Jubilee

Chapter One ;Reunion ; ;Let my voice ring out and over the earth, ; Through all the grief and strife, ; With a golden joy in a silver mirth: ; Thank God for life! ; ; James Thomson ; New York City ; Late March, 1876 ;The first time Susanna Fallon saw Riccardo Emmanuel, she wasn't in the least surprised that he was weeping. ;He had not seen his son, after all, for years. Not since the accident that had blinded Michael. It was all she could do to hold back her own tears as she watched Michael's father grasp his son by the shoulders, study him, then pull him into a long embrace. ;Uncomfortable with the idea of intruding on such an intimate family occasion, Susanna had wanted to stay behind this morning. Despite the love that had blossomed and then deepened between her and Michael Emmanuel over the past months, she still found it hard to think of herself as his fiancee, not his dead wife's sister and his daughter's governess. Only at Michael's insistence had she agreed to come to the city with him to meet his father's ship. And so far she had managed to remain where she wanted to be-in the background. ;Around them, all was confusion and commotion. The New York City harbor brought back memories of her own arrival in America: the fear she'd had to struggle against when she'd first stepped off the ship into the midst of the other immigrants milling about the waterfront; the tall buildings along the wharf that had seemed so forbidding; the mix of foreign tongues and English, spoken more sharply and harshly than she was used to; and the ever present runners, most of them Irish themselves, who preyed on their fellow countrymen as they hustled them off to disreputable shanties and dilapidated tenements where unscrupulous landlords would take advantage of them yet again. ;Susanna shuddered and, shading her eyes with one hand, looked up at the bright March sky. Although winter still held the city in its tenuous grip, the late morning sun was clear and sharp, the bracing air full of promise that spring was on the way. ;Susanna watched as Riccardo Emmanuel released Michael to draw Paul, his nephew, closer and kiss him soundly on both cheeks. Then he bent to sweep four-year-old Caterina up into his sturdy arms, tugging at a long, dark curl as she squealed with delight. ;"Bella! Mia bella nipote!" ;My beautiful granddaughter. ;"But surely this cannot be your baby girl, Michael? Not this bella creatura! Why, she's nearly grown!" ;Susanna smiled to see Caterina throw her arms around the neck of the grandfather she had never met, hugging him as if they'd been together forever. Clearly, this relationship held great promise. ;Only when Michael called to her did Susanna finally step out and approach. Seeing her, Riccardo Emmanuel set Caterina carefully to her feet, then beckoned Susanna closer. ;"Ah," he said softly, with a quick glance at Michael. "She is exactly as you wrote of her, figlio mio." ;She had only a second to speculate exactly as to what Michael had written before Riccardo turned to her. After only a slight hesitation, he brought her hand to his lips, his keen blue eyes taking her measure in one quick but thorough sweep. Had it not been for the unmistakable twinkle in his eye, that sharply discerning gaze might have intimidated Susanna. As it was, however, Riccardo Emmanuel seemed more intent on charming her than intimidating her. ;He was a big man, Michael's father-nearly a head shorter than his son but of broad, even rotund, girth. Like Michael, he spHoff, B. J. is the author of 'Jubilee', published 2004 under ISBN 9780849943911 and ISBN 0849943914.