Married At Midnight (37 page)

the front steps. Never looking back, he turned and strode toward the stables at the back of the mansion, feeling in desperate need of some activity that would turn his frustration into complete exhaustion. It would be the only way he could face retiring

to a lonely bed again.

* * *

Racing one of his steeds was usually a sport Jeff both reveled and excelled in, but this afternoon he took no pleasure in urging his swiftest stallion to a reckless pace and taking every challenging jump he could. He now understood what Brandon had gone through when once upon a time his brother had been kept from Heather's bed. There was just so much a man could tolerate in good humor, and after having tasted the sweetness of Raelynn's response, it was ludicrous for him to imagine that he'd be able to push that memory from his mind once he fell into bed. Instead of finding the rest he sorely needed, it would become a place of torment wherein visions of his young wife in various stages of dishabille would tantalize him unmercifully. Knowing she would be only a few doors away, he'd be like a man cast into the depths of hell.

The tray of food that had been sent up to Raelynn's bedchamber remained untouched as she stood on the porch, staring

toward the live oaks that stretched in a row across the back lawn. She was vexed with worry and fear, having seen Jeff race away from the stable on the back of a glistening black stallion, and though she had urged the servants to tell her about the animal, none had dared elaborate on his temperament. Still, their concerned frowns had told her more than she had really wanted to know. It was no gentle beast that Jeff was riding, and she could only blame herself if anything happened to him.

Lanterns had been lit in several of the servants' quarters behind the oaks, but a handful of children, reluctant to stop their play, still chased each other in the deepening twilight. Their laughter rang with the excitement of their game, but as night stole the last light from the sky, they reluctantly parted and returned to their homes. Raelynn knew that Cora was still in the main house, as well as Kingston and a few of the other servants, for they were awaiting the master's return. Only Kingston had dared to make a muttered comment about Nell's visit within Raelynn's range of hearing, and that was to say that the girl had left just

as quickly this time as she had nine months ago, when the master had sent her packing in the middle of the night.

With a dismal sigh Raelynn leaned her head against one of the posts that lent support to the porch balustrade and the overhanging roof. She knew only too well that she had not allowed Jeff to explain in detail what had happened that night with Nell. She had been far too intent upon getting away from him and allowing herself time to think over what she had heard. In doing so, she had been less than fair to him. Even a condemned man had a right to answer his accuser, but she had not wanted to listen to his arguments for fear she would find some flaw in his character that would totally shatter her illusions and make a mockery of the kind of man she had thought him to be. Her first impressions of Jeff were of a gallant, heroic gentleman, but if

he was guilty of all that Nell had claimed, in her mind he would be no better than Gustav, appeasing his own prurient desires, regardless of the hurt he caused others.

Rapid hoofbeats intruded into her thoughts, and Raelynn felt a great flood of relief as she espied Jeff astride the black. Horse and rider passed through a shaft of light streaming from the house, and she watched as they neared the stable. Jeff swung down from the steed as the groom came out to greet him, and handed the reins over to his servant. Their voices drifted back to her.

"Take your time cooling him down, Sparky," Jeff called back as he left the stable. "He's had a hard ride."

"Don't yo' worry, Mistah Jeffrey. Ah'll be careful with this here beast. And may I say, suh, it's a relief ta have yo' back safe

and all in one piece."

Jeff chuckled and waved his crop, acknowledging the young man's comment. "For once, Brutus didn't try to buck me off.

He's flying higher over all the jumps, too."

"Ah still wouldn't trust him if'n I were yo', Mistah Jeffrey. He's just waitin' ta catch yo' unawares so's he can break yo' neck."

"I'll be careful, Sparky."

Raelynn retreated into the deeper shadows as Jeff leapt up the stairs at the far end of the porch. Crossing the veranda, he pushed open the French doors to his bedchamber and stepped within, unaware of the blue-green eyes that followed his progress. She heard him step to the inside hall and call down for a bath to be brought up. As his voice rang through the house, the servants' moods revived almost immediately.

