Virginian Lover Read online

  She never reached him. When she paused for food at an inn near Greenwich she discovered, to her dismay, Henry Martin in the stableyard.

  'What the devil? How do you come to be here?'

  Too exhausted to attempt to escape Bella glared at him.

  'I won't go with that fiend!'

  'That is what you think! I've not paid him to take you to Virginia to have you back on my hands. Ostler! My horse, at once!'

  The weary return to London began. Bella almost fell from her horse when they eventually reached the inn she had left so short a time before. She went dully with Henry as he pushed her into the taproom.

  'Mr. Sutton,' he demanded loudly. The landlord shook his head.

  'He's gone. The ship sailed first thing on the tide.'

  For a second Bella's hopes revived. Her hated husband had left England, he had not waited for her, or wanted her enough to stay behind and try to find her.

  'Are you Mr Henry Martin?' the landlord was asking. 'I remember you were with him last night. He left a letter for you. I was to send it on.'

  He proffered a sheet of grubby paper and Henry, tight lipped, nodded his thanks as he tore at the seal. He scanned the contents quickly and swore softly and fluently.

  'Damn him! He's gone, and says you may follow or not as you wish. The coward, they'd not have caught up with him so soon. You'll go on the very next ship and don't think you can escape me,' he added, swinging round to Bella, who had slumped wearily against a table. 'For the moment you'll have to return to Clifford Manor but I'll see to it that you don't have any opportunity of getting away again.'

  'He's gone?' Bella asked, ignoring his threats. All she could understand in her weariness was that she was safe for a while from Edward Sutton's lusts.

  'Yes, the fool! He was afraid that the Carters would be after him. He's bold enough when there's no danger, your precious husband, but he won't risk his neck. Come, you've cost me enough time. We'll return to Clifford Manor and you can see what changes I intend to make there.'

  Chapter 2

  The Boar's Head, a small and decrepit-looking tavern, crouched beneath the walls of the Tower of London, a few yards away from the river itself. It was a place where seamen snatched a respite from their rigorous duties on board ship, and where travellers, wishing to sample just once more the comforts of home before embarking on the dangerous adventure of a sea voyage, halted for a last tankard of ale. Travellers disembarking at Tower Wharf, after one look at the unprepossessing exterior of the Boar's Head, usually shuddered and made their way further into the City before halting for refreshment in surroundings more congenial for celebrating a safe landing.

  Adam Tarrant and his servant rode slowly through Aldgate, past the gallows on Tower Hill, towards the tavern. They were on the verge of departure from England, a fact that caused Daniel Fletcher considerable satisfaction, while his master hovered between regret for a lost way of life and anticipation at returning to the new one he had carved out for himself on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean.

  They dismounted and Adam handed the reins of the horse, a sturdy but ancient hired beast, to Daniel.

  'Come and join me when you have stabled them,' he said. Daniel had served his master for almost twenty years now, since Adam was a lad of fourteen, and was more friend than servant. Such invitations were commonplace.

  Adam stood for a moment looking up at the massive walls of the Tower, a wry smile on his handsome face. It had been the threat of incarceration in that forbidding fortress which had originally sent him overseas. He had thought at the time that if it had not been for his mother's pleas, he would have risked remaining in England, but now she was dead he could review his decision. And he realized it was not fear of King James's wrath that had persuaded him to return but an anxiety to resume the task of wresting a fortune from the lush soils but difficult new colony of Virginia.

  He turned to enter the low doorway of the inn, but paused again. Another party of travellers had arrived and a man of about his own age was assisting a woman carrying a child down from a horse where she had been riding pillion. Another woman sat on her own horse, drooping in the saddle and taking no heed of what went on around her. When the man turned and brusquely bade her dismount she raised her head to look about her as if aware of her surroundings for the first time.

