Time Travel Romance Collection

by Grace Brannigan

  "Do you and Rufus jointly own your business concerns?"

  "Yes. There are also ships we charter out. They make runs up and down the coast carrying cargo -- anything from furs to vegetables."

  Elise looked at him with an upraised brow. "I once asked Rufus if he was a pirate. He said he was."

  Darien smiled. "My brother has an uncommon sense of humor. He is most comfortable on the sea, but the ways of the sea are changing." He looked grim for a moment.

  "Is it dangerous for him?"

  "He chases slavers."

  "Slavers? You mean -- you mean people who kidnap --"

  "He and his men apprehend ships running slave rings."

  "That's frightening."

  "He works for our government."

  "Is the Hellhound part of that government work?"

  Darien sighed. "It might be." He lightly slapped the reins. "Come, let us enjoy the day."

  "You have done very well for yourself, Darien. No wonder my father dislikes you," she added.

  "Dislike?" Darien laughed, stopped the carriage. "I would be more apt to use the term hate -- its intensity suits your father's nature."

  "Your success," Elise said slowly.

  "Perhaps," Darien conceded, jumping down from his seat. He held his hand up. "I came from nothing, and now I equal him in status and wealth. It eats at him."

  "He is dangerous have as an enemy," Elise warned, unable to suppress a shiver. She turned and began to step down from the carriage.

  Darien pulled her toward him, both hands moving to encircle her slim waist. He set her on the ground. Elise turned to face him, looking up at him, his superior height.

  "Y-you've gotten so tall, Darien," She murmured breathlessly, unable to help herself. "At seventeen we were almost eye level. You had the advantage of a mere few inches."

  A certain darkness shadowed his eyes, making Elise tense, but then his blond head dipped toward her and his mouth was mere inches away. Elise touched his sleeve to balance herself, wanting nothing more than to feel the touch of his mouth on hers. His lips fell to her neck, traced an unbearably hot path, then he stepped back.

  Elise released her breath. Darien straightened abruptly, reached behind her to draw a basket from under the seat.

  "Come, let us find a spot under one of the trees," he said brusquely. He turned on his heel and led the way.

  He walked up a small knoll, spread a plaid blanket on the newly springing grass. Elise busied herself with the basket, hoping the heat had gone out of her face by the time he dropped to the blanket on the grass.

  It was a beautiful afternoon; they could not have ordered any finer weather. Under the shade of an immense oak tree, the sunlight dappled them through the leaves. Everything was so green and fresh, even the air seemed to have a special warm fragrance of its own.

  Below them was a large grassy area spotted here and there with the brilliance of wildflowers; a small stream wended its way lazily along the fringe of the meadow.

  None of this had turned out how she had envisioned her reunion with Darien. It was supposed to have been romantic, with both of them declaring anew their love for one another. Sometimes she felt younger than her thirty-nine years. Was she destined for a big fall? Elise busied herself by placing several plates on the blanket, barely paying notice to the succulent delicacies the cook had prepared.

  Elise stared at him; he seemed so deep in thought. They had to resolve these unanswered questions today.

  Darien looked at her. "Surely you know what is foremost on my mind? Where have you been all these years?

  Elise stilled. She took a deep breath. "I have been in another time, a time separate from this, Darien. A time in the future."

  "I have wondered all these years," he said slowly, "I have wanted to know that you were safe, that you missed me and regretted running away. But of all the things I imagined, it would not be that you would tell me you were in a future world."

  She gripped his forearm, felt the muscle flex under her fingertips. She tried again. "I am telling the truth, Darien."

  "Where?"

  "Here in this same area, but a long time in the future."

  "That is madness," He said angrily.

  Elise tried to think of a different way to put it to him. "Darien, I know it sounds absolutely insane, but it's true. I've lived twenty-four years in a time separate from this one. I created a whole new life. I -- we -- have a daughter."

  "What?" he looked thunderstruck, jumped to his feet and moved away from her. He spun back on his heel. "Elise, do not toy with me."

