, m’lord.”
Judith whispered, “Do you mean…”
“I do indeed, my lady. I do indeed!” John chose this moment to turn and give them his widest grin. Charles laughed in reply. “Hold fast to the lad there, my dear Anne. For in your hands rests the Viscount John Harrow, ninth earl of Sutton, and the coming heir to Harrow Hall!”
M
ORE
T
IMELESS
S
TORIES
From Janette Oke
NEW!
Janette Oke pairs up with bestselling author Davis Bunn for a sweeping epic series surrounding the early days of the church. In the face of persecution, how can faith and love survive?
A
CTS OF
F
AITH SERIES
:
The Centurion’s Wife, The Hidden Flame
Nothing in her cultured upbringing prepared Elizabeth for her teaching position in the Canadian West. Is her faith suffcient to sustain her through loneliness and the rigors of life on the frontier? Will she find love in such a remote place?
C
ANADIAN
W
EST SERIES
:
When Calls the Heart, When Comes the Spring, When Breaks the Dawn, When Hope Springs New, Beyond the Gathering Storm, When Tomorrow Comes
