Rebel Temptress (Historical Romance)

by Constance O'Banyon

  "Wherever you go and whatever you do, I shall wish you well, Honor." There was such sincerity in his words that Honor knew he spoke the truth.

  There was a knock on the door and Honor and Jordan moved apart as Chauncey entered.

  "Master Jordan, there is a gentleman here, says he wants to see you and Miss Honor directly."

  "Who is it, Chauncey?" Honor asked.

  "I ain't never seen him before. Says his name's Mr. Wade."

  "He was Aunt Amanda's lawyer. I have not seen him since I sold Landau."

  "Shall we see what the man wants?" Jordan said. "Show him in, Chauncey."

  Honor held out her hand to Mr. Wade and smiled brightly. "Mr. Wade, it is a pleasure to see you. It has been a long time."

  "Yes, ma'am, it has." He nodded at Jordan. "Pleasure to see you, Jordan."

  "What brings you to Green Rivers? Did someone die and leave my wife a fortune?"

  Chance Wade frowned. He had heard many wild stories about Jordan and he never put much stock in rumors, but he had seen a few things with his own eyes. "No. I am afraid I have some rather disturbing news."

  "Sit down, Mr. Wade," Honor offered. "Would you care for some tea?"

  "No, thank you. I am pressed for time, and I will get right to the point. Were you two married by a circuit rider going by the name of Butler Smith, the same man who presided at your aunt's funeral?"

  "The same man who spoke at Aunt Amanda's funeral was the one who married us, and I believe that his name was Butler Smith, was it not, Jordan?"

  Jordan nodded. "Yes, that is right. Why?"

  Chance Wade sighed. "I was afraid of that. I do not quite know how to tell you this, but you are not legally man and wife."

  Honor looked quickly at Jordan, who looked thunderstruck. "What kind of game are you playing, Chance? Honor and I were legally married."

  The lawyer shook his head. "I am afraid the marriage was not legal. You see, this Smith, whose real name is Butler Dawson, was a fraud. He has six bigamous marriages that we know of and he has posed as a doctor, a lawyer, and sometimes a circuit rider."

  "That is impossible," Jordan said.

  "Could there be a mistake, Mr. Wade?" Honor asked.

  "I am afraid not, but you need not worry. I have been very discreet, and the two of you can go into Richmond and make your marriage legal without anyone's being the wiser. You can count on me to keep it a secret."

  "How did you find out about this man?" Jordan asked.

  "I have a friend who is a judge in Richmond, and he told me about a man he had just prosecuted. I thought his name sounded familiar, and when I realized he was the man who had performed Amanda Landau's funeral, I thought he might have been the one who had supposedly married the two of you, since there was no preacher in the area at the time. I checked through some of your legal documents and there was the name of the preacher, Smith. I only needed you to confirm his first name."

  Honor tried to digest all that Chance Wade had told her. She was not married to Jordan, nor had she ever been. She had borne his child and lived in his house as his wife, but it had all been illegal.

  Chance Wade stood up. "Honor, as you know, I was a friend to your Aunt Amanda, as well as her lawyer. I stand ready to help you in any way possible."

  She was very confused. Standing up, she offered Mr. Wade her hand. "Thank you for informing us about the circuit rider. I will be in touch with you."

  Jordan watched as the lawyer took his leave. He was shocked into silence. Honor was not his wife. She did not belong to him, and now she probably never would. He walked over to the window and jammed his hands into his pockets and stared out into the garden. He felt Honor's hand on his shoulder and turned to face her.

  "We can do as Chance suggested and make our marriage legal, Honor." He reached out his hand and touched her face softly. "I love you, and every time I have hurt you, I believe I did it to punish myself more than you. If you will marry me, I will strive to be a good husband to you. I cannot bear to lose you for good. We can start over and forget the past."

  "No, Jordan, with Aaron gone, there is nothing for us. I believe that with the right wife you will find the happiness I cannot give you."

  Jordan wanted to beg her not to leave him. He loved her so much, but he knew they really were not right for each other. But what would he do without her?

