Frontier Bride (Harlequin Historical)

by Ana Seymour

  Hannah, of course, was the most sought after. Halfway through the evening she figured that she had danced with every man in the room except one. Ethan Reed had stayed away, keeping his distance as he had promised. Not that this appeared to be a hardship. Every time Hannah turned around it seemed that Polly McCoy was in his arms. But she’d noted that he’d danced with Eliza and all three of the young girls, as well as the other four women present, all of whom were wives of men at the fort.

  The music was lively and nonstop, with Seth and Lieutenant Higgins trying to outdo each other in both volume and stamina. Randolph claimed her hand without fail every fourth dance. “I suppose I have to give the others a chance,” he told her, “but I find that I don’t like the sight of another man’s hands on you.”

  “It’s just dancing, Randolph,” she’d stammered.

  “I don’t like it,” he’d repeated, with a smile that softened the bluntness of his statement.

  After so many days on the trail without this kind of exertion, Hannah started wearing down after a particularly sprightly gavotte. “I don’t think I can dance another step,” she gasped.

  Randolph handed her his kerchief, which she took to dab at her forehead and neck. She was flushed and smiling. Wisps of hair had escaped from her braid to frame her face with delicate, moist tendrils.

  “We could walk outside and cool off for a minute,” Randolph suggested.

  She nodded gratefully and let him take her hand to lead her across to the door. “Where’re you going, Papa?” Jacob suddenly appeared at their side. “Do we have to leave already?”

  Randolph looked down at his son. “No, Jacob. We’ll stay as long as you children are enjoying yourselves. Hannah and I are just going outside for a minute for a breath of air.”

  “Can I go with you?”

  “No.” Randolph’s answer was unusually curt. “Stay here with your sister.”

  Hannah looked at Randolph in surprise, then continued the direction of her gaze to meet the eyes of Ethan, who was standing just a few feet beyond. They hadn’t spoken all evening. He smiled at her sardonically and gave a little nod. She turned quickly with-out acknowledging his greeting. Randolph kept her hand firmly clasped in his and led her out the door.

  “Sometimes children can be constraining,” he said when they had stepped out into the yard. He sounded apologetic.

  “I don’t find them to be,” she answered. She had seen the look in Jacob’s eyes when his father had rebuffed him.

  Randolph dropped her hand and spun around to face her. “I just wanted a minute alone with you, Hannah. I’ve been wanting it all evening.”

  Hannah crossed her arms protectively over her chest and looked up at the sky. It was becoming abundantly clear that Randolph had begun to view her as more than a servant, but it seemed to her that things had changed in a great hurry. Of course, she and Randolph had lived in the same household for two years. And his wife had been dead for some months. Perhaps it was m her own mind that the change seemed overwhelming. Her world had turned on its axis in the past few days, and she didn’t quite know what to do about it.

  “It’s a nice dance, isn’t it?” she said finally.

  Randolph looked slightly exasperated at the impersonal tone of her observation, but he answered calmly enough. “I believe dancing is good for the soul.”

  Hannah unfolded her arms and shrugged the tenseness out of her shoulders. “I never danced until I came to Philadelphia. There was no chance in London. Though one time my mother and I passed by a great hall and she let me peek around the doorway and watch the couples swirl around the floor. I thought it was magical.”

  “You’ve learned well in so short a time, Hannah,” he said, then added fondly, “as you do with everything.”

  “It’s easy. You just go where the music takes you.” They could still hear the dueling fiddles from inside the building behind them. Hannah swayed back and forth as she talked.

  Randolph watched her with a smile. “They say that the French always end the gavotte with a kiss.”

  “They’re a scandalous people, I hear.”

  Randolph took a step toward her. “There’s nothing so scandalous about a kiss,” he said, his voice husky.

  Hannah stopped swaying as he gently took hold of her arms and bent down to press his lips to hers. It was over in an instant. “I guess I’ve been wanting that all evening, too,” he said, with a little catch to his voice. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I hope I didn’t startle you.”

