The Rebel Captain's Royalist Bride by Anne Herries

Author:Anne Herries
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarlequinUKLtd
Published: 2014-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Was he a fool to let her go so easily? James was thoughtful as he turned aside after seeing Babette ride over the drawbridge and into her home. He was certain she was wavering. Had he insisted, would she have thrown caution to the wind and come with him? He had come close to taking her on to his horse and riding away with her—he could have taken her to his home, closed the gates and forgot his duty...forsaking everything for her and love.

Was this feeling burning deep inside him love or merely physical desire? He knew that when she was near he could think only of bedding her, yet when she was in danger his first need had been to take her to safety.

Had he begun to love again? Not in the way he’d worshipped his gentle Jane, but as a man loved the woman who would be his equal, his partner through all the trials of life.

A part of him wanted to return, sweep her on to his horse and ride away!

No, that was foolish, a foolish thought for a weak man. He could never neglect his duty, and her brother would disown her if she wed a man he would name his enemy. She’d had no option but to return to her life and he to his.

It had taken strength to draw back and let her go. He had longed to ride off with her to his home, lock the door and forget there was a war. He wanted to keep her safe from all harm, to spend his life with her and think no more of politics or waging the fight against an unfair King. Yet he knew even as his thoughts rebelled that he could not do it. She must come to him of her own will and for preference with the goodwill of her brother.

James groaned, as he knew how hopeless a cause that might be. Lord Harvey was young and had chosen to fight for his King without giving the causes of the war enough thought. What Englishman in his right mind would condone the kind of taxes that had been forced upon them since Charles I had come to the throne? He thought with regret of the good days when Queen Bess had sat upon the English throne. He was, of course, not old enough to recall it, but his grandfather had revered Gloriana and hated the Scottish King who had taken her place. With his favourites and his petty weaknesses, King James had not served his people well—and his son was a tyrant who believed that he had a divine right to rule as he chose without due recourse to the law or to the people’s wishes.

Why did it have to happen in his lifetime? A country torn by civil strife—brother against brother and cousin against cousin. Drew Melbourne had been his friend until they quarrelled over James’s decision to stand with Parliament in this tussle. He regretted

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