  Adam's eyes narrowed appreciatively. She was a vastly pretty creature, he thought, and if her figure, at the moment concealed by the green velvet cloak she wore, was in any way comparable to her face she would be the loveliest visitor this wretched tavern had ever seen. About seventeen years old, she had big brown eyes, slanting upwards in a fascinating way and fringed with thick curling lashes. Her creamy-complexioned face was oval, framed in ringlets of a rich red-brown shade, and one look at her enchantingly red lips made Adam long to kiss them.

  Her escort lifted her down from the saddle and as he did so her cloak caught on the pommel. Her figure, Adam noted with satisfaction, appeared to match her face. She had an elegant slender waist, and he caught a glimpse of enticingly swelling breasts, as well as the suggestion of long and shapely thighs under the thin stuff of her gown. A slender ankle peeped from beneath her skirts, and the hand she rested momentarily on her escort's shoulder was long-fingered and delicate.

  Adam stood aside while they entered the tavern and then followed them, idly speculating on the relationships of the travellers. The man and the older woman might be married, he supposed, for they were of an age, yet they were hardly old enough to be the parents of the young charmer. The thought that the enchanting young girl might be the man's wife he thrust away from him distastefully, hoping the similar colouring of their hair denoted a blood relationship.

  Smiling a little to himself at his concern he followed them inside, finding a stool a little distance away from where they had seated themselves about a small table. The older woman was occupied with the child, who did not appear to appreciate his surroundings. Adam, looking about him at the low, crowded room, filled with noise and smoke and the odours of unwashed bodies and stale food, silently agreed. It was an unlikely setting for such a jewel as the girl, and the most probable explanation was that they were about to set off on a similar voyage to his own. If by some good fortune they were on the same vessel Adam knew he would contrive to know the girl better.

  Unobtrusively he watched them. The girl appeared listless and apparently unaware of the suggestive remarks made by several of the sailors nearby. The older woman had flushed angrily and said something to the man. Then she shrugged and turned her attention back to the child when he gave her an abrupt and apparently unsatisfactory answer. They were too far away for Adam to hear what was being said over the talk and laughter around him, and he permitted his thoughts to revert to his own affairs.

  *

  'It is but a short time and you will come to no harm. Alice is no shrinking maiden to fear the jests of a couple of sailors, and they won't rape you in the pot room,' Henry was saying, chuckling thickly.

  'You are a villain, Henry Martin!' Alice cut in angrily.

  He raised his hand as if to strike her, and then sank back into the corner of the settle, shrugging.

  'I've told you a dozen times already that my name is Clifford,' he replied through pursed lips.

  'So you say,' Alice sniffed. 'Your mother was a Martin and never claimed aught else!'

  Henry flushed a dull red.

  'I have explained the reasons for that and they have been accepted by those who matter. Take care, woman, not to miscall me, or you'll go with your precious infant after all.'

  'He means it, Alice,' Bella said quietly, and clenched her hands tightly as Henry laughed in triumph.

  In an effort to still the turbulence of her emotions, so tightly held in check, she glanced through her lowered lashes at the man who had been at the door of the tavern when they had arrived. If Edward had been like him she would not perhaps have railed so fiercely against the cruel fate that had so unexpectedly overtaken her. The strang
er was better dressed than the rest of the customers, and exceedingly handsome, tall, with broad shoulders and a slim but muscular figure. His hair was blond and his eyes, of an especially deep blue, looked kind. She doubted whether he would treat a woman as Edward had treated her.

  *

  One of the inn servants approached Adam and handed him a sheet of paper which he scanned quickly, a frown in his eyes.

  'We sail alone,' he told the manservant bitterly when Daniel rejoined him. 'My so-called friends have changed their minds. I had thought Thomas more reliable, I did not expect him to retract from the venture. One discovers one's true friends when one is out of favour!'

  'He must have heard discouraging tales of Jamestown,' Daniel replied soothingly. 'There's plenty told in England.'

  Adam shrugged. 'It's hard, yes, and many have lost their lives. But we are far more fortunate than the first settlers. We have houses and the town is well protected.'

  'Safer than here in England,' Daniel muttered, and Adam grinned affectionately at him, his good humour restored.

