"He is furious over my appearance tonight," Elise said.
Perhaps. I am not sure of that, Rufus signed.
"After this evening, I am very sure." Abruptly, she stood up. "You must excuse me, I am sorry I have intruded and so late at night. I'm leaving. This is foolishness, I can see how hopeless -- I should not have come." She gave him the paper and he crumpled it, placing it in a vest pocket.
She rushed over to the door, kicking the full skirt out of her way as it tangled around her feet, threatening to trip her up. Darien was not the only thing that had changed. Elise's thoughts bordered on the frantic -- fashion had also changed. Her hand closed around the china knob of the door and she looked back at Rufus.
Rufus' signed words made her pause with the door half open. Your expression varies between hope and despair, then dashed hope. I wish I had a woman fight thus for me.
A quiver of pain flitted through Elise. Blinking hard, she said in a low voice, "It seems there's no reason to fight. Darien has made it plain he hates the thought of seeing me, much less having me in his house." At the question she saw in his eyes, Elise waved her hand. "The telling of this will be hard enough to Darien, but I fear you'd find it an even more incredible story from twenty-four years ago."
Rufus looked taken aback. You must have been no more than a child!
Elise bowed her head. "I was fifteen, Darien was seventeen." A small smiled curled her lips. "I have loved your brother since I was fourteen years old, but of course I do not think he knew I existed at such an age."
And you still love him. Rufus signed to her.
"Darien hates me for something he thinks I did. It runs deeper than a mere misunderstanding." She faltered, meeting Rufus' eyes. "Circumstances made it impossible for me to stay, but I had no time to explain to Darien before I was taken away."
I cannot think you would do deliberate harm to my brother. It is obvious how you feel about him.
Embarrassed, Elise looked away. "If only Darien thought the same." She laughed hollowly. "If I put myself in his shoes --" she shrugged. "He thinks I betrayed him."
Did you?
"The circumstances --" she flung her hands out, "not knowingly. I thought I was saving his life, the life of my --" she stopped, her mouth closing abruptly. "It was a long time ago" Elise backed to the door. "Time has moved on, apparently. Darien is to marry another, while I --" with a grimace, she turned, "I don't know what I'll do. Darien won't talk to me or let me explain."
"Perhaps he will." The words, harsh and abrupt, came from behind her, from the hallway.
Elise spun around.
Darien stood there, a tall, dark-haired woman by his side, her hand resting on his forearm. Behind her stood an older woman.
Jealously nipped at Elise, but she ruthlessly ignored it. What, after all, were her rights? She had none, not after the absence of so much time. The wound within gaped wider.
"It has been a long time, 'Lise, but I must say you are still a beautiful woman." She sensed his words weren't a compliment. An eerie chill raced over Elise, but she met his gaze fearlessly.
Her mind was mesmerized by tantalizing memories, his nearness evoking an unbearable desire. What kind of woman was she to want a man who thought less of her than the dirt beneath his boots? She had never imagined he would look at her like that. She clenched her fists.
What had happened to him that love turned to such loathing?
Elise set her jaw, tilting her chin in defiance. She would not allow him to see the helplessness which permeated her to the very soles of her feet. A smile curled her lips. The hell with him, as her daughter would say, she'd beat him at his own game.
Elise scanned his face . . . saw the maturity, the knowledge, realized the man he had become. She drew a breath, another, with great effort. Darien, as she had known him, was long gone.
"Of course, I didn't expect to see the boy I knew, but this hard-faced stranger is difficult to bear."
Elise tried to remain cool. Darien had grown taller, broader, and was as big as his half-brother, Rufus.
His mode of dress was quite a drastic change from what she remembered.
He had always dressed well, almost flashily, with bright colors and waistcoats and frilled shirts. Now, dressed in a dark plain shirt with a leather vest, long tight breeches and high boots, he presented a different picture altogether. An earthy, male creature unconcerned with fashion. Strangely, Elise felt even more compelled to know this Darien.
She probably knew Rufus better after their brief talk than this stranger she had loved.