  "Darien -- I know it's a shock -- but yes, we have a daughter. Our one night together produced a daughter."

  "Where is she? I would see her for myself." She was not prepared for the renewed suspicion in his eyes.

  "You -- you can't." She bit her lip, on the verge of tears. "This is so difficult. Try to understand I am doing the best I can in telling you this. Our daughter Isabeau is in this other time."

  "Isabeau? You spoke of an Isabeau before."

  She put her head back. "Yes. She is our dear daughter. I was actually afraid to even tell you." Carefully, she opened the locket around her neck and held it out to him. "This locket is the only proof I have --"

  "Daughter!" Darien barely looked at the locket. For a moment she thought his shoulders slumped, and then he began to retrieve the food items, pushing them into the cloth napkins, pushing it all into the basket. He grabbed the plaid blanket in one fist and crumpled it into a ball. "It is time to leave."

  Elise closed the locket. "I'm telling you the truth. I know you need time to consider all I have said but there was no easy way to say it, Darien." Had she expected him to jump at the truth and believe it right away? No, but she had not expected this outright denial, either. He carried the basket to the carriage and shoved it under the seat. She gripped his arm and made him stop. "Darien, you knew Mandine. The powers she wielded. There are things in this world we don't understand, realities we don't know about, but they still exist. Time happens simultaneously, on different levels, different planes. I know because I have lived it. I traveled through time. Twice."

  "So you are asking me to believe you went to this time that night long ago? Our daughter is in this other time, so I will not meet her. And just recently you decided to travel again and come back?"

  She nodded, that was all, and climbed into the wagon, reading the closed look on his face and mulish set to his jaw. There was no use in her expending any more energy in trying to convince him, for now she would see it would be like hitting a brick wall. And who could blame him? Even fiction stories about time travel hadn't been written yet.

  Darien set the carriage in motion and set Alons at a brisk pace.

  "We should speak about what we both want," Darien said abruptly, surprising her.

  "Yes," she agreed warily.

  "A relationship between us. There is no sense in beating about the bush. Even after all this time, I feel the same pull toward you." He didn't sound pleased. "Am I wrong?" he demanded when she didn't say anything.

  Wondering where this was going, Elise nodded her head. "I came back to find you," she admitted. "And you needed to know about your daughter."

  He frowned again, then said, "Then it is true, we both wish for the same outcome."

  "Outcome? What a strange word to use."

  He nodded brusquely. "I still want you, even after all that has happened, through all these years. You are in my blood."

  "You make it sound like an illness."

  "If it is agreeable to you, you shall continue to reside at the house, but the circumstances will be different. You will now act as hostess for whatever gatherings we sponsor, which I admit at this time are far and few between. However, if you desire to do more socializing, we can easily arrange it --"

  Coolly, Elise said, "Explain in detail what my new position would be." Before he could do so, she met his glance squarely. "No, don't bother. I am naive, but I guess I understand what you are sayin
g. We will sleep together, to satisfy the fact that I am 'in your blood,' but that will be the end of any commitment." She knew her face was white but she demanded an answer. "Isn't that what you are proposing, Darien?"

  As she outlined the terms in black and white, Elise felt a sensation of things slipping away. His lips tightened, as if annoyed by her forthrightness.

  "We have been married all these years," he said abruptly.

  "You wish to claim marital rights." Her mind closed to him. It didn't feel right. He was angry, yes, and not denying what she'd told him. But this felt emotionless. "That's not enough for me." For either of them. Couldn't he see that? "Forget it, Darien. If nothing else think of Adeline."

  She heard his muttered curse as he snapped the reins at the horse. Elise did not think he cursed the animal. No doubt he cursed ever having met her. Elise could not believe he didn't want to know more about Isabeau. Had she been wrong about him? She felt numb.

  "Elise --"

  "I might have agreed if I was that same young girl. But now I know how to take care of myself. I also know I deserve more than you're proposing to give me." Elise sat stiffly on the seat beside him and wondered if she would ever see in Darien's eyes what she yearned to see. She wanted the magic once more that they knew as teenagers. Perhaps it was too much to expect his unconditional love with such obstacles between them.

