The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) Read online

  The Hungry Heart Fulfilled

  Book 3 of The Hunger of the Heart Series

  Shannon Farrell

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Synopsis

  Reviews

  Copyright

  About The Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Historical Note

  More Titles by Author

  SYNOPSIS

  Canada and Ireland 1848-1849

  Emer Nugent has survived the hell of the Grosse Ile quarantine station in Canada with some help from the Bishop of Quebec and her friends from Ireland, and has embarked on a new life running an orphanage for the Irish emigrant children left parentless by the Famine and terrible fevers which have accompanied it.

  She has never stopped loving Dalton Randall, the powerful shipping magnate, but can never forgive what she believes have been his many betrayals of her and her family.

  Dalton's father Frederick is actually to blame for many of the deeds against Emer and her friends. He has done everything he can to separate the couple, and is one step away from achieving all his worldly ambitions.

  For Frederick has convinced Dalton that Emer is dead, and Dalton is about to cave in to his manipulative father's demand that he marry the daughter of a business rival for the sake of their shipping company.

  But a chance meeting draws the passionate lovers together once more. Dalton has never stopped loving Emer, and is determined to build a life with her, and a medical practice they can use to help benefit the poor, no matter what Frederick says.

  Outraged that his plans for keeping the two apart have failed, and Dalton has no intention of marrying Madeliene Lyndon so their shipping merger can go through smoothly, Dalton’s father has Emer arrested on false charges and transported back to Dublin.

  The Ireland Emer returns to is not only still in the grip of the Famine, but also on the brink of civil war. Emer finds herself unwittingly embroiled in the 1848 rebellion, and is put on trial for her life.

  Dalton must outwit Frederick if he and Emer are ever to be safe, and must travel half way across the world to try to rescue his one true love from the capital charge of treason before it's too late.

  “No you don’t, Emer. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I want some answers, and I want them now!” Dalton rasped as he backed her up against the wall until his stomach and thighs pressed intimately against her own.

  Emer was sure she was going to faint from desire and fear.

  “When I last saw you in August, you were in my bed, a poor governess, making love to me as though it meant everything in the world to you. Now I find you married to your fiance Garvan, whom you swore you never loved, living in a mansion with a troop of male visitors coming in and out of here at all times of the day and night. I want to know exactly what the hell you've been up to, and I’m not leaving here until you tell me the truth,” Dalton threatened.

  Emer shoved against his chest futilely as she struggled to escape from his tantalising nearness. “What I’ve done since August ceased to be your concern when you left me on Grosse Ile then, and never once tried to contact me except to....”

  She halted just in time before she said the words “bribe me.”

  The Hungry Heart Fulfilled

  Book 3 of The Hunger of the Heart Series

  Shannon Farrell

  REVIEWS

  This third novel of the Hunger of the Heart series is no less remarkable than the first two. In this book, Dalton and Emer are reunited at last, and Datlon starts to discover the full extent of his father's lies and manipulations.

  Dalton is set to marry Madeleine Lyndon in four days' time, until he discovers his one true love is still alive. The news shakes his entire world, and everything he has ever believed to be true about himself and his life.

  While Dalton is still reeling in shock, one thing is certain: he loves Emer, not Madeleine, and will move heaven and earth for them to be together at last.

  Emer and Frederick Randall both race against the clock, she to protect Dalton, he to rid his family of the one woman who can ruin all his plans for domination of the Atlantic if the Lyndon marriage and merger don't go ahead.

  Frederick kidnaps Emer and her newborn son, with the most appalling consequences. Emer is deported back to Famine-ravaged Ireland, and this is just the start of her remarkable adventures.

  The details of the less well-known 1848 rebellion in Ireland make for fascinating reading, and once again, the strong hero and heroine never fail to fascinate and scorch the pages with their heated passion.

  This is yet another fabulous page-turner from this talented writer.

