by Pamela Clare
“What in the hell took you so long?”
“That’s a rather long story, I’m afraid.”
Then Alec’s gaze locked with Cassie’s again, and Cassie felt his arms surround her and pull her to him. There was so much to tell him, but words would not come as she held him and buried her face in his chest, her body trembling with unspent emotion.
“You brave, beautiful, wonderful woman.” His lips brushed hers in a tender kiss.
Warm and soft, his lips took hers again. And again. Someone nearby cleared his throat.
“Now, now. You’ll have lots of time for that later.” It was Master Carter.
“Never enough time,” Alec whispered for her ears alone. His thumbs wiped the tears from her cheeks. His blue eyes told her as words never could how much he loved her. “Matthew, may I present Miss Catherine Blakewell.”
Alec turned and introduced her to the lieutenant as if the two had not yet met.
“I’ve already had the pleasure of making her lovely acquaintance.” The lieutenant bowed, placing a light kiss on the back of her hand. “My family and I are forever in your debt, Miss Blakewell. Should you desire anything, you need but ask.”
“Lieutenant.” She felt a happy blush rise to her cheeks.
“Please, call me Matthew. We are going to be related by marriage, after all.”
“Matthew.” Cassie’s heart swelled. “And you must call me Cassie.”
“It would be my pleasure, Cassie.” Then Matthew looked Alec up and down, shaking his head and laughing. “If only Socrates could see you now!”
“Are you suggesting he would find something amiss with my appearance? I’d thought myself quite dashing as an outlaw, really.”
Cassie found herself laughing along with them as sunlight broke over the horizon, casting long shadows across the clearing.
“I’m glad to see this is resolved,” the governor said somewhat sheepishly.
“Governor Gooch, might I have the pleasure of introducing my esteemed brother-in-law, Alec Madison Kenleigh the Third,” Matthew said.
Alec stepped forward and shook the governor’s hand.
“Sorry this has been such a rough business,” the governor said.
“As long as you’re not still planning to hang me, I’m prepared to consider the entire affair settled.”
One by one, the other men moved to greet Alec and offer their apologies, all except Master Crichton, who stood off to the side glowering, surrounded by his men.
“What did I tell you, Hollingsworth? I never bet on losing horses.” Master Carter gave a hearty laugh. When Sheriff Hollingsworth raised an eyebrow, Carter cleared his throat and added, “Well, almost never.”
“Yes, we shall have to discuss this latest wager of yours, Carter,” the governor said, looking stern. “None of us realized you were such an accomplished thespian. Your abduction scared the poor gaoler half to death.”
“Are you implying … ?” Carter suddenly looked like a schoolboy.
“That you faked the entire thing to help this man escape?”
“You were only pretending, Father?” Landon looked shocked.
“You helped him escape?” Charles grinned.
Both gazed at their father with astonishment and admiration.
Master Carter shifted uncomfortably under the governor’s questioning gaze. “Aye, but don’t tell your sisters, or they’ll never forgive me.”
Robust laughter rang through the clearing.
Then Cassie felt hard steel bite into her temple as an arm locked tightly around her throat, cutting off her breath.
“Stay away, convict! She’ll be dead before you take a single step!” Master Crichton’s heartless voice echoed in her ear. His whiskers burned her cheek as he dragged her backward with him. “Drop your arms! Do it!”
Muskets fell to the sand with a clatter.
Cassie struggled, but it only made her need for air greater.
“Let her go, Crichton.” Alec’s voice was clear and strong.
“Crichton, are you mad?” the governor asked in disbelief.
“Everyone back away!” Master Crichton’s tight grip threatened to crush her throat. “This man killed my son, and I’m going to make sure he pays!”
Cassie needed to breathe. The pain in her throat made her eyes water.
“That’s right, Crichton. I killed Geoffrey.” Alec’s voice was silken. He moved away from the other men, creating a clear target. “I’m right here. Why don’t you shoot me and even the score?”
“No! You killed my firstborn, and I’m going to kill yours. I kill her, and the child dies with her.”
