The Moon and the Stars (20 page)

Caroline felt a sudden chill as she remembered another house with two bedrooms leading to a gallery. Only in this house there was no fear. Wade would be nearby if she felt threatened.

She had grown accustomed to him, and she had begun to depend on him more than she should.

The housekeeper gave her a cheery smile and turned to leave. “The doctor should arrive within the hour.”

Caroline dropped into the rocking chair and leaned her head back as she rocked. What was going to happen to her now?

Wade was waiting for Mary when she came downstairs. “Is she comfortable?” he asked anxiously.

“I believe so.” It was a warm afternoon, and Mary fanned herself with her apron. She had watched Wade grow from a boy into a man under this roof with a father who demanded too much from him. She had hurt for Wade the day he had walked out of the house—the day Anton made it impossible for him to stay. She remembered when he had returned to watch his father die. And now she saw something in Wade that she had never seen before, not even on his worst days when Anton was so ill: She saw hopelessness.

She had never minced words with him and she didn't now. “How did you come to bring this young woman home with you?”

“It is a very long story.” He propped his booted foot on the marble slab that jutted out from the fireplace. “And I fear the telling of it would not reflect well on me.”

She eyed him carefully. “Then keep it to yourself, and I'll be thinking my own thoughts.”

“What do you make of Caroline?” he asked, watching her closely because he always valued her opinion, and her impressions of people were usually correct.

“She seems to me to be a charming young woman. She's frail. It's easy to see she's been ill. But I knew about her illness because of your telegram.”

He waved that aside. “What do you think about her as a person, Mary?”

“I don't know her well enough to judge.” She was put out with him. He had been acting strangely since he'd received that package in the mail and had left directly for South Carolina. “If your reaction to her is any indication, I would be guessing that she will be mistress of this house before too long.”

He raised himself away from the fireplace and straightened his coat. “Your leap from her being charming to my marrying her is most imaginative. Why do women always do that?”

Mary went right to the point. “I suppose it all depends on how charming
you
think she is?” She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “What do you think of her?”

“I can tell you that she has the devil's own temper. When she gets a notion in her head, she can be fierce. I have never seen a woman like her before.”

“She'll need to have a temper if she remains around you for very long. If she's going to continue handling you, she will need something more than a temper.”

“Who said she was handling me?”

“I have known you most of your life. I see that
your concern for Mrs. Duncan goes well beyond mere politeness.”

He rubbed his neck. “Sometimes, Mary, you see things that are not there.”

The housekeeper let out her breath and broached the subject she had been dreading. “Jonathan is home.”

He walked to the window and stared into the garden. “Dammit, Mary, you should have had Louis take him back to school. How did he get here this time?”

“By stage, the lad told me. Saved his money until he had the fare. We're lucky he came home and didn't run off somewhere like you did when you went to Texas.”

“I was twenty when I left home. He's only eight. Anything could have happened to him.”

“God preserves the fools of this world, and the little child,” she said quoting Irish lore.

“He is going to need someone to protect him from me, this time. I have been very patient until now, but no longer.”

Mary knew Wade had never raised a hand to the lad and he never would. “He knows you're home. Do you want me to bring him down?”

“I will not tolerate his disobedience. You know my views on his having a good education.”

“He's so young, Wade. Did you ever think that he might rather be home with you than off in some strict school? He likes to be where you are, and he wants to grow up to be just like you.”

“I will talk to him later. I'm too angry right now. But make no mistake about it, he will go back to the academy just like before.”

She knew it would do no good to argue with him when his mind was set on something. “You have a telegram from Nate. I put it in on your desk.”

He started for the study and said over his shoulder. “I want to see the doctor as soon as he has finished examining Caroline.”

The housekeeper shook her head on her way to the kitchen. Himself was on a rampage, and Mary speculated that the woman in the master suite had a lot to do with it. She smiled at the thought of the firm grip that lovely young woman had on Wade's heart. She wondered if Mrs. Duncan was even aware of it. It was about time a woman got under Wade's skin. It was long past time for him to settle down and have a family.

Wade paused before entering the study, as he always did. He still had the feeling that the room belonged to Anton. He had even left most things the way they were when Anton was alive. A strange homecoming this had turned out to be, he thought, picking up the telegram and opening it. He scanned the page and slumped down in a chair. He reread it to make sure there was no mistake:

Richmond shot. Died two days later. Assailant unknown
.

Time passed, and still Wade did not move. His thoughts were troubled, his mind on the young woman who had already lost so much and now must be told that she had lost her father. How would he ever be able to tell her that her father had been murdered?

He tried to think who might have something to
gain by killing her father. He just didn't know the family well enough to guess. He tapped the telegram against his hand. Caroline had once called him a fool, and that was what he was where she was concerned. If the truth were known, he was probably responsible for her father's death. It all fell into place in his mind—the killer was Brace Duncan.

And Brace Duncan had also killed Caroline's husband.

Wade could almost see how the man's mind worked. Brace had found out that Wade had questioned the father and had feared what he might have learned from Mr. Richmond.

Wade's eyelids came down over his narrowed eyes. Brace Duncan was the man he would have to go after, because Caroline would be his next victim. He had to guard her, to keep her safe at all times. He thought of the two Webber brothers who worked for him at the docks—they were men he trusted to guard the house. Of course, he could not let Caroline know what he was doing. If he did, she would give him trouble.

He stood up when the heavy knock fell on the door. “Come in.”

Dr. Davis was heavyset with a boisterous laugh, and a voice to match. His gray hair was thinning now, and his shoulders were a bit stooped. Wade had known him since first coming to live in this house as a child.

“I'll take a drink of brandy if you're offering one.”

