"This gown is totally in fashion. Look about ye, Conn! Every woman here is wearing as low a neckline if not lower! The queen is expecting us now, and besides I have nothing back at Greenwood I could wear. That is why I had this gown made in the first place. I believe ye are jealous, m'lord, How wonderful!"

He gritted his teeth in frustration. She was perfectly correct in everything she said, and the truth of the matter was that he was jealous. Then seeing the delight upon her face at the fact he was jealous he saw the humor in the situation, and laughed softly. He was totally prepared to be liberal in his att.i.tude toward his plain little wife, but she was no longer quite so plain in her magnificent court dress, with two of her best points more than apparent. His liberality had vanished with his realization that if he found his wife attractive then so would others. "Dammit, Aidan, couldn't ye have put a little bit of lace there?" he asked, trailing his fingers along the tops of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"No," she said with a finality in her voice that ended the matter. Then, "We will be late, my lord," she gently reminded him.

Bested he took her arm, and escorted her down the broad corridor to the receiving room where the queen would come to greet all of her guests. As they moved along amid the other courtiers several ladies called out, their tones dulcet with promise, "Conn O'Malley! Welcome!" Conn nodded noncommittally. "Conn, darling! 'Tis good to see ye!" "Oh, Conn! We've missed ye!"

"More than likely they've missed yer fine c.o.c.k," teased Aidan, and he laughed at her irreverence for the court beauties.

"My dear child, welcome back to court. Please introduce me to yer husband for I know him only by sight." Elizabeth Clinton stood before them.

Aidan curtsied politely, and Conn bowed gallantly to the Countess of Lincoln. "My lord," Aidan said formally, "may I present her ladyship, the Countess of Lincoln, to whom I am fortunate enough to be related through my mother's family. Madame, my husband, Conn St. Michael, Lord Bliss."

"I am sorry," said the countess, "that we did not get to meet before ye left court, my lord. Will ye be joining us on the summer progress? We leave in a few days' time for Long Medford."

"Alas, no, madame," said Conn politely. "We have only come to court to share with her majesty some happy news, and to thank her for wedding us. Then we must return to Pearroc Royal, my wife's health heing delicate now."

"Ahh." Elizabeth Clinton smiled, understanding without being told what the happy news would be, and obviously very happy to see her young relative had made a love match in the end. Young O'Malley had a wild reputation that she doubted not, but he was also obviously a man of principle, and with his marriage had settled down. She knew it was what the queen had hoped for after last winter's scandal.

"I am happy for ye both," she said, "and I know that her majesty will be too. She is anxious to see what her matchmaking has wrought, and I think she will be pleased with the results." Then the Countess of Lincoln gave Aidan a motherly hug, kissing her upon both cheeks, and even gave Conn a maternal buss. "Good fortune to ye both," she said, and then she moved away.

"Aidan! Uncle Conn!" The young Earl of Lynmouth hurried up to them.

"G.o.d's blood, youngster," said Conn. "Ye've grown another foot, I vow! How do ye manage it with all the running ye do here?"

Robin Southwood grinned. "I've learned how to eat and sleep on the run," he said offhandedly. Then he looked closely at Aidan. "Yer happy," he noted.

"Very happy," she answered. "Yer uncle has taken yer good advice, and treated me quite well. Why the man even admits to loving me." She smiled at the blushing Earl of Lynmouth.

"I hope he knows ye love him, and were positively cow-eyed over him from the first night ye came to court."

"Oh ho, what's this?" Conn suddenly looked fascinated.

Now it was Aidan's turn to blush, and Robin realized his error. "Yer uncle," said Aidan in an attempt to regain control of the situation, "is well aware that I love him, Robin."

"But I want to hear about the cow-eyed part," teased Conn.

"Sir!" She shook her little m.u.f.f at him. "Will ye leave me no secrets?"

He slipped his arm about her, and quickly kissed her cheek. "Nay, sweeting. There'll be no secrets between us ever. 'Tis not healthy for a marriage."

