Authors: Cynthia Wright

Caroline (43 page)

BOOK: Caroline

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"But?" Alec glanced up as he heaped food upon their plates, lifting a black brow.

"But, I'll admit that there were moments when, deep in my secret self, I dreamed of the dark, handsome rogue who would come to carry me off on his horse."

His turquoise eyes went wide with mock surprise. "You really
do
get what you set out for!"

His playful banter relaxed her and the hot food helped as well. Alec was encouraged by her appetite, watching her eat voraciously as he lit candles to set on the table. When he sat down with his own plate, he found himself staring at Caro, watching the play of the candlelight over her loose, burnished hair. Her delicate features were etched in gold against the black backdrop of the kitchen window, but there was a troubled look in her eyes.

"You know," she murmured wonderingly, "it still seems so hard to believe that I was actually the girl we
said
I was—all along!"

Alec's mouth quirked. "I know. Truth to tell, I really should have thought of it before. If I'd been certain that Bergman had a daughter your age, I'd probably have at least suspected. Now I can remember him boasting about you, but at the time I thought they were merely the delusions of a proud father. Lord knows it wouldn't have been the first time I listened to those!"

"But they weren't delusions?"

He grinned. "Actually, I'm afraid he may have underrated you,
cherie."

"Alec, I forgot to ask you—how did you get up to that window? It looked like you were flying in midair, and my bedroom is on the second floor!" She paused to swallow a mouthful of bread and butter. "Also,
why
did you come that way? That creature was all prepared to kill you when you knocked at the front door."

"Well, fortunately for us, I am not quite as dull-witted as Pilquebinder liked to think. After learning what I did from Farmer Willow, I was not about to take any chances. As for my entrance—it is easily explained. I climbed on the woodshed, then up the slope of the roof to the top of the house. I could hear his voice in your room and from there it was merely a matter of swinging down and through the window."

Caro put a hand over her eyes. "It's a miracle you weren't killed!"

Amused, he replied, "That wasn't likely. I seem to be quite surefooted."

"You know, this may sound quite bloodthirsty on my part, but I am so glad that that man is dead. I am only afraid now that it's some kind of horrible mistake. Are you positive, that he is
really—"

"Yes," he replied in a firm voice that dispelled all her fears. "As a matter of fact, when I left him in the barn he was stone cold." Reaching across the table, he put his brown hand over her smaller one and gazed at her searchingly. This was as close as they had come yet to discussing the ordeal she had suffered on the bed upstairs. "My love
...
are you sure you're all right? You wouldn't lie to me about this, thinking to spare me?"

"No. I could never live with that kind of secret." She met his eyes squarely. "What... happened was ghastly, but it could have been worse. The important thing is the outcome. He is dead and you are here beside me, loving me...."

"Very true." he smiled, lifting her tiny hand to his lips. "Have I ever told you how brave you are? And resourceful? And strong-willed?"

"Do stop! Would you have me puffed up with conceit as well?" Caro turned back to the few bites of food left on her plate to hide a blush, and as she ate, another thought occurred to her.

"Alec, I must tell you the things
he
said when we were alone. About you!" She went on to relate the story of their apparent association in the army, Pilquebinder's jealousy, and finally the identity of the yellow-eyed man in the barn.

By the time she finished, Alec was shaking his head in amazement. "I have no recollection of him before the day he came to Belle Maison. But now I know how that Hessian weasel came to call out my name before he died. That has always puzzled me." He cursed in frustration. "How blind I have been! The truth has been before me all along, but I could not see it—"

"Do not blame yourself—you had no way of knowing! How could you have guessed that he should be
here
of all places, waiting for us all these weeks? I still can hardly believe it is all true!"

"Neither can I," he returned grimly, standing up. "I'll confess that it is a real weight off my mind to have all this cleared up. This has certainly proved to be an enlightening, if dangerous journey."

They were walking arm in arm back to the parlor when Caro stopped and looked up at Alec's face.

"Do you know the part that really fascinates me? Finding out that Papa actually planned our marriage before we ever met. It makes me feel so good to learn that he knew and approved of you." She smiled ruefully. "Actually, I quite feared for his sanity when that creature showed me the letter Papa had meant for you to receive."

They were silent for a time as Caro gathered up a quantity of plush quilts in order to prepare a bed for them. They spread three comforters over the braided rug before the fire and kept two more aside for covers, adding pillows as a final touch.

Alec tenderly undressed her and tucked her in. Caro watched as he peeled off his own clothing, his lean, powerful body silhouetted by the leaping orange flames. Then, gratefully, she found the security of his embrace, pressing her ear against the brown warmth of his chest to hear the steady beat of his heart. Hard-muscled arms encircled her as he inquired gently:

"Would you like to talk? Perhaps it would help you to sort out all those new memories."