“Of course.”

Dr. Davis lowered his bulk onto a leather chair near the window. Wade moved to the sideboard and poured amber liquid into a snifter and handed it to him.

“How is Mrs. Duncan?” Wade asked.

“I'd say that young woman has been through a lot. A few of Mary's good meals would be of benefit to her. Her lungs are clear, no trouble there.”

Wade leaned against his desk. “How strong is she?”

“I practice on instinct and have for years, and I'd say that Mrs. Duncan is troubled about something that has nothing to do with her health. It's more what she didn't say that caught my attention.” He narrowed his bushy eyebrows. “Maybe you know what her trouble is, Wade.”

“
Oui.
Some of it.”

“If you know what it is, then maybe you can help her.”

Wade glanced down at the telegram, not realizing he had crumpled it in his fist. “I just got word that her father has been murdered. Should I tell her or keep the news from her until she is stronger?”

The doctor's eyes widened before he took a drink. He nodded his head. “I don't think I'd tell her just yet. Perhaps you should wait a week or so.” He took a last swig of brandy, placed the snifter on the side table, and rose. “Maybe someday you can tell me her story.” He walked to the door. “Meantime, send Louis for me if you need me.”

It was only moments after Dr. Davis's footsteps faded down the hallway that Wade heard quick steps coming toward the study. Jonathan poked his head around the door.

“Mary said I was to come see you.”

The boy's blue eyes sparkled with defiance as Wade motioned him forward. His sun-yellow hair hung in his face, and he shoved it aside, his lower lip trembling. Jonathan was small for his age, and the headmaster
of the school had said he took a lot of bullying from the other boys. Wade suspected that was the reason he had run away.

“Sit down.”

The boy slumped into a chair, watching Wade pace back and forth before him. “You have broken the rules again. This time I am not sure I can convince Mr. Davenport to take you back again.”

He rubbed his eyes. “I don't want to go back.”

“Jonathan, I have planned for your future, and I will not stand for disobedience from you. This term is almost over, so I may be able to convince Mr. Davenport to let you start fresh when the new term begins in a little over a month.”

“I want to stay with you. Why can't I go to school in New Orleans like other boys?” The child turned his face into the leather sofa to hide his tears. “You don't want me here—that's why you always send me away.”

“That is not true.” Wade took a deep breath. “I will always want what is best for you. I thought you knew that.”

The boy jumped to his feet, standing stiffly before the man he loved like a father. “I don't know that! I just think you don't want me here!”

Wade was losing his patience. “You ran away from the academy because the boys tease you. There will always be someone who will want to tear you down. You must look an adversary in the eye and meet him on your terms, not his.” He suddenly became quiet, his mind racing backward in time to when a similar scene had played out in this very room. Only before,
he had been the child and Anton had said the words he'd just uttered. Anton had been angry with him for not wanting to work at the warehouse. That day was branded in his mind forever.

“I don't know what you're trying to tell me,” the boy said, his head sliding downward.

Wade's tone was a little kinder as he remembered feeling the same anger Jonathan must be feeling. “Go to your room and reflect on what I have said, and I am sure the meaning will become clear. We will speak more about this tomorrow.”

The boy stomped out of the room and up the stairs.

Wade let out his breath and opened the double doors that led to the garden. He stared into the distance, wondering how many more lives he could destroy with his good intentions.

There was only one sure way he could protect Caroline. He had to see that she stayed with him. He would eventually have to convince her that his plan was the best way to defeat Brace Duncan. She would fight him on this—but it was a fight he must not allow her to win.

Caroline could not resist going down the gallery stairs and walking out into the beautiful garden. She strolled down a shady lane that took her past a sweetsmelling honeysuckle vine clinging to a brick well house. She stopped short of the stables and took another lane that led her to a garden with brilliant red and pink roses. The smell was so sweet she dropped down onto a marble bench, overwhelmed by a bout of homesickness.

She hardly ever thought of her mother, because she had been only a small child when she died. But she always associated her mother with the scent of roses. Her mother's skin and hair had always smelled of the sachet she had made from the petals of her own garden.

Caroline leaned back against the hard bench and allowed memories to sweep through her mind and take her back home to a time of childhood when she had not known a care in the world. She missed her father. But she still didn't dare write to him.

Her musing was interrupted when a young boy bound out from behind the hedges and looked at her suspiciously.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Her brow knitted in puzzlement until she realized who the boy must be. He was smaller than she had expected, and his eyes were so blue it was almost startling. His hair was blond, and his features were fine. “You are Jonathan, aren't you?”

He was guarded as he stepped closer to her. “How did you know?”

“Dolly told me.”

His face broke into a grin, showing a missing tooth. “I like Miss Dolly. Is she here with you?”

“No, she isn't. But I like her, too.” He was wearing blue trousers with a plain white shirt, and she suspected it might be his school uniform. “I was told that you were away at school.”

He looked behind him as if he expected someone to overhear. “I'm supposed to be, but I ran away.”

“Oh?”

“I don't like school. I want to stay with Wade, but he won't let me. Don't you think that's mean?”

“Well, I don't really know.” In her opinion, the boy was very young to be sent away from home. “I suppose your father has his reasons for wanting you to be in school.”

“Wade isn't my father. I don't have one.”

She could see the tears gathering in his eyes, and it made her sad. “Would you like to sit by me?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, edging closer to her.

She moved her skirt so he would have room. “Tell me about the things you like to do.” she said, trying to distract him.

He wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, and her instinct was to put her arm around him and give him comfort. But she knew that would be the wrong thing to do. He was like a small wounded bird, ready to take flight if anyone got too close to him.