All the Sweet Tomorrows

before I escaped; but I have no idea what was in them.' Niall's voice was reproachful and irritable at the same time. Then suddenly he slipped into a light slumber.

Robbie sighed. It was clear to him that Lord Burke had been poisoned with some potion. Why else would he be in such a state? Perhaps when Skye came aboard her presence would encourage her husband to make a swift and full recovery. Robert Small got up and moved to the cabin door. 'Keep an eye on his lordship,' he commanded the ship's boy. 'If you need me I'll be topside waiting for Lady Burke.'

'Aye, sir!' came the obedient reply.

Robbie stamped out on deck, glad to be free of the stifling cabin. With relief he drew in great lungfuls of clean sea air. 'Any sign of her?' he asked MacGuire as he came abreast of the old captain.

'Crow's nest spotted a sail out of Algiers harbor making for us just a minute or two ago. It's just visible now on the horizon. How's his lordship?'

'Not good. I think he's dying, Sean, and I don't know what in hell is killing him!'

'Fash, man! Niall Burke's stronger than that. I've known him since he was a brash young boy. He can't be dying!'

'He is, I'm telling you,' Robbie argued worriedly. 'He's constantly thirsty, yet he can't hold anything either liquid or solid on his stomach, and for two days his bowels have suffered with the bloody flux. What sleep he can manage is disturbed by nightmares of horrendous proportions, his eyes are red, his skin and mouth so dry that both his lips and his elbows are peeling. I've never seen anything like it, man!'

'Maybe we should cup him,' MacGuire suggested halfheartedly.

'Cup him? Jesu, man! You'll kill him for sure! God's bones, I hope this wind holds! Maybe the sight of her will revive him.'

'If he dies it'll kill her,' MacGuire said ominously. 'To lose him once was bad, but to lose him a second time after what she's been through…' He crossed himself nervously.

Robert Small stared grimly out to sea. The very same thought had crossed his mind, but he had anticipated a possible bad end to this whole venture, and had come prepared for it. He wasn't going to let her die, and neither was Adam de Marisco. De Marisco had been frantic when Robbie had returned to England and told him what Skye had done. The island lord had come off his lonely rock ready to mount an expedition to rescue Skye. Now, Adam de Marisco was waiting patiently in Robbie's own cabin to give her aid and comfort should she need it.

Robert Small watched with a sense of foreboding as Bran Kelly's ship drew closer and closer to his own.

'Captain Small! Lord Burke is awake and calling for you.' The cabin boy looked anxiously up at him, tugging him back into the present.

“Tell Lord Burke that his wife's ship is almost upon us, and that I will stay on deck to greet her. We will both be with him as soon as she is aboard.'

'Aye, sir.' The boy hurried back to the master cabin.

Bran Kelly maneuvered his vessel carefully in the rolling sea until the two ships were bobbing next to one another. A plank was put between them, and Skye swiftly crossed the small space, flinging herself into Robbie's arms. With a relieved groan he hugged her, enjoying the lovely fragrance of damask rose that always surrounded her. 'God, Skye lass, thank heaven we have you back safely!'

She was taller than he, but she still managed to press her face into his leather jerkin, inhaling his tobacco scent. 'Robbie,' she murmured almost incoherently. 'Dearest Robbie!'

For a long moment they stood locked in a close and mutually loving embrace, and then Skye pulled away. 'Where is Niall, Robbie? Where is my husband?'

He looked up at her. 'Niall is in the master cabin, Skye lass, but he's not been well for several days now.'

'Not been well?' she repeated.

'I don't know what it is, lass. He's had the bloody flux, and he vomits. I'm not a doctor,' he finished helplessly.

She whirled from him, and ran directly across the deck to the owner's cabin. She burst through the door, stopping short as she saw Niall Burke struggle to rise up from the bed to meet her only to fail and fall weakly back upon the coverlet. 'Niall!” She was at his side in an instant, her eyes huge in her white face, taking in his appearance and knowing that it was not good. 'Niall!' she repeated. He had gotten so gaunt! She had not seen him in a month, and he had gotten so thin, and so wasted. Kneeling, she took his hand in hers.

Niall Burke opened his silvery eyes, and his glance was sad, but filled with love. With trembling hand he reached up to touch her cheek, and then he sighed. 'I had forgotten how soft your skin is, Skye, my love,' he said low.

'Oh, Niall,' she whispered, 'my dearest, dearest love. It will be all right now, I promise you. We are on our way home again. In just a few weeks' time we shall see Ireland again, and the children are waiting.' Skye had no idea that she was crying, the hot tears pouring down her face unchecked. 'God's bones, Niall! The children won't know either of us. You went away just after Padraic's birth, and Deirdre was still a babe then. He'll be three and a half now, and she's almost five, my darling. High time we got back to our bairns, Niall! High time we gave them more brothers and sisters!'

'I'm dying,' he said.

'Nooooooo!” She sobbed the word, but even as she did so she felt her heart constrict painfully, as if a hand were squeezing it hard.

'I don't want to,' he whispered plaintively, 'but I am. I don't know why, but I am.'

She couldn't breathe. For a moment panic threatened to envelope her, but then her chest heaved and air filled her lungs. 'You are very ill, Niall, my love,' she said in a firm voice. A voice that belied her pounding heart; 'but it doesn't mean you are going to die. I won't let you die! The ship is well provisioned with fresh foods and water, and I shall cook for you myself. Remember you told me how ill you were those years ago when Constanza took care of you? It's just a recurrence of your old illness. You'll see,' she finished brightly. 'I shall make you well again.'

He sighed sadly. 'Skye, I am dying. When Constanza cared for me I was suffering from the effects of a nasty wound, and shock. I don't know what this is, but I cannot last much longer.' He fell back on the bed again, barely conscious with the effort of trying to make her understand.

'Don't die, Niall,' she pleaded piteously with him as if he had personal control over the situation. 'You can't die! Not after what I have been through to help free you! Ton can't die.¹'

His silvery gaze enveloped her again. 'I know what you have been through, my love, I know. You are so brave, Skye, my darling. You have the heart of a lion, my love, and the soul of an angel. I shall miss you, but I am grateful that Darragh's blade did not kill me. I rejoice that Claire's plot did not prevent us from saying our good-byes. Now I know that there is a God in Heaven, Skye, for he has heard my most fervent prayers. He had granted me a final glimpse of you, my dearest heart.'

She focused on him through the grayish blur of her tears, and saw that he spoke a greater truth than she was willing to recognize. 'Don't leave me, Niall,' she said quietly. 'I cannot bear it if you leave me now. Not now!'

The choice is not mine to make, Skye. Now kiss me, my darling wife. One kiss before I must leave you. A final memory for me to take with me on my journey.' His glance was steadfast, almost sympathetic of her plight, for he knew it would be far harder on her than it would be on him.

Skye wanted to flee this nightmare. In her brain pounded the one thought! Had it all been for this?

'Skye!' His voice was urgent. His hand pulled loose of hers.

Slowly she bent her head, her eyes closing as her lips met with his. For a brief moment she felt incredible joy at the touch of his mouth on hers, but then the pressure of his kiss slackened and, lifting her head, Skye saw that his silver eyes were suddenly dull and sightless; Niall Burke was dead. She sat frozen by his side for some time, feeling nothing; neither heat nor cold, certainly not the beat of her heart. She was numb to her very soul. Finally Skye