new?”
“Aye,” came the reply. “Your father brought them back from his?last voyage. He is so good to me, Moire.”
“And why not?” demanded Moire. “You are good to him, Anne.”
“Out riding with young Dom. I am surprised at your father in?pursuing this betrothal. They do not suit at all.”
“They were promised in the cradle,” explained Moire. “It wasn’t?easy for Da to find husbands for us all, for we’ve none of us large?dowries. Skye’s marrying the heir to the Ballyhennessey O’Flaherty’s?is the best match of us all.”
Anne shook her head. “I fear this match. Your sister is a very?independent girl.”
“And it’s all Da’s fault for he has spoiled her terribly,” said Peigi.?”She should have been married off two years ago at thirteen, like?the rest of us. But no, Skye did not want it. He lets
“That’s not so, Peigi,” Eibhlin chided her sister. “Anne is correct?when she says that Skye and Dom do not suit. Skye is not like us?in temperament. We favor our mother while she favors Da. Dom?is simply neither strong enough nor sensitive enough to be Skye’s?husband.”
“Hoity-toity, sister,” said Peigi sourly. “It amazes me how much?the wee nun knows about human nature.”
“Indeed and I do,” replied Eibhlin calmly, “for whom do you?think the poor women of my district pour out their unhappiness to,?Peigi? Certainly not the priest! He tells them it is their Christian duty?to be abused by their menfolk! And then he adds to their guilt by?giving them a penance.”
The sisters look shocked, and Anne broke the tension by laughing,?”You’re more a rebel than a holy woman, stepdaughter.”
Eibhlin sighed. “You speak the truth, Anne, and it troubles me?greatly. But though I try I cannot seem to change.”
Anne O’Malley leaned over and fondly patted her stepdaughter?on the hand. “Being a woman is never, ever easy,” she said wisely,?”no matter what role we chose to play in life.”
The two young women smiled fondly at each other with complete?understanding. Then everyone looked startled as they heard shouting in the entry hall below them. As the noise came toward them up the?steps the O’Malley sisters glanced knowingly at each other. They?recognized the voices of Dom O’Flaherty and their sister, Skye.
As the two burst into the main hall, Anne O’Malley was again?struck by the beauty of the two young people. She had never seen?two more physically perfect people, and perhaps this was why her?husband insisted on the match. Anne shivered with apprehension.
Dom O’Flaherty threw his riding gloves on a table. At eighteen?he was of medium height, slender, with beautifully shaped arms,?hands, and legs. Having inherited his French grandmother’s color-?ing, he had glorious, close-cropped, curly golden hair, and sky-blue?eyes. He affected a tailored short beard that hugged the perfectly? sculpted sides of his face and ended in a softly rounded point.?Because he was angry, however, his fair skin was now an unattrac-?tive, mottled red. His handsome face with its long, straight nose and?narrow lips was contorted with rage.
“It’s indecent!” he shouted at Skye. “It’s indecent and immodest?for a maiden to ride astride a beast! My God, Skye! That horse of?yours! When we’re married I will see that you’re more suitably?mounted upon a palfrey. What ever possessed your father to let you?ride mat big, black brute, I’ll never know!”
“You lost, Dom,” came the infuriatingly cool reply. “You lost?the race to me, and as you always did when we were children, you?try to retaliate by clouding the issue. Well, let me tell you what you?can do with your bloody palfrey!”
“Skye!” Anne O’Malley’s voice was sharp with warning.
The girl looked to her stepmother, then laughed. “Oh, all right,?Annie,” she acquiesed prettily, “I will try to behave myself.
And while her bridegroom fumed, Skye signaled to a servant to?bring some wine. As if in afterthought, she ordered some for Dom?as well. Flinging himself into a chair, he glowered at her, but all?the while his eyes roamed her body and he thought how beautiful?she was in her dark-green silk riding habit. The skirt was divided,?and the neckline open, plunging into the valley of her young breasts.?Tiny beads of moisture had gathered on her chest and the sight?excited him. He realized that he longed to possess this lovely young?woman.
At fifteen Skye O’Malley was well on the way to fulfilling the?promise of unequaled beauty that she had shown at birth. She stood?every bit as tall as her betrothed. Like him, she was beautifully proportioned, with a slim waist that moved into softly rounded hips.?Her breasts were small but full. She had a heart-shaped face. Her?eyes were still the color of the seas off the Kerry coast, sometimes?pure blue, sometimes dark, sometimes azure with a faint hint of?green. They were fringed in thick ebony lashes that brushed tender?pink cheeks. Her nose was slim, turning up just slightly at the tip.?And if you looked carefully you could see a few soft, golden freckles?across the bridge of her nose. The red mouth was surprisingly se-?ductive with a full lower lip, and when she laughed she revealed? small, perfect white teeth. Her skin was the color of cream and?seemed even fairer by the contrasting mass of blue-black hair that?tumbled about her shoulders.
She excited Dom very much, although he, it seemed, did not?interest her. She far preferred galloping that great black stallion of?hers at breakneck speed about the countryside, or sailing off with?her father on some piratical adventure. The realization was quite a?shock to his pride.
Dom O’Flaherty was not used to indifference from the fair sex.?Women ordinarily made fools of themselves over him, and he was?very proud of his sexual prowess.
Dom tried to console himself with the thought that once he bedded?her she would soon be tamed. Hot- tempered virgins usually turned?out to be passionate lovers. He licked his thin lips in anticipation,?and quaffed his. goblet of wine. He was not aware that his betrothed?was eying him with disgust. Dom O’Flaherty would run to fat in his?middle years, Skye decided.
Again from the entry below came the noises of arrival. Anne?O’Malley rose to her feet with a smile. “Your father is back,” she?said, “and it sounds like he brings guests.”
Two large wolfhounds, several setters, and a large terrier all?bounded into the hall. One of the wolfhounds trotted up to Anne?and dropped two small velvet bags at her feet. Bending, Lady?O’Malley picked up the bags and, loosening the strings, poured the?contents of one bag into her cupped hand. She stared at the sapphire-?and- diamond necklace that nestled in her palm. “Holy Mary!” she?gasped.
Dubhdara O’Malley chuckled with pleasure from the doorway.?”Then you like it, lovey? There’s earbobs, and a ring to match in?the other.”
“Like it? Oh, Dubh, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned!?Where…?
“Portuguese galleon got itself blown off course and then wrecked?aways up the coast. We were just in time to save the captain from?the scavengers. He was most grateful.”
Anne said no more, but she read between the lines. It was obvious?that her husband and his crew had battled coastal wreckers for pos-?session of the damaged galleon. The O’Malleys had been pirates for?centuries. It was their way of life. Undoubtedly the captain of the?unfortunate ship and the survivors among his crew were now housed?in the dungeons below, where they would spend the next several?months awaiting ransom. Anne shuddered and reminded herself that?such thoughts were not her concern.
“And where’s my wee lass?” demanded the O’Malley.
“Here, Da.” Skye rose from her chair and came forward.
Seeing her garb, he frowned with disapproval. “Still riding?astride, poppet?”
“Don’t scold me, Da,” she wheedled him prettily. “It was you?who taught me, and I simply can’t gallop Finn sitting sideways. It’s?most unnatural.”
The O’Malley cocked an eyebrow. “Must you gallop him??Wouldn’t a nice trot do you? You must think of the babes you’re?going to bear Dom now, poppet.”
She ignored his last remark. “Have you ever tried to trot with?one leg slung over a pommel, Da? The last time I
