by Diana Palmer
“Don’t worry, I’ll be much safer among the snakes and cactus than I will here with that German octopus!” Bernadette hugged Maria affectionately and cautiously crossed to the stable. She made the confused stable boy saddle her horse, looking around warily for anyone who might want to stop her.
Once she was in the saddle, she headed quickly for the nearby mountains, where she could hide in safety. She had no gun, but hopefully she wouldn’t need one. If she could hide out for two or three days, just long enough to frighten her father, she might get her point across. Public opinion would not be favorable to a man who sent his unhappy daughter running into the wilds of Texas to escape an unwanted suitor!
She rode until the skies began to go purple and red in late afternoon, then she stopped her mount by a small stream under some trees and unsaddled her horse, careful to tether him so that he wouldn’t wander during the night.
She did know how to build a campfire, and it was a necessary skill here in the desert country where nights could be freezing. She used her saddle for a pillow and the saddle blanket for a bed, with her colorful serape for cover. It was going to be a very uncomfortable night, but she could bear it. Anything was preferable to having that repulsive man pawing her!
But if it was easy to contemplate a night in the desert, it was harder to endure it. She knew that bandits often raided isolated camps. She had no money, but she was easily recognizable to people in the area as the daughter of its most wealthy local citizen. She could be kidnapped and held for ransom—or worse. She shivered at the thought of dirty, greedy hands on her body.
She sat looking into the flames, shivering and wondering where her mind had been for her to consider such a reckless plan of action. She jumped at every noise she heard. It was the first time she’d ever been completely alone in her life, and it was unnerving as she sat and thought of all the things that could happen to her because of her folly. The very worst was considering what might happen to her if she had an attack out here, in the middle of nowhere. She had nothing to stop one, not even coffee.
She thought of Eduardo and what he’d said to her, about the two of them conspiring to arrange their own marriage. It was the best chance she had to escape her father’s plans for her. But it frightened her a little to think of Eduardo intimately. He would need a son. It seemed to be almost a mania with men. What if she could never steel herself to sleep with him? Would he still be willing to marry her with that threat hanging over them?
* * *
WHILE SHE WAS SITTING ALONE IN the desert by her campfire, freezing under the light blanket and deliberating about her misery, something quite different was going on back at the ranch.
Eduardo had arrived, intending to see Colston Barron and put the proposition of marrying Bernadette to him one more time. If the man refused, he could simply elope with his intended bride. Possession was, after all, nine-tenths of the law, and Bernadette was willing.
The ranch owner was in his study with a slight, dark man and a heavyset older one, and they were examining a fowling piece when Eduardo was shown in by Maria.
“Well, Eduardo!” Colston said, nonplussed. “I wasn’t expecting you. You haven’t been to see us in such a long time that I thought you’d put us right out of your life, lad!”
Eduardo glanced at the small, younger man and then at the German with barely concealed contempt. Having had a brief conversation with Maria already, he was infuriated by Colston’s lack of action on Bernadette’s behalf.
“I came to ask a question, but it can wait. Are you aware,” Eduardo continued in a cold, quiet tone, “that Bernadette has run away?”
The little Irishman’s eyes almost popped out of his round face. “She’s...what?”
“Run away,” Eduardo repeated. “Maria says she’s been gone for the better part of an hour. Didn’t you know?”
Colston colored. “Well, no.”
“And I suppose her reason is as vague to you as her absence?” he added, glaring daggers at the German nobleman, who colored with embarrassment.
Colston cleared his throat. “Never mind that. Where do you think she’s gone?”
“Probably to the mountains,” Eduardo said through his teeth. “And a rancher nearby has just had cattle stolen by a group of outlaws. It is not a good time for Bernadette to be alone and unprotected, especially in her weakened physical condition!”
Colston felt like going through the floor. His inadequacies were being paraded like horses before his honored guests. His fists clenched. “I’ll have one of my men go and look for her at once,” he said.
“You’ll do nothing of the sort!” Eduardo returned, his temper aroused and evident. “If you don’t care enough to look for her yourself, don’t bother. I’ll find her and bring her back!”
Colston wavered between relief and indignation. “I appreciate your help, lad, but my daughter is no concern of yours—”
“Or of yours, apparently.” Eduardo’s onyx eyes were snapping. “What a hell of a pity that a young woman can’t escape being molested in her own home!”
“Now, see here!” Colston began.
“Who is this crude upstart?” the German demanded in his thickly accented English.
Eduardo moved toward him with a lithe, steady gait that was intimidating enough to make the shorter, more rotund foreign nobleman back up a step. “I’ll tell you who I am,” Eduardo said with ice dripping from every syllable. “I’m a friend of the family. And if you’re still here when I bring Bernadette home, you’ll wish you weren’t.”
With a final glare at Colston, he turned and strode angrily out the door.
Colston swallowed and then swallowed again. The Italian, who hadn’t said a word, smiled ruefully.
“I think that your daughter will not marry either of us, signore,” the Italian mused, “if that man has his way.”
