Seaswept Abandon

419 Pages·2016·2.35 MB·English

by  Goodman Jo

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Seaswept Abandon
By
Jo Goodman
ZEBRA U.S.$5.99 CAN.$7.99
In the second thrilling book of her magnificent McClellan trilogy,
award-winning author Jo Goodman spins an exciting tale of
passion, daring, and revenge that sweeps from the war-torn
Colonies to the elegant drawing rooms of England...
THE DARING PATRIOT
Bold and beautiful Rae McClellan eagerly seizes a chance to be a
courier for the Colonies, never anticipating her midnight excursion
to a local tavern would lead to murder--and brand her a wanted
woman. Saved from an angry mob of
Redcoats by a powerful stranger, she is swept up into a
tempestuous adventure that will become a battle for her country,
her family ... and her heart.
THE NOBLE SPY
Jericho Smith curses the moment he became enraptured by the
confounding Rae McClellan--and the feverish desire she arouses in
him. Jericho was one of the Continental army's most able spies ...
until Rae makes him want things he never dared desire before, like
the love of this spirited woman and a lost legacy that awaits back in
England. Yet even as Jericho and Rae surrender to an undeniable
passion, a dangerous foe reaches out across the Atlantic, luring
them both into a perilous gambit for their lives--and their love...
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Books by Jo Goodman
THE CAPTAIN'S LADY CRYSTAL PASSION SEASWEPT
ABANDON VELVET NIGHT
VIOLET FIRE
SCARLET LIES
TEMPTING TORMENT MIDNIGHT PRINCESS PASSION'S SWEET
REVENGE SWEET FIRE
WILD SWEET ECSTASY ROGUE'S MISTRESS FOREVER IN MY
HEART ALWAYS IN MY DREAMS ONLY IN MY ARMS
MY STEADFAST HEART
MY RECKLESS HEART
WITH ALL MY HEART
MORE THAN YOU KNOW
Published by Zebra Books
ZEBRA BOOKS
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
http://www.zebrabooks.com
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For my parents. They never stop encouraging.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright (c) 2000, 1986 by Joanne Dobrzanski
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any means without the prior written consent of the
Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware
that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and
destroyed" to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher
has received any payment for this "stripped book."
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
First Printing: September 1986
Second Printing: September 2000
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Dear Reader,
When I began writing about the McClellans in Crystal Passion I
didn't anticipate there would be a secondary character who would
require a story of his own. What caught me especially off guard
was that not only wasn't the character a McClellan, but that he didn't
even have a first name. The more I thought about Smith, the more I
realized that Rahab McClellan was meant for him. I'm not giving
anything away by telling you this at the outset. If you're familiar with
my books, then you already know my heroes and heroines tend to
work things out between them and then work together. That's why
some readers might find Jericho Smith's behavior toward Rae
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troubling at different junctures in their relationship. Interestingly
enough, I never received one letter of concern or protest when
Seaswept Abandon was initially published. I imagine this had
something to do with what was, if not entirely accepted, at least
could be tolerated. I have to wonder what the reaction will be this
time around--and I look forward to hearing from you if you have a
thought about it one way or the other.
The McClellan trilogy will conclude with the reprinting of Noah
McClellan's story in Tempting Torment in 2001. Noah was such a
nice guy in the first draft I was asked to toughen him up. Men. And
they think we're so difficult to understand.
Best wishes, Jo
Printed in the United States of America

"Auntie Rae! Auntie Rae! Look at my dress!" Courtney McClellan
spun on her small feet, lifting the hem of her frilly pink dress nearly
to her knees. "Isn't Mama clever? You can't see where Tommy
Miller tore the lace."
Rahab McClellan smiled fondly at the whirling dervish that was llllr
four-year-old niece. Courtney was a near perfect minia-tare of her
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mother, and Rae's eyes lifted to her sister-in-law, once again
startled by the resemblance between the two. Ashley and Courtney
shared thick ebony hair and fair porcelain complexions. They were
delicate in stature but long of limb. Mother and daughter had a
sweep of jet lashes that outlined clear and laughing eyes. The eyes,
so similar in their direct gaze, were different in hue. Ashley's were
the color of emeralds, startling green in her fair face, while
Courtney's eyes were very much the silver gray of her father's.
Rae did not have to look in a mirror to know her own face had
suffered today from the unexpected warmth of the sun. She had
refused to wear a bonnet and now there were a number

