The Prize (71 page)

She touched his damp
cheek as more tears fell. "Devlin, I cannot regret anything we have
shared!" And somehow, it was true. She loved him so much that she
treasured every memory, both the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet.

He shook his head.
"We both know that you are being kind, and I do not deserve your
kindness." He hesitated and beneath her hands, his body trembled.
"When I saw that marine attack you, I went mad with rage, I was truly
mad—I was ready to kill every redcoat in my path. I have never been so blinded
with rage—except when I saw Tom Hughes assaulting you at the ball. I felt the
same murderous intent then— because I love you, Virginia," he said.

She went still. Her
heart beat hard. She trembled wildly. How she had yearned to hear these words
from him, and now, finally, after so much loss and grief, after so much time,
so much pain, her time had come. "You love me?" she whispered,
dazed. And elation began.

He nodded, smiling
through his tears. "In truth, I have loved you for a very long time, from
almost the beginning, when we first met. I was so afraid, Virginia—I was so
afraid of you. I was afraid to choose love and joy, because I only knew revenge
and hate."

"And now?"
she managed, stunned.

"I am still
afraid, but the pain of our separation has been too much to bear. I cannot stand
to be apart from you," he said simply. "Can you teach me how to live
with joy, Virginia? Can you teach me how to love?"

Virginia was amazed.
The pain was in his gaze. It was the same pain she herself had withstood for so
long, for the very same reasons. "I can teach you all those things,
Devlin," she whispered. "Does this mean...what I think it does?"
She was afraid to hope.

He nodded soberly,
another tear sliding down his cheek. "You asked me to choose, and I made
the wrong choice. I know that now. So I am choosing you and our child, Virginia."

She cried out and he
held her hard, for a very long time. When he spoke again, it was in a rough
whisper. "It's over. Never again. I gave Hughes the deed to Waverly Hall.
It's truly over, darling."

She wept against his
chest, tears of joy and happiness.

"I was going to
ask you for your forgiveness," he said roughly. "But I will not ask
that because I do not deserve it. But I will do anything that you ask of me,
anything, even though nothing that I can do could possibly make up for what you
have been through." He looked down at her and their eyes met. His were
shining with love, but the fear was there, too. "Will you return to me? As
my wife?"

She smiled and cupped
his cheek. "I never left you, Devlin, not in my heart. You have had my
heart from those first few days when you took me hostage aboard the
Defiance."

He hesitated. "I
love you, Virginia, and I know I cannot live without you. I know that
now."

She was thrilled. She
clasped his hands and held them to her chest. "And you already have my
forgiveness, Devlin. I cannot blame you for choosing a life of hatred and
revenge, given what happened to your father."

He nodded. "It's
time to let Gerald rest in peace—and I want peace, Virginia, I need peace the
way I need you."

Virginia laughed,
thrilled. "So we will start over?"

"Yes," he
said softly, kissing each of her hands tenderly

in turn. Then he gave
her a significant look. "I resigned my commission."

She could only gape,
stunned.

He smiled slowly at
her, then took a deep, cleansing breath and stepped to her side. They gazed
together at the handsome brick plantation home and the fields beyond, rippling
and green with the summer's new crops. "Sweet Briar is doing well,"
he said quietly, his gaze moving over the rolling fields as if he were
inspecting one of his ships, and then he looked down at her, taking her hand.
His smile was warm and loving. "I think we should divide our time. Half
of the year here, the other half at Askeaton."

"You would stay
here for half of every year?" she cried in surprise.

"Would that
please you, my darling?" And he smiled more broadly.

"Very
much," she whispered. With Devlin at her side, she knew they would make
Sweet Briar prosper. They would harvest its fields of tobacco and fill its halls
with children. But she loved Askeaton, too, for in her many months there as his
hostage, she had come to think of the manor as her home. They would make his
ancestral home prosper, too, and more important, those dark and ancient halls
would soon be filled with love and laughter and as many of Devlin's children
as she could bear. Her heart pounding in excitement, she took his hand. 'This
pleases me very much."

"Then I am
pleased." He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead tenderly.
"I missed you terribly, Virginia. From this day forward, I will fulfill
your every wish."

She smiled up at him
and had to laugh. "I do doubt that, somehow.. .Captain."

"I mean
it," he said, with such fervor that she laughed again.

                             
575

"Then it is my
wish that we go inside so I can introduce everyone to my husband."