  "Will you go to Adam O'Roarke?"

  "No, I do not yet know what I will do, but I do not think I shall ever many. I seem to destroy the ones who love me."

  "It is not intentional, Honor. It is just that you are so strong that you bring out the weakness in others. Your strength is not apparent. You are like a soft wind blowing across the land, bending the tree branches. If the tree is weak it will snap and break. If it is strong it will bend and not break. O'Roarke is strong, and he loves you."

  "Are you going to be all right, Jordan?" she asked, changing the subject.

  "Yes, Honor, I believe I am."

  Honor looked into his eyes and kissed his cheek. "Goodbye, Jordan. I'm going to leave. You can reach me in town at the hotel if you need to get in touch with me in the next few days. Perhaps I will go with Meagan to New York and then to Paris as she has urged me to. It will not take me too long to pack, I brought so little with me when I left Landau. I must find your mother and tell her good-bye, and then I will make arrangements to have a preacher go to Landau and pray over Aunt Amanda's grave. I suppose after all this time it shouldn't matter, but I feel the need to have a man of the cloth recite the last rites. I believe she would want that."

  Jordan watched her walk away, and he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. "Good-bye, my little one," he whispered. He knew he would always love her, but the best thing he had ever done in his life was to let her go. Maybe there was hope for him, after all.

  * * *

  Adam sat staring at the letter from Meagan. He tossed it on his desk, thinking he did not want to know what it contained. His secretary came in, followed by his brother-in-law, Brad Hollingsworth.

  "Mr. O'Roarke, could you sign these documents before you go to lunch so I can get them in the morning post?"

  Adam motioned for Brad to take a seat while he signed the papers. When that was completed, he stood up. "Shall we go, Brad? I confess to being hungry." Adam turned to his secretary. "I should not be more than an hour."

  Adam picked up Meagan's letter and tossed it into the wastebasket unopened. He then followed his brother-in-law out to the street, thinking it was best not to hear anything concerning Honor. When he had first left Virginia, Meagan had corresponded with him regularly, but he had not answered her letters and soon the letters stopped all together until this morning when her latest letter had come. Adam had no intentions of opening it.

  The Duck and Hound was Adam's favorite eating establishment. It was generally patronized by men in the legal profession. He and Brad sat down at his customary table, and the waiter took their order.

  "How is Suzanne?" Adam asked, his mind wandering back to the letter he had thrown away.

  "She has been busy trying to redecorate the north bedroom, but she had a fever last week and the doctor put an end to her redecorating for the moment," Brad answered.

  "That's nice," Adam said absent-mindedly.

  Brad frowned. "You are not with me, are you, Adam?"

  "That's nice," Adam said once more, as he traced the rim of his glass with his finger and stared off into space.

  "I saw the doctor last week and he gave me two days to live," Brad said, trying to regain Adam's attention.

  Adam smiled slightly. "I am glad," he said, not really hearing Brad. He frowned. What if his secretary had emptied the wastebasket? Meagan might have written to tell him that Honor was ill.

  "Excuse me, Brad, there is something important I must do," Adam said as he rose and made his way through the noonday crowd to reach the door.

  Brad watched Adam, puzzled by his strange behavior.

  Adam practically ran the two blocks to his la
w office, and as he burst through the front door his secretary scrambled to his feet.

  "Did you empty the wastebasket, Owens?" Adam demanded.

  The man looked at his employer in surprise. "Yes, sir, I always empty the wastebasket and straighten your office while you are at lunch."

  "Damn!" Adam said as he entered his inner office and sat down at the desk. He cursed his shortsightedness. What could have been in Meagan's letter? Why had he acted like a proud fool by throwing it away?

  His secretary had followed Adam into his office and stood in front of him. "I found this letter. It must have fallen in the wastebasket by mistake, Mr. O'Roarke," Owens said, handing the letter to his employer.