Darien's hair was longer, falling to well below his collar, carelessly swept back and unbound. Where Rufus' blond hair was darkened, Darien's was still the golden blond she recalled, its fineness splaying out along the dark leather vest he wore so casually. The same soft, waving mass which hung like spun gold from their daughter's head. . .
The parlor? Signed Rufus
"Courteous as ever," mocked Darien, "but a good idea, nevertheless."
Automatically, Elise followed Rufus down the hall and up a small landing to another door.
It was an immense effort to appear normal -- much less put one foot in front of the other. She tried to pull herself together, but felt like an observer instead of part of the scene.
Darien saw his companion seated comfortably, then went to stand beside an empty fireplace, one boot resting on the brass fender before the grate. His attentiveness to the younger woman stirred Elise to an anger of sorts, but she quickly stamped it down. No rights, she reminded herself. Time had marched on.
With clenched jaw and deliberately blank face, Elise took her time and settled herself in a large wing chair. Rufus came to stand close beside her chair, staring hard at Darien. With a frown, Elise sat up straighter. She needed no protection.
"Adeline," Darien's voice broke the strained silence, "I would like to introduce Elise, an . . . old friend." Elise noted the pause but then wondered if she was being over sensitive. Looking at the grimness of Darien's features, she didn't think so.
"Elise," Darien's voice rasped across the room (no more 'Lise', she noted) "I would like you to meet Adeline, a very good friend." He indicated the older lady who sat beside her. "And this is her aunt, Mrs. Bethesa Martin."
"I am pleased to meet any good friends of Darien and Rufus," Elise murmured, noting that the Adeline looked none too comfortable while her aunt's mouth was in a straight line of disapproval.
"Likewise," murmured Adeline, nervously fanning herself.
Taking the bull by the horns, Elise gathered all her courage and looked Darien in the eye. With brows raised, she stated quietly, "I understand you're to be congratulated?"
Darien threw his brother a speaking glance, as if he suspected Rufus of telling family secrets. Abruptly, he dropped his foot from the fender.
"Darien is a difficult man to pin down," Adeline inserted softly. "Matters are complicated because my home is in Virginia." Elise thought Adeline's laugh a shade nervous. She was a beautiful woman, tall and slim, perhaps in her late twenties. There seemed to be a sadness in her eyes . . . Elise shook the feeling off. She had enough to think about without getting embroiled in someone else's imagined unhappiness. Nevertheless, Elise had the feeling if she gave herself half a chance, she could like the other woman.
She folded her hands together. She didn't want to like her. She didn't want to know her.
Dammit, Darien was hers!
There . . . she'd admitted it. She was mad . . . and disappointed. Darien was changed, and all she'd thought about and wanted was to be back with him.
"I've found men in general to be hard to pin down," murmured Elise, watching Darien, seeing the subtle change in his expression. "Fickle. Difficult to understand."
"Not unlike my experience of women," Darien came back, taking a step closer, towering over her as she sat in the chair. Elise sat up straight. She would not be intimidated.
"Darien," Adeline said, her tone almost scolding.
Elise
twirled the gold chain on her neck around her finger. "Men are obtuse, for they cannot see what lies right before their eyes," she taunted.
Elise's pulses quickened unbearably at the slight clenching movement of his jaw. Recklessly, she decided she had nothing to lose. "They're believe everything they are fed, by friend and enemy alike."
"I agree," Darien's eyes narrowed as her fingers touched the chain, "especially when it is fed by the women they trust." He was a hair's breadth away, his legs almost touching the skirt of her dress. A jolt of awareness burned deeply within Elise, making her hands tremble, her lips quiver. She sat back, willing the stiffness of her body to relax.
Vaguely, Elise realized Rufus and Adeline stood and left the room, the aunt hurrying behind them.
Elise realized what she was doing and felt ashamed. She bit her lip. "I'm afraid we've both been rude to your guest."
"Why did you come back, Elise?" Abruptly, his voice changed, a certain weariness filling it. "What did you hope to gain?" She sensed a vulnerability that weakened her resolve to taunt him.
