“Marry me, Juliana. Do me the honour of being my wife.”
She only wanted to marry for love. He had not spoken the three words she longed to hear. If he loved her, he could have proposed to her before she came into her heritage. She fought against her natural urges to stay pressed against him like this forever. “Please release me, Gervaise.”
Her shoulders slumped. She blinked to disperse unshed tears and looked down.
Gervaise cupped her chin in his right hand and raised her head. “Juliana, do you not want to marry me?”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. He scooped her up in his arms and then sat down with her on his lap.
“Have you no answer for me, Juliana?”
She gazed into his eyes. What was she thinking? Why was she so distressed?
“Pyari, I want to build a new life with you.” He paused to look deep into her eyes. “I believe you are so greatly disturbed by your father’s duplicity that you will never again rest easy here at Riverside.”
“What of Henrietta? This is her home.”
“Settle Riverside on Henrietta.” Gervaise kissed her cheek, enjoying the warmth and silkiness of her unblemished skin.
* * * *
Juliana’s heart sang. Gervaise did not care about acquiring her estates. He did not mind whether or not he married an heiress. Her hand crept around the back of his neck. She rested her head against the haven of his strong chest where she belonged.
“If I marry you, would we live at Beaumaris Abbey?”
His arm tightened round her waist. “No, I was always unhappy there. In accordance with the entail, my heir will inherit it.”
“Where would we live?” she asked, although she had not yet agreed to wed him.
“Pyari, I love you and want you to share every aspect of my life.”
Tears filled Juliana’s eyes. She had never been happier. Gervaise had spoken the all-important three words. “I love you.”
“There must never be any barriers between us,” Gervaise continued. “We shall honeymoon in India, the land where part of my heart will always be.”
“India,” she breathed. “How wonderful. I have always wanted to travel to far distant lands.”
“So you will marry me?”
Indecisive, Juliana looked down.
“Perhaps you mistrust me, but hear me out. I have not yet revealed all my plans to you. In that land of tolerance, I shall have an Anglican Church built for us to worship in, and arrange for Isabella to inherit my lands there because I inherited them from her mother. Later, if we decide to return to England, we will build a house of our own and fill it with the love and laughter I never knew at Beaumaris Abbey.”
More tears of happiness welled in her eyes.
With infinite tenderness, Gervaise wiped them away with the edge of his thumb. “What say you, Juliana?”
“I shall be honoured to be your wife.”
All of her dragons vanquished, her heart overflowing with love, Juliana looked up at Gervaise before she drew his head down, impatient to receive his kiss at long last. A combination of tenderness and passion, it met all her expectations.
Gervaise’s Recipe for Spinach and Curd Cheese Curry
(To be served with chapattis or tortillas or rice.)
Serves four
Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh spinach, New Zealand spinach, Swiss chard, or 1 lb of frozen spinach
Quarter pint water
1 teaspoon of salt
8 ounces of paneer Indian curd cheese available from Indian groceries and supermarkets
3 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable cooking oil
1 dessert spoon of finely grated fresh ginger
1 chilli (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 lemons cut into eighths
If using fresh spinach, New Zealand spinach, or Swiss chard, remove stalks, and shred the leaves. Bring a quarter of a pint of water with one teaspoon of salt to the boil. Add the greens and cook until they are soft, then squeeze out all the water.
If using frozen spinach, defrost it and squeeze out most of the water.
Cut the paneer into half inch square cubes, and put them in water to keep them moist.
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan. Add the ginger and stir fry on a low heat for 1 minute. Add the fresh chilli. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the spinach and stir fry for a minute. Add the curd cheese and stir it gently over a low heat until it is mixed into the spinach.
To serve with flat breads and or rice, add extra salt, some pepper to taste and squeeze lemon juice over it.
Optional:
When adding the greens to the fried ginger and chilli stir in 8 ounces of cooked fresh peas or frozen peas.
Rosemary Morris books published by Books We Love
The Captain and the Countess
Far Beyond Rubies
Tangled Love
Sunday’s Child
Monday’s Child
Tuesday’s Child
Yvonne, Lady of Cassio
Rosemary Morris was born in 1940 in Sidcup Kent. As a child, when she was not making up stories, her head was ‘always in a book.’
While working in a travel agency, Rosemary met her Indian husband. He encouraged her to continue her education at Westminster College.
In 1961 Rosemary and her husband, now a barrister, moved to his birthplace, Kenya, where she lived from 1961 until 1982. After an attempted coup d’état, she and four of her children lived in an ashram in France.
Back in England, Rosemary wrote historical fiction. She is now a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Historical Novel Society and Cassio Writers.
Apart from writing, Rosemary enjoys classical Indian literature, reading, visiting places of historical interest, vegetarian cooking, growing organic fruit, herbs and vegetables, and creative crafts.
Time spent with her five children and their families, most of whom live near her, is precious.
Far Beyond Rubies Page 25