Slowly, then, Alec drew her out, and for over an hour Caro related the events of her life. When she finally reached the end of her story—her ride through the woods in October—she felt strangely cleansed. The tapestry of their life together had finally been completed and Caro was conscious of a warm peacefulness that spread to the depths of her soul.

When he knew that she had finished speaking, Alec kissed her forehead and moved across the quilts to stoke the dying fire, she thought that he looked like a classic statue cast in bronze as he leaned before the flames. When he turned back, he was momentarily surprised to see that Caro's face was lit with a radiant smile.

"Well," he commented drily, "you look quite smug and pleased—much like your usual self! May I inquire the reason for that smile?"

He leaned against the pillows and lifted her onto his lap. As his arms encircled her waist, Caro pressed her face to his black hair. She longed to be able to soak him up like a sponge.

"I am so happy, and so fortunate. I feel at peace now that all those doors have been opened and the questions in our lives have been answered."

"I'm glad,
cherie.
" As he lightly caressed the nape of her neck, his eyes were distant and hard. In his mind, he knew that Caro was right about the episode with Pilquebinder, but he could not forget. Every time he remembered that first sight of them—Caro half-naked, her wrists and ankles bound, and Pilquebinder's foul body bending over her—Alec burned with rage. The man's death had been too merciful.

Caro felt him stiffen and drew back to search his chiseled face. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes were raw with suffering. "I wish that I could be as resilient as you are," he said softly.

"Think of the good things, Alec. Be grateful that we are together now, and free from the threat of that man."

He kissed her then, bending her against the long muscles of his arm as he savored her honeyed lips. Caro clung to him, relaxing, responding ardently and shivering when his mouth traveled down the soft column of her neck.

Gently, Alec caressed her swelling breasts, conscious of nature's changes. In that moment, he knew what could do much to heal the wounds within them both. This was the time to tell her.

Caro, however, was not in a conversational mood, for his lips had lit a fast-spreading flame inside of her. She yearned for more, ached to feel the touch of his hands and mouth—yet beyond her physical longing was an emotional need as well. When Alec eased her back into the pillow, but attempted to draw away and speak, she held fast to his neck, kissing him until his arms enfolded her to his hard chest. She was eager for the fulfillment of their union, feeling somehow that its white heat would burn away the last vestiges of debasement that lingered from her ordeal with Pilquebinder.

They made love with a mutual intensity bordering on wildness. Afterward, Caro lay damp and panting beneath him, while Alec grinned irrepressibly.

"I was going to say something a few moments ago, but you just couldn't allow me to get a word in edgewise, could you?" he chided.

She pretended to be ashamed. "I'm so sorry, dear. I can't imagine what possessed me. Do speak now."

"Thank you.
I wanted—"

Suddenly Caro's eyes lit up and she put out a hand to cover his mouth. "Wait! I've just remembered something. Can I please talk first? Let me out—I have a surprise—"

"For God's sake!" Alec complained, trying to look upset as he moved over. Caro crawled onto the floor, then scrambled up to run to a large secretary against the far wall. She searched inside for only a moment before giving a glad cry. When she was back beside him on their makeshift bed, Alec could see that she was holding a gold-framed miniature.

"What is this?" he inquired. "A baby picture?"

"No, silly." She held up the miniature, staring at it with him. The image was of a beautiful honey-haired woman with Caro's laughing brown eyes and dimpled smile.

"It's you!" Alec said, but then his dark brows drew together. "Except—"

"It is my mother. Wasn't she lovely? I seem to have neglected to mention the fact that her name was... Caroline."

Startled, Alec glanced up to meet her misty look. "Actually," he said with an ironic smile, "I don't suppose I should be surprised."

Caro beamed, tilting her face to display an exquisite profile. "Do you think that I am as pretty as she was?"

He pretended to consider the matter as he peered at her from every angle. Caro looked worried.

"Alec!"

His face broke into a smile that melted her heart. Laughing, he pressed her back into the pillows and kissed the fragrant softness of her neck.

"My love, to me your beauty is matchless." Then, bracing himself on lean forearms, he looked down into her face. "May I
please
have my turn now? No interruptions?"

"I promise."

"Oddly enough, it happens that my surprise also concerns the subject of mothers."

As he spoke, Alec felt his gaze being pulled toward the seemingly luminous miniature which lay beside them on the satin quilt, and he met the radiant, smiling eyes of the first Caroline. He bent his head down to his wife and their warm, loving kiss sealed the life they would share... happily... and forever.

The End