"When have I ever hoped to gain anything but your love?" she cried softly, coming to her feet, she paced the room. Time, too much time has passed.
Darien had a wary look on his face. "You cannot be serious!" He stood stiffly, a warning to come no closer. "It was you who made the choice to disappear. Why would you think you could come back --"
"I had no choice!" Her response was impassioned.
"It was not your choice to leave?" His eyes were as dark as she had ever seen them, as if private torments lay inside. She sensed a waiting in him, as if he expected her to deny any involvement in her own disappearance. "Your father forced you away?"
Elise became confused. "Yes, it was my choice," she admitted, then added quickly as he turned away in disgust, "It was for both our safety that I had to leave. But I didn't know --"
"What?" His voice turned harsh, "You didn't know the turmoil your leaving would cause?" Darien stepped back, brushing a hand through his hair, then slapping his palm against his thigh. "Damnation, Elise! You can't come back here after all this time expecting everything to be the same. I'll not let you torment me again."
"I didn't come to torment you or cause you pain." Beseechingly, Elise took a step closer to him, her voice barely above a whisper. "So much has happened that I must tell you --"
He cursed, cutting her off. "It no longer matters. What was once ours is long gone. I have forgotten you, dammit -- forgotten what you did to me. I had three years to mull it over on a prison ship."
The pain that filled Elise was unbearable, so much so that she couldn't speak. Her shoulders slumped, she closed her eyes. Dear God! What had her father done! But the truth was worse. It was her fault, whether indirectly or not. She bowed her head, unable to look at him.
"Come now, have you no stomach for the truth?" He snarled, taking her silence as guilt. "Your father had no problem with the details -- in fact, he seemed to gloat over my misfortune."
"I haven't seen my father," Elise managed, drawing a deep breath.
"Am I expected to believe you?" He strode away from her, gripping the stone of the fireplace mantle, staring angrily at a picture in front of him. "Have you hatched a clever plan with your parent to come back to finish the job . . . do me in?" His bitterness cowed her as nothing else could. "Never again," he muttered.
Her throat ached from emotion held in check. Elise watched him with despair, trying to see any sign of the love they once had shared.
She couldn't reach him. Apparently she had nothing to say that he wanted to hear. Dammit, she could not give up, it was not in her. Surely when he heard the circumstances, he would believe her.
But she would not plead with him. "I swear I don't know everything that happened that night long ago. Darien, please," she went after him, dared to touch his arm, "let me explain so you can understand. One moment I was with you, then I went outside at Mandine's urging. The next moment I was in another place --"
The corded muscle in his arm flinched at her touch. Elise stepped back. She could see her touch repulsed him.
"You say you do know not what happened? Well then, tell me this -- where in damnation have you been for twenty-four years?"
She looked at him, uncertain how to even begin.
"I -- I've been here, that is another time and --"
He pounced on her hesitation. "What I understand, Elise, is that you vanished from the face of the earth, perhaps when I needed you the most. You and your father concocted a wild tale between the two of you -- something I never would have thought possible. I was sent to sea -- probably in the hope that I would die." His bitterness fueled her to protest the unjustness of it.
"Darien! How can you think I'd be in league with my father --"
He held up a hand.
"I have no desire to go over this with you. It belongs in the past, buried, and I intend to leave it where it belongs --" the greenness of his eyes pierced her with a ferocious anger, "-- as I will leave you in the past."
"You said you would give me the chance to explain, but you lied," she flung accusingly. "I never thought you'd be so close minded."
"It is Adeline I will marry," he said deliberately, as if she had not spoken, "and you --" his eyes narrowed,"-- you, Elise, will go back to wherever you have been hiding. Leave me to my life and I will leave you to yours." His eyes ran over her, read the fear in her eyes, the trembling of her lips. He hardened his heart, turning away. "What is it, Elise -- did your father send word that I am a wealthy man now? Did that make it easier for you to reappear after all this time?"
