Maggie knew before even looking his way that he was watching her again. They stared at one another, neither willing to look away, both willing to gaze longer, unaware that others might notice.
She thought he looked gloriously handsome in his black suit, the frock coat fitting his broad body perfectly. She wondered if Eunice would run her fingers up and down the ruffles of his white silk shirt before unbuttoning it to explore his hairy chest. No! She would not let herself imagine the other woman enjoying the pleasures of his lovemaking.
“Maggie,” Thayer called.
“Hmm?” She was still looking at Aaron and feeling oddly warm.
“Would you like to take a stroll on the veranda?”
“What?” No, she did not want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay right here and continue feasting her eyes on the glorious sight of Aaron Stone, his dark gold hair glistening in the chandelier light.
“I think you and I should go outside and see what develops.”
“Thayer, what are you talking about?”
“I’ll bet that if we stroll out to the veranda that my big friend will follow us.”
“You make too many bets.”
“Ah, but I usually win. If I lose you don’t have to pay me back for the sewing machine I bought you. If I win, you give me a kiss.”
“A kiss?”
“If Aaron sees us kissing, he’ll be so jealous, he’ll be up all night getting drunk.”
“Well . . . I do believe I’d enjoy a stroll on the veranda. It is a bit warm in here.”
Thayer laughed, took her by the arm, and led her out of the parlor, down the hallway, and onto the wide veranda. The night air was warm and filled with the after-dark sounds of insects and owls and soft summertime wind. A million stars illuminated the sky, while a pale yellow moon covered the world with its diaphanous glow. The fragrant smell of flowers and freshly cut grass blended with the residue of smoke that had come from the basement kitchen.
Aaron watched, filled with raging jealousy, as Thayer escorted Maggie from the room. He had to follow. He had to know where they were going and what they were doing.
As soon as the dance ended, he excused himself, telling Eunice that he wanted to step outside for a smoke. Giving her no time to object, he rushed from the parlor. There were several couples in the hallway, but none of them was the couple he sought. His gaze lingered on the staircase, doubts filling his mind. Surely they had not gone upstairs. If Thayer made love to Maggie, he’d kill him. She would belong to no other man. Dismissing the thought of dashing upstairs, he made his way to the veranda and lit a cigar the minute he stepped outside.
Soft gray smoke curled upward as Aaron leaned against the iron-lace banisters, his eyes searching for the missing couple. When he heard the muffled sound of voices, he moved to the end of the front portico. There at the far end of the side veranda stood Thayer, with Maggie in his arms. While he watched in silent anger, he saw Thayer take the beautiful redhead and kiss her passionately. And she responded, damn her. She responded. It was all he could do to keep himself from storming down the veranda, ripping Maggie out of the other man’s arms, and beating the hell out of him.
Unconsciously, his left hand reached inside his vest to stroke the gold watch in the pocket. He watched as Maggie laid her head on Thayer’s chest while he stroked the flaming red curls cascading down her neck.
Aaron took one last draw on the cigar, then crushed it in his hand. Throwing the crumpled flakes of tobacco to the floor, he turned and stomped away.
Maggie had enjoyed Thayer’s kiss. It had been very pleasant for both of them, but the knowledge that Aaron had witnessed the loving exchange and had reacted appropriately was far more wonderful.
“And now for Act Two of tonight’s skit,” Thayer said, taking Maggie’s hand. “Back inside.”
“Oh no,” Maggie told him. “I’m not going anywhere until I know what you have planned in that devious mind.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Only partly. We’re dealing with my life here, with my future, and Jude’s and Micah’s. As much as I want Aaron, I can’t forget my obligations. I did once, and look what trouble that caused for all of us.”
“If Aaron marries you, the gossip will eventually die down. Besides, I can see to it that Micah has a secure future. He’s a bright boy with a great deal of ambition of his own.”
“And what about Jude? Will people ever accept her as a lady when she has a sister like me?”
“Maggie Campbell, you are a lady, in the truest sense of the word. Jude loves you, and she’s proud of you. Anyway, Judith may become a lady outwardly, but not all the schooling and proper training in the world will tame that curious hellion living inside her.”
“Oh Lord, I had so hoped.”
“You’re a strong, hot-blooded woman, Maggie, but you’re gentle and giving. Judith was born to be a taker, and nothing you do can change that.”
“All right. For tonight, I’ll forget about tomorrow. What’s your plan?”
“Now, that’s more like it. Let’s go inside for another dance. I feel an overwhelming desire to change partners in mid-dance.”
And exchange partners was exactly what he did. In the middle of a romantic waltz, Thayer tapped Aaron on the shoulder, pulled Eunice into his arms, and danced away with her. Realizing that people were beginning to stare at the two of them standing awkwardly in the middle of the other dancing couples, Aaron pulled Maggie into his arms. Nothing had ever felt so right. As the music continued and their bodies moved across the dance floor, Aaron gradually held her closer and closer. He wanted to crush her to him, to take her lips in a demanding kiss. But more than anything, he wanted to sweep her up into his arms, stride up the staircase to a bedroom, and make love to her all night.