  The kiss itself hadn’t startled her, but she was startled and alarmed at the quick flash of memory it had evoked. Memory of Ethan and his mouth on hers that night on the beach. Not chastely and respectfully as Randolph’s had been, but hot and demanding. “No, it’s all right,” she said, but her eyes were troubled.

  “I’m sorry,” Randolph said again. “I promised to take things slowly, and I’m not doing a very good job of it.”

  Hannah gave her head a shake, as if trying to purge it of that other kiss. “There’s no need to apologize,” she told him, mustering a smile. “But I think we should go back into the dance now. The children will be missing us.”

  When they walked back into the dance, Ethan was standing near the door, right where he had been when they left. Polly McCoy was across the room dancing with Colonel Bouquet. As they entered, Ethan took a step toward them. “Nice evening,” he observed, his eyes on Hannah.

  Randolph turned to him and said coolly, “Aye. And it appears you’ve been enjoying yourself, Reed. Mrs. McCoy is a handsome woman.”

  Ethan’s eyes lit with private amusement. “Polly’s a comely lass, that’s for sure. But I haven’t had the pleasure of a dance with Mistress Forrester yet.” He made the statement into a request with a cock of his head.

  “I’ve really had enough dancing for one night, I think,” Hannah said.

  Randolph gave her an inscrutable look, then said, “Well, we wouldn’t want to be unfair to our trail guide, Hannah. Go ahead and dance with him.”

  Before she could think of a suitable excuse, Ethan had seized her arm and was leading her out on to the floor. Aware of their flagging audience, Seth and Higgins had slowed down the tempo to a stately waltz.

  Ethan swung her into his arms and began to move. “I…I don’t think I can dance this close up,” Hannah protested.

  “Haven’t you ever danced a waltz?”

  She shook her head.

  “In Boston at the fancy dress balls this is all they dance anymore. No more circling and stomping and jumping around like so many chipmunks. Just nice and easy…” His words started keeping time to the three-four beat of the music. “Floating along with a beautiful woman in your arms.”

  He held her no more closely than any of the other couples, but there was a kind of heat between their bodies that was making Hannah uncomfortable. “I thought you said you would keep your distance.”

  “I am. I didn’t come near you all night, did I?”

  “What about now?”

  “Ah, well, I was just checking to see that you were all right after Webster took you out in the dark for a chaste little kiss.”

  Hannah gave an indignant gasp, but Ethan continued unruffled. “It couldn’t have been much more than that, judging from the time you were gone.”

  Hannah felt her neck getting warm. “Please escort me off the floor, Captain Reed. As I said, I’ve had enough dancing tonight.”

  “He did kiss you, didn’t he?” He bent to look into her eyes which were spitting blue fire. “I thought so.”

  He twirled her twice more, then moved to the side of the room where Randolph had stood watching them for the entire dance. “Thank you for the dance, mistress,” he said with a formal bow.

  Hannah lifted the pink silk fan that had dangled at her wrist all evening and waved it rapidly in front of her face. Jeanne MacDougall had given it to her as a parting gift and, while Hannah had been touched by the gesture, it had occurred to her that it was not a very practical item to be taking in
to the frontier. Little had she imagined back in Philadelphia that she would come west to be the belle of the ball at a soldiers’ dance and be kissed by two different men in less than a week. She wondered for a moment if she wouldn’t be better off back in Mrs. MacDougall’s big kitchen.

  “You’re welcome,” she said to Ethan, as ungraciously as she dared without obvious rudeness.

  “Would you like to leave now, Hannah?” Randolph asked quietly, taking her arm.

  Ethan interrupted her answer. “Before you go, Webster. Some of the officers and I are planning a hunting expedition tomorrow. Your party is welcome to come along.”

  “Does that include me?” Hannah asked, her reservations about Ethan momentarily forgotten at the thought of trying out her skills with a gun again. She had thought many times of the day they all had hunted on the trail. If the men would only give her the chance, she felt she could become quite a good shot.

