Virginia Henley by Dream Lover Page B

Castlereagh’s presence, William wasted no time with small talk. “I have information that could prove invaluable to you,” William confided.
    “And how much will this information cost, Montague?” the beleaguered chief secretary inquired cynically.
    William looked offended. “Not a penny piece, my lord secretary. My loyalty and my duty to England compel me to come forward with this information.”
    “Then speak on, Montague. The troubles escalate by the minute. Insurrection is spreading from Belfast, at the top, to the tip of Ireland in Cork.”
    “I have information about the identity of a Captain Moonlight.”
    “Captain Moonlight!” Castlereagh exploded. “There are a dozen such renegades arming the peasantry and inciting them to treason!”
    “I have no doubt of it, my lord. But surely if you apprehended just one of them, it would be a simple matter to extract the other names from him?”
    “You’d be surprised just how closemouthed and clannish the Irish can be, Montague. They are a breed unto themselves, God rot them! But tell me, who is this particular Captain Moonlight?”
    “Since the name I am about to divulge is a noble and powerful one, I will need complete anonymity.”
    “You have my word on it,” Castlereagh pledged.
         T wo armed guards from Dublin Castle carried the strongbox aboard the
Swallow.
As the small ship left Dublin’s harbor, William felt quite patriotic. After all the petty disservice he had committed, today he was making amendsby helping his country. The fact that he was helping himself at the same time filled him with satisfaction. There was no feeling on earth to compare with the knowledge that he was at the helm controlling events that shaped Destiny, so that she smiled upon him.
         A mber held Joseph at arm’s length. “You shouldn’t have come today. This is wrong, Joseph. We must stop seeing each other.”
    “Stop it, Amber.” He loosed her hands to take her by the shoulders. “I’ve never felt this way before; I can’t just turn it on and off like a tap!”
    The shadow of Emerald stood between them. “I’m old enough to be your mother, Joseph,” she said miserably.
    “You’re little more than thirty, for God’s sake, young and alive and married to an old man!”
    “Emerald must have found out about us when she went to Greystones. She looks at me with loathing. She won’t even stay under the same roof with me; she leaves the house at dawn and doesn’t return until dusk.”
    “I don’t even know what the child looks like, Amber. It’s ridiculous to entertain the notion we could ever be betrothed.”
    “I’ve told William she’s too young. She is going away to school when we return to London. All our boxes are packed; we’re leaving tomorrow, Joseph.”
    “I’m coming to London.” His voice was implacable.
    Amber gazed deeply into his blue eyes with sorrow. It could never be. She would have to take him to bed and use the persuasion of her body to try to bend him to her decision.
    Amber reckoned without Joseph’s powers of persuasion. Their tryst had such urgency, touched with the painful poignancy that it might be their last time together. They clung,they whispered, they promised, they pledged their undying love; they parted.
    Amber, filled with delicious lassitude from too much looking, drifted into slumber in the warm afternoon. Joseph remained awake, watching as Amber lay peacefully beside him. He dared not sleep. He knew his crew had the ammunition loaded and were anxious to get it past customs inspection and into Greystones’s own harbor.
         A s Joseph’s blue-and-gold
Brimstone
slipped from the mouth of the Menai Strait, William Montague walked the deck of the
Swallow
, humming a tune. He was almost past Anglesey when a most pleasant idea came to him. Why wait until tomorrow to pick up his family? He could spend the night with Amber and close the summerhouse in the morning. The farther away from Ireland they were when