'My dear children,' the letter began, 'Of the two letters I hope that this is the one being read to you, as it has always been my wish to not only unite La Reine and Solitaire, but to unite my daughter with the son of the woman I had loved so dearly in my youth.'
'This is not, however, the time to become maudlin. I congratulate you on the anniversary of your wedding day, and I would like to express the wish that you may share long and happy years together.'
'There is one matter I wish to clear up. Rhyno, when your father left your mother destitute, and after the eventual news of his death, I asked Naomi to marry me, but she had some unshakable notion that it would be unfair to accept my proposal. When the situation at La Reine became desperate I knew that she would be too proud to accept financial help from me, so I did the next best thing. I bought La Reine to preserve it for you, and I financed your studies secretly to prepare you for the day when I hoped you would take over its management.'
'Damn!' Rhyno exploded, interrupting the reading of Jacques' letter as he leapt to his feet to face Naomi. 'Did you know this, Mother?' he demanded angrily.
'I guessed… but I was never sure.'
'And you let him do it?' Rhyno thundered incredulously.
'You know Jacques,' Naomi smiled warily at her son. 'Was he the kind of man one could go to and say, "Are you financing my son's education, and if you are would you please stop it"?'
Rhyno continued to glare at no one in particular, and a new fear shifted stealthily into Kate's heart. Her husband was a proud man, and this disclosure was not something he would come to terms with very easily.
'Shall I continue?' Hubert interrupted the tense silence.
'You mean there's more?' Rhyno barked, swinging round to face the attorney, and Hubert nodded as he unfolded the letter and continued reading.
'Knowing you, Rhyno, I don't doubt that you're furious. Your pride has been dented, but look at it from my point of view. Feeling about your mother the way I did, I always looked upon you as my son and, had she married me, I would have had every right to finance your studies openly. I followed your progress closely, and your mother, unknowingly, helped me to decide when the time would be right to tempt you with an offer which would bring you back to La Reine.'
'You always said that I was a shrewd old man, and you were right. I knew that I had little time left, and delivering that ultimatum in my will was the only way I could think of inducing you to accept La Reine. I guessed how you felt about Kate, and I hoped that the possibility of her losing Solitaire might be enough instigation for you to marry her, thus securing your own, as well as her inheritance.'
'Forgive me, Kate, for using you as the instrument to carry out my plans, but I did so with the sure knowledge that you would be safe with Rhyno. There is nothing else to say except to ask you both not to judge me too harshly.'
The silence that followed was strained and tense with emotions that hovered awkwardly between understanding and displeasure, but Edwina, who had remained silent throughout the reading of Jacques' letter, stepped swiftly into the breach with the ever practical suggestion.
'I think we could all do with a nice cup of tea,' she announced briskly, but Hubert shook his head.
'Not for me, Edwina,' he said. 'I must go back to the office.' He rose as he spoke and turned to Rhyno. 'We can settle the last of the legal matters tomorrow if you and Kate could come to my office some time during the morning.'
Rhyno nodded, but he was looking at Kate, and what she saw in his eyes chilled her considerably. He had not taken her father's disclosures lightly, and although she did not doubt his love for her, she feared that it might affect their future happiness.
It was not until that evening, when they were alone in their bedroom that they had the opportunity to speak privately to each other.
'It's not very pleasant knowing that your father is responsible for everything I am today,' he confessed grimly when he emerged from his shower and seated himself on the bed beside Kate. 'How does one repay such a debt?'
'Darling,' she said softly, sitting up in bed to frame his lean, clean-shaven face with her small hands, 'in the past two and a half years you've given so much of yourself to La Reine as well as Solitaire, and what you've given surpasses in value anything and everything my father may have done for you.' She had spoken with a quiet sincerity, but her eyes suddenly sparkled with mischief. 'Added to that you've taken on the lifelong task of taking charge of his impossible, often shrewish daughter, and that, I think, ought to amount to something.'
He took her hands in his and pressed his warm mouth in a sensual caress against each palm. 'Taking charge of you has been a pleasure, not a duty.'
'Has it always been a pleasure?' she asked with a smile that was impish even though it radiated an unmistakable warmth. 'Even when I accused you of ingratiating yourself with my father, and heaven only knows what else?'
'You resented the conditions in your father's will as much as I did, and that was your way of kicking against it.'
'How did you deal with your resentment?'
His eyes mocked her tenderly. 'Dealing with you fortunately took up most of my time and energy.'
'I'm not sure I like the sound of that,' she laughed lightly, 'but I'll let it pass.'
'You're obviously in a generous mood.'
Her expression sobered with sincerity. 'I happen to love you very much, that's all.'
'That's everything,' Rhyno corrected, drawing her into his arms and kissing her with a tenderness that never failed to touch her deeply. 'You are all that I could ever have wished for, and this…' he placed his hand very gently on her rounded stomach, 'this is an added bonus.'
Their lips met and clung, and in a rush of tender passion, Kate drew him down beside her, vowing in her heart that she would always endeavour to be worthy of this proud man's love—until the late harvest of their lives and beyond.
Late Harvest Page 17