"My lord, I ask you nothing of what went on in yer life with regard to other ladies before we wed. Ye, in return, must not ask me about my cow-eyed state before we wed."

He chuckled. "Very well, madame. In the interest of discretion I am forced to agree."

"I was sent to bring ye to the queen's private closet," said Robin. "We must hurry for she'll wonder where we are."

Lord and Lady Bliss followed the young earl from the receiving room, and down a corridor, and up a flight, of stairs to the queen's apartments which overlooked the river. Entering she and Conn were warmly greeted by the girls who had been her companions just several months back.

"Aidan!" Linnet Talbot squealed. "Ye look positively gorgeous! That gown must have cost a fortune!"

"It did," said Aidan with a laugh. "How are ye, Linnet?" She smiled at the girl, and her smile took in the other young ladies she had known during her stay at court. "Mary, Dorothy, Jane Anne, Cathy," she named them. "And who is this young lady? My replacement, I presume."

"Yes," said Linnet. "This is Bess Throckmorton, the sister of Sir Nicholas."

"Mistress Throckmorton." Aidan smiled at the serious young girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen.

Mistress Throckmorton curtsied politely.

"I'll tell the queen yer here," said Robin, and he hurried off.

Aidan smiled again. "I don't believe any of ye have ever been formally introduced to my husband, Lord Bliss," she said.

The queen's six maids of honor curtsied to Conn who bowed in return to them. Then Linnet, ever bold, said, "Sweet Mary! He's as gorgeous close up as he is at a distance. No wonder ye retired to the country. I wouldn't want to share him either!"

"Linnet!" Mistress Throckmorton looked shocked, but Aidan laughed.

"He's even better without his clothes," she teased Linnet, and casting quick looks at Lord Bliss, the queen's maids of honor burst into laughter, even Bess Throckmorton.

"Ye've changed," remarked Linnet Talbot, "and I think it's for the better."

" 'Tis all due to me," Conn said mischievously. "I've made my la.s.s bloom."

"Well," said Linnet matter-of-factly, "yer marriage made her the envy of every lady at court who ever coveted ye, my lord. Have ye come back to join us this summer?"

"Nay," said Conn to the girl, but before she might question him further Robin returned to bring them into the queen's private closet.

The queen was seated in a comfortable chair, clad in a pale blue chamber robe embroidered with pearls. Behind her one of her women was brushing her fading reddish locks. Both Conn and Aidan made a deep obeisance to Elizabeth Tudor, and as they slowly rose she gave them one of her rare smiles.

"How happy ye both look," she said with just a hint of sadness in her own voice. "Come and sit by me, my dears, and tell me yer news."

It was a special invitation for the queen did not invite everyone to sit by her. One of the Ladies of the Bedchamber brought forth two stools, and set them before the queen. Conn and Aidan sat.

"We wanted to come personally to thank ye, yer majesty, for our happiness," said Aidan. "Had it not been for ye we should have never found each other."

Elizabeth's eyes misted. She conveniently forgot the embarra.s.sing circ.u.mstances that had forced her to find a wife for Conn, and she seemed to have forgotten that it was Aidan who had boldly put herself forth as a candidate, in fact the only logical candidate, for Conn's hand. She reached out to take Aidan's hand. "Dear child, I am so happy that in keeping my word to yer dying father, I have also been able to make ye happy, too. Is this wicked rogue good to ye?"

Aidan smiled a smile of such genuine happiness that even before she a.s.sented, "Aye, he is," the queen knew the answer.

"And ye, Conn O'Malley! Yer pardon, Conn St. Michael, my lord Bliss. Are ye happy also?"

"Aye, Bess. As always ye knew better than I what was right for me."

The queen preened beneath his honest flattery. "I want ye both to join us on this summer's progress," she said. "Marriage seems to agree with ye, Conn. I can see in yer eyes that ye've settled down."