  Evelyn Trimborn, Harlequin Hearts

  Wow. What a gripping tale. Dalton and Emer meet again at last, and gradually, Dalton begins to discover his father’s lies and machinations against his beloved.

  Due to the evil Madeleine Lyndon, Emer nearly loses her life. She gives birth to Dalton's child safely, but is left crippled, and feels that things can't get much worse.

  She doesn't calculate on Frederick Randall's hatred, for he steals her son and has her beaten and put on trial for arson, and sentenced to transportation to Australia.

  Shipped back to Ireland to await the next convict ship for Botany Bay, Emer manages to escape, but it is out of the frying pan and into the fire. For the potato has failed yet again, leaving Ireland open to the kind of revolutionary civil unrest that has been springing up all over Europe in 1848.

  Dalton, desperate to find his beloved, must fight to save Emer from imprisonment, and execution for treason.

  This nail biting third book in the Hunger of the Heart Series is a remarkable conclusion to an already fantastic saga.

  Jacinta Carey, The Starbuck Saga

  Highly Recommended

  I was thrilled at the prospect of Dalton and Emer finally being reunited at the end of The Hungry Heart, but in The Hungry Heart Fulfilled, Dalton must save Emer and his son William from his evil father Frederick, who will stop at nothing to control Dalton, even if it means kidnapping their child and killing Emer.

  Her new set of challenges in some senses is just beginning, for she is crippled, bereft of her beloved and her baby, and becomes embroiled unwittingly in the 1848 Rebellion in Ireland.

  I was fascinated by the details of the uprising and its leaders, and couldn't want to see how the evil Frederick
would finally be foiled and Emer and Dalton's love would at last win through.

  Emer and Dalton are an unforgettable couple, and The Hungry Heart Fulfilled is the kind of novel that resonates long after you've finished reading it. This is a wonderful book filled with marvelous characters who come alive on the page, and keep us hanging on their every word and deed.

  Carolyn Stone, Under the Covers Book Reviews,

  Highly Recommended

  A wonderful conclusion to this moving saga

  The wonderful historical saga Hunger of the Heart and the love story of Emer Nugent and Dalton Randall comes to a rousing conclusion in the third book, The Hungry Heart Fulfilled. This is an action-packed page turner with sensual elements that scorch the pages.

  Emer is just as engaging a heroine as ever, noble, principled, loving. Dalton really comes into his own as a man who has made many mistakes, not least of which is trusting his father when he tells Dalton that Emer died of fever. The old man cleverly manipulates Dalton into an engagement with the wanton Madeleine Lyndon in order to get their hands on the Lyndon steamships.

  When Dalton realizes his beloved is still alive, both Madeleine and Frederick try to get rid of Emer, with the most shocking results.

  If ever a couple deserve to be together, it's Emer and Dalton. This page-turner had me on the edge of my seat holding my breath waiting to see what happened next, rooting for this marvellously sensual couple the whole way. Enjoy!

  Annabelle Stevens, Love's Sweet Song

  The Hungry Heart Fulfilled

  Book 3 of The Hunger of the Heart Series

  Shannon Farrell

  HerStory Books

  Dedication:

  To all the Irish the world over: We are the survivors. Tíocfiadh ar lá.

  Copyright the author 1998, 2002,

  2004 some material previously published under the original title The Hungry Heart

  The Hungry Heart Fulfilled, expanded with with all new additional material, 2008

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-58345-135-9

  HerStory Books

  http://www.HerStoryBooks.com

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  CHAPTER ONE

  MAY 15th, 1848

  Emer tried to force herself to calm down on the ride back to her orphanage from the Protestant cathedral. She had to think of the safety of her unborn baby, and needed to be calm enough to face the rest of the staff and children at Sunday dinner.

  Dalton had been there, seen her, shouted her name, tried to run after her… Dalton was engaged to be married in only a few days time, she reminded herself bitterly, trying to subdue the ache of longing suffocating her.

