This Fierce Splendor: A Loveswept Classic Romance

by Iris Johansen

  Sleep. Docile. Headache.

  My God, would his father have dared?

  Dominic inhaled sharply as he remembered how Da had kept the liquor flowing last night. And when had Elspeth ever been as docile as she had been when he had taken her in his arms in this bed? “That interfering son of a bitch.” He swung his legs off the bed, stood up, and quickly began to dress. “Did you have anything to drink last night?”

  She stared at him in bewilderment. “A glass of lemonade with my soup.”

  “You weren’t at dinner. My mother said she had sent up a tray.” He pulled on his boots. “Who brought the tray?”

  “Rosa. I thought it was very kind of her.”

  “Oh, yes, very kind. Don’t just stand there. Put something on.”

  “What?”

  “Try the bureau drawers. My mother is very fastidous about not leaving garments strewn about.”

  The pink flannel nightgown and dark blue robe were folded neatly in the top drawer. Elspeth stared at them dumbly for a moment before she took the nightgown out of the drawer and pulled it over her head. “Your mother helped you to undress me? I can’t believe any respectable woman would be a party to such an act.”

  “My mother’s ideas of respectability are sometimes guided by her love for my esteemed father. I don’t know if she was involved or not, but there’s a definite possibility.” He added water to what was in the basin from the night before, splashed his face, and reached for the towel. “Bring me a shirt from the second drawer.”

  She obeyed him without thinking. A curious intimacy existed in the simple act, she thought as she handed him the white shirt. Intimacy. The color suddenly stained her cheeks as she remembered the degree of the intimacy that bound them after what had occurred in that bed last night. “I’m going to my room now. I’ll stay there until you’ve left Killara.”

  “The hell you will.” His eyes were glittering with cold fury as he slipped his arms into the shirt and began to button it. “Thanks to my loving father, there’s been a major change of plans.”

  He tucked his shirt into his trousers, grabbed her wrist, and strode toward the door. “Come along.” He pulled her down the hall, his expression tight and grim, his grip on her wrist unrelenting.

  “Where are we going?” she gasped, stumbling to keep up with him.

  “I have a few words to say to my father.”

  “Then say them, but let me go back to my room.”

  He didn’t answer as he started down the stairs.

  “I’m not dressed!”

  “I assure you that condition won’t bother my father.”

  “It’s very early. They might not be up.”

  “He’ll be up.” He stared straight ahead as he descended the last steps. “My father is always up by six.”

  “Good morning, Dominic.” Shamus smiled genially as he stepped out of the parlor into the foyer. “You look a bit out of sorts.” His expression reflected a flicker of surprise as his glance shifted to Elspeth and he noticed her state of undress but he rallied swiftly. “While you look charming, Miss Elspeth. I always think a woman most enchanting with her hair floating around her and her face bedewed by sleep.”

  “Thank you,” she said dazedly. “That’s very kind.”

  “Kind!” Dominic laughed harshly. “My God, don’t you realize yet what they’ve done to you? You’re the bait in the trap, the cunning little amusement that’s going to keep me chained here.” He faced his father. “Isn’t that right, Da?”

  Shamus’s face became wary. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m talking about the fact that Elspeth was drugged last night and put in my bed.” Dominic grated the words out through clenched teeth. “My God, how did you have the—I brought her here to protect her.”

  Shamus’s eyes widened and then narrowed thoughtfully as his gaze moved slowly from Dominic to Elspeth and then back again. “Do I take it you’ve enjoyed this young lady’s … favors? Ah, now this is a very serious matter, Dominic. Surely you’re not going to cast her cruelly aside and just wander on your way?” His voice lowered silkily. “Why not stay here and do the honorable thing by the poor lass?”

  “I’ll be damned if I’ll be stampeded into doing what you want.”

  “Won’t you, indeed?” Shamus asked softly. “Are you going to let her go then? Perhaps to fall into some other lucky man’s bed.”

  Dominic’s hand on Elspeth’s wrist tightened with bruising force. “Damn you, Da. You’ve gone too far this time.”