  Ethan answered immediately. “Certainly, Mistress Forrester. I’m sure my friends would be delighted to have you join us.”

  “I can’t go,” Randolph stated. “I’ve promised Colonel Bouquet that I would spend some time with him helping to straighten out the fort’s account books.”

  Hannah looked disappointed. “I won’t go either, then.”

  “Seth’s going along. You’ll be well protected,” Ethan said casually.

  Randolph looked from Ethan to Hannah, then across the room to where Seth was carefully putting his fiddle into its leather case. “You go ahead, Hannah, if you wish. You deserve to have a break from the children.”

  Hannah debated with herself. She wasn’t at all sure about a day in the countryside with Ethan. But there would be a whole group with them. And if Seth was also going along…“Are you sure it’s all right?” she asked Randolph.

  He didn’t look happy about the prospect, but he nodded his head.

  “Then I guess I’ll go.”

  Ethan’s face was impassive. “Fine,” he said. “We meet by the blockhouse at sunrise.”

  Chapter Eight

  In spite of her misgivings, Hannah had to admit that she was finding the hunting expedition exhilarating. She had almost decided not to go in the morning when Seth had come up to her, a hangdog look on his face, and told her that he was not going to be able to accompany them.

  “I can’t leave Eliza,” he told her. “She didn’t sleep all night for fretting over Johnny. Sometimes I think it was a mistake to think we could leave our memories behind us.”

  “You’re not leaving them behind, Seth,” Hannah had said to comfort him. “Your wonderful memories of your son will always be with you no matter where you go. And the painful ones will fade away. Just give it time.”

  He had shaken his head sadly and asked, “Will you be all right without me, Hannah? I’m sure Captain Reed will take good care of you.”

  And that observation had been almost enough to make Hannah stay at home, but by then the five officers who were going along had arrived, all exclaiming their delight at her decision to join them. One was a boyish young major named Edgemont who had insisted on dancing with her three times the previous evening. He had a high rank for his age and an aristocratic bearing. Hannah speculated that he was probably the third or fourth son of a noble family. Back in England she wouldn’t have been looked at twice by such a man. But out here he treated her as if she were a member of the royal family.

  After her enthusiastic welcome by all the officers, she had felt it would be churlish to back out at the last minute. And she didn’t regret her decision. It was a spectacular early summer day, sunny and warm, the very earth itself seeming to burst forth with life on every side. They rode through an emerald green meadow dotted with white columbine and bluebells, and Hannah thought she had never seen such a pretty sight.

  The officers had been more than willing to serve as tutors for her lessons in marksmanship. They were polite and, with the exception of Major Edgemont, a little shy. Hannah found their attentions charming. Ethan had also been on his best behavior. There had been no suggestive remarks, no sardonic smiles. He seemed as determined as she to enjoy the day.

  At midday they stopped for a lunch of cold meat pies and cider. Hannah sat surrounded by the officers and listened with a smile as they bantered back and forth.

  “Say, Higgins. It’s too bad that Easterner came along to show us what a real fiddler sounds like,” Major Edgemont teased the proud little lieutenant. The men laughed, used to the major’s ready humor. When she had danced with him last night Hannah had found herself laughing so hard she couldn’t concentrate on the steps.

  “That old man?” Higgins retorted. “I had to play most of the night with my left hand just so’s I wouldn’t make him feel too bad.”

  The men grinned and looked at Hannah for approval of their joking. “You played beautifully, Lieutenant Higgins,” she said, dabbing at her mouth to wipe away the last crumbs of her pie. “I’ve never heard better in London Town itself.”

  The lieutenant beamed as Edgemont gave him a whack on the back and said, “La-di-da, Higgins. You’ll be playing for King George himself before you know it.”

  Ethan had been mostly silent during lunch, letting his friends joke and flirt gently with Hannah. But every time she looked his direction, his eyes were on her. Hannah ignored him as much as possible, and concentrated on enjoying the attention of the others.