"Bess, 'tis a gracious invitation, graciously given, but I would beg yer permission to decline it. We have happy news that we came to share with ye, and 'twas our main reason for coming back to court." He put his hand over the queen's and Aidan's. "My wife," he said, "is with child. The babe is due next winter.*'

"We would be so honored," said Aidan, "if ye would agree to be our child's G.o.dmother, madame."

This was the kind of thing that Elizabeth Tudor loved. Her own single state had often made her bitter toward those who found marital happiness, and had children of their own; but in the case of her involvement in a romance she could be all graciousness. Thus it was with Conn and Aidan. She had been responsible for their marriage, and it worked out well. She was delighted to accept the credit for it all, for did it not show her own foresight and her wisdom? Now there was to be a fruit of that marriage, and once again she was to be included, indeed play a major role in the drama.

Conn and Aidan had actually come upon the queen at a rather fortunate time. A French marriage was once again being discussed, this time with Catherine de'Medici's youngest son, Francois, Duc d'Alencon. Elizabeth was in a particularly good humor. She had spent the month of May at Wanstead House, which belonged to her favorite of favorites, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. It had been an idyllic time for her among people she loved, and who loved her. She had had another portrait painted, this time in the gardens at Wanstead standing upon an Oriental rug, wearing a white gown embroidered with sprays of flowers and leaves, colored in their natural colors.

She had returned for only a short time to Greenwich, and would in less than a week be off on her summer progress which would this year take her into the county of Norfolk, ending at the city of Norwich in East Anglia. She was to meet with the Duc d'Alencon's agents, Monsieur de Bocqueville and Monsieur de Quincy, at Long Medford, and she was very excited. Not by the thought of marriage for Elizabeth had no intention of marrying, particularly a young prince but half her age; but she did look forward to the negotiations, and the wooing that would be involved. It had been suggested that Monsieur, as the Duc d'Alencon was called, might come to England. This would be a first in all the marriage negotiations that Elizabeth had lived through, and the idea frankly appealed to her. It was just one more springtime fling before her old age set in, for at forty-five, the queen of England was hardly in her prime.

"Will ye, madame?" Aidan was looking anxiously at her. "Will ye be our child's G.o.dmother?"

"Of course, my dearest country mouse," said the queen in her best maternal fashion. "It is I who shall be honored to be your heir's G.o.dmother. I am touched that ye would even think to ask me."

"Whom else should we ask but the one responsible for all our happiness," replied Aidan with deep sincerity, and Conn once again felt total admiration for his wife.

"Madame," said one of the queen's women, "it is time to prepare ye."

"Of course," said the queen, and she stood. "Go now, my dears, and have a wonderful time with us for the next few days. I shall regret the loss of yer company this summer, but I realize how delicate a woman's health may be with her first child, and how very much it will mean to Aidan to be safely in her home at Pearroc Royal. I shall come there next winter for my G.o.dchild's christening."

Lord and Lady Bliss arose, and bowing to the queen a final time backed from her private closet, and out into the antechamber.

Chapter 6.

They had stayed in London only four days, and then Conn had insisted that they return home to Pearroc Royal. They had attended two masques, and gone to the bear gardens but for once that particular sport sickened Aidan greatly. She had begun to be ill in the mornings to her discomfort, but Conn considered it a wonderful sign, a sign of a healthy son.

"If," she said to him acidly their final morning in London, and having just lost her breakfast into a basin, "ye felt as wretched as I do, ye would not be so full of glee about sons!" She rinsed her mouth with lukewarm minted water, and spit it into the basin.

Picking her up Conn settled her gently back into their bed. "Don't fret, sweeting. In a few weeks ye'll feel better, I'm bound."

Aidan eyed him with a slightly jaundiced look, and curling onto her side went back to sleep as Conn tiptoed, a huge grin upon his face, from the room. He was, however, concerned that she travel in comfort, and so he decided to send their coaches, both personal and baggage, on ahead of them while he and Aidan traveled by barge upon the river. Aidan was delighted with the idea, and strangely felt much better as they glided along the water than she did upon the land.

