Love's Odyssey Read Online Free PDF

wife?"
    She blinked in surprise. Marry Adrien?
    "My prospects are not of the best," he said, gazing over her head. "William, my half brother, has the title, and I have no money. In any case, I am now out of favor at court. I'm afraid I've little to offer you except my name. The Montgomerys are an old and respected family."
    Is this how Englishmen proposed marriage? Adrien was so formal, so distant, as though they were strangers. She hadn't known him long, true, but after what they'd been through together, she felt she'd known him for years.
    Or had felt that. She'd never seen this Adrien. "I—I must think on it," she managed to say. She held out her hand, but either he didn't see the gesture or he chose to ignore it. Romell drew back.
    "I have no money, you understand," she said, "My uncle spoke of a dowry but now—"
    "You can count on nothing from your uncle's estate."
    "Sir Thomas was to pay me the monies from the sale of my father's lands in Virginia," she said.
    Adrien shook his head. "King Charles will allow no crumbs to escape. All Sir Thomas's assets, including anything due you, will be confiscated by the crown. But I expect no dowry. I should consider it an honor to protect you as my wife."
    What should I say? Romell thought wildly. I have no way to return to Virginia. I can seek sanctuary with these Dutch cousins my father didn't care for, but will they welcome me? Do they even know I exist?
    Her only other choice was to marry Adrien Montgomery. He wanted her as his wife, or he wouldn't have asked for her hand. And she admired him as well as— Romell felt herself flush again.
    "I—I will be proud to be your wife," she stammered. "But how shall we live if neither of us has any money?"
    "I'll find a way. They always need mercenaries on the continent."
    Romell frowned. "A soldier for hire? Would you care to do such a thing?"
    Adrien turned his gaze on her then and she saw anger smoldering in his eyes. "Necessity provides a keen goad."
    She bit her lip, then brightened, reaching out to touch his sleeve. "I know—we could go to Virginia! My father emigrated to the colonies with no money and did very well before he died. Why shouldn't we do as well? Oh, Adrien, Virginia is a lovely land! I miss it so. You can't help but be charmed by—"
    Romell's hand dropped from his arm. Why was he so angry? She hadn't been the one to propose marriage.
    "There is no money for our passage. Even if there were, I don't care to live in a raw land, among savages." His words were clipped.
    She stared down at her clasped hands.
    "I'll arrange for food to be sent to you," Adrien said. "Naturally, I shan't remain in your cabin, under the circumstances. Once we're in Amsterdam, I'll find a dominie to say the vows."
    Romell fought down the urge to beg him not to leave her alone. She raised her chin and looked him in the eye. "I shall be glad of victuals, thank you."
    He nodded curtly and left the cabin.
    Romell sat on the bunk again, her head in a whirl. She was to be Adrien's wife in a matter of hours. Is that what she wanted? Her lips curved into a wistful smile.
    She'd always thought to wed for love. Was that what, on seeing Adrien, the leap in her breast meant? The tingling when she touched him? This tiny fire deep inside her that flared when she recalled what had happened between them?
     
    Lines from a poem by Ben Jonson, which she had read at Three Oaks, came to her; she remembered Sir Thomas telling her the poet had been a favorite of King Charles's father, James:
     
    The thing they here call love, is blind Desire,
    Armed with bow, shafts and fire,
    Inconstant like the sea, of whence 'tis borne,
    Rough, swelling, like a storm . . .
     
    Ah, then, but might not desire lead to love? Adrien was so handsome and he was certainly brave. She'd never known any man like him. Did he love her? Romell frowned. She took a deep breath and got to her feet. She must find Adrien and talk to him. They'd marry--he'd asked and she'd accepted. This being