Sea Fire - Couverture souple

Robards, Karen

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0440221080 ISBN 13 : 9780440221081

Editeur : Dell Pub Co, 1998

Synopsis

Lady Catherine Aldley and her husband, pirate Jonathan Hale, flee England to make a home on a Carolina plantation, but when her father falls ill, Catherine returns home, where her cousin convinces her that her marriage is a sham, causing Jonathan to reclaim the woman he loves. Reissue.

A propos du livre

Extrait

England was certainly cooler than South Carolina, but that was about all that Cathy could say for it.  It was raining as they drove through the streets, that dreary, never-ending drizzle so common to London in late September.  Cathy, seated in a hired hack with Cray on her lap and Martha occupying the seat opposite, shivered as she huddled into the soft fur trimming of her cranberry wool pelisse.  The steady clop-clop of the horse's hooves on the cobbled streets, the splash of the carriage wheels as they rolled through countless puddles, seemed to her to be the loneliest sound in the world.  Does the whole country smell of worms? Cathy wondered dismally.  Taking some comfort from the child's drowsy weight against her, she cuddled Cray closer.  With every fiber of her being she longed for Jon.

He had had to stay behind at Woodham, of course.  With the cotton so near to harvest it would have been pure folly for him to leave.  Cathy knew that, had even pointed it out to Jon himself when he had suggested accompanying her.  But the real sticking point, the incontrovertible fact that had caused Cathy to almost implore him to stay at home, was this: in England, Jon was an escaped felon, convicted of piracy and murder.  If caught, he would be summarily hanged.

"We've stopped, Miss Cathy." Martha spoke for almost the first time since they had set out from the docks nearly an hour before.  The sound of her voice jerked Cathy back to the present.  She leaned forward to peer out the near side window, using her bare hand to wipe a little circle of glass clear of condensation.  From the outside, her Aunt Elizabeth's, Lady Stanhope's, fashionable Grosvenor Square townhouse looked exactly the same as it had two years before.  Three stories tall, made of red brick with a delicately wrought, black-painted iron fence separating it from the street, it was as imposing as the lady herself.  And as Cathy remembered only too well from her one previous visit, the house was as strictly correct inside as out.  Formality was the unbending rule in manners as well as furnishings.  Cathy had stayed there for nearly three months while she was pregnant with Cray and had thought herself deserted by her husband.  That visit had been distinguished only by its sheer misery.

"You gettin' out, lady?" The truculent tone of the cabbie as he stood holding open the carriage door, rain dripping from the brim of his hat, pulled Cathy from her reverie.  She passed Cray, who had finally fallen asleep, to Martha and stood up.  Martha was visibly bristling at the man's rudeness.  Cathy, who didn't think that she could bear any additional unpleasantness, quelled her with a stern look.

"Cover your head, lovey, it's raining," Martha advised as Cathy prepared to descend, contenting herself with fixing the cabbie with one long, contemptuous stare.  Cathy did as she was told, pulling the hood of her pelisse over her head as she stepped lightly from the carriage.  Martha followed, a thick silk shawl draped over herself and Cray.  The cabbie, having insisted on being paid in advance, barely took time to throw their baggage into the street before remounting his seat and driving away.  Cathy looked with some dismay at the piles of luggage left standing on the curb, slowly becoming drenched.  Then, with a resigned shrug, she turned her back on the depressing sight and marched firmly up to the door.

"Good afternoon, my lady," said Sims the butler, as he opened the door to her brief knock.  He didn't sound at all surprised to see her.  Cathy supposed that her aunt must have assumed she would come, and so informed her servants.  There had been no time to reply to that fateful letter before setting out.

"Good afternoon, Sims." Cathy's reply was equally matter-of-fact.  As the butler held the door wide she walked past him into the marble-floored foyer, closely followed by Martha with Cray.  Martha exchanged cold glances with Sims as she passed him.  They had been at war throughout the one previous time Cathy had stayed in this house.

"Lady Stanhope is in the small drawing room, my lady," Sims informed her in his funereal voice.

"And my father?" Cathy questioned softly.

"He is upstairs, in the green bedroom, my lady.  I am sorry to tell you that his condition is not much improved.  May I say how sorry we all are that such a thing should happen to Sir Thomas, my lady."

"Thank you, Sims.  I will go up to him at once.  Please show Martha where we are to sleep, and have someone bring in our things.  I fear they are getting sadly wet."

"Very good, my lady." Not by so much as the flicker of an eyelash did Sims betray his surprise at Cathy's lack of manners.  The correct thing would have been for her to greet her aunt, who was, after all, her hostess, and perhaps drink a cup of tea before going upstairs.  Cathy was perfectly aware of her breach of etiquette, but truthfully she did not feel up to facing her aunt at the moment.  She had not seen Lady Stanhope since Jon had stolen her away from this house in the middle of one snowy January night nearly two years ago, and she did not imagine that her aunt was overly eager to welcome her.  Left obviously pregnant after her notorious abduction by pirates, Cathy's first appearance in London society had caused quite a scandal.  The story that her father and aunt had circulated about her being a grieving widow already carrying her late husband's posthumous child at the time of the kidnapping had been patently disbelieved.  And then to have her disappear just when the talk was beginning to die down. . . ! Cathy's lips quivered with sudden humor.  How on earth had Lady Stanhope managed to explain that?