The weather was perfect for such a venture, the skies were bright, clear blue, and totally cloudless; the sun warm and bright. There was just the faintest hint of a breeze, so light in fact that it did not even ruffle the surface of the upper river. Greenwood's staff of bargemen were delighted for the opportunity to get out of London. Since Lord and Lady de Marisco were banished to Queen's Malvern, and young Lord Bliss and his wife were living out of London, too, there was little for them to do. Indeed they considered themselves fortunate to be employed at all with no one living permanently at Greenwood. Sometimes guests of their master and mistress used the house, and then they kept busy; or perhaps the young Earl of Lynmouth needed their services; but in general the last few months had heen quiet. They rowed smoothly along, enjoying the weather every bit as much as their pa.s.sengers.

Aidan found the barge enormously comfortable for she was able to stretch out and doze far more easily than she was in the coach. They glided along pa.s.sing all other sorts of river traffic, barges filled with freight, fishing vessels, ferries, and other private conveyances. The countryside was in lush full bloom, and there was so much to see that she grew tired with the variety. Along the banks of the river they pa.s.sed cottages and great houses, children splashing in the heat of the midafternoon, washerwomen busily scrubbing, the clean linens spread over the nearby bushes drying in the hot sun, fishermen hauling in their catch.

Conn had taken off his doublet, and unb.u.t.toned his shirt in the warmth, an idea Aidan had followed, removing her bodice, and opening the neck of her silk chemise. Although there was a helmsman at the stern of the barge he had no view of their open-sided cabin, the roof of it blocking him; and as for the oarsmen, their backs were to their pa.s.sengers. It allowed them a goodly measure of privacy. Sprawling next to his wife Conn could not help but be aroused by her tempting state. The waistband of her skirt was loosened for her comfort and he unlaced her chemise to her navel as she dozed. For a long while he watched her, fascinated, intrigued by her perfection of form. Then as he began to fondle one breast, he bent his dark head to encircle the other nipple with his tongue.

"Ummmm," she murmured sleepily, as heavy-lidded she opened her eyes for a moment. Then she closed them again, and her fingers began to caress his neck. He nipped gently at the nipple, and then he sucked upon it, setting her blood aboil for her nipples were more sensitive now than she had ever known them to be. "Conn," she whispered frantically, "don't! Ye make me want ye!" In answer he drew her hand down to where he throbbed, already hard and long.

"I want ye to want me, sweeting," he whispered back, and then without even taking his mouth from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s he reached over to draw the drapes about their enclosure.

Her cheeks flamed at his daring, and she could still not believe that he meant to take her here, in their barge, with just thin velvet curtains separating them from the entire world. He fondled both her plump treasures noticing for the first time that Aidan's pink nipples were now more of a deep rose in color. His hands were making her feel totally shameless, and she squirmed beneath his delicious touch.

"Roll onto yer side, Aidan," he murmured in her ear sending a p.r.i.c.kle of shivers down her spine.

When she had complied she could feel him raising her skirts and bunching them about her waist. Then he was pulling her back against him, and to her great surprise she felt his manhood seek and finding her pa.s.sage, fill it with his warm, pulsing length. "Ohhh," the breath was forced from her, and he laughed softly.

"There is a lot I can teach ye, sweeting," he murmured against her cheek, kissing her softly. "This saves ye from having to bear my weight against yer thighs right now. I don't want to injure the babe."

That was a revelation for she had wondered what they would do when she grew big; but right now all she knew was that he was moving inside her, and it was wonderful. She pushed against him, and catching her rhythm he was able to remove his hands from her hips, and occupy them more profitably with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s again. As the feelings of pa.s.sion began to mount within her Aidan bit hard on her lower lip to keep from shrieking aloud. He excited her unbearably, the situation which they were in excited her, and her breath came in fierce little pants as their fulfillment approached. Then with exquisite timing, and at the precise moment of their mutual pa.s.sion, Conn swiftly covered her mouth with one hand, grunting with surprise as her teeth sank into the lower heel of his palm. For several long moments they shuddered with their meeting, and then he removed his hand which she quickly caught back, and kissed where her teeth had marked him. Gently he drew her skirts down, and opening the draperies upon one side of the barge allowed the faint breeze within.

