The Promise

But at fifteen, he’d discovered women. Actually, he’d discovered sex. And any such beliefs or assumptions about Elysse had been buried deep.

Well, he had returned home now. He wasn’t a naive eight-year-old boy or a randy sixteen-year-old. He was twenty-one and a very successful merchant sea captain. He was also a bachelor—and he liked it that way. He was not interested in marriage, not any time soon. But that vague stirring of attraction wasn’t vague any longer. It was a heated pounding in his loins. The desire was unmistakable, and no longer easy to ignore. It was powerful and disturbing.

The sooner he left Ireland, the better, he thought firmly. Then he could decide how to manage his feelings for her by the next time he came home.

“Your countryside is beautiful, Mrs. de Warenne.”

Alexi came out of his brooding instantly.

“I am so glad you think so,” Amanda, his stepmother, replied, smiling at William Montgomery from across the dining-room table.

“I thought I would only want to spend a day or two here in the countryside, but I was wrong,” Montgomery said with his thick Southern accent, sipping from a cup of China tea. “I should enjoy riding across the Irish moors many times.”

They were seated at the table with Amanda and Cliff. His sisters remained upstairs. His father was engrossed in the London Times and Alexi had been trying to read the Dublin newspapers, which were a treat, as they were impossible to come by outside of Britain. He especially liked the social columns—he missed the gossip about what everyone was up to—but this morning, he hadn’t been able to concentrate on a single word. Now, he stared at his pilot. Montgomery had saved his life in Lower Canada. He’d risked his own life to do so. They were friends, but he happened to know that the pilot was ruthless when it came to his pursuit of beautiful women.

Montgomery would never try to seduce Elysse, surely. He was, after all, Alexi’s pilot and a guest in his home. Their flirtation last night had been a casual, insignificant one. Yet why would he wish to linger in the countryside? “You’ll be bored by this evening,” Alexi said flatly, suddenly hoping he was right. “I am actually thinking of cutting my stay short.”

Cliff laid down his newspaper, his blue gaze searching. “Why would you do that?”

“I want to get to London and start working on the plans for my new ship,” he said. In London, he and Montgomery could carouse to their heart’s desire.

Amanda smiled at the pilot. “I am so glad you are enjoying Ireland. I remember the first time I came here. I was so swept away by every single thing—the old homes, the green hills, the mist, the people! This is your first time here, is it not?”

“Yes, it is, and I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality. Your home is so lovely, Mrs. de Warenne.” Now, he looked at Alexi, smiling ever so slightly. “I enjoyed meeting the O’Neill family very much last night.”

Alexi tossed the Dublin Times aside, sitting up straighter. He hadn’t lied when he’d told Elysse that the American was a terrible ladies’ man. They had spent ten days in Batavia, drinking, gaming and whoring, while waiting for a shift in the winds before running up the China Sea to Canton. Montgomery was a good-looking man with too much Southern charm and women flocked to him like ducks to water. His gallantry got him into the finer homes in the ports they put into, and he had seduced his share of married women—but he hadn’t ever ruined an innocent daughter, not that Alexi knew of. Up until then, Alexi had considered him a true kindred spirit. Surely he did not wish to linger in Ireland in order to pursue Elysse. Or had she so thoroughly worked her wiles on him, already? When a man wanted a woman, it was often so hard to think clearly!

Cliff surprised them all by saying, “Elysse O’Neill is a very lovely woman.”

“I don’t believe I have ever met a woman as beautiful,” Montgomery said shortly. “Or as charming.”

He was stunned. Was Montgomery being polite—or was he smitten? He sounded very intense. “Be careful, my friend, or she will soon lead you about on her little leash as she does all of her proper suitors.”

“Alexi!” Amanda gasped in disapproval. “That was terribly rude!”

Alexi fingered the saucer of his teacup. “Well, I am just worried about my friend. He hardly needs to have his heart broken. Elysse doesn’t mean to hurt anyone,” he added, knowing that was the truth. “But she is a skilled coquette. I have seen her gather admirers ever since she was twelve or thirteen. She is adept at it. And frankly, she is even more of an impossible flirt today than she was when I left.”

Cliff shook his head. “This conversation is highly impolitic, Alexi.”

