"They must all be ghosts, then, for we never see them. How are you, Kate?" His hand remained on her arm, and those eyes were fixed on hers.
Despite hot cheeks, Kate tried to be cool. "Very well, Captain. My maid is upstairs." It seemed important that he knew she had one. Then she realized who the maid was, and turned even hotter. Then she realized she"d called him "Captain."
This was not how she"d planned this important encounter.
His lips twitched slightly. "I have the feeling that I should go out and come in again when you"ve had time to compose yourself."
Kate took a deep, steadying breath. "I did come to speak with you. I intended to call upon you tomorrow."
"That would, of course, be delightful. But for the moment, why don"t we stroll outside, since I a.s.sume that to be your purpose." He held out his arm, and she placed hers upon it. A flickering glance at the locals showed them to be deep in their ale pots but looking smugly satisfied that they"d solved the problem of the mysterious visitor.
"How are you, Kate?" he asked again as they began their walk down the simple lane that was the nearest thing Strode Kingsley owned to a road. The repeat of the question comforted her. Perhaps he was as fl.u.s.tered as she.
"Very well. And you?"
"In prime twig. The baby?"
She smiled up at him. "Is beautiful and healthy. He"s sitting now."
"I presume that"s on schedule or ahead of it, since you look pleased."
"He is a little ahead."
"You make an excellent proud mama, Kate. And you"re looking well. I a.s.sume you have a suitable place to live."
"I"m living at home, of course." She felt her color rising. "Everyone thinks ... I let everyone think that my marriage-to Dennis, I mean-was acknowledged. That I"m just a war widow."
"I"m sure that was simplest."
Was that reserve in his voice? "Yes. But it was mainly you I was thinking of." They"d come to the end of the village, and a curve in the road brought them out between fields gilded by the setting sun.
He paused. "Me? Why?"
She studied him as she explained. "As soon as we arrived in England I heard about your cousin. I wondered about the implications. I wasn"t sure it would be wise ..."
"To advertise the fact that we were married? Why ever not?"
Yes, it was reserve. Or even leashed anger. Why? "You can"t want Dennis"s son to be heir to your uncle"s t.i.tle."
He separated from her and leaned back against a rough fence. The flaming sun glowed along the edge of his strong cheek, and down the length of his body, reminding her disturbingly of him by firelight. "Perhaps you regretted your involvement with me."
"No, of course not! I was, am, very grateful."
"Grateful. You are very welcome, I"m sure."
"Well, really! If you wanted to see me again, Captain-Major-you had only to visit."
"I would have been pleased to do so if I"d had any idea of your hometown or your maiden name. Have you any idea how many booksellers there are in England?"
Kate put a hand to her unsteady chest. "You"ve been looking for me?"
"A good officer does not mislay his wife."
"I"m not really your wife ..."
"A fact I am very aware of."
His meaning caught her breath. "You can"t want to-"
He pushed sharply off the fence. "I see the notion is distasteful. We"ll say no more-"
"Stop!" She physically blocked his way, terrified he would storm away. "I didn"t mean that."
He didn"t push past her, but he was rigid. Guarded.
Gathering her courage, she placed a hand on his chest. "I"m not accustomed to even thinking of... of fully being your wife, Captain. Major, drat it!"
Perhaps he relaxed a little. "If you called me Charles, it would solve one of your problems."
She licked her dry lips. "Charles, then."
"Thank you. Now, about fully being my wife?" Perhaps it was just the setting sun that made his eyes look hot. Kate didn"t think so. She felt rather hot herself, and the evening sun gave little heat. But what did she want in this regard?
"It is not. . . not entirely out of the question," she whispered.
He covered her hand, and through two gloves she clearly remembered his touch-big, strong, callused from his trade of war. "I, at least, have thought about it. G.o.d, have I thought about it. I want you, Kate."
"As your wife?"
One eyebrow quirked. "You are my wife."
"But it"s so complicated!"
"Is it? It seems quite simple to me." He tilted her chin and kissed her. It was a slow advance, allowing room for retreat, but when she put. up no resistance, he pushed forward and captured her entirely.
They"d kissed in the night, two strangers brought too close, too soon, but needing contact in the dark hours.
This time, it was as if it were a first kiss, and she tasted him with interest and with wonder. How different he was to Dennis, who had kissed greedily, or else with planned seductiveness.
Charles kissed as if exploring, and relishing what he found. Or perhaps it was just that she felt that way about him. His arms came around her tight and strong and it was as well she had no mind to escape, for it would have been impossible, especially with her hands clutching his shoulders.
He turned her, pressing her back against the fence. His raised leg captured her on one side as he molded her body to his in a sensuous possession the like of which she had never encountered. Clothes hardly muted the intensity of such an embrace.
When he released her swollen, tingling lips, she felt dazed, and he looked it.
He trailed kisses from temple to jaw. "I don"t want to trap you, Kate. But we are married." He was breathing as if he"d just run a race.
"You really want me as your wife."
He laughed and pushed against her, so that even through her petticoats she could feel his erection.
"As your wife," she repeated, studying his face. "In sickness and in health. Till death us do part. I"m a shopkeeper"s daughter, Charles."