“I no longer wish to marry her,” Herr Branner said gruffly, scrambling to save his wounded ego. “She is cold. She has no spark. Such a woman would drive a man mad.” He bowed to Colston formally. “If you will provide a buggy and one of your men to drive me to the station, Herr Barron, I will make my departure. Sadly, I must tell you that I cannot remain for your ball.”
He clicked his heels and was gone before Colston could think of a word to say to stop him.
“Since I have no wish to marry your daughter, either, I might as well go with him,” Maretti said with a chuckle. “I would enjoy the ball, but not under the circumstances. May I extend my congratulations and my condolences to you on your daughter’s forthcoming marriage. I believe you will find your prospective son-in-law something of a trial.”
Colston’s only consolation was that Eduardo had connections to European royalty, and the man had been, after all, his first choice. It amazed him that Eduardo should deliberately stay away for weeks and then suddenly arrive at the worst possible time. On the other hand, his vehemence on Bernadette’s behalf was quite encouraging. All might not be lost.
At least Eduardo would find the girl; Colston had no doubt of that. But he dreaded the reappearance of the two of them.
* * *
EDUARDO RODE OUT TOWARD THE distant mountains, still smoldering at Bernadette’s father’s callous attitude toward her. What sort of father would leave his daughter wide open to unwanted advances from a houseguest, regardless of the reason? He hated the very thought of another man’s hands on Bernadette.
He tracked her to the mountains and then had to slow his pace as her trail became more difficult to follow. He heard a sound that chilled his blood—the scream of a puma. That was another danger that Bernadette probably hadn’t thought of, and he was certain that she wasn’t armed. He always wore a sidearm and carried a rifle. He hoped he wouldn’t need them.
As darkness began to fall in earnest, he worried that he might not find her in time to spare her a terrifying night alone in the desert. The night air wouldn’t be good for her weak lungs, and few people realized how cold it became after the sun set. He always carried
two blankets in his saddle pack, just in case.
He was so frustrated that he almost missed the faint smell of smoke. Then, when a whiff of burning wood came to him, his heart leaped. He dismounted and climbed up on a boulder to get a better look in the direction from which he believed the smoke came. Sure enough, he spotted a small campfire down below.
It was precarious going down the slope in the dark, but his gelding was surefooted and careful, and he took his time.
As he rode into the small circle of light the campfire provided, Bernadette jumped to her feet with a blanket around her and stood shivering as she waited for him to come close enough to see.
She lifted her chin. “You’d better not come any closer,” she called hoarsely. “My father and brothers are just outside the camp. They’ll hear me if I scream!”
He chuckled at her nerve. She looked fragile and vulnerable, but what spirit, even in the face of tangible danger!
“You never cease to amaze me,” he said gently as he rode near enough for her to recognize him.
“Eduardo!” She ran toward him when he dismounted, looking up into his dark face with absolute trust and relief.
He smiled, discarding his gloves to catch her hands in his. “You’re freezing! Didn’t you have another blanket?”
“Only this one.” Her teeth chattered. “I didn’t realize it got quite this cold. Why are you here?” she added worriedly. “Did my father send you?”
His face hardened. “Maria told me what happened. I came to find you.”
“You, not my father,” she murmured sadly.
“He was going to send one of his ranch hands. I told him not to bother.”
“He should have sent one of his candidates for my bridegroom instead,” she said coldly.
“I believe the German will be on the first train north,” he said drily. “And the other gentleman probably won’t be far behind him.”
“Oh, thank God!”
He retrieved his blankets from his saddle pack and wrapped one around her before he removed the saddlebags and began to make coffee in a small pot.
“What did the German do to you, Bernadette?” he asked when he had the coffeepot on the fire and they were both sitting nearby.
She averted her embarrassed eyes in the bright light of the campfire. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter, if he’s gone.”
“It does matter! I should have shot the—”
“It’s all right,” she interrupted before he could voice the curse. “I can’t be the first woman who was ever fondled against her will.”
He looked furious. He watched her move away from the campfire and ease down onto her makeshift bed. “Were you planning to stay the night?”
She nodded. “I thought if I frightened my father enough, he might cancel his plans.”
“He’ll cancel them now,” he assured her, holding his hands to the fire. “I promise you he will.”
She let out a long sigh. “Thank you for coming to find me.”
He glanced at her curiously. “You might not consider yourself saved when I tell you what I have in mind.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“I intend to keep you out all night.”
He expected shock and fear. But after a minute’s hesitation, she laughed delightedly. “What a wonderful idea! If his prospective bridegrooms haven’t left, they certainly will after this!”
“I intend to displace them,” he said shortly. “If your father wants a noble for a son-in-law, he can have me. I’ll take a damned sight better care of you than he does, and I won’t drag you off to Europe to die.”
She stared at him with delight. “You really want to marry me?”
He nodded. “It won’t be a love match,” he said, his voice quiet and calming, “but you’ll have freedom and independence, and I’ll take care of you.”
“I’ll take care of you, too,” she replied gently.
He was shocked to discover that he liked the idea of someone taking care of him. It wasn’t acceptable to admit it, of course, and he wasn’t going to. But it touched him as few things in his recent past had.
“Have you eaten anything?” he asked.
