Mishap Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

his eyes were in the flare of the candles. It was impossible not to respond to this man as his masculine magnetism dominated the scene. A curious sharp thrill ran through her as the force between them seemed to explode wordlessly. He watched her, his eyes alert above the faintly smiling mouth, and she promptly forgot John Filligrew.
    Faceless numbers of suitors whom Shona had cast away loomed upwards before her consideration. Not one of them had stirred a spark in her blood, yet Captain Fitzgerald was able to make her heart beat with a sweet wildness that stirred her very soul. All the while his gaze was upon her she grew flustered and cast about her as she swallowed a glass of wine and dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. Captain Fitzgerald’s incendiary eyes scorched her over the flower arrangement.
    Finally Antony slid his chair back. ‘I shall look forward to hearing more about Virginia, Captain Fitzgerald. May we at least have the pleasure of your company until you leave the island?’
    ‘Indeed you will.’
    With the signal that the dinner was at an end, the ladies reconvened to the drawing room, where coffee was served, while the gentlemen remained to drink the port imported from Spain that had been Shona’s father’s drink of choice. In search of clearer air, her mood listless and dreamy, Shona went out on to the flower-laden terrace and walked along its length. The delicate tropical fragrances filled the warm air.
    Glancing to the trees beyond the garden brought back memories of those distant days she would walk there with her father, when the trilling of birds filled the air and the soft flutter of moss dripping from the trees would brush against her face. She could even imagine the whiff of his spicy cologne and the smell of leather and horses on his clothes. However brief those recollections were, she was pierced by a longing so profound that it was all she could do not to cry out in anguish.
    Now the evening was laden with the sound of chirping crickets, of blended voices drifting from the house. A languid breeze gently swayed the branches of the trees, rustling their leaves and sweeping the fragrance of sweet shrubs on to the terrace. Her mind occupied with her musings, she stared out across the shadow-mottled lawn and sighed. Suddenly a footfall sounded behind her. A dark shadow moved close to her and she was engulfed in a cloud of fragrant smoke. Her heart fluttered in her throat. ‘Oh,’ she uttered softly. ‘I thought I was alone.’
    ‘Your pardon, Miss McKenzie.’ The deep, rich voice of Captain Fitzgerald sounded concerned. ‘I did not mean to startle you. I was merely taking my pipe in the open air before I return to my ship—but be assured—to discourse with a beautiful woman on a moonlit night on a tropical isle is a pleasure beyond compare. Does the smoke bother you?’
    Feeling her heartbeat quicken alarmingly, Shona was amazed by the effect his sudden presence was having on her pulse rate, but she was resolved not to let it show. She stared, trying to penetrate the dark shadows that hid his face. ‘Not at all. Enjoy your pipe at your leisure. I rather like the smell of tobacco. It brings back poignant memories of my father. He used to enjoy a pipe on occasion.’
    ‘A natural enough habit. They grow tobacco in Virginia. The Indians taught us how to smoke it.’
    ‘So I understand.’
    ‘If I am intruding, I will leave you.’
    ‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘please—you don’t have to go.’
    He nodded. ‘Very well. I will stay.’
    ‘How long do you intend being on the island, Captain?’
    Stepping out of the shadows, he looked at her through the wreath of smoke that curled from his pipe. ‘One week at the most.’ His hand cradling the bowl of his pipe came out and in a brief span the long stem swept the moonlight to encompass the rolling hills beyond the trees. ‘And then I must leave all this and return to London.’
    Tilting her head on one side, she met his eyes. ‘You