"My dear!" Cathy's intention of going directly upstairs without seeing her aunt came to naught as the lady herself sailed into the foyer.  Before Cathy knew quite what was happening, she was enfolded in a perfumed embrace.  She returned it rather bemusedly.  Whatever reception she had expected had certainly been nothing like this!

"Hello, Aunt Elizabeth," Cathy murmured politely when she was at last released, bestowing a gingerly peck on the rouged cheek that was presented for that purpose.  "It's good to see you."

"Oh, my dear!" Lady Stanhope's voice was filled with emotion.  Cathy blinked.  Her aunt had always been reserved to the point of hauteur, a cold, majestic lady who cared for only two things: her son, Harold, who had acceded to the title of Lord Stanhope upon the death of his hapless father, and her position in society.  Maybe she had been fonder of her only brother than Cathy had ever realized.  Certainly that was the only thing Cathy could think of that might account for this bewildering volte-face.

"I see you brought the child." Lady Stanhope's expression was odd as she seemed to see for the first time Martha holding the still sleeping Cray.  Cathy's chin went up at her tone.  To Lady Stanhope and her son, Cray would always be nothing more or less than a disgrace.  The thought made Cathy's blood boil.

"Certainly I brought my son! If it is not convenient, then we would be more than happy to put up at an inn." The words were icy.  Lady Stanhope looked taken aback.  This self-assured creature bore no resemblance to the meek young girl who had stayed beneath her roof once before!

"No, no, I wouldn't hear of it! You are very welcome! Besides, you must want to be near poor Thomas!"

Cathy considered for a moment, then inclined her head.  Lady Stanhope's slight emphasis on "you" when she said they were welcome had not escaped her.  But for the time being her father's well-being must outweigh her pride.

"Thank you, aunt.  Now, if you don't mind, I should like to see my father.  And if you would direct Sims to show Martha to a bedroom, I would be grateful.  My son, as you can see, is already asleep."

"Oh, yes, my dear, of course," Lady Stanhope agreed hastily.  Then she seemed to hesitate.  "There is a matter of some urgency that I must discuss with you, Cathy.  Perhaps we can talk first, and then you can visit Thomas.  After all, it is not as if there is anything you can do for him."

"I would rather see my father first, if you don't mind, aunt.  Whatever it is can surely wait until after that."

"Yes, yes, I suppose it can," Lady Stanhope murmured without much conviction.  "But, Cathy, there is something that should be made known to you .  .  ."

"Later, aunt, if you please," Cathy said firmly, turning away and starting up the stairs.  Martha followed with Cray, and Sims, after a questioning glance at his mistress, brought up the rear.  Lady Stanhope was left to frown thoughtfully after them.

"Miss Cathy! Oh, Miss Cathy, you came!" Mason, her father's valet for many, many years, opened the door to the green bedroom in response to her summons.  The dapper little man was beaming, his eyes suspiciously moist as he greeted the girl he had known from her cradle.  "Sir Thomas will be so pleased, Miss Cathy!"

Cathy, knowing that Mason was genuinely devoted to Sir Thomas and more than fond of herself, felt an answer...

Présentation de l'éditeur

The tempestuous saga of Lady Catherine Aldley and the pirate Jonathan Hale that began in Island Flame now continues in Sea Fire. . .

What can a beautiful captive say to a handsome, ruthless pirate?

He was her husband, her lover, the pirate who seized her body, then stole her heart.  Lady Catherine Aldley fled England to make a home with the infamous Jonathan Hale in Carolina.  But their perfect life was shattered when Cathy was summoned to England to her ailing father, and discovered that her marriage to Jonathan was a sham.  He was a wanted man, one step from the gallows.  The only way she could save him was to wed her despised cousin, to let Jonathan think she had betrayed their love.

Anything but "no."

With a price on his head and vengeance in his soul, Jon Hale led a mutiny aboard the prison ship Cristobel and recaptured his faithless wife.  Cathy could rile his blood as no other.  The fire in her eyes infuriated and beguiled him.  Cathy said she hated him, yet melted at his touch even as Jon tried to despise what he most desired.  Then fate threatened to part them forever and Jon risked his life to rescue the woman he could not live without.  .  .  .  

Bestselling, award-winning author Karen Robards once again brings us dazzling adventure and unforgettable characters in a searing saga of passion, seduction, and dangerous love.

Karen Robards is the author of twenty-two novels.  She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, their three sons, and a sizable menagerie.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Dell Pub Co
• Date d'édition: 1998
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0440221080
• ISBN 13: 9780440221081
• Reliure: Poche
• Nombre de pages: 480
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: “MK Trade” SIA; 37167807849; administracija@mktrade.lv; ; Bullu 51c; Riga; LV-1067; Lettonie