Cassie desperately needed to breathe.
“Let her go, and you can do whatever you please with me.” Alec pulled open his coat and shirt to expose his bare chest. “Here’s your target.”
Her lungs about to burst, her pulse racing, Cassie watched in horror as Henry, motioned forward by a jerk of his master’s head, took aim at Alec.
“You can both die,” Master Crichton said.
She needed air. She needed to breathe. Her vision began to fade, dark spots dancing before her eyes. She wanted to fight him, but . . . Was this what it was to die? But her baby! She must breathe! From far away a shot rang out, echoing in her mind so that it sounded like several. She felt herself falling into darkness.
“Cassie?”
She felt strong arms holding her, heard herself choke, gasp. She gulped in sweet, fresh air.
“Thank God,” a man muttered from far away.
“Cassie, can you hear me?”
It was Alec. He sounded afraid. But he was never afraid.
She struggled to open her eyes, and Alec’s worried face swam into view. “Alec.”
His strong arms pulled her close. His lips kissed her forehead. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Was he trembling?
“Let’s get her indoors,” a voice said.
Cassie recognized it as Matthew’s.
But what had happened? Master Crichton had been trying to kill her. Henry had fired at Alec. Afraid, she started to look about. There on the ground nearby, lay Henry, with something sticking out of his back, and Master Crichton.
Alec turned her face back toward him to block her view, his hand gentle on her cheek. “It’s all right, love. You’re safe,” he said, then added in a sterner tone to the men behind him, “Move them out of here. I don’t want her or Jamie to see this.”
“But what … ?” she asked hoarsely. Her throat ached.
Alec lifted her into his arms and carried her to her father’s cabin. “Just be grateful that Takotah and Matthew have such good aim.”
A smile eased the tension on his face.
“I’m still a bit shaky, thank you,” Matthew said. “I hope I never have to do that again.”
“I’ve never seen anyone throw a knife like that before,” Master Carter said. “I’ll never make fun of her potions again. I promise you that.”
Cassie wrapped her arms around Alec’s neck, the horror past.
In the distance she heard Jamie’s voice. “Is Cassie hurt?”
“She’ll be fine, tadpole.”
* * *
“Oh, Cassie, you look lovely!” Elizabeth led Cassie to the floor-length mirror that stood in one corner of the room.
Alec had purchased this town house in Williamsburg, and Cassie still hadn’t gotten used to all the luxury that surrounded her. The large gilt mirror was another wedding gift from Alec.
“Oh, my!” Cassie looked into the mirror and stared in awe at her reflection. The woman she saw in the glass could not possibly be herself.
Her hair, normally so ill behaved, had been tamed into a smooth coil, tendrils framing her face, cascading down her nape. Her face, touched lightly with powder and rouge at Elizabeth’s insistence, looked … Well, radiant. Even beautiful. The gown, cut from cream silk laced with golden thread and covered with tiny seed pearls, made her look like a princess, the swell of her belly hidden in fold
s of shimmering cloth. Alec had picked the material himself, dismissing the cost as a trifle when Cassie had protested it was too expensive.
“You make such a beautiful bride,” Elizabeth said.
“Thank you, Elizabeth.”
“Now for the final touch.” Elizabeth draped Cassie’s mother’s pearls around Cassie’s neck and fastened the clasp.
The effect was stunning, the enormous teardrop pearl glistening against her bosom, rising and falling with each breath, its color a precise match with the silk of her gown.
If only she felt as confident as she looked. If only she could put these niggling doubts to rest.
So much had happened these past eight weeks, she could scarcely fathom it all. After that terrible morning on the island, they’d ridden back to Blakewell’s Neck, bringing Cassie’s father home with them, to find all as it should be. Though Alec had insisted Cassie stay in bed for the next two days, feasting and dancing had followed late into the night. That feeling of festivity had continued with the announcement that Zach and Elly would marry. Cassie had consented to the marriage, of course. They were obviously in love, and Elly, round with a baby Zach had already accepted as his own, had become the most hardworking of bondswomen, finally happy in her new life.