"And I"m the black sheep. I"m sure my family expect me to marry badly, and you aren"t bad at all."
"Except that I bring the complication of a son who isn"t yours and yet is, legally, your heir."
"What"s your solution then?" Perhaps unconsciously he pushed against her, almost hurting her against the rough, fence. "Do we hide our marriage and both set off blithely into bigamy?"
She pressed away from him, but there was nowhere to go. "I don"t know. That"s why I came."
The pressure increased suddenly. Then he stepped back. "I see. You are seeking a way out."
It was as if a chill wind blew.
"For you."
"But I don"t want a way out. I want you. In sickness and in health, Kate. Till death us do part. I wanted you nearly the whole time you were with Dennis. I watched you move. I listened to you singing. I was aware of you every b.l.o.o.d.y minute. I saw how you treated all the men with kindness. I thought of getting wounded just to have you nurse me. I saw you cry when one of them died. I love you, Kate."
She turned away. "Oh, don"t!"
"Are you saying you cannot feel that way for me?"
At the hurt in his voice, she had to turn back. "No! I"m saying I don"t want you to hurt as much as I do. It can"t work, Charles. Stephen"s looking more like Dennis every day. He"s going to be the exact image of him when he"s a man. We can never pretend he"s yours."
He put his hands on her shoulders. "Kate, I"ve faced the enemy from thirty feet and not flinched. I won"t let this ruin our lives. Be with me. Be my wife. And we will win."
"Some battles cannot be won. . ." But this was Charles the Bold before her, the man who could inspire raw recruits to valor, and turn a forlorn hope into a brilliant success. Could she resist?
He kissed her again, quickly, pa.s.sionately. "That"s for tomorrow, Kate. Tonight we seal our marriage with our bodies. Tonight I know you in the depth and heat I need, I"ve longed for, and you learn me so that nothing can ever part us short of death. Say it will be so. Say it."
"It"s madness ..." But the power of his will battered hers. She didn"t know if she were ally or enemy here, but he would prevail.
And she didn"t want to resist. She"d been sleepwalking through the past six months, only half alive because this man was not by her side. She didn"t see how she could live the rest of her life without him.
"How?" she said, and it was surrender. "Where?"
She looked around but he shook his head. "In a field? In a barn? Kate, we are marriedl I"ve already told my family, and had the devil of a job coming up with reasons for your long absence. You have a very frail and sick father, by the way."
He was tugging her back toward the street but she resisted. "You told them?"
"Of course. They were suitably dismayed." Victorious, he was grinning.
Kate broke free to put hands on hips. "What did you tell them?"
He sobered a little. "Just that you were the widow of a fellow officer. That wasn"t what dismayed them. And that you are the daughter of a bookseller. That didn"t upset them, either."
"Then what did? Our scrambling marriage?"
"I didn"t tell them about that. They are just sure you"ll be impossible because I married you. My mother and sisters do not think much of me. Because of some youthful indiscretions, they always think the worst."
Kate melted, wanting only to hold and comfort him. "Why do I think that I am not going to enjoy meeting them?"
"It need only be briefly, thank G.o.d, and another day. I"m living with my uncle at Marchmont Hall. We rub along well enough." He put an arm around her and began to propel her toward the inn. "Let"s collect your bags and your maid and move you there."
"The maid is Jess," she said. "Red Jess."
"I know."
"How?"
"When I got back to camp I was told. It"s been my one ray of hope. I always knew that Jess couldn"t stay away from the army, and when she returned she"d be able to tell me where you were."
"If you"d come back quicker, I"d have still been there."
"I had duties." But he wasn"t looking at her.
"I can read and you can write."
He looked at her then. "Believe me, I"ve regretted the delay. I was thinking about it all, Kate. I wasn"t sure you"d want to be tied down by that scrambling ceremony. I wanted to find out how binding it was."
"And?"
"Very, unless we swear all my men and Mr. Rightwell to secrecy."
"Oh dear."
"Not at all." He swept her into the inn, smiling.
"Gentlemen," he said to the locals, "I"m pleased to present to you my wife."
Eyes widened, and startled glances bounced around the smoky room. This, clearly, they had not expected. But then they all grinned. "Congratulations to you both, Major!" declared the innkeeper. And chancing a wink, he added, "Congratulations well deserved indeed."
"Thank you. Mrs. Tennant wasn"t sure I was at home. Now she wishes to remove to the Hall. Please have her bags and maid brought down and lend me your gig to transport them."
"Right you are, Major!"
"And a round of ale for all here."
As the small room echoed with cheers, Kate trembled. Thus are the bridges burned, she thought. How like Charles the Bold to make retreat impossible for the nervous raw recruit.
In moments Jess came clattering down the stairs. "Captain! Major, I should say. I"m right glad to see you." She did mute this familiar greeting with a demure curtsy that made him laugh.
He pulled her to him and kissed her heartily. "It"s good to see you, too, Jess. And thank you for taking such good care of my wife."
At the word wife, she winked. "It"s been an experience. A bit tame, though, if you see what I mean."
"I"m sure I do. Come on. There"s the gig."