  'You're an old woman, Daniel,' he chided. 'You've not ceased worrying all the time we've been in England.'

  'And still am, Master Adam! I'll not rest until we're on board ship.'

  'The Tower will not hold me this time,' Adam replied confidently.

  As he spoke the man with the unknown beauty pulled at her arm, forcing her to stand up. Maintaining a firm grip on her, almost, Adam thought, as though she were a felon, he pushed her in front of him to the door. She cast an anguished look at the older woman, who followed with the child, deftly slapping away the bold hand of a sailor who sat near the door.

  Adam rose casually from his seat and strolled out of the room, causing Daniel to protest in surprise then, realizing that his master had not heard him, he hurriedly drained both half-empty tankards and ran after Adam who was standing just outside the tavern doorway, watching with an odd expression a group of travellers moving towards the landing steps.

  *

  Henry had Bella in a firm grip, but she tried to wriggle free.

  'I'll not go!' she gasped, and almost cried out as he twisted her arm painfully.

  'You're wed, and your place is with your husband. It's a wonder he's still willing to take you after what you did!'

  'His letter said he didn't care,' Bella said angrily.

  'But I do. I've paid him to take you, and I'll not keep you here. I've allowed you to take Alice, despite the extra cost. Edward can claim more land for her, so he'll not care.'

  'If I promise not to fight your claim, will you let us stay?'

  'I'd not trust you a handspan away from me in England. That was what you intended when you came back to Kent, wasn't it? It was fortunate for me that we met on the road.'

  'I'd keep out of your way. I could work to support Toby.'

  'I offered you that choice, and you preferred marriage.'

  'You said you'd put Toby in a home for foundlings.'

  'Enough! You are going to Virginia.' Bella subsided, but when they came to the top of the steps and she saw the small boat waiting below that would finally sever her from England, she halted once more.

  'Alice, run,' she called, and kicked Henry on the shin, trying to free herself from his grasp.

  She almost won free, but Henry was too strong for her, and clung to one arm. Alice, after a startled movement, had paused and was looking on, shaking her head sorrowfully.

  'It's to no avail, Miss Bella,' she said soothingly, and with the help of the waiting boatman clambered into the boat. Henry pushed Bella into it, and followed, all the while keeping a tight hold on her.

  'It'll not be so bad when you're used to it,' Alice whispered consolingly. 'At least you've got me and Master Toby still.'

  Shuddering as she recalled her husband's attack on their bridal night, Bella doubted if she could ever again suffer to have his hands on her, but the opportunity for escape had passed, and she was determined to show no more weakness. Somehow, she vowed, either before they reached Virginia, or when they arrived, she would contrive to escape from her detested marriage. She concentrated on the multitude of boats surrounding them.

  It was a chaotic scene. A dozen or more tall, brightly painted, three-masted ships towered above them, hordes of sailors clambering about in the rigging and calling to one another as they prepared to sail on the turning tide. Some sails already flapped in position, and Bella's ears were assailed by the noises of canvas slapping against the ropes and the wood, the shouts of the sailors, the creaking of spars, and as a constant background to these more distinct sounds, the muted rumbles of the river itself and the piercing screams of the gulls as they searched for food. Beneath the tall ships darted a throng of lesser boats, carrying passengers and cargo, or delicacies which were meant to entice the voyagers into last minute purchases: boats in continual risk of being crushed between their mightier brethren.

  Toby bounced up and down on Alice's lap, pointing eagerly and stumbling over the few words he knew as he strove to express his excitement. Alice herself was uncharacteristically silent and suddenly, as a bigger than normal wave hit their small craft awkwardly she thrust Toby at Bella.

  'Take him, Miss Bella!' she gasped, and leaned over the side of the boat in considerable distress. The boatman laughed unfeelingly.

  'If that's the way it takes you now, you'd best come home wi' me,' he offered, leering. Bella glared at him.

  'Be silent, you heartless oaf!' she snapped.

  Alice gradually recovered her countenance, although she looked exceptionally pale. She was able to scramble up the ladder hanging from the deck, and assured Bella, anxiously following her, that she felt much better to be on a larger vessel.