Once again there was laughter and the teasing chatter of long-established friends drifting through the halls.

Raelynn smiled, feeling her own spirits take wing. She couldn't help but wonder at this man who was able to bring life back into a house with his mere presence. She could only assume from the anxious concern recently demonstrated by the blacks that her husband was well liked, perhaps even loved by those who served him. If he were truly a man void of compassion, as Nell had tried to portray him, then surely the servants wouldn't have cared whether he came back or not.

A sudden scream rent the silence, and with a start of surprise, Raelynn looked around to see the black woman, Cora, running across the back lawn toward the servants' quarters. A mottled brightness pierced the lush greenery of one of the live oaks that stood between the main house and the cabins. To her horror, Raelynn saw flames leaping from the roof of one of the larger shacks.

"My baby! My baby's in there!" Cora screamed hysterically as she ran beneath the low branches.

"Somebody save her!"

"Fire! Fire in one o' the cabins!" a deep male voice shouted from the mansion.

Someone clanged a warning on the iron triangle hanging outside the kitchen, and a short moment later Raelynn saw Kingston sprinting across the lawn. Jeff snatched open the French doors of his bedchamber and ran out onto the veranda, still wearing the shirt, trousers, and boots he had ridden in. Raelynn stared in amazement as he crossed the width of the porch in two leaping strides. Catching hold of the balustrade, he hurled himself over it and, like a cat in the wilds, landed in a crouched position on the lawn below. He sprang easily to his full height and was off and running toward the burning cabin before Raelynn realized she was still holding her breath. She did not pause another moment. Lifting her gown and wrapper to her knees, she ran along the porch toward the stairs and was soon racing after him.

Flames were leaping up the outer wall of the cabin near the front door, which had been flung ajar in an aborted attempt to rescue the youngster. Cora tried repeatedly to approach the entrance, but the heat drove her back again and again. From within, a young child shrieked in terror, unable to find a way of escape. Her screams set spurs to Cora, who sobbed in panic

as she dashed across the porch, dipped a bucket into a rain barrel that stood near the edge, and ran back to fling the contents over the fire. The short-lived spray did little to deter the bright, greedy flames that were already licking through the boards of the porch.

"Oh, sweet Lord o' mercy, save my little girl!" Cora wailed through her weeping. "Please! Somebody save my Clara!"

Upon reaching the cabin, Jeff leapt onto the porch and, with Kingston's help, overturned the rain barrel, sending the water skimming across the planks in a forceful wave. It drove back the flames licking at the floor and splashed through the front

door. Seizing an ax from a wood pile that was stacked nearby, Jeff brought its blade down with a mighty stroke, cleaving the rain barrel completely in half on one side. With another blow he knocked away the bottom, then divided the far side in much the same manner, sending several staves flying from the metal binders. The top band he bent beneath a booted heel, turning it into a handle of sorts. Then he hefted the larger portion of the barrel in front of him, using it as a shield against the intense heat that flared outward from the flames.

Raelynn clasped a trembling hand over her mouth, squelching audible sounds of fright as Jeff charged through the front door

of the cabin. Standing in throat-constricting fear, she watched through the portal as he searched about for the little girl, then he turned and stepped into an interior room. Raelynn held her breath as the other side of the cabin became a raging inferno. Part

of the roof began to collapse, sending sparks flying upward and eliciting frightened gasps from those who waited for Jeff to

reappear. He did so at a run, clutching the tiny girl against him with one arm, while he clasped the halved barrel in his other hand.

He burst from the front portal and set wings to his booted heels as he sprinted across the porch to the safety of the lawn. Raelynn breathed a deep sigh of relief and, for a few moments, was content to watch him being thanked and clapped on the back by the blacks. The child's lusty cries confirmed that she was frightened but miraculously unharmed.