  When they arrived back at the house, Darien had barely brought the horse to a halt when she jumped unaided from the carriage and walked swiftly up the path to the house.

  "Where do you think you are going?"

  She did not turn. "Where I please," she snapped. "I'm my own person, Darien, and you cannot dictate to me, ever. Furthermore, if I wish to leave, then I will. Don't worry, I will repay my debt to you. I don't care what the law says, I am not your indentured servant."

  "I never said you were!" he shouted after her.

  She nodded at Rufus standing on the front verandah as she continued into the house. The gentle whisper of the wooden screen door closing behind her spoke volumes.

  Rufus walked to where Darien sat in the carriage.

  Darien watched Elise until she disappeared. She gave the appearance of a caring, gentle woman, certainly not the vindictive, conniving liar he had let Rogier Lancaster convince him she must be.

  "Well, Dare," Rufus remarked, "I can see you still have a way with the ladies."

  Darien gave his brother a churlish frown. "Are you stooping to eavesdropping now?"

  Rufus grinned without apology, hands in his pockets. "If you are attempting to charm Elise, you are going about it in the wrong manner. I do not believe any woman would respond to such treatment."

  "What would you know about it?" snarled Darien.

  "I am but a casual observer."

  Darien was irritated by Rufus' amusement. "I am not trying to charm her."

  "Yes, even as dull witted as I am, I surmised as much." Rufus dropped the bantering tone. "So why the devil are you not trying to charm her?"

  "What?"

  "She's a beautiful woman -- sincere, loyal, loving --" Rufus put his hand to his chest defensively, "I swear I do not know firsthand about the latter -- but what I cannot understand is why you would wish to be at odds with her. If I thought you uninvolved, I would pursue her in all seriousness for myself."

  "Then why do you not do so?" challenged Darien sarcastically.

  "Because I fear you are not over her." Darien met the eyes so like his own, saw himself mirrored in his brother's loneliness. He looked away with a grimace.

  "She's my wife you know," he said.

  "All the more reason to try and win back her affections."

  "What should I do?" Darien asked in a low voice.

  "I believe if you think on it, you will know where to start," murmured Rufus. "And of course, there is also Adeline."

  #

  "We leave in a week's time," Rufus said with relish. Elise could imagine him rubbing his palms together with anticipation. "I've a notion to visit some familiar haunts."

  "Not I. Recall what happened last time you said that," Darien said, but a smile played at the edge of his mouth.

  Rufus laughed, slapped his brother heartily on the back. "Ah yes , but also recall the slight misunderstanding was resolved. We left the Carolina's rich men. In the end, everything worked out fine."

  "Perhaps," Darien growled, his voice indicating he recollected a different ending than the one Rufus seemed to recall with such amusement.

  Elise pushed the salon door open, not having intended to eavesdrop, but having done so nonetheless. She knew her face was flushed as she allowed Rufus to take the tray from her. She resumed her seat on the far side of the room. She had not spoken directly to Darien in several days, not since the picnic fiasco.

  "Did I miss something?" she asked Rufus brightly into the silence.

  Rufus made a sound curiously like a snicker, no doubt at Darien's expense, but in the next moment said in all seriousness.

  "We were discussing our last trip to South Carolina. My brother here," he grinned hugely, "found himself in a bit of a strait."

  "I would call getting thrown in jail for mistaken identity more than a bit of a strait," Darien came back dryly as he leaned comfortably back in his chair.

  "I see you still fail to see the humor of the situation," mused Rufus, shaking his head as he lit a slim dark cigar.

  "Well, I imagine if the situation had been reversed, you would have been the one lathering at the mouth," his brother threw back.

  "Hell!" Rufus turned to Elise. "Excuse my lapse, 'Lise, but this brother of mine takes matters too seriously." He turned back to Darien. "It was a mere joke, yet you are blind to it. I, for one, take life much more lightly."