  “Yes, he has,” Elspeth said slowly. Her free hand went up to rub her temple. Her head was throbbing terribly and the bewildering exchange between the two Delaneys had swirled around her like a tempest. It had taken her a few minutes to realize what they were actually saying. “And so have you, Dominic.” She jerked her wrist from Dominic’s grip and continued with great deliberation. “I’m a little confused, so please be good enough to help me. You put something in my lemonade to make me sleep more soundly, Mr. Delaney?”

  Shamus shook his head. “I didn’t say that, my dear.” He sighed mournfully. “It’s truly a grievous pass when a son doubts the honor of his own father.”

  “And then someone took me to Dominic’s room and undressed me?”

  He nodded. “So Dominic claims. But all of this is really unimportant now, Elspeth. We must set about putting right this wrong done you.”

  Unimportant? Incredible. The man was incredible. “And you made sure that Dominic had a wee bit too much to drink so that he wouldn’t notice I was not quite myself.”

  “Now, I will admit to blame for Dominic’s condition last night. I do hope the liquor didn’t make him incapable of pleasing you.” He darted a sly glance at Dominic. “It takes a bull of a man to pleasure a woman when he’s had a drop too much. Perhaps he’s not the man his father is.”

  Elspeth felt the hot color stain her cheeks, but this time it was with rage not shame. She stepped back, her eyes blazing with fury. “You used me. How could you dare to do that to a stranger in your own home? You’ve disgraced me and treated me as no more than a pawn in your Delaney quarrels.” She turned to Dominic. “And you’re no better. Do you know how a woman with no reputation is treated? I received a sample of that treatment in Hell’s Bluff. It … it hurts.” She blinked the hot tears away. “And yet you thought of nothing more than your own pleasure last night. I was helpless and confused, but you could have stopped.”

  “Could I?” Dominic’s lips curved in a lopsided smile, “You’re wrong, Elspeth. After I saw you, there was no way on earth I could have turned away. Da knows me very well.”

  “Because you’re both selfish and wicked and—” She whirled and ran up the stairs. Her muffled words floated back to them. “You both deserve horsewhipping. I’ll not stay here at your precious Killara another hour.”

  The two men stood there in silence until they heard the door of her room slam behind her.

  “I believe she’s a little upset,” Shamus said mildly. “You’d better go smooth her feathers.”

  “Presently.” Dominic turned to face his father, his expression hard. “There’s something I want to get straight with you first. She’s right, Da, we both used her for our own purposes. You used her as a bond to keep me here and I wanted her enough to blind myself to what you were doing.” He paused. “And you tried to use me, too. I don’t like to be tricked, Da.” His voice lowered to a silky murmur. “Oh, you’re very clever, but you’re not going to get everything you want. You’ll have your bond, but it won’t keep me at Killara. I’ll tell you how it’s going to be. I’m going treasure-hunting, and I’m going to find that treasure. I’m going to bring back a bonanza of gold to Killara, enough to make us into the landed royalty you always wanted to be. And when I do that, I’m going to pay off that damn mortgage and decide whether I want to let you stay on here. And you’re not going to have a damn thing to say about it.”

  Shamus shook his head. “Patrick told us Elspeth had a
bee in her bonnet about Kantalan. You’re not fool enough to think it exists.”

  “I’m damn well going to find out.” Dominic smiled coolly. “And if it doesn’t exist, I’ll find some other way to get what I want. I’ll rob a train or join the bandidos down in Mexico or—”

  “And you’ll have me paying through the nose for another pardon,” Shamus said grimly. “Don’t talk crazy.”

  “I feel a little crazy. Crazy and trapped. I don’t like that feeling one bit, Da.”

  Shamus glanced up the stairs. “You’ll find there are compensations for giving up your freedom, if you choose to do it.”

  “Of course I choose to do it,” Dominic said harshly. “Maybe I’m not as much your son as I thought. I won’t make Elspeth into my whore and then send her away.”

  Shamus lifted a brow. “Really? I understood from Patrick that that was your original intention. Have you undergone a reformation, Dominic?”