She was feeling wonderful, Aidan thought. Her whole body was relaxed, the breeze drying the light sheen of wetness that covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "What a learned man ye are, my husband," she said with total understatement. "I hope ye have more such lessons, and surprises in store for me." She rolled over onto her back, and looked up at him.

d.a.m.n, he thought, how pretty she's become. Is it me, or is it the babe, or perhaps a little of both? In either case he felt humbled. He smiled down on her. "Oh, Aidan, my love," he said, "I have the world to show ye, and we've a long and lovely lifetime in which to enjoy it!" Then he kissed her, feeling her lips part to take his tongue in her mouth. How sweetly eager she was still, and he adored her for it. Her eyes grew heavy again, and he watched her as she dozed thinking again as he had each day over the last few months, how very lucky he was to have found her.

The Greenwood House barge traveled slightly north of the city of Oxford where Lord and Lady Bliss once again took pa.s.sage in their coach. They were almost halfway home at that point, and so those last miles didn't seem so terrible as the carriage bounced along the summer-dusty roads.

They arrived at Pearroc Royal to find that little Velvet de Marisco's betrothal would be taking place the following week. Conn's youngest niece was to be married when she reached sixteen years of age to the heir of the Earl of BrocCairn, young Alexander Gordon. He and his father, Angus, would be arriving in a few days from their home, Dun Broc, in the highlands to the west of Aberdeen.

Angus Gordon was an old friend of Adam de Marisco. The two had been boys together in France where the earl had gone both to study, and to serve for a time his half-sister, the little Queen of Scots, who was married to the young and frail French king. As boys they had spoken of one day uniting their families by marriage, and now the dream was to become fact with the official betrothal of Adam's five-year-old daughter, Velvet, and Angus' fifteen-year-old son, Alex.

Skye had not been happy with the possibility of an arranged marriage. Her first marriage had been such, and it had been a disaster from the beginning. She wanted her daughters to marry well, but she also wanted them to marry for love. She had attained this wish with her eldest daughter, Willow, who was married to James Edwardes, the personable young Earl of Alcester. She wanted the same good fortune for her other two daughters, Dierdre Burke and Velvet de Marisco. Still in all she disliked going against her husband, and so she had agreed to the match on the proviso that if when Velvet grew up she was unhappy with her parents' arrangement, she need not abide by it, but rather seek her own heart's desire.

Although her house would be full, it was a large house, and so Skye had insisted that Conn and Aidan remain overnight during the festivities, particularly when she learned of Aidan's condition.

"I'm so happy for ye," she said hugging her sister-in-law. "It seems to be a year for babies. Willow is due next month, and yer babe will come in the winter. Both my eldest sons were born in winter. We'll ask my sister Eibhlin to come from Ireland if she can, to look after ye. Has Conn told ye of Eibhlin?"

"The doctoring nun? Aye, and I'm truly anxious to meet her for I've never heard of a woman doctor."

"She's quite amazing," Skye said. "Our Da had eleven living children, and there are four of us considered not right by our siblings. Me, of course, for I dared to accept the responsibility of the entire family when my father died. My elder sisters, but Eibhlin, never forgave me it. Eibhlin herself who chose to become a nun, and then refused to be cloistered, but instead runs about the countryside caring for the sick. Michael who became a priest when he might have gone off to sea, and become a freebooter like our Da, and of course, Conn, who chose to find a future in England instead of fighting the English!" She laughed. " 'Tis quite a family ye've married into, Aidan."

