Free Chelynne by Robyn Carr Page B

fall in love with her, being away from her causing him agony and being near her making the agony worse. He could not speak of her to anyone, not even John.
    Chad’s feelings were so new to him that he never suspected he loved her as he did. Just the same his pursuit was heated. In his impatient youth he pressed her until she could deny him no longer. He had told himself that when it finally happened he would be able to forget her, finding in her the substance of every other wench he had lain with. But in this, too, he was wrong. There was a richness to their passion that he had never before tasted and never since matched. Had he known then how totally it would bind him, how eventually it would destroy her, he never would have touched her.
    She came with child soon after that. He found he couldn’t live without her happily and neither could he be content to let her wed another or bear him a bastard. He expected his father’s wrath, but her family played against them as well. Her father served the earl loyally and was ashamed of his daughter’s recklessness. He put Anne on a coach to be delivered to a country squire, an aging man who would be content to have the lass in any condition. It was with a great deal of difficulty that Chad managed to find her, free her, and marry her.
    When he took her to Hawthorne House the earl turned them away angrily. Never had such a disgrace marred their good name. Not only was the lass common, but the simple daughter of one of his own churls, well known by all who served him. She couldn’t even write her own name. And this to not one of many sons, but his sole heir.
    Anne suffered miserably, convinced she had sinned against all worlds. She was turned from her family, outcast by her husband’s, and possibly turned away from eternal life because of her weak will and her sins. Chad took her to London, found a humble home and one servant to aid her, and joined his companions to support her by the only means available to him: warring.
    He was called to the battle of St. James’s day when Anne was near her time. It was as if she had a premonition of her fate, for though she urged him to go she made him swear that his child would never be called bastard. “Let him always have his father’s love,” she begged. “We both know the misery of being without it.”
    Chad returned from the battle with John and three other comrades, the sons of an acquaintance, Lord Sutherland. They witnessed what Chad found. His son thrived at the breast of a wet nurse while his beloved lay cold and dead from bringing him forth. His grief was almost overpowering, but he took it in tow, finding some strength in this newborn life. He wrote his father and asked permission to bring himself and his son to reside at Hawthorne House. The earl’s reply was fast in coming. “The devil take me when I acknowledge your bastard!”
    Hatred bred in Chad and gave him ambition and energy he had never before known. His goal was no longer simple adventure, but money at any risk. A pair of years later he was able to bring his son and servants to Jamaica to live on his own plantation. With shrewd business tactics and courage, ethical and otherwise, he bettered himself. It was a ship and then a fleet. A servant and then a staff and slaves to tend the cane. His son was dutifully tended by Mistress Connolly while her husband served Chad in other areas of his estate. He kept his hand in the court activities when business brought him to England. He was nobleman, warrior, businessman and merchant. He never burned a bridge and worked tirelessly to aspire in every circle.
    When his son was four years old he returned to England. The earl learned of his presence through some unknown means and sent him a message asking him to come to Hawthorne House. Curiosity drove him, but he was very suspicious. He found that his father had aged considerably since he had last seen him.
    “Can you guess why I’ve sent for you, Chadwick?”
    “No, my