  There was relief on Adam's face as he reached for the letter. Owens looked at the letter curiously, and Adam dismissed him with a curt nod. He ripped open the letter and began to read:

  Dear Adam,

  I am writing to you, hoping that this letter will reach you in time. I am going to Paris on a ship that leaves August 1, and Honor is accompanying me. We shall arrive in New York on July 26 and remain there until the sailing date.

  I want to inform you of the events that have occurred, which may or may not be of interest to you. It seems that the man who married Honor and Jordan was a fraud, an imposter. I will not go into detail, I only wanted to let you know that Jordan and Honor were never really man and wife.

  I believe that you and my sister still have strong feelings for one another. If I do not hear from you in New York, I will assume that your feelings for Honor have changed.

  Honor knows nothing about this letter and would be very upset with me if she found out. We shall be staying at the Broadmore, if you should wish to contact us.

  Meagan

  Adam read the letter three times, then wadded it up and threw it into the now empty wastebasket. Today was July 27. Honor and Meagan would be leaving for Paris in five days, but it was nothing to him. Let Honor go to Paris or even hell for all he cared, because he would never humble himself to her again. It meant nothing to him that she was free of Jordan Daniels, he thought. Honor had said she loved him and then sent him away. The past few months he had worked hard at forgetting her. What right did Meagan have to open up old wounds? He would be a fool even to consider going to New York. He would not allow Honor to become so important to him again.

  * * *

  Honor looked out the hotel window at the street below. It seemed strange to be here in the North. The hustle and bustle of the big city could scarcely be heard from the suite for rooms she and Meagan occupied high up on the twelfth floor. Outside this room was a world such as she had never known.

  Meagan was in her bedroom preparing for dinner. Yesterday they had gone shopping and Honor had procured two gowns, the first new clothes she had had in a very long time. They had cost much more than she had wanted to pay, but Meagan had insisted she buy them. One was a gray silk with black velvet trim and could be worn in the daytime as well as at night, she had thought. The other was completely frivolous. It was a green taffeta that fit high about her neck, fell to the floor in front and swept into a bustle with a long train in the back.

  Honor was wearing the green gown now, and she did indeed feel properly dressed for the first time in a long time. Meagan had told Honor that she wanted her to be completely outfitted once they reached Paris. Honor questioned her good sense in allowing Meagan to talk her into accompanying her to Paris. What would she do with herself while Meagan and her count were on their honeymoon? Meagan had insisted that Honor would have a wonderful time and, after all, Meagan had pointed out, there was nothing to keep her in Virginia now.

  It had been hard to say good-bye to Jordan. He had kissed her on the cheek, and in that moment she knew they were both letting go of each other. It had been harder to say good-bye to Maggie and Darcy. Maggie had cried and begged Honor not to go, and Darcy had hugged her tightly, telling her she was glad her baby was leaving and that it would be good for her. Honor had promised Darcy she would send for her as soon as she had enough money. She had very few funds, only what Jordan had given her for selling Landau, and she did not know what she would do when that ran out. Her French was good, though, and she thought she might teach English to some rich man's children if she decided to stay in France.

  Meagan came out of the bedroom looking every bit like a countess should. Her blue dress shimmered in the soft light as she walked across the room and looked Honor over. "Lord, you are beautiful. If you were not my sister I would refuse to be seen in your company," she laughed.

  Honor's hair had grown longer, and the front was arranged on top of her head while two long curls hung over her shoulders. The green gown fit her to perfection, showing off her body to its best advantage.

  Meagan smiled slightly. Honor did not look her twenty-one years, even with her hair arranged in a sophisticated manner. She could easily pass for sixteen or seventeen because of the air of innocence about her, and Meagan thought her sister was most probably the loveliest woman she had ever seen.

  Meagan had been aware of all the admiring glances they had received while traveling and here in New York. It was Honor whom the men could not tear their eyes away from. Meagan wondered if Adam would come. Had he received her letter in time?

  "You will make a fantastic countess," Honor said. "I look forward to meeting the man who causes you to cross an ocean to get to him."

  Meagan laughed. "You may find this hard to fathom, but in spite of the fact that I have received a proposal of marriage and any number of love letters, I find it hard to remember what Pierre actually looks like."