Queen's Malvern began to fill up with Skye's children. From Ireland came her eldest son, Ewan O'Flaherty, his wife, Gwen, and their children. Ewan's brother, Murrough, arrived home from a voyage, and stopping in Devon to collect his wife, Joan, who was Gwen's sister, brought her and their children. Willow, enormous with her first pregnancy, but blooming with pride and happiness, came with her husband. From court came the two half-brothers, Robin Southwood, the Earl of Lynmouth, and Lord Padraic Burke. Padraic's elder sister, Deirdre, might also have gone to court, but Deirdre had no desire to do so, preferring to remain by her mother's side instead. Now they all a.s.sembled for the betrothal of their youngest sister, and the boys teased Deirdre that their little sister would be wed long before she would.

Usually quiet Deirdre looked to the Earl of BrocCairn, and his son, and said with foresight, "I would not be happy marrying a man like Alexander Gordon. He is too fierce for me. I want a quiet man, a gentle man."

Aidan put her arm about her young niece. "I think ye speak with much wisdom for such a little la.s.s," she said looking at young Alexander Gordon.

He was an arrogant-looking boy, tall and lanky with a shock of dark hair, and amber-gold eyes. He spoke English carefully, with measured tones, but a distinct Scots accent. He was educated, attending the university of Aberdeen, but he had never been out of Scotland before although his father did mention something about future schooling in France as he had had.

The betrothal was celebrated just within the immediate family including Sir Robert Small and his sister, Dame Cecily. The Ma.s.s was currently forbidden, but none of the servants at Queen's Malvern, most of whom were old church, would have informed on the de Mariscos, or their priest, a young French relation who was much beloved in the district. The tiny bride-to-be was adorable in a pale rose silk gown, a wreath of wild pink roses in her auburn hair. She was very proud that even given her youth she was able to sign her own name to the legal doc.u.ment right next to that of her bridegroom.

Aidan watched the couple with some amus.e.m.e.nt, and thought how glad she was that her father hadn't betrothed her young. Alex was embarra.s.sed by the display of affection being made over him, and the little girl who would be his wife someday. Looking at her he could not imagine her grown, a state he believed he had already attained. In an effort to be friendly he had offered the little maid some sweetmeat. She had taken it from him, lisping her thanks, and then with a strangely adult glance at him from beneath her lashes she had hurried back to the protection of her mother's lap.

It had been a short affair, lasting only a day for Angus Gordon's only daughter was being married in a few weeks' time, and he had left both her, and his wife behind in Scotland during troubled times in order to quickly come south to see the betrothal of his heir. It was also not particularly wise to leave his holding without its lord. The morning after the betrothal saw the Earl of BrocCairn and his son ride north, but not before an exciting end to the previous day when Skye's daughter Willow went into early labor and delivered her first baby, a healthy, squalling boy, who because of the unusual circ.u.mstances of his birth, was baptized immediately with the newly betrothed couple standing as G.o.dparents.

As they rode back across the fields to their own home the following afternoon Aidan was still laughing over all the excitement that young Willow had caused, and how her sister-in-law, usually totally in control, had been visibly shaken by her daughter's ordeal.

"I can't believe it," said Conn for what seemed the hundredth time. "I never thought to see Skye get so upset. She's had enough babies of her own."

"But this was her baby having a baby," replied Aidan. "It's one thing to suffer yer own pain, but to see yer child suffering is a completely different matter. I am only to be a mother, but already I understand these things."

He reached over and took her hand as their two mounts plodded placidly along. "I love ye," he said quietly. "I love ye very much."

They rode across a field of yellow yarrow, and up a very gently sloping hillock. Stopping a moment upon its crest they gazed down upon Pearroc Royal, peaceful in the late-afternoon sunlight. The camomile lawn was neatly cropped, and looked like a piece of pale green velvet spread out about the house. The gardens were a riot of bright color, and upon the estate lake waterfowl swam serenely upon the untroubled waters. On one side of the lake there remained the small forest that was home to the deer of Pearroc Royal, and as they watched a doe with her twin fawns came out of the woods to drink in the lake. No words pa.s.sed between Conn and his wife. None were necessary. They simply sat quietly smiling at each other, then looking back down upon their unruffled little world. Finally the horses began to stir restlessly beneath them and they began the easy descent to the manor house.