10 Jo Goodman
Rae's answer successfully diverted Courtmey's attention. She
chortled. "You sound so funny, Auntie Rae. Like o1' Jacob at the
landing."
Ashley and Rae both laughed. Rae thought her gravelly excuse for
a voice did indeed sound like the voice of the family's ancient
retainer. She was surprised that Courtney remembered Jacob. It
had been almost a year since Ashley and Salem had visited the
landing.
Ashley spoke to the surprise on Rae's face. "O1' Jacob whittled her
a pull toy and she has never forgotten him. I think she spent most of
the visit with him. Your mother would have been quite put out if she
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hadn't had Trenton to fawn over." She gave her son a small
squeeze. "But he was such a handful no one seemed to mind that
Courmey was amusing herself."
Rae pointed to the way Courtney was presently occupied with the
cameo brooch securing the shawl over Rae's shoulders. "She is
fascinated with everything around her," she rasped.
"Oh, Rae! Please don't talk! It hurts just to listen. Shall I make us
another cup of tea?" Rae's horrified glance indicated that if she
drank one more drop she would consign herself to Boston Harbor.
Ashley smiled ruefully. "I suppose I have been overdoing it a bit.
And I know drinking tea goes against all your principles, but I find
that I cannot abandon my past entirely."
Rae was quick to see the shadow that passed over Ashley's
features. Though Ashley tried to hide it, and was successful for the
most part, there were those moments when she could not help but
shudder at the thought of the life she had known in England, a life
that had had very little to recommend it until the interference of one
Jerusalem McClellan. Rae would have given anything to have been
able to comfort her, but she knew that it was something better left to
Salem. He understood more than anyone what demons chased his
wife. Rae knew Ashley's brief melancholy had its roots in his
absence as much as it did in her fears.
"I know. It's silly of me," Ashley said, seeing Rae's sympa
SEASWEPT
ABANDON 11
thetic look. "When Salem isn't here I brood. I find it hard not to think
that Nigel will--"
Rae threw her a sharp look, but it was too late. Courtney's interest
in the brooch had waned and she was listening intently to her
mother.
"Who is Nigel, Mama?"
Ashley frowned at her daughter's inquisitiveness. "Little pitchers • • •
he is my uncle, Courtney. Like Noah and Gareth
are your uncles. But I do not like my Uncle Nigel."
,
"He is not a very nice man."
,,Why.9,'
"Because he doesn't have anyone to love, I think." She could have
added that Nigel Lynne, Duke of Linfield, had only ever loved one
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woman, his twin sister, and that his twisted obsession had brought
about her death. Ashley felt regret that she had never known her
mother, but she had made every effort to clear her mind of the
haunting bitterness that accompanied such thoughts. Nigel's
Machiavellian tendencies were better left in the past. It was only
when Salem was away from her
that she wondered if she were entirely safe from his plotting.
"Why.9"
Rae rolled her expressive eyes at Courmey and shook her head,
placing her index finger on the child's pink lips.
"Enough," she whispered. "Naptime."
"Oh, Auntie Rae. Must I?"
"Yes, you must," Ashley said, standing. She walked toward the
drawing room doors, shifting the sleeping bundle in her arms.
"Come, Courmey. Trenton is sleeping now. He will want to have
company in the nursery when he awakes."
Rae gently pushed Courtney from her lap and watched her
reluctantly follow her mother up the carpeted stairs to the nursery.
She waved good-bye as the girl played peekaboo through the rails
of the banister until she was out of sight. When the trio had
disappeared, Rahab leaned her head against