“There is no harm in flirting,” Amanda said to him, as reproof.

Montgomery added, “At home, a lady who doesn’t flirt would be considered odd. Flirting is rather an art in Maryland.”

Alexi folded his arms across his chest and refrained from scowling. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to speak so disparagingly of Elysse, whom he cared for, in front of his friend, who was still an outsider to the family. “I just think you should keep your distance, William. Her charms can be fatal.”

Montgomery smiled slowly. “Are you speaking from experience?”

He tensed. “I have never had a broken heart—nor do I intend to ever have one.”

“You know that ladies are few and far between on our runs. Last night was very enjoyable—I look forward to the company of all the ladies here again.” The pilot picked up his cup and sipped.

But his intentions were clear. He meant to see Elysse again. Alexi stared thoughtfully at him. He truly didn’t care if Montgomery and Elysse flirted once or twice, as long as Montgomery remained respectful. There was really no reason for him to believe that he would ever behave in any other manner—they weren’t in Lisbon, Malta or Singapore now—but he continued to feel disturbed. He was sensing that Montgomery was simply too interested in Elysse for his own good—or her own good. When it came to Elysse, he simply didn’t trust his pilot, as he had told her last night. “You know, Dublin is a very entertaining city. We should spend a few days there before we return to London.”

Montgomery didn’t respond.

“Please don’t rush off so soon,” Amanda said, rising from her chair. She came to stand beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “We have all missed you so.”

Alexi knew he could not disappoint his family. He smiled at his stepmother. “I promise not to leave in any haste.”

“Good.” She kissed his cheek and excused herself.

“May I ask a question?” Montgomery said.

Alexi looked at him as his father returned to the London Times.

“Why isn’t Elysse married?”

He almost choked. Before he could answer, Cliff rattled his paper and said, “Her father means to find her a love match. Devlin has said so often enough.”

Montgomery sat up straighter. “Surely he means to find her a titled gentleman with deep pockets.”

“I’m sure he wishes for Elysse to have every privilege, but most importantly, he wishes for her to have genuine affection in her marriage,” Cliff said. He laid his paper down. “I’m afraid I have some tenants to see today. Alexi, do you wish to join me?”

Montgomery was obviously surprised by Cliff’s answer, and his mind was clearly racing. Alexi was disbelieving. Surely his pilot did not think to marry up? He couldn’t help thinking about the boy he’d once been—the boy who had secretly assumed that one day he’d grow up and marry Elysse O’Neill. “I have other plans, Father.”

Marriage was the last thing on his mind just then. All he wanted to do was escape his confusion and desire. He couldn’t wait to run back to China, pick up another Pekoe cargo, and then race the clock—and his rivals—for Great Britain.

But he couldn’t let this go.

Cliff left the dining room. Montgomery said soberly, “A great lady like Elysse O’Neill deserves all that life has to offer.” He took up his teacup abruptly.

Alexi stared. Was the American suddenly considering the possibility that Elysse might truly like him? That he might seduce her into falling in love? Elysse admired Montgomery. He was masculine and attractive; all women liked him. Men like Montgomery married up all the time. And Montgomery was an opportunist. Devlin might even embrace the American as a fellow seafarer and set him up in his own shipping line. He was suddenly certain that, while Montgomery was intrigued with Elysse, he was now just as intrigued with the idea of marrying into the great O’Neill fortune.

The stakes had entirely changed.

He pushed his plate away. Elysse couldn’t go to a dinner party, a dance or a ball without drawing every male in the room to her side and ensnaring them with her laughter, her looks and her charm. She had a way of hanging on to a man’s every word, making him feel ten feet tall and impossibly masculine, impossibly virile. He’d seen her do it a hundred times—no, even more. She’d been mesmerizing the male gender since she was a child of seven! But attracting Montgomery was a terrible idea—he had said so to her. Now, it had even worse ramifications.

Alexi crossed his arms. “You seem deep in thought, William.”

Montgomery glanced up. “I was trying to decide how to spend the morning.”

“Let’s ride.”

“That’s fine, as long as I am back by one.”

Alexi sent him a questioning look. “And what happens at that bewitching hour?”

“I am driving in the countryside today with the loveliest lady I have ever met.”