All the Sweet Tomorrows

was a girl I should be less concerned, but she is past thirty, Adam, and that is not a good time for a hard birth.'

'Is there any danger, Eibhlin?'

'I don't believe so, for Skye has always been healthy. I am just cautious.'

Eibhlin led them all from the bedroom, closing the door behind her as she went.

'Go back to your beds, mes filles,' Gaby ordered her daughters. 'I am certainly going to seek mine, and you, ma soeur, deserve a good rest also. I will see that the nurse is sent to watch the baby while we all sleep.' Clarice and Isabeau hugged their brother and then departed the room, closely followed by Eibhlin and Gaby, who with tears in her eyes kissed her son, stating a final time, 'It is a miracle!'

When they had left Adam de Marisco tiptoed back into Skye's bedchamber once more, and stood for several long minutes looking down at the sleeping form of the newborn child. His daughter! He had a daughter! Not some royal bastard that he would accept for Skye's sake, but his own child. It was a miracle. He wanted to pick the baby up and examine her carefully, but he was afraid to do so. They had all said she was a fine big girl, but to him she looked so tiny. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be time enough to become acquainted with his new little girl. He walked over to the big bed where Skye lay sleeping, and his heart went out to his lovely wife. She looked so very tired after her long ordeal. He had loved her for so long, and now he owed her a debt that he could never repay, for she had given him a child. Somehow he was going to get them home to England. Ireland, he knew, was totally out of the question, and Skye knew it, too. If there had been troubles in Ireland before, they were going to double in the next few years. Bending down, he kissed her lightly once more, and then went through the connecting door between the two chambers and sought his bed.

In his sleep Adam heard the baby whimper, and he was instantly awake, stumbling across the room and through the door. To his surprise and his relief, the nurse was already there. She smiled at him, and curtseyed. ''Tis all right, monseigneur. Go back to sleep.' He gratefully complied, and the sun was halfway across the skies above Archambault when he finally awoke again. He had fallen into bed without even removing his clothing, although he had remembered to take off his boots. Now Adam peeked into Skye's bedchamber, and seeing his wife sitting up in her bed eating an egg, he hurried to make himself presentable. Stripping off his clothes, he called for old Guillaume to bring him water for washing, and while he bathed and trimmed his beard and mustache, the old valet laid out fresh clothing for his master which Adam hastily donned.

Her blue eyes lit up as he came into the room, and she smilingly held out her arms to him. 'Bonjour, mon mari!' she said gaily.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took her into his arms and kissed her passionately. 'Je t’aime, I love you,' he murmured softly at her. 'You are the most marvelous woman in this world, Lady de Marisco!'

'Gracious,' she teased him, 'and what has made you so happy today, my lord?' But then Skye could not keep up the pretense, and she called to the nursemaid, 'Ila, bring the baby for my lord to see. Oh, Adam, you should see her! She is so perfect!' Her own eyes were shining with joy and happiness, and he took her hand, raising it to his lips to kiss it.

'Merci, ma femme,' he said. 'Mille fois merci!'