"Darien, don't -- please. It is all a lie --"
"That is probably the first true word you have spoken since your arrival. It is all a lie." He walked to the door, his head and shoulders stiffly set.
"Darien," Elise was unable to stem the heartbreak which cracked her voice, "please say you'll at least wait to marry." He moved further away from her. "You know you can't."
"Lawyers can make all kinds of things go away." Darien flung the door open and strode angrily through it, into the hallway and up the stairs.
At the first landing he paused, the pain and anger which he had kept inside all these years so unbearable he felt like weeping, something he hadn't done since he was a boy. Darien pushed himself back against the wall, closing his eyes as the pressure of regret pushed across his ribs and up into his throat.
#
Alone, Elise sat a moment. "I can't go back. I don't know how. God! What have I done?"
Rubbing her palms over her eyes, she started when hard but gentle hands lifted her up, pulling her into an embrace. Elise stood unquestioningly in the encircling warmth, leaning against him with closed eyes. Taking a deep breath, she drew back, finding a small lace square in her sleeve, wiping it across her eyes. She knew she looked a mess, but it no longer mattered.
"Rufus," she said quietly. "I appreciate your comfort." His arms still lightly encircled her. "I don't want to give you the wrong impression --"
Rufus' expression was resigned as she stepped back. No chance of that, I see where your affections lie, he signed.
"You have been kind Rufus. You don't know me or the circumstances of what happened. If only Darien could have trusted me -- no matter what the facts appeared."
Darien is too close to think clearly on this matter. It is too soon.
"Darien wants me gone."
"How touching," mocked a hard voice from the doorway. "I thought perhaps I had been too harsh with you Elise, but I see you have had no problem drawing my brother into your web to console you. Apparently any Remington will do."
Elise and Rufus, still standing close together, looked toward Darien in the doorway. He stood with his hands braced on either side of the opening, a scowl hardening his features. Without another word, he turned on his heel and left.
Darien entered his suite of rooms, carelessly closing the door with his heel. He reached for the decanter, tilting the glass so the light fil
tered through the sparkling liquid, turning it a deep, rich reddish brown, exactly the color of her hair . . ..
With a low growl, Darien flung it away from him, sinking down into a chair, unmindful of the glass shattering, whiskey running down the wall like rivulets of blood.
#
Rufus took several steps forward but Elise stopped him with a hand on his arm. "It doesn't matter, does it? No matter what I do or say, it will always be wrong."
I shall explain to him.
Elise managed a smile. "No -- he isn't ready to listen, and perhaps he never will be." Heavily, she pushed the hair from her forehead. "Thanks for your hospitality, but I am leaving."
Stay. He spread his arms wide.
"Here?" Elise said incredulously. She looked around, noticed for the first time the pleasantly decorated surroundings, the subtle blending of wealth and taste. Ruefully, she shook her head. "You're kidding, right? No, although thank you for the offer."
Rufus planted his feet wide. I am curious to unravel this mystery, he signed.
"Rufus, be realistic. This house would be a bloody battle zone if I stayed here." Elise suddenly saw the funny side of the situation. "Could you imagine all of us sitting down together for dinner -- Darien, his affianced, and his former --" she stopped. Elise admitted softly, "This isn't working. I'll have to figure out what to do. I really have to go. I need to think on everything that's happened."
I will escort you back to the cottage.
Elise shrugged. Lifting her skirts, she hurried out into the hallway, then out the front door, Rufus keeping pace behind her. He lit a lantern once outside and they walked up the road together. If Darien was around, she didn't see him. It was just as well, she told herself, she didn't think she could handle any more distressing scenes tonight.
#
Darien flung himself into the chair, for once careless of his boots against the skirt of the imported silk fabric.
Moodily, he looked over at his companion, then, with a sigh, he straightened.
"I apologize --" he began.
"Please do not, Darien," Adeline said, placing a comforting hand upon his sleeve. "I understand all too well the dilemma you face. Elise is, as you stated, a beautiful woman."
Time Travel Romance Collection Page 33