  'I'd like to lie down, though,' she admitted, and Bella turned to Henry.

  'Well, you have succeeded. Where is our cabin?'

  He laughed. 'I paid Edward for your cabins on his ship. This voyage you'll travel in the hold.'

  He beckoned to a sailor who grinned when he heard the instructions and cast a sly look at Bella.

  'This way, Mistress,' he said.

  'Don't think to disembark, my dear,' Henry warned. 'I'll be waiting until the boat sails, and this good fellow will know what to do if you are foolish.'

  Bella turned away with a toss of her head. Carrying Toby, and giving what assistance she could to Alice, she found it difficult to follow the man along the deck which was strewn with coiled ropes, barrels, crates and pens full of noisily indignant livestock. When they reached a narrow ladder leading down to the lower deck she had to ask for help. After he had guided Alice's faltering steps down the ladder the sailor came back and took Toby out of Bella's arms.

  *

  Below deck it was cramped and stuffy, but the sailor led them to a hatch and down another ladder, into the gloomy hold. Bella looked around her. It was not so dark as she had at first thought. A few candles had been lit, and she could see that there were dozens of people crammed together. Some sat still, bewildered, but many of them were busy arranging their belongings, contriving islands of limited privacy with improvised hangings attached to the vast beams of the ship. Seeing Bella hesitate, a skinny woman gestured to them.

  'There's space beyond us where the three of you could squeeze in,' she suggested, and Bella stepped forward with a word of thanks.

  Behind the curtaining the woman had already hung up was a small triangular space, awkward to get at because of an enormous rib of the ship which was at an angle to the others. Bella nodded with satisfaction, however. The rib would act as a barrier to prevent Toby from straying, and there was just enough room for the three of them to lie down. The boxes which Alice had packed were brought down by the sailor who had shown them the way, and while Alice, overcome, sank down to the floor, Bella struggled to unpack a few necessities.

  'Oh, Miss Bella! I'm that ashamed. I'll be better shortly, and able to help you.'

  'Of course,' Bella said bracingly. 'Father – ' her voice broke, but with an immense
effort she managed to continue, ' – used to say that everyone grew accustomed to the motion of the ship eventually. And doubtless it will be smoother than that ridiculous small boat.'

  Soon Alice fell asleep on an improvised mattress, and Toby, worn out by the long journey he had had, curled up beside her.

  Bella was left with her uneasy thoughts for company. Would she really be able to escape her husband? And how could she and Alice, burdened with a young child, cope in a raw and undeveloped land without a man? Bella gritted her teeth. No man would ever use her again. Instead, she would do her utmost to turn their weaknesses to her own advantage. She would need to be cunning, to pit her wits against theirs, but now, when the sharp grief of her father's death had softened to a dull ache, she would make no more mistakes such as the one which had put her into the power of Edward Sutton.

  What would Virginia be like? she wondered. Tales she had heard of the new colony had been frightening. A large majority of the earliest settlers had died, and the few survivors had a hard task to wrest a living from a so far inhospitable land. Some merchants, the Virginia Company of London, determined to win profits from the venture, had offered so much land per person as an inducement to settlers. Edward had agreed to marry her and to take her brother partly because of the dowry Henry had offered, and partly because with them he would be able to claim a larger grant. He had been forced to leave England hurriedly for some reason Bella still had not discovered.

  When Bella had once more fallen into Henry's power he, determined that she must not contest his claim to her father's lands, had locked her up until he had been able to arrange another passage, and she had not dared make another attempt to escape while Toby was at his mercy.

  At the thought of her home, seen for the last time that morning silhouetted against the rising sun, a lump rose in Bella's throat. She had been so happy there, in that comfortable manor house built just over a century ago. Then her mother had died when Toby was born, and youthful joy had been at an end. The death of her father had been another crushing blow, and before she knew what was happening her half-brother Henry had produced those papers to show that his mother had been married to Sir John Clifford after all, and he was therefore the legitimate heir.