Acadia Song 04 - The Distant Beacon (29 page)

He paused and she nodded silently. “What you say is true,” she said, her voice sounding surprisingly low and steady to her own ears. “There is no turning back. We have cast our lot.”

“That does not trouble you?”

“It troubles me greatly. Good men will die in this war, and wives will lose their husbands. Mothers will lose sons, children their fathers. It makes no sense to me. But we cannot choose the world in which we live. The conflict is already here. We are here. And we have chosen the side we must be on. What can one do but pray and trust our very lives to God? If I never see my parents again—” she paused a moment to collect herself. “Well, I cannot, nor would I ever choose to hide my grief. I will grieve if our country continues to be torn by war. But sailing back to England is not an option for me. This is my country.”

Then an unexpected boldness took hold of Nicole. She raised her head and looked directly into the eyes of the man before her. “And I should grieve even more should this war rend from me one whom I have come to love with all my heart.”

“Do you mean there is hope, and this anguish of heart may yet be stilled?” His voice was barely heard, yet the words were clear.

Tears gathered in her eyes. “There need be no anguish,” she answered, “so long as there is love.”

He reached to take her hand in both of his. “There is love, my darling Nicole. Unspeakable love. I have agonized over my desire to tell you so, but I did not know if I dared to hope, unworthy as I am. I have nothing—absolutely nothing to offer a viscountess.”

She pressed his hands to her face, and he could feel the dampness of her tears. “Do not speak of unworthiness,” she said. “Before God we are both unworthy, yet He saw fit to freely give us His grace. And do not speak of the viscountess. She has served her purpose and is no longer needed. Here we are all equal and beginning anew.” Her smile came from her heart, and she kissed his hand. “And, Gordon,” she continued, “you do have everything to offer. Where there is love, there is everything we truly need.”

Gordon lifted her hand and kissed it in return.

Their eyes met, as though for the first time, as though for all eternity. In that moment, all worries over the past and anxieties over the future were stilled. Here was the shelter of each other. Here, at last, was love.

Authors’ Note

Early that summer, the new British commandant of His Majesty King George III’s Royal Colonial Army ordered a secret evacuation of all Loyalist forces from Boston. Under the cover of night, the entire garrison was removed.

By early July, Boston and its surroundings were firmly in the hands of the American forces, commanded by General George Washington.

The British never returned.

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The Beloved Land.