Page 111 (1/2)

"She's just trying to keep all the ishers out"

"No, she's tryin' to keep ye out She said she's gonna take a strap to ye if ye burst in there like ye did earlier, raving like a lunatic I don't think she likes ye much"

"What a coincidence," Slayde inserted wryly "Shehis appearance into the world"

"Yeah, she bellowed somethin' about not likin' ye much, either," Gin confirmed "But she said ye were a lamb coood, that never in all 'er years of doin' this 'as any ht unbalanced as Merlin…"

"That's it," Julian exploded, jerking about and stor the old crone out"

"Julian—don't" Courtney rushed forward, grabbing his arress "I know Mrs Peters is so and more than a bit cheeky But, trust me, she's extraordinarily co tone or not, Courtney looked suspiciously as if she were biting back laughter "She did a splendid job of helping me birth Tyler Why, there's not a betteryou'll regret"

Julian forced hiht Nothingof his wife and child

"I tell you what," Courtney went on in that soothing way she had "I'll go up and check on Aurora She'll want to know Mr Scollard is here, anyway Then I'll stay by her side until the babe is born Would that make you feel better?"

"I'd feel better if I ith her"

"No you wouldn't," Slayde refuted "Because not only would you swoon from the experience, but Mrs Peters would then have to divert her attentions from Aurora and the babe to cheerfully toss your body out the bedcha right here"

"Doing what?" Julian demanded as Courtney squeezed Slayde's arm and hurried off "What the hell a?"

"Help Slayde watch Tyler," Courtney called over her shoulder "My son will be delighted to introduce you to the joys of fatherhood"

Julian didn't sh his hair Never in all his life had he felt so helpless, so terrified Oh, somewhere in the dim recesses of hisa new life into the world But never had he expected Aurora—his Rory, who'd shot a privateer dead, been held at gunpoint atop the black cliffs, persevered through the long and dangerous discovery of the black diaonize like this, her slight body bathed in perspiration, racked with spasms of pain Dammit He should be able to help her He needed to be able to help her She'd given hihted his days, and the passion that consuhts

Marriage to her had been—continued to be—the most exquisite of adventures

I Tyler's birth, they'd sailed off on their wedding trip, visiting every place Geoffrey's journal had cited as one of the Fox and the Falcon's destinations First they'd journeyed to China and Singapore, next to Bengal and Ceylon From there they'd traveled down to the southern coast of Africa, then west to Barbados and Trinidad, north to Canada and Newfoundland, and finally back to Gibraltar, Malta, and the Continent before returning holand