This Heart of Mine

“LOOK
AT ME, VELVET, MY LOVE.”

She turned her passion-glazed green eyes to Alex’s lionlike golden ones. With featherlike touches he stroked a tender breast, his fingers gently encircling it slowly with a delicious mesmerizing action. Velvet felt a lovely warmth begin to suffuse her limbs. She sighed, and Alex smiled. His fingers moved upward and began to tease the sensitive nipple until she thought her flesh would burst. Velvet understood that the pleasure was only beginning. Suddenly she was no longer afraid …

By Bertrice Small:

THE KADIN
LOVE WILD AND FAIR
ADORA
*
UNCONQUERED
*
BELOVED
*
ENCHANTRESS MINE
BLAZE WYNDHAM
THE SPITFIRE
*
A MOMENT IN TIME
TO LOVE AGAIN
*
LOVE, REMEMBER ME
*
THE LOVE SLAVE
*
HELLION
*

The O’Malley Saga

SKYE O’MALLEY
*
ALL THE SWEET TOMORROWS
*
A LOVE FOR ALL TIME
THIS HEART OF MINE
*
LOST LOVE FOUND
*
WILD JASMINE
*

*
Published by The Random House Publishing Group

A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 1985 by Bertrice Small

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.ballantinebooks.com

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-90564

eISBN: 978-0-307-79482-6

v3.1

To two Great Ladies of Romance:
Nancy Coffey, who got me into
this fix in the first place;
and my dearest friend, Kathryn Falk,
who keeps the pot constantly boiling.

Contents

Cover

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Part 1 - Lord de Marisco’s Daughter

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Part 2 - The Earl of BrocCairn’s Bride

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Part 3 - The Mughal’s English Rose

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Part 4 - Velvet

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Epilogue

About the Author

THE FAMILY, THOSE CONSIDERED FAMILY, AND RETAINERS

Skye O’Malley, Lady de Marisco–A
fabulously wealthy Irishwoman (See:
Skye O’Malley, All the Sweet Tomorrows
)

Adam de Marisco
–Her husband, Master of Lundy, and
Queen’s Malvern

Velvet de Marisco
–Their only child, born May 1, 1573

Ewan O’Flaherty
–Velvet’s half-brother, born March 28, 1556

Gwyneth Southwood O’Flaherty
–His wife, Robin’s half-sister

Captain Murrough O’Flaherty–
Velvet’s half-brother, born January 15, 1557

Joan Southwood O’Flaherty
–His wife, Robin’s half-sister

Willow Small Edwardes, Countess of Alcester–
Velvet’s half-sister, born April 5, 1560

James Edwardes, Earl of Alcester
–Her husband

Robert (Robin) Southwood, Earl of Lynmouth–
Velvet’s half-brother, born September 18, 1563

Deirdre Blakeley, Lady Blackthorn
–Velvet’s half-sister, born December 12, 1567

John Blakeley, Lord Blackthorn
–Her husband

Padraic, Lord Burke of Clearfields
–Velvet’s half-brother, born January 30, 1569

Sir Robert Small of Wren Court
–called Uncle Robbie, the business partner of Lady de Marisco

Dame Cecily Small
–His elder sister who has helped to raise Skye’s children

Captain Bran Kelly
–A captain in the O’Malley-Small trading company fleet

Daisy Kelly
–His wife, Skye’s tiring woman

Pansy Kelly
–Their daughter, Velvet’s servant

THE ENGLISH

Elizabeth Tudor
–Queen of England, 1558–1603

Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
–The English Secretary of State, and the queen’s greatest confidant

Henry Carey, Lord Hundston
–The queen’s chancellor, her first cousin

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
–The queen’s oldest friend, and favorite

Lettice Knollys Dudley, Countess of Leicester
–His second wife, the queen’s cousin and rival

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
–Her son by a prior marriage, Master of the Queen’s Horse, and one of the queen’s favorites

Sir Walter Ralegh
–A gentleman of Devon, and one of the queen’s favorites

Elizabeth (Bess) Throckmorton
–A maid of honor

Angel Christman
–A royal ward

Christopher
Marlowe–Playwright, actor, rake, and rogue

Will Shakespeare
-A young actor and aspiring playwright

Lady Mary de Boult
–A lady of the court

Alanna Wythe
–A London silversmith’s daughter

Sybilla
–Her daughter

THE SCOTS

James Stewart
–King of Scotland, heir to England’s throne

Anne of Denmark
–Queen of Scotland, his wife

John Maitland
–Chancellor of Scotland

Francis Stewart-Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
–The king’s cousin, called “The Uncrowned King of Scotland”

Catriona Leslie, Countess of Glenkirk
–Bothwell’s mistress, but coveted by the king (See:
Love Wild and Fair
)

Alexander Gordon, Earl of BrocCairn
–Velvet’s betrothed husband, a cousin of both Bothwell and the king

Annabella Grant
–His sister

Ian Grant, Master of Grantholm
–Her husband

Dugald Geddes
–Alex’s servant

Jeanne Lawrie
–A former playmate of Alex’s who is living in his village

Ranald Torc
–An outlaw of Clan Shaw

THE CLERGY

Michael O’Malley, “The O’Malley
”–The bishop of Mid-Connaught, brother to Skye O’Malley

Bearach O’Dowd
–His childhood playmate, now a Jesuit priest living in Paris

Father Ourique
–A Portuguese Jesuit stationed in Bombay

Father Jean-Paul St. Justine
–Adam’s nephew, and the family chaplain

THE PORTUGUESE

Don Cesar Affonso Marinha-Grande
–Portuguese governor of Bombay

THE INDIAN COURT

Akbar, The Grand Mughal
–The emperor of India

Rugaiya Begum
–His cousin and first wife

Jodh Bai
–A Rajput princess; also Akbar’s wife, the mother of his heir

Ramesh
–The royal household steward

Adali
–A zenana eunuch

January, 1586

“C
hrist’s bloody bones!”
The oath exploded like a thunderclap from Elizabeth Tudor’s mouth. She stopped in midstride and, whirling about, fixed an angry stare upon the only other woman in the room. “You dare to say No to
me
, madame? I am your queen!”

“I have no queen,” came the calm reply. “In fact, thanks to you, I have no country.”

“Bitch!”
the queen hissed. “You have ever been a thorn in my side! Did I not give you and your husband a home? Are your children not welcome at my court? Is this the gratitude you show me for all my many kindnesses?” She glowered at the men who attended her as if enlisting their support.

“Kindnesses?”
The other woman emitted a sharp bark of laughter. “Let me think back, Majesty, over our long association. There was the time when you condoned Lord Dudley’s rape of my person because you weren’t woman enough to love him totally. Then there was the time you forced me into a foreign marriage promising to protect my infant son’s lands, which you then quickly gave away. And I seem to remember another time when, needing my help, you kidnapped my daughter to ensure my cooperation.”

“And I remember that you pirated my ships, costing England much-needed revenues!” shouted the queen, stung by the reference to Lord Dudley,

“A deed you were never able to prove,” was the quick reply.

“A deed we both damn well know you committed!”

The two men in the room watched this exchange with admiration. One was the queen’s most loyal servant, and the other, husband of her antagonist.

The women are well matched, thought Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth’s secretary of state, but the bickering must stop, for time was of the essence in this matter. The queen had not been well of late. The constant plottings that surrounded her imprisoned cousin, Mary Stewart, Scotland’s exiled
monarch, were taking their toll on her health. The Spanish would not give up their holy vendetta against Elizabeth Tudor, and she was forced to work long and hard to keep ahead of their wickedness.