The winter set in, and Skye grew larger with the child during Lent with its forty days of fasting. Because she was
To Skye's secret relief, Adam's devotion never wavered, even now as her time drew near. None of her other husbands had been so enchanted by her fertility as he was. It seemed to give him great pleasure to lie in their bed with her propped against his broad chest, her chamber robe open, while he stroked her swollen belly, and caressed and marveled over her suddenly heavy breasts. 'God's bones,' he muttered to her one morning, 'how I long to see the baby suckling at your wonderful breasts!'
'I had thought to put the child out with a wet nurse,' she replied casually.
'Perhaps later,' he said. 'But for a time I want you to nurse our child.' Gently he lifted one of her breasts. 'From the looks of it, sweetheart, you'll have plenty of milk for the baby. Why put the child with a peasant who must feed both her own and our baby when you are capable of nursing yourself.
'I am of a mind to stay in France for a while longer. We are happy here, and so are the children.' His long face, however, belied the reasonableness of his words. What he had to tell her was something he'd been avoiding for several days in hopes of finding a good time. There was, it seemed, no good time.
'You have heard from Robbie?' She was instantly wary.
He nodded, knowing better than to conceal it from her. 'Yes, I have heard from Robbie. The Queen, may God damn her sour and dried-up maiden soul, will not recognize our marriage. She says we have forfeited her goodwill by our deceit. What deceit, I should like to know? The witch is simply jealous of our happiness! She has never been woman enough to give up all for love, but she resents those who are brave enough to do what she secretly longs to.'
“The Queen can go to Hell,' Skye muttered irritably.
Adam laughed, but then grew serious again. “There is more, my love.'
Skye smiled grimly. 'I would expect that Elizabeth Tudor would not content herself with mere words. Tell me all, Adam, for it will get no better with the waiting.'
'She's taken the Burke lands, Skye.'
“The bitch! She swore to me Padraic's claim was safe if I wed with the Duc de Beaumont de Jaspre. I kept my part of the bargain, Adam. Damn these Tudors for the treacherous dogs they are! Damn her! Damn her! Damn her!' Then suddenly Skye remembered, and she asked of her husband, 'Uncle Seamus? What has happened to my uncle?'
Here Adam chuckled. 'He did not give in easily, Skye. First he tried diplomacy, reminding the Queen of her promise to you, and that you had indeed kept your bargain. When that did not work that wily old cleric secretly filled Burke Castle with gunpowder, and then blew it to smithereens the night before the new English owner was to take possession. Every tenant farmer on the property had been given notice of eviction by the new owner, and so, as Burke Castle went so did all the cottages and farmhouses on the estate. All that's left of the holding is the land itself and a number of piles of stones, the castle being the largest pile.'
'But the people,' Skye fretted. 'What is to become of Burke people?'
'They've left the land, Skye. Some have gone to the O'Malleys, and others to Ballyhennessey, which so far has escaped the Queen's eye.'
'Ballyhennessey is too small,' Skye said. 'It can barely support its own peasants let alone refugees from Burke lands. Where has my uncle gone?'
'To the O'Malleys, of course, with a large price on his head for wantonly destroying Crown property.'
'My brothers will protect him, Adam, but he is such an old man now to have to face such a commotion. He's seventy-one, you know.'
'Would you like me to bring him to France, Skye?'
'He'd not come, Adam, for he has his duty to his people as bishop of Connaught, especially now.'
He could see that her eyes were sad with his revelations, and it pained him to fret her further, but he had no choice. “The Queen has also taken Lundy, Skye.'
'Oh, Adam!' She looked up at him, stricken. 'I am so sorry, my darling! All this is because of me!'
'Skye, I will not lie to you. I loved Lundy, and I even loved that damned tumbled-down tower which was all that was left of my castle. I will miss my rooms at the top of that tower, the rooms where we first met, first made love; but, little girl, if I had a thousand times the possessions I should gladly give them all up to have you for my wife. Besides, the Queen got nothing but the island. When I knew that I was going to come after you some instinct made me transfer all my wealth to my bankers in Paris. If we cannot persuade the Queen to relent then I shall obtain lands here in France, and we shall settle here.
“The Queen took nothing of Lynmouth, or Robert Small's possessions, which will one day come to Willow. It is only your Burke children she has acted against, and I suspect, Skye, that given the situation in Ireland now, the English would have eventually stolen those lands. I am sorry, but there is no help for it.'
'What of the O'Malleys, Adam? What of Innisfana, my brothers, Anne, Geoffrey's two daughters?'
'For the moment they seem to be safe. I hope you will not be angry with me, Skye, but I instructed Robbie to take over the six ships that belong to you personally, and to separate them from the O'Malley holdings. Your brothers have joined forces with your kinswoman, Grace O'Malley, and she is the Queen's mortal enemy in Ireland. This way I have protected your own wealth.'
Skye nodded her agreement. 'My brothers are hotheaded fools,' she said sadly. “They will tear down everything I have built up for the O'Malleys, and leave our people in poverty, but I can do nothing to help them. They are men now, and they will not listen to me, Adam. They see only the glory of rebellion against the English, and they see not the misery their actions will bring.' A deep sigh of regret escaped her, and then she said, 'Send for Geoffrey's two daughters, Gwyneth and Joan, and beg my stepmother, Anne, to come with them.'
'I don't know if Anne O'Malley will leave her sons, Skye.'
'Perhaps not, Adam, but I will ask her nonetheless. That much I can do in my father's memory.'
'In time, Skye, the Queen will relent of her decision, I am sure.'
'No,' Skye said. 'I am not so sure she will, Adam. Do you remember when Lady Catherine Grey married secretly with Edward Seymour, the Earl of Hertford? Like ours, it was a Catholic ceremony, but when the proof was needed the priest mysteriously could not be found. Both their sons were declared illegitimate by the Queen!'
'Catherine Grey was a claimant to the Tudor throne, Skye. The Queen was but protecting herself.'
'No, Adam. Elizabeth Tudor likes to totally control the lives of her court. She is not capable of loving, or giving love. Once she told me, though she said she would deny it if I quoted her, that she would never wed, for if she did she would be neither a queen nor a woman in her own right, but rather a man's possession, and she feared it. She does fear it, Adam, but yet at the same time she longs for it. She tries to surround herself with women she deems like her, women of wit and beauty and intelligence. When these women fail her by falling in love she is merciless in her disapproval and her revenge. They have, she honestly believes, given in to their baser natures; but Elizabeth Tudor will never give in to her feelings. She will live and die a virgin queen.'
'What will happen to England then?' he mused.
'Mary Stewart has a son,' Skye said, 'and it is this little boy, James, who, I believe, will one day rule England.'
Adam listened to his wife, but in his heart he still hoped that one day Elizabeth Tudor would forgive them, so they might return to England. He liked France, but he was an Englishman in his heart. Eventually, although he did not tell Skye, he intended to win the Queen over.