Jeff deposited the toddler into the arms of her mother, who sobbed in gratitude. "Thank yo', Mistah Jeffrey! Thank yo',

an' God bless yo'! God bless yo' real good!"

Jeff glanced around in search of Cora's husband. "Where did Jeremy go? I thought he was watching

Clara until you finished

at the main house."

"My brother went bullfroggin', Mistah Jeffrey," a young girl of fourteen announced as she stepped near.

"He asked me ta look aftah Clara 'til he got back. Ah was fryin' some fish fo' supper over a fire in the hearth, but the kettle slipped off the hook an' overturned. The grease spilt clear across the room an'

caught fire. It was like a wall between Clara an' me. The fire spread so fast, ah couldn't reach her in the other room. Ah had ta climb out a window ta save myself. When ah ran around ta the front, the heat was so bad, ah couldn't go back in. Ah'm mighty sorry ah burned down Cora's cabin, Mistah Jeffrey."

"It was an accident, Ali. No need to fret," Jeff replied, dropping a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm just thankful no one was hurt."

Cora hugged her daughter tightly, drawing a squeal of protest from the toddler. "Ah doan want another scare like that as long as ah live!"

Jeff looked toward the cabin that was now engulfed in flames. "You'll be needing a new place to live now."

"Ah 'spect so." The woman sighed. "But right now, ah ain't gonna worry 'bout what ah lost when ah'm holdin' my little Clara
alive
in my arms!"

Raelynn moved forward to stand near the servants, and when Jeff looked around, she offered him a smile that was both tender and pleading. He stepped close and gazed down at her with a questioning expression.

"Will you forgive me, Jeff, for not allowing you a chance to explain before I drove a wedge between us?"

she asked timidly.

He could understand her reservations. "Considering what you heard from Nell, I cannot blame you for trying to keep me at arms' length. We
are
strangers, and although we are now wed, we have much to learn about each other."

"As you have said, we need to learn to trust each other," she replied softly.

"Aye, that we must do, madam, but it will come in time, as we become better acquainted."

"I think I will enjoy getting to know you, Jeffrey," she murmured with a smile. Her eyes glowed more brightly than could be credited to the blazing fire. "Any man who'd risk his life to save a servant's child is truly an exceptional individual. The compassion you demonstrated toward Cora gives me cause to seriously doubt Nell's assertions, yet if you wouldn't mind, before I fall even more deeply in love with you, I'd like us to spend some time together becoming friends."

Jeff might have felt some disappointment, except for the fact that she had said she loved him. His heart soared to jubilant heights, and his widening grin expressed his elation as he offered her an arm. "Madam, may I escort you back to the house? And if you have not eaten, I'd consider it an honor if you'd share a late supper with me... wherever you'd deem appropriate."

Raelynn slipped an arm through his and ignored the sooty smudges on the back of his hand as she laid her palm upon it.

"If you will not press me overmuch, I'll dine with you in your bedchamber if you'd like."

"For you, I'll be a blessed saint," he assured her, then grinned. "But only if you'll allow me to kiss you, as

I so desperately

long to do."

Raelynn lifted a challenging brow and chuckled at the merriment twinkling in his eyes. "I do perceive a wily ruse in your plea, sir. I shall be more wary of your kisses during the affirmation of our friendship and take them in limited doses, lest I find

myself yielding once again to your amorous bent even before the night is spent."

"Have you a set time in mind for this exploration of friendship?" Jeff queried somewhat apprehensively.

Raelynn leaned her head upon his shoulder and smiled in secret pleasure as she felt his arm slip around her waist. "I don't

think it need take too long, do you, Jeff?"

"No time at all, madam," he replied, his heart soaring. "No time at all."

Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

KATHLEEN E. WOODIWISS is America's preeminent author of historical fiction. She has written eight novels, all of

which have become multimillion-copy bestsellers. Her novels have been translated into fifteen languages.