12 Jo Goodman
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the side of her wing chair, closing her eyes against tears that
threatened her composure.
How she envied Ashley her family! It was absurd, this jealousy. Rae
knew it and didn't like herself the better for it. Ashley Lynne had
been the outsider, once upon a time. Five years ago Rae had not
known of her existence, but when her brother had brought her home
to their Virginia plantation, Rae had welcomed her, and now it
seemed hard to believe there was ever a time that did not include
Ashley. She had presented Robert and Charity McClellan with their
first grandchild, and no one seemed at all perturbed that Courtney
had arrived earlier than the wedding vows should have allowed.
Stop it! she admonished herself. That was an unworthy thought.
Ashley is not the source of all this self-pity. It's this damn plaguey
cold and a row of freckles you wouldn't even have if you had worn a
bonnet in the first place. Rae listened to the train of her thoughts
and had the good sense to wonder why the freckles bothered her
so much. She was not one to be vain about her appearance, and
this new concern with her looks bothered her not a little. She
thought perhaps she was feeling her age.
Twenty-two. In a society where girls were married as young as
fifteen, it seemed to Rae that twenty-two, soon to be twenty-three,
was a very great age, indeed. Ashley had married Salem when she
was nineteen, and Leah, two years Rae's junior, had wed at
eighteen. Her brother Gareth's wife had been barely seventeen
when she'd married him. Only Noah and Rae remained single, but,
Rae reflected, Noah was hardly in danger of becoming the maiden
aunt. It was unfair the way Noah was good-naturedly teased about
chasing skirts while she was expected to be chased. Or was that
chaste?
Her smile was wry. She had certainly been the latter. RigiOty she
had controlled the ache and longing she felt for the special intimacy
shared by Ashley and Salem. Some nights she would bury her head
beneath her feather pillow to muffle the sound
SEASWEPT ABANDON 13
of their giggling and loving. Thank God they were mostly quiet, else
Rae knew she would have had to leave a long time ago. The
thought of returning to the landing and seeing, even hearing, Leah
and Troy engage in such play, brought bile to her throat. She did not
love Troy, but by God, she had her pride.
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So sleep with your pride, re'girl. It's all you'll ever know as long as
you expect every man you meet to betray you for another. Where's
your courage? It's not as if you have any more sisters.
Rae knew the argument well. She had battled with it long enough.
But at the moment she convinced herself to take a risk, to allow
some man the chance to win her heart, she would remember there
were other women who cord take him away. When she realized she
was spuming her suitors before they could reject her, hurting them
for no other reason than that she was afraid, she held herself aloof
from them all.
The irony of her name was not lost on her. She was Rahab, named
for the biblical harlot at Jericho, and now called untouchable by the
men who had approached her. Better that she should have been
named Mary, for she was likely to remain virgin till she died. The
unkindness with which she had considered this last thought brought
her up short. Restlessly she moved to the large bay window and
pressed her palms against the warm panes.
Outside the sun beat new life into the cold ground. There were
tender green shoots in the flower boxes that lined the sills of the
house across the street. Looking down, Rae saw several small
buds in the box below her window. She felt unaccountably
frightened for them. So much could happen. They were only ignorant
plants, coaxed by the warmth of . fickle sun to aspire to color and
beauty. Tonight it would be cold; she sensed it. There would be a
frost and the unsuspecting buds would freeze and become nothing
but fertilizer for the buds that would replace them. She wanted to
protect them, perhaps bring them in for the night, but she could not
help them every evening. No, it
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14 Jo Goodman
was better they learned nature's little cruelties now. She turned
away, wondering if she were the only one who felt melancholy in
springtime.
There was too much to risk, too much in question, this time of year.
There were those moments when a spring breeze would catch her
unaware. It would be cool and brisk, but thick with the fragrance of
new life, and she would feel as if her heart were being squeezed
with the fear of her anticipation. Springtime reminded her she was
lonely, for all that she was not alone.
Ashley stood at the entrance to the drawing room, pondering the
gentle slump of Rae's shoulders. It was not often Rahab could be
seen looking defeated, yet Ashley sensed this was precisely how
she was feeling now. Ashley knew Rae well enough to know nothing
would come of questioning her mood. Rahab was a wonderful
companion, but she rarely confided her innermost thoughts. She
was outspoken on a variety of subjects, but Rae McClellan was not
one of them.
Ashley reflected that it had not always been this way. When she
had first met Rae the young girl had been vivacious and
passionately involved in everything around her. The change in her
mien had come on gradually, brought on first, Ashley thought, by
Rae's unhappiness with her woman's role in the rebellion. She did
not hide her desire to accompany her brother Noah onto the
battlefield. She would gladly have taken Gareth's seat among the
Virginian delegation if such a thing had been permitted. Once she
had tearfully begged Salem to allow her to go with him on one of his
clandestine missions for General Washington. He had refused her.
With regret, it was true, but it was a firm refusal, nonetheless. She
had never asked for anything again.
Salem's refusal had been especially hard to take because Rae
knew that Ashley was allowed to contribute. Ashley's help was vital
to Salem at formal gatherings, her crisp accent and very British
mannerisms doing much to deflect suspicion away from his real