Lost Love Found by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page B

grandmother FitzGerald’s glorious chestnut hair and light blue eyes, and Harry Sturminster had been lost. He told his parents, who had been seriously considering a match with one of his cousins, that he would have no wife but Mistress St. Michael. Seeing his determination, they agreed, so long as no fault could be found with either the girl or her family.
    Bevin, however, had not been ready to consider such a serious involvement. She was caught between childhood and womanhood, and Harry’s passionate avowals of eternal love frightened her. When he realized his mistake, he had gone more gently with her, and by summer’s end, Bevin was half in love. She spent the next two summers at Glinshannon Castle endearing herself to her future in-laws and falling more in love with her Harry.
    In the summer of 1599 the Earl of Essex had taken his army of seventeen thousand men into Ireland to put down the Earl of Tyrone, who, with aid from Spain, had mounted the most serious rebellion against the English to occur in many years. The Spanish did not care what happened to the Irish. They merely saw a good chance to harass the English queen. Essex, despite his army and vast resources, was no threat to them, for he hardly ventured beyond the Dublin Pale. Still in all, it had not been a summer for a gently reared English maiden to venture into Ireland, so Lady Glin and her eldest son had came to England on an O’Malley-Small ship so that Harry Sturminster might be formally betrothed to Mistress Bevin St. Michael.
    Now, on the twelfth day of October in the year 1600, a huge gathering assembled at Pearroc Royal to witness the nuptials of the young pair. The family was joined this time by all of the neighboring nobility and several of the St. Michaels’ friends from court. Once Lord Bliss had been a part of Elizabeth Tudor’s circle, but several years ago, prior to Jemmie’s birth, they had ceased going to court at all, even for the New Year festivities.
    Bevin was radiant with a diadem of diamonds and pearls, her long hair streaming in the warm autumn breeze. Her satin gown was the color of heavy cream and embroidered heavily with diamante, seed pearls, and gold thread. She was attended by her younger sister, Margaret, and several young cousins: Sybilla Gordon, Mary Elizabeth Edwardes, and Thalia and Penelope Blakeley. The bridesmaids wore bright yellow silk gowns and carried bouquets of white damask roses tied with gold ribbons.
    The festivities and feasting following the wedding lasted until well past moonrise. The Great Hall at Pearroc Royal rang with laughter and merriment until long after the bride and groom had been put to bed with much ceremony and ribaldry. When, on the following day, the last of the guests finally departed, Aidan turned to her husband and sighed with relief.
    “Thank God Maggie is only twelve! I shall not have to go through another wedding for at least three years.”
    “What of Valentina?” Lord Bliss asked of his wife.
    “ ’Tis not the same thing when a woman marries for a second time. Besides, our eldest child tells me that she has no intention of marrying again. I don’t believe her, of course, but it is enough that she believes it. Valentina needs time to come to terms with herself, Conn. We were wrong to rush her into marriage with Lord Barrows. I see that now.”
    “Was she so unhappy with him?”
    “Not unhappy, but not happy, either. She admits to having wed him simply to please us, and that distresses me, Conn.” Aidan put her head on her husband’s shoulder and sighed deeply. “We are so fortunate in our love, and I would like Valentina to find the same good fortune that I did when I found you, my love.”
    Lord Bliss agreed with his wife. Like Aidan, Conn did not have the answer to Valentina’s current dilemma. Valentina was too old for additional studies, and the responsibilities of running Pearroc Royal belonged to Lady Bliss. There seemed to be no place for her within the household. Conn