  She took a few deep, ragged breaths, and did not dare meet the Bishop's eye.

  As the wise older man had urged, if she ever encountered Dalton again, she was to act as though they were nothing to each other, not even acquaintances. No one could know about their past together, or it would ruin his chances of a good match.

  And no one could ever know, lest a hint of scandal taint all the good work she and the Bishop were trying to accomplish at the orphanage and school.

  She hoped that their departure from the Cathedral had not looked like the headlong flight it actually was. What on earth had Dalton been thinking, jumping up in the cathedral and shouting out her name like that?

  And what on earth had happened to him, she wondered, replaying the incident over again in her mind, still unable to fathom all that had happened. He was so altered that she had barely recognised him. How had he come by such dark circles under his normally vibrant golden eyes, and his silvered hair?

  She pressed her hands together in the lap of her black mourning gown, and willed herself to think about her mundane list of chores for the day in order to rein in her riotous emotions. She needed to regain her composure, or they would all worry about her and wonder what had happened.

  The two blonde girls sitting beside her, Fiona and Fenella, seemed blissfully unaware of the calamity that had just befallen their wonderful friend. They chatted animatedly about all they had heard and seen, while Emer pondered on how much Dalton had changed since he had last seen him, as though he had aged twenty years in only a few months.

  But any pity she might have felt for him was erased as she recalled the horrors of Grosse Ile, and the terrible death of her brother Cormac, as well as her other family members.

  Even though her rebellious heart still ached for him, how could she ever forgive him for that? And why had he come after her in the church? To cause even more trouble for her and her friends?

  The Bishop did not speak openly of what had just happened, but instead tried to help Emer take her mind off things by asking if they could go over the household accounts as soon as they got back.

  “I want to see just how well your workshops at the back of the orphanage are doing, and then determine if I can put it to the next Committee meeting that money for supplies and materials to institute such a system in our own parish home would be money well spent.”

  “Yes, of course, we can do that before dinner. You are staying, aren’t you, Bishop?” she said quietly.

  He gave her an encouraging smile. “Of course, I wouldn’t miss Sunday dinner with our giant family for anything in the world.

  "Oh, by the way, Adrian has had to attend an emergency meeting of the fever hospital board in my stead, due to our appointment at the cathedral, so he apologises in advance if he arrives a bit late.”

  Her auburn brows knit. “What sort of emergency?”

  “We need to start hiring staff, for we’ve received word that the river is free of ice. More immigrant ships will be arriving at any moment.”

  “My goodness, how horrible. If it's anything like it was last year, it will be a nightmare,” Emer sighed, and shuddered. “I only wish I could help more.”

  “You did enough for the poor souls on the Pegasus and at Grosse Ile last year. You have yourself and all the children to think about now, as well as your unborn child,” the Bishop cautioned as he carefully helped her out of the carriage and up the front steps to the house.

  The Bishop was right. Her pregnancy had made her ungainly, and she had her family and infant to think about now, no matter what was coming up the St. Lawrence River from Ireland.

  She rubbed her belly and aching back, and waddled into the foyer with a sigh.

  “Run along, girls, and tell Marion you’re home safely,” Emer instructed as she went into her study.

  She removed her plain black bonnet, patter her hair into place, and sat down at the desk to tally the figures the Bishop had asked for, forcing all thoughts of Dalton to one side as she opened her ledgers.

  She told herself over and over that Dalton was nothing to her now, nothing, and never could be. The Bishop had every confidence in her. The children were counting on her. She simply could not afford to let them down. Certainly not for a man who had proven so unworthy.

  In any even, there was nothing to fear. Dalton would not come after her. Why should he? He had paid her off, e
nd of story. He was getting married to Madeleine Lyndon. He no longer had any use for her. They had never had a chance at a future together. It had only been the bliss that they had shared, that she had felt, that had convinced her they loved one another.