LITMIR.BIZ

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cry. I’m here now. You heard my father, the earl and your father pursuing us. They are outside—and they are furious.” His gaze was searching. “How could you think that I wouldn’t find you?”

      “I don’t know,” she whispered, trembling, her face wet with tears. But she had stopped crying.

      “If you are lost, I will find you. If you are in danger, I will protect you,” he said seriously. “It’s what a gentleman does, Elysse.”

      She inhaled. “Promise?”

      He slowly smiled and brushed a tear from her face. “I promise.”

      She finally smiled back at him. “I’m sorry I am not brave.”

      “You are very brave, Elysse. You just don’t know it.” Clearly, he believed his every word.

PART ONE

      CHAPTER ONE

      Askeaton, Ireland

      March 23, 1833

      ALEXI HADN’T BEEN HOME in more than two years, but it felt like an eternity. Elysse O’Neill smiled at herself in the gilded mirror hanging over the handsome rosewood bureau in her pink, mauve and white bedroom. She had just finished dressing for the occasion. She knew that her excitement was obvious—she was flushed, her eyes bright. She was thrilled that Alexi de Warenne had come home, at last. She couldn’t wait to hear all about his adventures!

      She couldn’t help wondering if he would notice that she was a grown woman now; she’d had a dozen suitors in the past two years, not to mention five offers of marriage.

      She smiled again, deciding that her pastel-green gown made her nearly violet eyes even more intriguing. She was accustomed to male admiration; boys had begun to look at her when she was barely more than a child. Alexi had, too. She wondered what he would think of her now. She wasn’t certain why she wanted him to notice her this evening—they were only friends, after all. Impulsively, she tugged her neckline down, adjusting it to show off just a bit more of her cleavage.

      He had never been gone for so long before. She wondered if he had changed. When he’d left on a run to Canada for fur, she hadn’t known that it would be years before he would return, but she recalled their parting as if it had been yesterday.

      He looked at her with that cocky grin he had. “And will you be wearing a ring when I get back?”

      She’d known immediately what he meant. Startled, she had quickly recovered and her answer had been coy. “I always wear rings.” But she had wondered if some dashing Englishman would sweep her off her feet before he returned. She certainly hoped so!

      “Not diamonds.” His thick black lashes lowered, shielding his brilliant blue eyes from her.

      She shrugged. “I can’t help it if I have so many suitors, Alexi. There will probably be many suits. Father will surely know which one to accept for me.”

      He shrugged in return. “Yes, I imagine Devlin will make certain you are properly married off.”

      Their eyes met and held. One day, her father would find her a great match. She had overheard her parents speaking about it and knew they wanted it to be a love match, as well. How perfect would that be?

      “If I am not offered for, I will be vastly insulted,” she said, meaning it.

      “Isn’t it enough that you are always surrounded by admirers?”

      “I hope to be wed by the time I am eighteen!” she exclaimed. Her eighteenth birthday would be in the fall—only six months away—while Alexi was still in Canada. Hear heart lurched oddly. With confusion, she shook off the strange feeling of dread, smiling brightly at him. She took his hands. “What will you bring me this time?” He always brought her a gift when he returned from the sea.

      After a pause, he spoke softly. “I will bring you back a Russian sable, Elysse.”

      She was surprised. “You are sailing for Lower Canada.”

      “I know where I am going,” he replied, his gaze direct. “And I will bring you back a Russian sable.”

      She scoffed at him, certain he was teasing her. He had simply grinned. Then he had said goodbye to the rest of her family and swaggered out of the salon, while she rushed off to a tea, where her most recent suitors were eagerly awaiting her….

      He had remained in Canada for several months, apparently having some problems acquiring a cargo for the run home. When he had finally raced back to Liverpool, he hadn’t stayed. Instead, he had turned around directly for the islands for sugarcane. She had been surprised, even disappointed.

      Of course, she had never doubted that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Cliff de Warenne had one of the world’s most successful maritime transport companies, and Alexi had been at sea with his father for most of his life. It was a foregone conclusion that, when he came of age, Alexi would take on the most lucrative trade routes, carrying the most profitable cargoes, as his father had once done. At the age of seventeen he’d commanded his first ship. Elysse was the daughter of a retired naval captain, and she truly understood how much Alexi loved the sea—it was in his blood. Men like Cliff de Warenne and her father, Devlin O’Neill—men like Alexi—could never remain on land for very long.

      Still, she had expected him to come home after his run to the West Indies. He always came home, sooner or later. But instead he had refitted his ship in Liverpool and set a course to China!

      When Elysse had learned that he had leased his ship, the Ariel, to the East India Company, which had a monopoly on the China trade, she had grown worried. Although retired, Devlin O’Neill frequently advised both the Admiralty and the Foreign Offices on matters of imperial and maritime policy, and Elysse was well versed in the subjects of trade, economics and foreign policy. She had heard all kinds of talk about the China trade in past few years. The China Sea was perilous—it remained mostly uncharted territory, with hidden reefs, submerged rocks and unknown shoals, not to mention monsoons and, far worse, typhoons. Beating up the China Sea was easy enough, if one didn’t encounter one of those half-hidden rocks or reefs, with the south-westerly monsoons to aid you. But beating through the sea when homeward bound was difficult and dangerous. However, Alexi would think the danger the very best part of his voyage! Alexi de Warenne was fearless and loved a challenge—Elysse knew that very well.

      But apparently Elysse had worried about him in vain. Last night, Ariella had sent her a note, telling her that Alexi had just arrived at Windhaven. It had been midnight when she’d gotten the hand-delivered message. She had been stunned to learn he had safely put into Liverpool a few days ago, with five hundred and five tons of silks and tea, having made the homeward run from Canton in one hundred and twelve days—a feat everyone was talking about. For a captain new to the route to make that kind of speed was terribly impressive, and Elysse knew it. He’d be able to command top dollar for his freight the next time he ran home from China. Knowing Alexi as well as she did, he would surely brag about that.

      Elysse gave herself a final glance in the mirror and tugged at her bodice one last time, well aware that her mother would take her aside for being so daring. She was an acclaimed beauty—every suitor she’d ever had had raved about her striking blond looks. She had been told many times that she took after both of her parents—she was petite, with amethyst eyes, like her mother, and golden like her father. There had been many suits and five marriage proposals in the past two years. She’d turned every suitor and each proposal down, although she was now twenty, and her father had not minded. She hoped that Alexi wouldn’t taunt her for still being single. Hopefully, he wouldn’t recall her plan to be happily married by the age of eighteen.

      “Elysse! We’re here—Alexi is home and he is downstairs!” Ariella cried, knocking on her door from the corridor outside.

      Elysse inhaled, suddenly so excited that she felt a bit faint. She ran for the door, opening it. Her best friend’s eyes widened at Elysse’s evening dress just before they embraced. “Are you going out tonight? Have I been excluded from an

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