Keep My Heart- Prologue

Keep My Heart- 30

"They knew that love snatched in the face of danger and death was doubly sweet for the strange excitement that went with it.”

-Margaret Mitchell, "Gone with the Wind."

Hello there! The quote above is from one of my favorite books of all time! I have read it twice, and I highly recommend it. They just don't make them like they used to. :( I try to do so, but alas. I'm not nearly as gifted as Peggy Mitchell, lol.

Anyway. Despite my shortcomings, please read on! Feel free to vote and comment! Thanks!

Hurriedly, Olivia set foot on the land that was the port of Nassau, and her skirts fluttered in the gentle Carribbean breeze. She looked about te heavy crowd, ful of Africans, and their masters, and many of the people of Nassau. There were tradesmen, and sailors and captains. She felt that she could almost see her husband's face in the crowd. At every tall, giant like man, she seemed to see him but he was not there. 

Despite the mess she was inside, the fashionable dress  she wore was well on her. It was a red muslin travel dress, complete with the high Empire waist. It had tapered sleeves, and a red satin bow. Beneath it, her little red satin shoes peeked out. She was very lovely, and blooming. She glowed like a lovely little candle at midnight, her eyes alight with the hope that her darling was here. She knew, she knew, deep in her heart, that he was here, and she would take him home, and life would again, begin. 

"My dear, I would find it to be extremely beneficial if you were to rest before we go. "

She turned and glanced at him sidelong, and, ignoring the implication, she took several steps forward. The streets before her were sandy, and busy, full of people milling about. The sun above was blindingly blue, although several clouds slid by like slugs. It was cool, because of the breeze off of the ocean. Olivia strode forward, uncaring if her father-in-law was behind her or not.

Clutching her hands, she felt the pearl ring that her dearest had given her, resting easily on her white finger. The feeling of it was cool and soothing and very familiar. How long had it been...that she had seen him? And how long had it been that he had been home for the first day, all those months ago?

Life had changed so very much since then. All of it. She had gone from a life that had been very empty, to a life that had such a great amount of meaning that she knew she would fight for it, to the cold, sharp ends of God's green earth. It was this knowledge, this solidity, that drove her forward in the streets of Nassau, bent to find him, to get to him. Her steps seemed endless, like this place was a labyrinth.

Those trying days before, when she had been alone, things had been so much simpler. It had been only her, organizing, doing, pushing through the days.

But the stakes were high now. It seemed that when there was much more to lose, the ugly little caprices in life occurred. At first it had been Rashleigh and his ill-timed visit. Then the death of her parents, and being marooned, and then...then the British navy took her husband from her.

It seemed, as she pushed through the streets, with all her might, searching for the church where her dearest was, that things could not get any worse.  

But Mrs. Hawke could not have been more wrong.

 Around the world he had been, but each of the adventures he recalled now paled in comparison to this one, now. 

The time he had been to China rang lowy in his mind. He remembered the port, and the way the food had smelled. He remembered the people, and the social functions he had attended. In his blurred state, he recalled the geishas on the arms of handsome men.