  Dominic flinched as he remembered Elspeth’s words of yesterday regarding his need for reformation. He turned away. “I don’t think Elspeth would think so. In her eyes I’m Satan’s favorite offspring.” He started up the stairs. “Hell, maybe she’s right. Send down to the village for Father Benedict and tell him I want him in the chapel in two hours.”

  “You’re going to marry her?”

  “Yes. I’ll probably have to hog-tie her and drag her before the priest kicking and screaming.” His lips tightened as he looked over the banister at his father. “But I’m going to marry her. She thinks she’s already experienced the fate of a whore in Hell’s Bluiff, but she had Silver and me to protect her. She doesn’t realize how much more she could be hurt. She’s very … innocent.”

  Shamus nodded, his expression sincerely regretful. “I like the girl and I’m truly sorry this was done to her in my house.” He hesitated. “I didn’t do it, Dominic. I won’t deny I’m delighted with the result, but I’ve never had to victimize women or children to get my own way.” He smiled crookedly. “However, I can see how you might have jumped to that conclusion. I’d go to great lengths to protect someone I love.” He paused before adding gruffly. “As I love you, Dominic.”

  “I know that,” Dominic said wearily. Now he didn’t know what to believe. Da would sack, burn, and pillage the entire territory if it meant protecting his family, and there was no one else who would have had anything to gain by encouraging Elspeth’s seduction. Yet Shamus had never lied to him before and it was not like him to deal in anything as underhanded as this scheme. He met his father’s gaze. “If you didn’t drug Elspeth, who did?”

  “I have no idea, but I’ll find out.” Shamus’s lips tightened grimly. “No one does this to a guest at Killara. You can bet I’ll have a few questions to put to Rosa after we get the wedding out of the way.”

  “You do that,” Dominic said. “But right now making sure that Elspeth is protected is more important than asking questions. We’ll leave after the ceremony. I don’t think Elspeth will want to stay here any longer than necessary under the circumstances. We’ll need two burros readied as pack animals. Tell Ramon to saddle my horse and the gray Elspeth rode yesterday.”

  “Anything else?” Shamus’s tone was threaded with irony. “I’d advise you to wait until you come back with your saddlebags stuffed with gold before you start giving me orders, Dominic.”

  “Just one more thing.” Dominic stopped at the head of the stairs to look down at Shamus. “I hope to God you’re telling me the truth, because if I find out you did this to Elspeth, I swear I’ll find a way of punishing you, Da. Do you understand?”

  Shamus glared up at him fiercely, then a faint smile curved his lips. “Oh, yes, I understand, Dominic. Who could understand you better?” He turned back to the parlor. “Now, run along and try to pacify your sweet little Scottish bride-to-be.” He frowned. “I have to tell Malvina we have a wedding in the offing. She’ll probably want to check Miss Beetle’s book on the proper etiquette involved.”

  Dominic gazed after him blankly. Etiquette? The entire world had gone mad. He turned and strode down the hall toward Elspeth’s room.

  16

  Elspeth failed to answer when Dominic knocked on the door. He repeated the knock, waited a moment, then opened the door and stepped into the room.

  “I don’t wish to speak to you.” She folded the black gown in her hands and put it into the open portmanteau on the bed. She didn’t look at him as she turned, crossed the room to the armoire, took out her black cloak, and returned to the portmanteau. “I don’t want to see you. I don’t even want to think about you.” Her hands were trembling as she tucked the folds of the voluminious garment into the bag. “I have no intention of having anything to do with you or any other Delaney for the remainder of my life.”

  “We have to talk.” Dominic closed the door and leaned back against it, watching her as she moved across the room to the armoire again. She looked so damn fragile with that full pink nightgown billowing around her. Slender bare feet peeped from beneath the hem of the flannel gown at every step, and lashes, spiky with the tears she refused to shed, cast shadows on her thin cheeks and half-veiled eyes. His heart twisted with tenderness that served to lessen the rage he still felt at the situation. Poor little owl. He could scarcely blame her for wanting to forget the existence of the entire Delaney clan. “You have a right to be angry, but it doesn’t alter the fact that what happened between us last night has to be faced and dealt with.”