Although her father still responded to no one, Cassie thought he seemed to be eating better, and some of the color had returned to his face. She began to hope that, surrounded by the happy voices of children and people who loved him, he might one day recover. As she watched Takotah care tenderly for him each day, Cassie began to wonder if the reason Takotah had stayed on at Blakewell’s Neck wasn’t more a matter of love for her father than of life debt.
Only Matthew’s news had marred their happiness. Philip had committed suicide days after confessing his role in Alec’s ordeal—an ordeal Philip had intended to end with murder, not kidnapping. Alec had taken this news harder than Cassie had expected, blaming himself for not intervening in his brother’s life sooner. Philip had been his responsibility, he’d said, and he had failed. Though he tried to hide his grief, Cassie could see the shadows in his eyes.
Governor Gooch had given Alec a full pardon on the charge of ravishment, dismissing the rest as self-defense, and Alec had immediately begun preparations for returning to England. Cassie hadn’t had the heart to tell him how desperately sad she felt each time she thought about leaving Virginia behind. There had been so little time to talk these past weeks. But there had been one bit of business Alec had insisted on clearing up before they left Virginia.
“I’m going to make an honest woman of you,” he’d said one morning as they lay together in bed. “And a proper wedding it will be, too. I want all of Virginia to know there is no shame in our love.” Then he’d surprised her with a pair of emerald-and-diamond earrings, the first of many lavish gifts. “They match the color of your eyes.”
Not wanting to set foot near St. Mary’s White Chapel again, Cassie had asked for a ceremony in Williamsburg. Alec, needing no explanation, had agreed.
Matthew had immediately sent for Elizabeth and their children, insisting the wedding would have to wait until they arrived. “Elizabeth will make my life a living hell else,” he’d explained. “She’ll never forgive me for not telling her the truth about my visit here as it is.”
The weeks they’d spent waiting for Elizabeth and the children to arrive had been busy. Overnight, Alec was transformed into a gentleman, with matters of estate to attend to. It wasn’t so much that he had changed, though the new wardrobe ordered from Williamsburg did make him look like a different man—a rakishly handsome gentleman. It was more the way people responded to him. He was the one everyone at Blakewell’s Neck now turned to with problems and questions. Her people’s respect for his authority was beyond dispute.
Surprisingly, it hadn’t bothered Cassie, who’d just been happy to have him alive. He was now guardian of Blakewell’s Neck. It was natural for people to treat him so. Still, he’d gone out of his way to include her in all the decisions he’d made so far, carefully considering her opinion, even changing his own mind a time or two. On the issue of slavery, they still didn’t see eye to eye, Alec wanting to abolish its use on Blakewell’s Neck entirely, Cassie fearing for the slaves’ safety once they were off Blakewell land. Alec had retained a barrister to help find ways around the laws that made it almost impossible to free slaves. Meanwhile, he’d asked for Cassie’s blessing in freeing Luke and Nettie, who were now as married as slaves could be, in repayment for Luke’s help in saving Alec’s life.
Cassie had voiced her fears. Where would Luke and Nettie go? How would they survive? Still, she’d known it was the right thing to do. She’d helped Nettie pack provisions, and Alec had given Luke fifty pounds to help them get started in their new life—enough to make Luke all but swoon.
“When I learn to write, I will write to you,” Nettie had promised.
Cassie and Nettie had embraced silently, choking back tears. Jamie and Daniel had wailed. Cassie had watched Luke, Nettie, and Daniel sail toward the Chesapeake on their way north, silently reaffirming her and Alec’s promise to find Luke’s daughter.
If that farewell had been tearful, it was nothing compared to Elizabeth’s arrival last week. Elizabeth, carrying Anne and followed by Emily, Victoria, little Matthew, and Charlotte, had run across the gangplank, and brother and sister were reunited in a fierce embrace, Elizabeth weeping with unrestrained joy as five excited children hopped about waiting for their chance to greet their uncle. An elderly black man Cassie assumed was Socrates brought up the rear, disembarking at a much more dignified pace. When Alec snatched him up in a rough hug, Cassie swore she saw tears in the old man’s eyes.
