Acadia Song 04 - The Distant Beacon Read Online Free PDF

open and she was staring round-eyed at this beloved stranger who was her daughter, yet she could think of nothing to say or do.
    Father John, on the other hand, chuckled with glee. The sound was enough to lift even Nicole’s uncomfortable gaze. “Is this youth speaking the truth?” he asked.
    “I—I believe so, Grandfather.”
    He laughed even louder. “If that doesn’t beat all. The little one who leaves and is lost to us for nigh on twenty years, who then comes back, meets her uncle, and then goes off again, now returns a titled lady!” He slapped his knee. “I’ve lived to see it all, I have. I can die a happy man.”
    “Don’t say that!” When she realized her daughter had exclaimed the exact same words as well, Catherine covered her mouth. The two of them stared at each other, on the verge of laughter and tears both.
    But before they could give vent to either, the front door slammed open against the side wall. Still in his muddy riding boots, Andrew leaped across the room and gathered up his daughter in a tight embrace. He held her there for a long moment, the only sound in the room that of Father John’s chuckles.
    “Look out there, will you,” the old man said, pointing a shaky finger out the door toward the carriage mired almost to its axles before their cottage. The driver and his helper had pulled the horses over to the nearby stable for currying and a good feed. “Almost like the king himself has come for tea.”
    But Andrew seemed unaware of anything but the fact that he was holding his daughter. “Welcome home, my dear. Welcome home,” he whispered.
    Catherine felt the bands around her chest begin to ease. Leave it to her husband to see beyond the finery and receive this lovely young woman back as their very own.
    Father John smiled up at the pair of them and said, “Careful now, that’s a true viscountess you’re holding. One of them royals, she is.”
    Andrew released her enough to stare into the tearstreaked face with a trembling smile. He brushed burnished locks from her damp cheek. “Oh,” he said, “I’ve always known that. Always.”

Chapter 4
    Many more surprises followed Nicole’s arrival. On the second day, Father John had felt well enough to take his first walk through the village since the previous summer. He made his way up their lane toward the village square, Nicole to his right, holding his arm and elbow with both hands, and Gordon doing the same on his left. The two young people so towered over the bent old man that they could exchange glances and remarks over his bowed head. Catherine knew this because she watched them through her kitchen window. She saw how the two of them looked at each other, their glances lingering, and she saw the tenderness come to the young man’s stalwart features. Her little window had shown her so much of the world. It now revealed to her two new things. First, that her daughter was deeply in love yet unable to acknowledge it even to herself . And second, that when the young man departed, so too would Nicole.
    The third day’s noon meal was interrupted by a great clattering of horses and men pulling up outside their cottage. A voice Catherine recognized as one of the village boys piped loud and clear, “This here’s the cottage, your lordship, sir! Right through there.”
    “That’s a good lad. Here now, a bright new king’s shilling for your trouble.”
    Gordon was already up and moving for the door. His previous courteous and affable demeanor was gone. In its place was a man who had learned through hardship and trial to bear the mantle of command. He paused only long enough to give his military bow and say to Catherine, “Your pardon, ma’am.” He then flung open the door and cried, “I say there, what’s the meaning of this?”
    “Captain Goodwind?”
    “The same.”
    “I seek the Viscountess Lady Harrow.”
    “To what purpose, my man?”
    “I am purser to his lordship, the governor of Halifax.”
    “Of course, I