The Stolen Bride by Brenda Joyce

Author:Brenda Joyce [Brenda Joyce]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781408905548
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd.
Published: 2008-02-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ELEANOR’S ANXIETY increased. Sean had been gone for well over an hour. It could not take that long to go to the chandler on the corner for food and some other supplies. She stood barefoot at the room’s single window, having changed into the breeches and ruffled shirt, so that she could watch for him. From where she stood, she could see down the wide cobbled street that ended at the Custom House, where both channels of the river met. There, numerous vessels were at berth. Most seemed to be fishing boats and barges. However, staring south where the river widened, heading toward Great Island, she saw the three larger masts of a frigate. Eleanor knew enough about ships to know that this was a fighting vessel with guns. As there was a naval base in Cobh, she assumed the battleship belonged to His Majesty’s Royal Navy. The sight of the forbidding ship was more cause for concern.

Eleanor turned to glance down at the street where the cobbler had his shop. Sean was nowhere in sight. Like most Irish cities, Cork dated back to medieval times, if not beyond, but the quay was wide and lined with stucco buildings, some yellow, some green, all two stories high. Clotheslines had been passed back and forth from window to window, as if the street were decorated with flags and pennants, not shirts and stockings. Shops lined the street, and a few pedestrians were passing by, in no apparent hurry. Eleanor saw a miller’s, an apothecary shop, a tailor’s, another cobbler shop and a chairmaker’s. From where she stood, she could not see the farthest corner, where the chandler was.

What was taking him so long?

Just as she became convinced that he was in trouble, she saw him coming up the street. Her heart leaped wildly, a response she refused to consider. But she was terribly relieved.

He was carrying several parcels. He was bringing food and more importantly, he was neither hurt nor captured. She almost smiled, but the expression never formed. He was not alone.

A small woman with a cap on her long, curly dark hair was walking alongside him, and they were clearly conversing.

And in that moment, every tryst he’d had while they were growing up came rushing to mind. Sean had been a rake as a young man, and only Cliff would have been able to compete for the honor of unabashed cad, had he not left home at fourteen. She also recalled his uncontrollable and explosive passion of the other night. He had been caged up in prison for two years—and now, some lightskirt was pursuing him.

She didn’t have to hear what the woman was saying or even see her face to know that. Every instinct she had told her so.

They had paused on the street below, outside of the cobbler’s shop and the entrance to the flat where Eleanor watched. The woman was plump and pretty and as she conversed, she kept touching Sean’s arm. Eleanor could recognize a flirtation when she saw one.

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