  She didn’t look at him as she jerked another gown out of the armoire. “I have no wish to face it, I intend to forget it. There is no reason why I should remember you or anything that happened here at Killara.” Her back was very straight as she turned toward the bed and began to fold the gown. “You will have no place in my life in the future, and I’ll not let you or your fine parents make me feel shame or—” Her voice broke and she stopped to draw a deep breath. “Please. Leave me.”

  “I can’t do that.” Dominic cleared his throat to relieve its tightness. He didn’t know if he could ever force himself to leave her again. He wanted to sit down and cradle her on his knees, he wanted to stroke her slender shoulders, to tell her she didn’t have to be brave and struggle through this alone. He wanted to tell her that he would always be at her side when she needed him.

  But he couldn’t tell her that with any degree of certainty. His chances of survival were thin. She would be better off without him. “There are matters we must discuss. You’re upset or you probably would have remembered that there could be consequences from last night.” He paused. “What if you’re with child?”

  She whirled to face him, her eyes enormous in her pale face.

  “I promised you I’d protect our child, Elspeth.” He met her eyes gravely. “You’ve got to let me keep that promise.”

  She moistened her lips with her tongue. “Do you feel certain I really might be with child? It seems unreasonable that I should be punished for sinning only the once.”

  Tenderness touched him again, mixed with guilt and another emotion he didn’t want to define. “It wasn’t a sin,” he said gently. “Or if it was, the sin was mine.” He straightened and moved toward her. “And no, it’s not certain. Often a man and woman must lie together many times to beget a child.” He stopped in front of her. “But we can’t take the chance, can we? You wouldn’t want to bring a bastard into the world.”

  She flinched. “No, I wouldn’t want—” She blinked rapidly to keep back the tears. “So much pain. I would never want to cause a helpless child that much pain. Oh, I should have stopped you. I did sin.”

  He touched her cheek with his index finger. “You couldn’t have stopped me.” His index finger moved to stroke her lower lip with gossamer lightness. “I ravished you, remember?”

  He was ravishing her now, she thought hazily. Ravishing her senses, robbing her of resistance, taking away her anger with the exquisite tenderness in his words and his touch. “Yes. I do remember.”

  Once more his finger traced the o
utline of her lip. “Then you know I’m entirely at fault and must make atonement.”

  Atonement. She felt a sharp pain. Her lashes lowered to hide her eyes. “It would not be honest of me to let you shoulder the entire blame,” she said haltingly. “I was not myself; I offered no resistance. I can see how you might have mistaken my acquiesence.”

  Her admission was clearly painful for her, but she had made it regardless of the price. The poignancy of that realization touched and shook him. “Then it’s the duty of both of us to see that things are made right. You can see that, can’t you?”

  She nodded, still not looking at him.

  “You’ll have to marry me, Elspeth.”

  Her lashes flew up. “I will?”

  He nodded. “I’ve sent for Father Benedict. We’ll be married in the chapel right away. If we have a child, there will be no whispers of illegitimacy.”

  “Couldn’t we wait? Perhaps there will be no child. You said—”

  “I also said there was a chance.” His lips tightened. “My future isn’t exactly certain, and I’ll not risk leaving you unwed if there’s any possibility of your bearing my child.”

  She shivered. Death. He was saying he might die before his child was born. The thought brought a strange sense of panic and violent rejection. “Dominic, I don’t want you …”

  “I know you don’t want to marry me. For God’s sake, what woman would want to link her life to mine? But it will be only for a short time. Within a few weeks we’ll know whether or not you’re to bear my child. If you’re not with child, I’ll arrange for you to divorce me.”

  “Divorce,” she repeated, shocked. First a fallen woman and now a divorced one, she thought distractedly. One was almost as bad as the other. “And if I am with child?”

  His expression became shuttered and his finger dropped from her lips. “Then I make no promises. You’ve already remarked on how possessive we Delaneys can be.” He stepped back. “It’s a chance we’ll both have to take.”