“You’ve certainly become good friends with Thayer.”
“He’s been exceptionally kind to us. So have his mother and sister.”
Aaron felt a great sense of curiosity about Martha Coleman’s interest in Maggie. Why had the highly respected woman chosen to champion this girl? “Martha seems determined to make the locals accept you. She’s not preparing you to become her daughter-in-law, is she?”
Maggie smiled, thrilled by Aaron’s jealousy. “I’m not sure what Thayer’s plans are, but his mother seems more interested in me as a sister-in-law.”
“A what?” Aaron roared, attracting the attention of the couples around them.
“I think Mrs. Coleman is making plans for me to marry her brother.”
“The devil you say!” Aaron said, wondering just what dear Martha had in mind. Did she think that a girl with Maggie’s ill-bred background would be a suitable mate for her bastard brother? He decided right then and there that he would have a long talk with Thayer’s mother.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? I wasn’t even aware before tonight that Thayer had an uncle.”
“And you, Maggie, how would you feel about marrying a bastard?”
She held his hand tightly and gazed boldly up into his eyes. “If I loved him, I would not care.”
Oh God, why did she say that? Eunice would never say such a thing. If she knew the truth about his parentage, she would probably refuse his proposal. But Maggie? He could not allow himself to think about it.
The music had ended several minutes before either of them realized. Slowly, reluctantly, he released her, his arms feeling empty without her. Just as she turned to walk away, he placed a big hand around her wrist. She hesitated, then looked up at him. His other hand moved toward her fiery hair, then gently grasped the white rose tucked in the velvet ribbon, and held it within his fingers.
“To remember how beautiful you are tonight.” He placed the rose in his pocket.
“Oh, Aaron.”
“If I send for you later, will you come to me?”
“I . . . Aaron . . . I . . .”
“Will you?”
“Yes.”
Maggie held the note in her trembling hands as she stood outside th
e closed library doors. Phineas had brought her the briefly worded message less than ten minutes ago. Without any debate, she had dressed quickly and rushed downstairs at this after-midnight hour, all the guests having gone home long ago. Undoubtedly, Aaron had made some excuse not to leave with Eunice and her parents.
Slowly she pushed back the doors and stepped into the shadowy room, one small lamp burning dimly on the oak trestle table, the brass hardware glowing in the mellow light. Aaron sat on the dark leather sofa near the corner fireplace, his head resting against the back, his eyes closed, a snifter of brandy in one hand and a cigar in the other.
“Come closer, Maggie.” The sound of his deep voice startled her. She had not known that he was aware of her presence.
A sparkling glow reflected off the polished tiles surrounding the fireplace, and a stream of milky-white moonlight poured through the two long, lace-curtained side windows. Maggie moved closer to the big man who sat sipping brandy. She walked around the sofa to stand in front of him, noticing the weariness in the emerald eyes that gazed up at her.
Setting the snifter on the floor and dropping the cigar into the remaining liquor, he reached out and took both of her hands. “Sit with me, Maggie.” He pulled her gently down onto the sofa.
“I owe you an explanation for my behavior.” He brought both of her hands to his lips, kissing them several times before releasing them.
“Why did you—”
He placed an index finger across her lips. “I love you, Maggie Campbell.”
“Oh, Aaron, I love you.” She moved to embrace him, but he stopped her by grabbing her shoulders.
“Before the end of the year, I plan to ask Eunice to marry me. I want you to know why I’ve made this decision.”
Maggie sat silently, staring in disbelief. How could he tell her that he loved her, and, practically in the same breath, tell her he planned to propose to Eunice?
“Will you let me explain?” He searched her blank face for an answer.
“Yes. Oh, yes. I want to hear your explanation.”
“What I’m going to tell you would destroy me socially if it became public knowledge.” He didn’t add that Eunice Arnold would probably reject his proposal if she knew.
“I’d never do anything to hurt you.” Maggie’s fingers reached out to touch his face, slightly rough with stubble.
“I know,” he whispered, savoring the feel of her fingers caressing his face.
“Tell me.”
“It’s a pitiful, boring tale.”
“I want to know.”
“My mother was a beautiful New Orleans girl from a good family, but her mother was a widow and they weren’t wealthy.”
“You loved your mother a great deal, didn’t you?” She could tell from the tenderness in his voice and the faraway look in his eyes.
“Yes. And I hated her a great deal. I didn’t find out the whole truth until after her death. All I remember is the two of us living alone in a big house, with servants, and a carriage, and—”
“What about your father?”
“I had no father. I learned from the early age of six to hate the word bastard.”
“People called you—”
“Oh, yes. I was called a bastard frequently, and my mother was called a whore. But she wasn’t. In all the years of my childhood there was only one man.”
