All the Sweet Tomorrows

Geoffrey Southwood's twin daughters, Gwyneth and Joan, arrived from Ireland in mid-April. They had stopped in Cornwall on their way to attend the wedding of their elder sister, Susan, to young Lord Trevenyan. Susan, at fifteen, had sent her stepmother a properly correct letter offering to accept responsibility for her two sisters now that she was to be a married woman. Gwyn and Joan, however, had fled happily from their strictly Protestant sister's household at the suggestion that they might marry her two young brothers-in-law.

'You should have seen them, belle-mere' Joan giggled. 'Two pimple-faced boys with damp hands that were always seeking to get beneath our skirts when no one was looking; but oh, how pious they became when it was necessary.'

Gwyn laughed with her sister. 'Indeed, belle-mere, though Susan was shocked that we chose to honor our betrothals to your sons, we love Ewan and Murrough. When may we wed?'

'You are but fourteen,' Skye said. 'When you are sixteen we shall speak on it. This summer you shall stay with us here at Archambault, and then in the autumn perhaps I shall obtain places among the young French Queen's maids of honor for both of you and Willow. Do you think you would enjoy a few months at court?'

The answer was obvious, and shone in the delight upon the young girls' faces.

'I am sorry that Anne would not come with you,' Skye remarked.

'She will not leave her boys, belle-mere,' Joan said, 'though they will surely be the ruin of the O'Malleys.'

“That is why I sent for you,' Skye replied. 'I did not want you caught up in such an affair.'

Joan and Gwyneth settled comfortably into the routine of the family, joining their stepsister, Willow, and her French compatriots in their studies and their games. On the twenty-ninth of April Skye went into labor with her child.

'A bit early,' Gaby observed, 'but I can see the child is large, and certainly ready to be born. Nature seldom makes a mistake in these matters.'

'No, it does not,' said Eibhlin O'Malley, the nursing nun who had accompanied her nieces from Ireland in order to be with her favorite sister in her travail.

The salon in the de Marisco apartments had been turned into a birthing room, and all the ladies of the household were available to help, though Eibhlin thought it unnecessary. This would be Skye's eighth child. It was not, however, to be an easy birth. The labor began, and then it stopped, began again, and stopped once more. Skye paced the room, feeling the nervous perspiration sliding down her back beneath her robe.

'Perhaps it is not a true labor,' she said to Eibhlin. 'This has not been like my other confinements.'

'In what way, sister?' Eibhlin kept her voice level. She did not want Skye to know that she was nervous.

'I was very sick in the beginning this time, and the child has not been as wildly active as my others.'

Eibhlin heaved a mental sigh of relief. 'Each time is different to some degree, Skye. I just worry because this little one is so slow in coming. You have always borne your babes quickly.'

Skye awoke on the morning of April 30th in severe labor. Before she might rise from her bed her waters broke, flooding everything. She was furious, and muttered, 'Already this royal bastard causes me trouble. I wish to God it would never be born!'

'For shame, sister!' Eibhlin scolded. 'The babe is innocent of its father's crime. Be grateful that your husband loves you so very much that he is willing to raise this child as his own.'

Skye looked at her sister, her beautiful blue eyes ripe with raw pain. 'I don't want him to raise this child, Eibhlin,' she whispered. 'I hate this babe that was forced upon me! The young King of Navarre used me like a whore, and I can never forget that as long as I must be a loving mother to his bastard! It is not fair, Eibhlin! It simply is not fair! Adam, who is the best man in this whole world, cannot sire a child duc to a youthful fever, yet he is meant to be a father. It is his child I want! Not the bastard of France's future king!'

Eiblilin, who had always understood this beautiful and brilliant younger sister of hers, put an arm about Skye. 'You can't change what has already been, sister,' she said sadly. 'You must face the truth of this matter. Henri of Navarre's child is soon to be born to you. Your husband, whom you profess to love above all, wants this child for his own. You do not have a choice in this, Skye. For Adam's sake, you must accept this little one with as good a grace as you can muster. It is the only thing he has ever asked of you, Skye, and Adam de Marisco has given you so much in return. For love of you he has lost Lundy. He has for love of you lost his country. Of all the men who have loved you, Skye, he has given you the most, for he has without shame or reserve given you his total heart. All he asks in return is this child which will put an end to any of the evil rumors that have been spread by the Duchesse de Beuvron. This babe will restore to him his own sense of manhood. You owe him that, sister.'

Skye burst into tears at her sister's words, and sobbing, she flung herself against the nun's chest. “I know that all you say is true, Eibhlin, but I cannot in my heart resign myself to it. I know that I am being selfish, but I cannot! I cannot!'

'You will,' Eibhlin said positively. 'I have faith in your nature, Skye, which has always been a good and generous one.' With a loving hand Eibhlin stroked her sister's head.

Skye sobbed her misery out against her sister's spare bosom for several long minutes. She wanted to be the woman that Eibhlin claimed she really was, and she wanted to make Adam happy, but every time she remembered its conception she rebelled with anger. She remembered Navarre's golden amber eyes filling with lust as he examined her bound and helpless body. She remembered the feel of his lips and his tongue upon her, and most of all she remembered that he had been totally aware that although she resisted him in her heart and mind, her body could not deny him. She remembered he had smugly voiced his knowledge, and had laughed at the futility of her rejection of him. All the love that Adam had to offer could not wipe out the terrible shame she felt, and having to face the result of Navarre's rape for the rest of her days was not going to help.

Then suddenly she was being pulled from her sister's embrace and enfolded in her husband's bearlike embrace. 'Don't weep, little girl, please don't weep!' Adam begged her, his normally strong voice sounding somewhat distraught.

Tears of frustration poured down her face, scalding her, but looking up at this marvelous man whom she loved so dearly, Skye said in what she hoped passed for a reasonably normal voice, 'Dammit, Adam, having a baby hurts, and all women cry! Would you want me to act any differently for our child than I did for the others?'

She saw his face sag with relief, and knew in that minute that he would give up his little dream for her if she asked. For a moment she was tempted to, but then she forced a small smile to her lips. Reaching up, she touched his cheek with her hand.

'It's truly all right, sweetheart?' he begged for her reassurance.

'It's all right, you big fool,' she teased him wearily. 'No wonder God gives the task of bearing children to women. You men go completely to pieces at the slightest little thing.'

Adam nodded his head at her, saying, 'I will admit that I should rather face an enemy in battle than go through what you are going through right now, little girl. Still, I will stay by your side if you want me.'

'I would like that,' Skye answered him, 'but you must promise me that should you become distressed by my labor, you will feel free to go. I will understand.'

Eibhlin sighed a secret sigh of relief. Part of the difficulty with Skye's erratic labor had been that she had not wanted to bear this baby, and her mind had been exercising a fierce grip on her entire body. Now that Skye had come to terms with herself, Eibhlin knew that the labor would progress, and indeed it did, but at a far slower pace than the nun had expected. Finally Eibhlin felt she must examine her sister more closely, and Adam and Gaby