“My husband explained everything in his letter,” Elizabeth had said moments later, hugging Cassie. “I don’t know how we shall ever thank you, but I love you as a sister already.”
Socrates had bowed. “I am at your service, Madam.”
Cassie had so much to be grateful for. Why could she not shake this sense of melancholy?
“Is the bride ready?” Elizabeth asked. “It’s nearly time.”
“Oh, lamb, look at ye.” Nan stepped through the doorway, dressed in her Sunday best. Tears filled her eyes, and she began to weep. “If yer mother and father could see ye.”
Cassie tried to smile. This was the happiest day of her life. If only she felt happier. She needed to speak with Alec. She needed to know for certain.
“What’s troublin’ ye, love? Don’t think ye can fool old Nan.”
“Nothing. I … ” Cassie’s voice trailed off. She looked up at Elizabeth and Nan, fighting tears.
“I suspect you’ve got the wedding day jitters, my dear.” Elizabeth took her hand reassuringly. “I was in such a state the day of my wedding, I couldn’t get dressed. But Matthew showed up and threatened to carry me off to the church in my shift. When I saw him in his uniform standing at the altar, nothing else mattered.”
Cassie managed a smile, but she knew this was more than jitters. She needed to speak with Alec. She needed to know. “Have you seen Alec? I need to talk to him.”
“Before the wedding, love?” Nan asked.
“Aye, before.”
“He’s downstairs having a brandy—” Elizabeth said.
“Thank you!”
Oblivious to the surprised faces behind her, Cassie hurried out the door, silk skirts swishing. She was on her way down the stairs when she saw him standing in the drawing room, brandy in hand. Her heart skipped a beat. Dressed in velvet the color of midnight, ivory lace at his wrists and throat, golden brocade on his vest, he was stunningly handsome.
She saw his head turn, knew the moment he spied her, heard her name on his lips.
“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said softly as she came to stand before him.
Matthew and Socrates, who’d been deep in conversation, fell silent as she walked into the room, bowing their heads in silent tribute.
“Alec, I-I …
” she stammered, unsure where to begin. “Before we … that is, I need to know.”
“You need to know what, my sweet?” He reached out to touch a curl, his fingers brushing her cheek.
“In the courtroom, you said you regretted what happened between us.” Cassie took a deep breath, her insides knotted. “You said you used me to ease your loneliness and you were willing to take responsibility for me.”
Alec started to interrupt, a look of amusement on his face, but Cassie continued, fighting to keep her voice steady.
“I absolve you of any responsibility toward me, Alec Kenleigh. If you wish to leave for England without me, you may. I don’t think I’d be very happy there anyway.”
Alec’s expression darkened. “What makes you think you can absolve me of my responsibilities? You are my responsibility, Cassie, along with the baby you’re carrying, and you will return with me to England.”
“I’m to have no say in the matter?”
“Are you saying you don’t want to come with me?”
“Virginia is my home.”
“England is mine, and as you’re to be my wife, it will be your home, too.”
“I’m not your wife yet!”
Cassie turned and fled up the staircase, tears blurring her vision.
* * *
Alec sat in the carriage, his temper growing fouler by the moment, the cheering crowd on the street passing unseen before his eyes. Beside him, Matthew and Socrates sat reading the papers as if they hadn’t a care in the world.
But something was very wrong. In a few minutes, they’d reach the church and Alec would be taking to wife the woman he loved, a woman who apparently didn’t want to be with him. She wanted to stay here. He’d known something was bothering her these past few weeks, but he hadn’t imagined it was anything like this. He’d thought she loved him, but it seemed she loved life at Blakewell’s Neck more.
Come to think of it, she’d never told him she loved him. Not with words. Not once. He’d always assumed she loved him. She’d made love with him, her passion unmatched by the desire of any woman he’d known. She’d stood up to the court, to the entire town of Williamsburg for his sake. She’d put herself at risk to save him. Wasn’t that love?