She laughed, pulling her blanket closer. “I had a roll and some cold chicken that Maria packed for me, but nonetheless, I’m hungry,” she said simply.
“So am I.”
“I don’t suppose you brought anything to eat?”
He chuckled. “I came in rather a hurry,” he said. “But I stopped by Mrs. Brown’s café on the way here and had her pack some cold meat and bread and cheese.” He shook his head as he retrieved it from the saddlebag. “I must have had a premonition.”
“What a lovely provider you’re going to make!” she exclaimed.
He put cold roast beef and cheese on a thick slice of bread and handed it to her. She ate hungrily, amazed that her misery should have turned to such pleasure. Eduardo might not love her, but he was offering her a new start, a future that would free her from her father’s attempted domination and manipulation. Gone was the specter of a foreign marriage, of having to go to live in another country.
“Counting your regrets?” he asked a few minutes later, having noticed her studious demeanor.
Her head came up quickly, and she shook it. “Oh, no,” she said at once. “I was counting my blessings! It will be so nice not to have to depend on my father for my living.”
He frowned slightly. “It won’t be a life of leisure,” he cautioned.
“I can cook,” she replied calmly. “And sew and clean, and I can certainly keep books and budget! I’m not totally an invalid, and I imagine that I shall be much healthier if I am also happy.”
“That may be so.” He poured coffee into one of two tin cups he’d retrieved from his saddlebag and handed it to her. “Drink that,” he said. “It will help to warm you, and it may ward off what I fear is an unavoidable reaction to being chilled.”
She grimaced as she took a sip. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I hadn’t planned to do this until Herr Branner got amorous behind the Chinese screen.” She looked up. “You don’t have a Chinese screen, do you?”
He grinned wickedly. “No. But I’ll buy you one when we make our fortune, if you like.”
She shivered blatantly. “No, thank you.”
“You’ll be safe from foreign suitors with me, at least,” he said, sobering. “And I won’t blame you for things over which you have no control.”
“You mean my mother, don’t you?” she asked perceptively. He nodded. “I’m sorry my father can’t give up her memory. He might have remarried and been very happy, but there was no talking to him about it. He mourns her as if she died yesterday, and blames me for her death.”
“Perhaps he blames himself, Bernadette,” he said quietly, “and takes it out on you.”
She pulled the blanket closer. The chill was worse now, rippling through her slender body like a blow. “It’s so c-cold!”
He put down his cup and joined her on the bedroll. “You mustn’t take a chill. Forgive me, Bernadette, I mean no insult, but I have no other means of warming you.”
He drew her down onto the bedroll spread and into his arms, smiling when she stiffened. “Yes, I know, it’s going to be very intimate,” he said, wrapping the blanket closer around her shoulders as he eased both of them back against the saddle she’d used for a pillow. “You’ll get used to it.”
She giggled nervously. “That’s what my father said about the pudgy little man touching me.”
He stiffened then, his eyes glittering with anger. “No woman should ever have to get used to something she finds offensive.”
She laid her cheek against his broad chest with a little sigh and closed her eyes. Bit by bit, she forced her taut muscles to relax. As she did, she felt the warmth of him radiating around her.
“Oh, this is so much better,” she whispered. “Thank you!”
He chuckled, drawing her closer. “Shameless hussy,” he murmured. “You should be scream
ing for assistance.”
“I don’t need assistance. You’re going to marry me.”
“Yes, I am.” He stretched his strained muscles and lay back against the saddle. “It will have to be an event,” he added. “We can’t run away and get married, as Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand did, without their parents’ knowledge or consent.”
“What?” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “The king and queen of Spain eloped?”
He smiled. “Indeed. From what we are told, it was Isabella’s idea. She was barely out of her teens. She had Ferdinand meet her secretly and she put the proposal to him that they would marry and unite his native kingdom of Aragon with hers of Castile. From such an alliance, they would conquer and rule all of Spain.”
“And he agreed?”
“Yes. They married in secret and went back to their respective kingdoms. At the death of Ferdinand’s father, when he became king of Aragon, they announced their marriage to the world and joined forces to drive the Moors out of Spain. Think how much they accomplished—and all because a spirited young woman had the courage to change history.” He looked down at her fondly. “She must have been like you, I think, Bernadette. You were never one to stand meekly by and let others decide your fate. No simpering young miss would be lying alone with a man in the dark, defying her father and the rest of the world.”
“Oh, I’m not so brave,” she protested. “It was selfish. I didn’t want to be a human sacrifice.”
His arm contracted. “Neither will you be. But back to the matter of marriage. There will be a scandal, you understand.”
“Yes. I’ve just been ruined,” she agreed easily.
He glared at her. “Ruined?”
She peered up at him with a wicked little smile. “Compromised? Ravished? Seduced?”
He didn’t smile. He was registering the softness of her in his arms, the spark of joy it gave him to hold her so tightly. “Seduced?” he asked softly, and drew her closer. “What an excellent idea!”
CHAPTER FIVE
BERNADETTE WAS VERY BRAVE until Eduardo gently eased her flat onto the bedroll and loomed over her with intent.