  They had bagged several birds and one rabbit in the morning, but had not so much as caught sight of any larger game. After eating, the fervor for the hunt had diminished substantially. They talked of heading back to the fort, but the energetic Major Edgemont persuaded them to make one last attempt at tracking a bigger prize.

  “I’m not about to go back empty-handed and eat salt pork for another week,” he said with a grimace.

  When their opportunity finally came, it was Hannah who got the chance to do something about it. They had dismounted at the edge of a small pond and Hannah had exchanged her small fowling piece for a real rifle.

  “You’ll have to be careful now. Stand strong or this will kick you all the way back to Philadelphia,” Major Edgemont was telling her. Ethan was not too pleased at the young officer’s eagerness to help her, but he stood to one side and made no comment.

  Just as Edgemont was showing Hannah how to take a sight down the barrel, a graceful twelve-point buck emerged from the woods across from them, headed for the water. The animal sensed their presence immediately. For just a moment it lifted its head and froze. It was enough for Edgemont to whisper to Hannah.

  “You’ve got him. Steady now.” He had reached around her to help her hold the gun straight. “Now, pull!”

  With his finger on hers, he helped her squeeze the trigger, which sent the gun slamming back into her shoulder. Across the pond, they all watched as the beautiful animal faltered, lurched to one side, then stumbled back into the woods.

  “Damnation!” Edgemont said in Hannah’s ear. Then he let go of her and recovered his manners. “Begging your pardon, mistress.”

  Hannah lowered the rifle with shaking arms. “What happened?” she asked.

  Ethan answered, “You hit it, but didn’t kill it.”

  Her shoulder throbbed and she felt sick at the pit of her stomach. Everything had happened so fast. “I didn’t…I didn’t even mean to shoot at it,” she said in dismay.

  Major Edgemont had regained his good humor. “Don’t worry, mistress. You got a solid hit. It’s as good as dead. We’ll just have to track it a ways.”

  Hannah looked for confirmation to Ethan, who nodded his head. She had only seen the animal for a moment, but it had looked so majestic poised there against the trees. She couldn’t believe that she had been responsible for killing it, no matter how badly Major Edgemont wanted fresh meat for his supper.

  Ethan recognized her distress. It was not that unusual with a first-time kill, but it was something that Hannah would have to work through. If she was going to live on the frontier she, or at least her husba
nd, would be killing regularly. Or they wouldn’t eat.

  Major Edgemont took the rifle from Hannah and put a consoling arm around her shoulders. “It’s getting late,” he said. “Why don’t the rest of you head on back, and Mistress Forrester and I will go pick up her deer?”

  Ethan looked at the young Englishman in disbelief. He had had about enough of Major Edgemont for one day, he decided. “I’ll fetch the deer,” he said in a tone that left no argument. “And Mistress Forrester will ride with me. We’ll see you men back at the fort.”

  The officers looked around at each other. Finally Major Edgemont asked, “Is that satisfactory to you, Miss Forrester?”

  Hannah could see Ethan bristling at the younger man’s questioning of his authority. The last thing she wanted to do was ride into those woods and see the consequences of the bullet she had fired. But she also didn’t want the happy day they had all spent to end in an argument. “I’ll be fine with Captain Reed,” she said, keeping her voice light. “Thank you all for the wonderful day. I’m not sure that I’ll take up hunting on a regular basis, but I know that I won’t forget how kind you all have been.”

  Five pairs of eyes regarded her with admiration and varying degrees of hunger. Ethan swung up on his horse, leaving it for Major Edgemont to help Hannah to mount. “Come on,” he said. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll be traipsing after your quarry all night.”

  She bid the officers good-day and rode after Ethan around the edge of the pond and into the woods at the point where the deer had disappeared. The sunny day dimmed the minute they entered the trees. They had been riding through forests for days on the trail, but this place seemed different to Hannah, quieter, more sinister. She realized that her feelings were due in part to the knowledge that at any moment they might come upon the bloody carcass of the animal she had shot. She tried to concentrate on the fresh smell of the pines and the sighing sound of the wind high up in the trees.