He bowed, sending her
a seductive look, leaving her in no doubt as to what he wished to do—and soon.
"After you, my darling."

She took his hand
and, smiling, they went inside, the new master of Sweet Briar and his wife. Now
there was simply too much joy to bear and, finally, the future beckoned, shining
and bright.

Virginia could not
wait.

Dear Reader,

As always, when I am
writing a "more historical" historical romance, I try to blend as
much fact as possible with fiction. While many Americans are blissfully unaware
of the War of 1812, most of us, myself included, are absolutely ignorant as to
the reasons for the war, the extent of the actual fighting, the loss of lives
and the war's duration. Some of the reasons for the war I have
suggested—internal politics were as significant as fear of British domination,
free trade, impressments and the agrarian agenda to expand into Canada. Loss
of life was terrible, and the war was really under way by 1811, although the
Chesapeake Affair was in 1807! The war did not end until February 1815,
although a peace was concluded the previous December.

All battles alluded
to in
The Prize
are historical fact. Devlin's fifteen-minute victory
over the USS
Independence
is wholly based on the exploits of Captain
Philip Broke of the
Shannon,
who sent his sister ship away, lured the
Chesapeake
out of Boston harbor and demolished her in fifteen minutes.

Fortunately, the
British failed to carry out their invasion of Norfolk, Virginia; as
unfortunately, the massacre at Hampton and some of the atrocities I have
described were committed and were even worse.

I have loosely based
the naval career of Devlin O'Neill on that of Thomas Cochrane, the eldest son
of a Scottish earl, his family an old and distinguished one without means. He
was one of the greatest British fighting naval captains ever, a man at once
notorious for his exploits at sea in battle and for his unorthodox strategies
and his innovative naval thinking. He was also well-known for his
insubordination and lack of respect for the admirals ranked above him. In the
middle of his career he became a radical M.P.—a fervent champion of the poor
and the oppressed. I am not the first to base my fictional hero upon his life;
the hero of Patrick O'Brien's bestselling seafaring series is also based on the
life of this truly amazing man.

As many of you may
already know, Devlin is a descendant of Liam O'Neill and Katherine FitzGerald
(The
Game),
while the Earl of Adare and his sons are descendants of Rolfe de
Warenne
(The Conqueror).
I feel sure that most of you must be asking how
Liam's family lost their land and fortune, and how the de Warennes wound up in
Ireland. The history of England and Ireland from the Conquest to the Regency is
one of extreme political turbulence and the rise and fall of family dynasties.
The British conquest of Ireland happened over centuries, in stages.
Fortune-hunting landless younger sons fought in Ireland for the Crown, and were
rewarded for their triumphs with land taken from the original Celtic kings and
noblemen, who were defeated and then dispossessed. Many of these Norman and
English settlers became as Celtic as their native forebears in the earlier
years. During Queen Elizabeth's reign, the final subjugation and colonization
of Ireland was completed—by the time of her death, very few

Catholic Irish lords
owned their ancestral lands, most of it being in the hands of the Anglo
Protestant interlopers. Some of these lords intermarried with the original
Celtic families; most preferred to wed into a British family. Being Irish and
Protestant was second class, being Irish and Catholic far worse. It had now
become criminal to be a Catholic.

Clearly one of
Rolfe's grandsons sought his fortune in Ireland, establishing the de Warenne
dynasty there. Clearly the O'Neills fought one rebellion too many against their
English overlords, resulting in their dispossession. And as for Devlin being
Catholic (Liam was Protestant), his great ancestress Katherine FitzGerald was
also Catholic.

I hope you have
enjoyed
The Prize.
After writing contemporary romance for several
years, I have found it a real joy to write about a bygone time when men were
really men and women dared to try to tame them. Frankly, it was a blast! I have
discovered that there is no genre I prefer writing more— telling Devlin and
Virginia's story was like coming home. I hope to continue writing about these
two extraordinary families. The second book in this saga, which I am currently
about to complete, is
The Masquerade,
Tyrell's story. It will be
published in the fall of 2005.

Please visit my Web
site at www.brendajoyce.com. I visit my message boards frequently and will
answer your questions there. If you need to catch up on the O'Neills and de
Warennes, you can find all my novels listed under Novels, including
The
Game, The Conqueror
and
Promise of the Rose.

I look forward to
hearing from you.

Happy reading,
always,

Brenda Joyce