Scooping his arms beneath her, he carried her into the warmth of the small cave in the cliff face and quickly returned to the beach to check the boat.
Thank God, it was intact.
He dragged it into the water and secured the oars in the rowlocks and returned for Sofia. Pulling off his cloak, he ran quickly back to the cave. He crossed the small space to where she leaned against the rock wall. She lifted her head slowly; her face was pale and her eyes were wide.
“Dougal?” she whispered. “Oh, Dougal. You came back.”
He placed his cloak around her shoulders, and buried his face in her hair. It was damp and tangled and smelled of damp peat. Gently he placed her in the boat, cursing softly at the burning heat of her skin as he pushed out from the shore. He settled in behind her and leaned her back against his chest as he rowed across the narrow channel to the Isle of Rothmore.
Mary was waiting on the shore on the island.
“I heard the birds and when I looked, I saw ye carry her into the boat.” Her voice was anxious. “Ach, puir wee lassie, is she hurt?”
“She has taken a chill from the icy waters of the firth,” he replied. “Is the fire going in her room?”
“Yes, I dinna let it die. I knew you would find her.”
Dougal paced all night as Mary ministered to Sofia. He allowed himself one visit into the solar and when he finally saw she was asleep and breathing normally, he stayed away. On the morrow, at midday, he would take her back to the present and to her sister.
Whatever happened then would be out of his control.
He closed his eyes.
Chapter 17
Sofia woke alone the next morning and looked around.
Had it been a dream, the row across the firth and the sojourn with Dame Molly?
Back in the solar at the castle once more and she had no recollection of getting there. Putting her hand to her head, she struggled to sit up, before reaching for the tankard on the small table beside the large four-poster bed.
Closing her eyes, she sighed as the cool liquid eased her burning throat. She thought back to yesterday. A recollection of a conversation tugged at her thoughts and drops of water fell on the bed linen as she began to shake.
The old woman had said eighteen forty-two.
Indigo and their father had travelled through time to the Amazon on several occasions to source the passion flowers for their research. But never had she needed to travel to another time.
But obviously Dougal had seen the need and it kept her safe from those who sought to harm her.
Warmth shot through her body and she wondered how long before he came to her. He was in the castle and she assumed it was he who had found her on the beach. The last thing she recalled was making her way down to the cliff and waiting in the cave. She had known he would come looking for her there.
Whatever he had done. He was a good and righteous man and had saved her life.
She was beholden to him.
No matter how he had gone about it. He had saved her from the Knights.
The door creaked and Sofia looked up anticipation shooting through her chest. But it was only Mary.
“Ach, lassie,” she crooned in her musical voice. “You’re awake and a fine color ye are.” She put her hand out to Sofia’s forehead and clicked her tongue with satisfaction. “And as cool as the waters of the firth.”
“Where is the Earl,” asked Sofia.
“Pacing in the halls of the castle.” Mary chuckled. “I told him it was only a wee chill, but he had ye dead and buried.”
“Can you tell him I wish to see him, please?”
Mary smiled and patted her hand before leaving the room.
“I think he will be delighted to see you, Ma’am.”
A few minutes later the door opened and Sofia turned from the window. She had left the bed and stood looking out over the firth as she pondered the events of the past few months. The morning sun was bright and the brisk wind had whipped up small waves on the gray water. Gulls and kittiwakes circled ahead, occasionally dipping into the water to catch a fish in their beaks.
Peaceful. Very different to the busy streets of Vienna.
Now Dougal stood in the doorway looking at her, his brow wrinkled in a frown.
“Come in,” she said softly.
He crossed the room to her and she sat in the small alcove in the window and patted the seat next to her. Dougal hesitated, before sitting beside her; the space was small and his arm and his leg pressed against hers.
“So, Dougal,” Sofia began. She turned to him and grasped his strong jaw in her hand. “What you did was very brave. Once my anger passed I realized you truly saved my life.” She sensed his body relax next to her and he exhaled.
“For a time, I was angry that you made it look as though I were dead. Angry you made such a decision and did not tell me.” She waited for him to respond.
Finally he took her hand from his chin and held it tight in his grasp. “I pondered on the matter for many nights, my love.” Warmth shot through her as the endearment came from his lips. “To hide you nineteen years in the past, using the Astrolaberors was the only way I could be sure the Knights would not find you. Even thought they resided at Kilmarnock and were beholden by the restrictions of Scottish law, their influence spread far and wide and they had access to much technology.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “You do recall how they sent me to Vienna with the automatons? The airship supplied to me that night was sleek and fast.”
Sofia pulled her hands away from his and stood staring out at the lock. “I am beginning to understand. But I need to be sure of just one thing. Have the Knights gone? Did you and Edward succeed in your quest?”
She turned back to him and held his gaze as deep blue eyes looked deep into hers.
“Aye, the cowardly curs have run and sought refuge in Edinburgh. We shall see no more of them in Kilmarnock.”
“But what of Vienna?”she asked. “Will they send others to try to stop my research?”
Dougal pushed himself up from the seat and looked long and hard at her before replying. “There is no Vienna research left. The laboratory was destroyed by fire.”
She gasped and grabbed for his hands. “What of Ernst? Is anyone hurt?”
He wound his fingers through her before lifting her hand and placing it against his cheek. “All is well. No one is hurt and the professor is in Cornwall at your sister’s manor. As are Johann and Genevieve.”
She sagged with relief. “But Dougal, I do not understand. How have you come by such information? How is it you know my people?”
A low chuckle came from his lips and the laughter lines fanned out around his eyes.