  Honor laughed and shook her head. "You are incorrigible, Meagan. I could tell you that you are making a mistake, but you would not listen, would you?"

  Meagan frowned. "I keep getting his face mixed up with an English marquis. To tell the truth, I am not sure even now which one he is. Oh, well, I will know when I see him, I suppose."

  "Meagan, you are teasing me," Honor said, feeling lighthearted for the first time in many months.

  As the two sisters walked into the hotel dining room, all eyes turned to stare at them.

  Meagan looked about her, feeling perplexed. They were leaving in two days, and Adam had not yet made an appearance. Either he had not received her letter in time, or he did not wish to see Honor again.

  21

  The waiter led them to their table and smiled at them brightly. Meagan was aware that she and Honor were the center of attention. She was accustomed to receiving admiring glances, but Honor was feeling shy at some of the bold looks she was getting. A man at a nearby table stared at her so long that she blushed and looked away quickly.

  "You will soon grow used to men making a fuss over you, Honor. I predict you will be a sensation in Paris," Meagan told her brightly, scanning the room for Adam as she had done each day they had been in New York.

  "I do not wish to be a sensation. It frightens me the way some of the gentlemen stare at me."

  "La, beauty is wasted on you. Most women would be thankful if they were blessed with your looks."

  Meagan saw Adam first. He was weaving his way among the crowd to reach their table. He was accompanied by a very well-dressed, lovely lady. Honor had not yet seen him, since she was reading the menu, trying to decide what to order.

  "Well, what a small world, ladies," a familiar voice drawled.

  Honor's head snapped up and she saw Adam smile at Meagan, ignoring her completely. Honor's heart seemed to be beating at twice its normal rate as Adam's cool blue eyes swept over her face.

  "Do my eyes deceive me, or are these not the Landau sisters?" Adam said casually.

  "Of all the people to run into, you would be the last one I would expect, Mr. O'Roarke," Meagan said, flashing him a tight smile.

  The woman at Adam's side smiled at both sisters politely.

  "I would like to present you to Lisa Maxwell. Lisa, may I present you to two old friends of mind, Mrs. Elderman and her sister, Mrs. Daniels, both of Virginia.
"

  The lovely lady nodded politely, and Honor looked at her for the first time. Her hair was a dusky color and her blue eyes were lovely. She had the bearing of a lady, and Honor felt insignificant in her company.

  "So you are from the South? Adam must have met you during the war," Lisa Maxwell said, making polite conversation.

  Meagan smiled. "Would the two of you care to join us? We would be delighted if you say yes."

  Adam looked at his companion for permission.

  "I would be delighted," Lisa said. "There are many questions I would like to ask you about Virginia."

  Adam summoned the waiter, who brought two more chairs and placed them at the table for the latecomers.

  "I am glad you decided to join us. I confess to feeling out of place, our being two women alone," Meagan said.

  Adam had not yet spoken directly to Honor, but she allowed her eyes to wander over to him as he spoke to Meagan. He was dressed in a black formal suit with a white silk shirt. He was even more handsome than she remembered. Seeing him was devastating to her. What was he doing here? And what was this woman to him? She wondered. Her heart cried out for him to acknowledge her, but she feared if he did she would not be able to hide the love she felt for him.

  "Tell me, Mrs. Daniels, how does New York compare with your cities?" Lisa asked.

  "There is no comparison," Honor said. "New York is very big and seems to have so many people from all walks of life, while most Virginia towns are small, and the signs of war are still very evident."

  "Yes, the war was a nasty business. We are fortunate it is now over, is that not right, Adam?" Lisa asked.

  "Yes, we are fortunate indeed," Adam said, still not looking at Honor.

  Honor noticed the hand that Lisa placed on Adam's arm. Maybe Adam had found someone to take her place. After all, was that not what she had wanted him to do? She felt miserable, though, and could not bear the thought of spending the evening with Adam and this woman. Looking up, she saw that Adam was watching her. Honor swallowed a lump in her throat.