Besieged

'Truly?' He kissed her with a barely concealed hunger, pushing her back amid the pillows on their bed, and unfastening the ribbons on her nightrail so he could nuzzle at her ripening breasts. She sighed, not answering him, and he began to kiss the swell of soft creamy flesh. She was so deliciously tempting. He fondled her bosom with a big hand, then leaned forward to kiss her closed and shadowed eyelids. 'Have you any idea, Fortune, of how much I am going to miss you, my darling? A woman, I am told, loses her desire as she grows full with her babe, but a man has no such luxury. If anything I find you more exciting than ever before.'

Her blue-green eyes opened, and she said, 'Then you had best make the most of the few days you have left with me, my husband. You will not, I know, be unfaithful to me, will you?' She drew him back down into her arms, and nipped his earlobe. 'Will you, Kieran?'

'Nay, Fortune,' he told her. 'I will not be unfaithful to you.' He gently rolled her on her side, and pushed up her nightrail.

She sighed as he entered her ever so gently. Who on earth had told him that silly old wives' tale about a woman losing desire when she was with child? Perhaps later she might, but certainly not now. She pressed herself back against him, purring as he moved within her, his hands caressing her belly, her breasts, teasing at her sensitive nipples. 'You will miss me,' she taunted him wickedly; then she gave herself over to the pleasure he was creating between them.

'Aye, I will,' he groaned, straining to bring them to a state of blissful oblivion; and when he succeeded they sighed in unison, replete with their shared satisfaction.

***

They spent the next few days in a haze of passion, and then it was time for Kieran to leave Queen's Malvern for Liverpool. Fortune had managed to overcome her last-minute trepidation. She stood upon the front stoop of the house, offering her husband a traveling cup. He drained it down, gravely handing her back the silver goblet. Then reaching down he pulled her up to kiss her a final time. 'It is all for you, and the babe,' he said softly. 'I love you, Fortune. Pray for our success, sweetheart. God willing, I shall see you next summer in Mary's Land.' He set her back down again, and without another word swung his mount about to move down the driveway, Kevin following.

'Mama!' Fortune called, and Jasmine turned. 'Come home quickly, and give him what wisdom you can before you leave him.'

Jasmine nodded, and then followed after her son-in-law.

Fortune turned back to the house, unable to see them ride out of sight. Mama would not be back for a week or more. She was virtually alone, but for her good Rois. 'I hate this,' Fortune muttered to herself, and then called to her maidservant to keep her company. She expected that Rois was no happier than she was with this situation. Rois came, red-eyed from weeping. 'Don't cry, or I'll cry too,' Fortune said. 'I'm just as sad as you are, Rois.'

'They had to go, I know,' Rois sniffled. 'Kevin says if we're to have a future we must own our own land, and we can't in Ulster. Still, why now? Now when I'm expecting our first bairn!' Then she began to cry again.

'You're having a baby too?' Fortune wondered why she was so surprised. 'When?'

'A wee bit after you, m'lady,' Rois admitted.

'Does Kevin know?' Fortune asked her servant.

Rois shook her head. 'I was afraid to tell him lest he not go, and he was so intent upon it I didn't want to spoil his chances.'

Fortune began to laugh. It was all so absurd. She had married the wrong brother because she loved him, lost her dowry in the process, and now was left behind enceinte with an enceinte serving woman while their husbands went off to seek their destiny. If this scenario had been presented to her two years ago she would have scorned such a fate for the practical and sensible Lady Fortune Mary Lindley. 'Well, Rois,' she said, 'I think we have no other choice but to hope our men have great success in their endeavors. We'll keep each other company while our bairns ripen. Can you knit? I've never learned how, but I can sew a very fine seam. Let's make our babies some wee gowns. 'Tis as good a way as any I can think of to keep ourselves occupied.'

Young Mistress Bramwell, the assistant housekeeper, went to the storerooms and brought back some lovely cambric and the sewing supplies that they would need. There were even old paper patterns from which they could cut the infant garments. Rohana came to help them for she had not gone with her mistress. For the next week they spent their days cutting and sewing. Baby Autumn came, and crawled about their feet, playing with the scraps of material that fell to the floor.

Eight days after she had departed Queen's Malvern Jasmine returned with her escort of Glenkirk men-at-arms. 'They've sailed for Ireland,' she said. 'The wind was fair, and the seas calm. Don't look so worried, my poppet,' she told her daughter. 'I was six months coming from India, and I managed to arrive safely.'

'He should already have reached Ulster, and taken on the colonists,' Fortune replied. 'They are probably even now sailing toward their rendezvous with Leonard Calvert. He has surely embarked by now.'

***

And indeed Lord Baltimore's expedition had departed Graves-end, but they did not get far. Cecil Calvert had been wise to remain in England. His enemies were spreading rumors that his two ships, the Ark and the Dove, were actually sending nuns and soldiers to Spain. Lord Baltimore had to go to court to defend himself, and his expedition. His vessels were stopped by a royal naval ship, and forced to put into Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. There they sat for almost a month before finally being allowed to proceed on their journey. The master of the Ark, knowing that the Cardiff Rose was waiting off Cape Clear, had sent word to Kieran Devers via an outbound ship. He explained the delay, suggesting that the Cardiff Rose proceed to Barbados where they would await Lord Baltimore's expedition which would shortly follow.

On November twenty-second the colonists bound for Mary's Land departed at long last. England was hardly out of sight when they were caught in a violent storm, but once it had passed they had perfect weather for the rest of their journey to Barbados, so perfect that the Ark’s captain remarked upon it. He had never known such a smooth crossing. The single violent storm they had encountered had, however, separated them from their traveling companion, the smaller pinnace, the Dove. They could only hope she had survived the gale, and would meet them in Barbados as the Cardiff Rose was to do.

Kieran Devers and his companions sailed across a cloudless blue sea facing the unknown. Day after day the sun shone brightly down on them. The further from Ireland they got, the warmer the air grew. The weather was so fair, and the voyage so smooth, that Mistress Jones and Taffy brought their plants topside, making a small enclosure for them in the bow area of the deck. After six weeks, the Cardiff Rose made landfall in Barbados where they would await the rest of the expedition.

The governor of the island, Sir Thomas Warner, was careful in his welcome. The Cardiff Rose was a member of the O'Malley-Small trading company, and therefore of some small import. Nonetheless it was filled with Irish Catholics. Not enough to