Aaron placed his hand over hers as it rested against his cheek. “He was a wealthy man twice her age. He was very good to me. I can remember sitting in his lap while he read to me.”
“What about your real father?”
“My mother never discussed the events surrounding my birth. When I grew older, I assumed she had simply sold herself to the highest bidder after losing her reputation by having an illegitimate child. I was only partly right.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“My mother and her lover were killed when there was an explosion on their steamer. They had gone away for a holiday together at Point Clear on the gulf.” An almost invisible mist clouded his vision.
“How old were you?”
“I was sixteen and away at school. Oh, that’s right. I didn’t tell you that my mother’s lover provided me with the best of everything, even a private education.”
“What did you do after her death?”
“I ran away from school. I thought I had nothing left and that there was no one to pay the bills.”
“What did you do?”
“I did everything. I did anything. I’m not proud of some of the things I did in my eagerness to make a lot of money fast. My youthful greed nearly got me killed on more than one occasion.”
“Oh Aaron, no.” She wanted to hold him in her arms and make all the painful memories go away. She imagined how devastating it must have been to find himself alone and penniless at sixteen. The same age as Micah.
“That’s how I met Phineas. He saved my life one night in a New Orleans barroom. We’ve been together ever since. He’s a man I respect.”
“Aaron, no one in this state knows anything about your past. Why is it so important to marry Eunice? You’re respected and accepted by people here.”
“There’s a good chance that the truth will come out someday.”
“How would Eunice feel if it did?”
“She would already be my wife by then. I think she’d remain loyal to me. Especially with Martha Coleman defending me.”
“Mrs. Coleman is a remarkable woman.”
“I owe her so much.” Aaron pulled Maggie into his arms, loosening the ribbon holding her long, red hair in place.
“There’s more, isn’t there? For some reason, you think you have to have a place in society.”
Stroking the back of her head, his fingers threading through the strands of fiery silk, he sighed. “The lover with whom my mother died, her only lover, was my father.”
“Why didn’t they ever marry? Why didn’t they ever tell you the truth?”
“He was married to a woman who had been an invalid since the birth of their only child. He was duty bound to stay with a woman he didn’t love.”
“How horrible for all of them.”
“His wife never knew.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because five years ago, I went to Point Clear wanting revenge against the family of my mother’s lover. They were vacationing at the place where my mother had died.”
“You met your father’s wife?”
“No, she had been dead for several years by then.” Aaron tightened his hold on Maggie. “My father’s daughter was there with her husband and son. You can’t imagine how I hated her.”
“You met her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell her who you were?”
“She knew. Actually she knew more than I did. She knew the whole truth. The minute I approached her, she knew the whole truth. Right away, she called me by my name. She said she had been searching for me since her father’s death. I didn’t understand.”
“She already knew of your existence.”
“Yes. She had known about me and my mother since I was a child. She had had detectives looking for me to tell me about my inheritance.”
Maggie pulled back just enough to look into his face. “Your inheritance?”
“I ran away as soon as I was told of my mother’s death.” Moisture filled Aaron’s eyes. “I didn’t know he was my father. I had no idea he would leave half his estate to me. She was a stranger to me, even though she was my half-sister, but she was the one to tell me who my father was. He should have told me. He and my mother.”
Maggie saw such raw pain on his face that she could barely look at him any longer. “Oh, Aaron.”
“I told her that I didn’t want his damn money. I was already rich.” He reached inside his vest and pulled out his gold pocket watch. “That’s when she gave me this. It’s his. She said that my half of his estate would be waiting for me when the day came that I could forgive him. She said that it would take t
ime, but that eventually, I would—that she had.”
“And that day hasn’t come, has it?”
Aaron pulled her up from the sofa with him as he stood, leading her to the fireplace and pointing to the portrait hanging over it. “That’s my father, Richard Aaron Leander.”
Maggie stared at the gilt-framed portrait of a handsome blond man in the prime of life, his pale robin’s-egg blue eyes alight with devilment. Except for the eyes, it was like looking at a portrait of Aaron.
“Leander.” Maggie remembered that name. “Martha Coleman is your sister?”
“Yes.” Tears flooded his eyes, threatening to overflow. “Don’t you understand? I’m the son of a man who was one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the South, and I can never claim him or my birthright because I’m a bastard.”
“But he wanted you to have it, to have half his fortune.”
“All the wealth in the world can never buy me legitimacy, can never give me respectability.” He gazed up at the portrait, transparent streaks of tears dampening his manly face.
But Eunice Arnold can, Maggie thought, finally understanding why he was so obsessed with a proper marriage. She also understood that Martha Coleman knew what Aaron would not believe—that his father would tell him love was far more important than all the respectability this life had to offer. Somehow, she had to help Aaron. She had to make him see the truth. The only way either of them could ever be truly happy was together. The only way they could ever be together would be for them both to give up their dreams. Could she? Would he?
The Right Wife Page 17