“Not only do I know that, I have two visitors for you when we return.”
“Return?”
“To my castle.”
“But we are in your…oh…I see.” She shook her head. The remnants of her fever clouded her brain and it was too confusing to think of traveling between times and still be in the same castle.
“We must leave at midday or we shall have to wait for another day.” He smiled down at her. “Could you stand to stay in this…ah…let me remember…‘draughty pile of stones’ for one more night? It is just as cold and draughty in 1861 as it is now in 1842. Are you ready to return? To come back with me to our present?” he asked.
Sofia shook her head.
Was it the experience of travelling back in time, or was it her fever? Or more likely it was her love for this man creating the whirling confusion in her mind.
She looked up at Dougal. He had placed his arms around her when she had been lost in thought. Now his lips were lightly parted and a nervous pulse fluttered in his neck. The warmth of his body against her raised goose bumps on her skin and her heart began to race. She closed her eyes and nervous thrills ran to her fingertips.
It was definitely the man beside her.
Raising her lips to his neck, she murmured against the pulse point. “Wherever you go, I will
follow.”
Epilogue
Jory and Jago, Ruan and Kit ran across to the lawn to the landing pad, whooping and cheering. “Here they come.”
Sofia looked down from the airship as their excited cries floated up to them. Indigo and Zane followed at a more leisurely pace along the path, although Sofia could see the excitement in her sister’s step.
Dougal stood beside her and chuckled. “Who is the little lady running behind the children?”
A stout woman wearing an apron waddled after the boys, her little legs working furiously to catch them.
“That, my dear is Mrs. Grimoult.” Sofia looked across at Mary, who passed the tiny white bundle in her arms to Dougal. The baby began to whimper and Sofia smiled up at her husband of one year.
“I think the heir apparent to the Earldom of Rothmore is keen to meet his cousins,” she said softly.
Mr. Grimoult turned the airship and it descended to the ground with one final hiss of steam. Sofia hurried out into Indigo’s waiting arms; she had not seen her sister since her last visit to Salon de Sofia before she had handed it over to Vivienne.
“Now show me my nephew.” Indigo gave her a final squeeze and stepped back. Dougal gently placed the baby in her arms.
Dougal and Indigo had yet to make their peace. Sofia had begged Indigo to be forgiving before she had married Dougal last spring in the Belvedere Gardens in Vienna. “He saved my life.”
Indigo had snorted. “There were other ways to protect you than imprisoning you in that ancient castle and leaving us to think you were dead for three months.”
Now Sofia smiled as Zane pushed his wife toward her new brother-in-law.
Indigo looked first at her younger sister and then down at the baby in her arms, before raising her eyes to meet Dougal’s. “I am sorry, Dougal. For those weeks I had thought my dear sister had been taken from me…as our father was.” She brushed crossly at the tears welling in her eyes. “Thank you for bringing her safely home…and welcome to our home…brother.”
Sofia’s heart filled with love for her husband and family as Dougal reached over and kissed Indigo on the cheek. “Indigo,” she said. “I have some news for you.”
“You are not going back to Scotland?” Indigo said hopefully. She had made her opinion of Dougal’s ancestral home very clear.
“Yes, we are.” Sofia held her hand out to her husband, the Earl of Rothmore. “But we will have company. Johann and Genevieve are moving to our island after their spring wedding.”
The look on Indigo’s face was one of astonishment. Sofia and Dougal laughed so loudly, the boys stopped their play and came running over to see what they were missing out on.
“What on earth will they do living on that isolated pile of rocks?” asked Indigo.
“Well.” Sofia smiled and turned to her sister. “They shall be working in the new laboratory Dougal has constructed in the dungeon of our castle. Cool and dark, just like an alpine crevasse where the moonflowers thrive.”
“So you are not giving up the quest after all, despite the fear of the Knights Templar?”
“I have no fear,” Sofia replied. She stepped back and observed the people standing around her on the lawn. A much loved husband and son. A loyal sister and her husband. Her four rambunctious nephews. Mr. and Mrs. Grimoult, their surrogate grandparents.
All would be well.
Not only would her moonflowers grow but her love for Dougal and the beginning of their next generation of scientists would thrive in the crisp highland air. The littlest scientist reached up and tugged on her loose braid. She smiled down at him.
The future was bright.
The de Vargas Family series
If you missed out on Book 1: Winter of the Passion Flower will be re-released in an expanded version in January 2013.
Also coming in 2013:
Book 3: Inventions, Alchemy and other Wicked Adventures
Book 4: Smugglers, Spring Blossoms and other Brass Things
Other books by Annie Seaton
Holiday Affair –March 2012 Entangled Publishing
Blind Lust – Musa Publishing June 2012
Winter of the Passion Flower – January 2013
Coming soon:
Italian Affair - 2013
A Passionate Deal - 2013
About the author
Annie Seaton lives on the edge of the South Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia. Recently retired from the world of full time work, she is fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing, and had instant success! Her first two books were both published on the same day! She writes across genres steampunk, historical and paranormal romance, romantic suspense but her favorite genre is contemporary romance.
She lives with her own hero of many years. Their two children are now grown up and married, and two beautiful grandchildren have arrived. They share their home with “Bob” the dog and two white cats.
Annie’s working life was spent in education from early childhood through to teaching trainee teachers at university. She has worked as librarian, teacher, technology consultant and university tutor. She has now retired and spends her days writing down all the stories in her head.
When she is not writing she can be found in her garden or walking on the beach...or most likely on her deck overlooking the ocean, a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc in hand as the sun sets. Readers can contact Annie by email: [email protected]
Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) Page 13