  "That's true," murmured Darien with a rueful grimace. "You play the buffoon when the occasion warrants."

  "Ho, ho!" exclaimed Rufus, "You are resorting to insults now."

  "Tell me, Rufus," Elise entreated. She handed each of them a bubble glass of hard cider, carefully avoiding Darien's gaze.

  "It was all Roof's fault," declared Darien, sitting forward in his chair. "He had promised the town's sheriff his second mate's wages for the entire month if he could not persuade the local artist to paint the man's wife and daughter."

  "So?" asked Elise, perplexed, "what's so difficult about that?"

  "The man -- the artist, was a total recluse. He had not been in society for fifteen years."

  "It was a very good wager," Rufus defended himself.

  "Surely you are right," Darien came back, enjoying himself immensely, "if you are crazy as a loon."

  Elise shook her head, determined to wheedle the story from them. They seemed to gain a great deal of amusement mocking and jesting with one another, sharing a wonderful rapport she had noticed on other occasions. She was envious of the common bond between them, but it reminded her of the ever-widening gulf between Darien and herself. There was no longer even a comfortable alliance between them. She felt as if they were back to square one.

  Rufus turned to her, saw the anticipation on her face, then threw a mocking glance at Darien.

  "I confess I will enjoy the telling of this tale." He stretched his legs out, placed one upon the footstool before him. "When Darien and I were visiting one of our favorite watering holes, I admit to making a slightly inebriated, God-awful wager with the local sheriff, who was also somewhat in his cups.

  "The sheriff said he and his family were new to the area, but his wife and daughter had their heart set on having their likeness painted by a Monsieur Bonea, a famous painter who was virtually a hermit, but who now lived in the swamps.

  "He claimed to be personally acquainted with Monsieur Bonea, and of course he could arrange such a matter."

  "So what happened?" Elise took a sip of hard cider. It went down smoothly, burning a path clear to her toes. She leaned back against the plush warmth of her chair.

  "The man was a virtual hermit with no thought of leaving or changing his mod
e of living. When approached, he of course flatly refused -- ran the sheriff off his place with a firearm.

  "Can you imagine the sheriff getting into a fury over such a small incident?" asked Rufus with a shrug of his massive shoulders, a grin playing about his lips.

  Elise looked at him with raised brows.

  "When the sheriff realized I'd been having him on, he was in a fury. He had already promised his wife and daughter their portraits would be painted. The sheriff arrived at our lodgings, intending to make trouble. As circumstances had it, he found Darien instead of myself."

  "It always amazes me that people have difficulty telling us apart," mused Rufus. "After all, I am the better looking sibling."

  "So they threw you in jail?" Elise asked in surprise.

  Darien nodded ruefully. "Yes -- the man was that mad. He thought I was having him on when I denied all knowledge of the wager."

  "A surly fellow," tacked on Rufus. He took a long swallow of his cider. "Luckily, though, I was able to persuade the old hermit away from his reclusive life." He seemed prepared to leave it at that.

  "Okay, I give up, tell me the rest," Elise urged.

  "I merely explained to him the daughter was a vision not unlike his late wife."

  "You did know him, then?" Elise asked in surprise.

  "Well -- slightly," Rufus admitted.

  "He knew his name," supplied Darien sardonically.

  "But the ploy worked," Rufus said with a grin. "The man was happy to meet the wife and daughter. Not only did he paint them together, but the daughter he painted many times."

  "So how did this whole thing work out to your advantage?"

  "Well," admitted Rufus, "not only did I keep my seaman's wages, but with the sheriff being so happy with the outcome, he referred my name to a large shipping magnate looking for a few good men to oversee his shipping line."

  "Little did they know what they were taking on when they hired us," observed Darien dryly. He swirled the last of the hard cider in his glass, a slight smile curling his lips.

  "He recognized talent when he saw it," said Rufus arrogantly.

  Elise started laughing, she couldn't help it. Then she hiccupped, putting a hand to her mouth as she looked at both of them.