by Hatch, Donna
“But I fear it,” she whispered.
“Fear what?”
“Loving you. Wondering how soon you’ll break my heart. Whose bed you will be in.”
He opened his eyes and in the depths of the blue hurt mingled with astonishment. “I haven’t gone near another woman in months. Not since long before I married you.”
“Why?”
He looked her in the eyes, and, despite his weakened state, spoke with emotion. “Because, for one thing, I spoke truthfully when I said I don’t fully deserve my reputation. Remember the harpies? I wanted to find someone to love wholly and completely. I have no desire to go near another woman. I want only you. And I want to be worthy of you. I love you. And I will be faithful to you all of my days. I vow it.” His eyes pled for understanding.
She remembered the words Maman had recorded in her journal about forgiving her husband’s past. They gave her the courage to believe Cole now. Her heart assured her he spoke sincerely. Tears formed in her eyes, and the swelling in her heart left no room for doubt.
With a gentle hand, he caressed her face and then he kissed her, tenderly, hungrily.
Mindful of his injury, Alicia snuggled against him and held him until he went back to sleep, a healthy sleep, undisturbed by fever or delirium.
She kissed his brow and tightened her arms around him. She had hoped her husband would one day show her his face when he trusted her, but she never dreamed that it would reveal the other man she loved. Her beloved husband. Cole.
Marveling at the contentment that permeated her being, she held on to Cole—Nicholas—and thanked her Maker for the gift of him, and the healing he brought to her wounded heart. And the fulfillment of her dreams.
CHAPTER 30
“So it appears I’ll be landlocked for the next few months,” Jared said with obvious reluctance.
Alicia walked beside Cole, her fingers twined in his, as they skirted the lake in the Amesbury family estate. Jared strode next to her husband, looking more like Cole’s twin than his younger brother by fourteen months. Jared pulled at his cravat as if unaccustomed to it.
“Isn’t that rather dangerous for you to walk about openly in England?” Alicia asked.
Jared’s penetrating gaze swept over her. He and Cole shared the ability to make one think keeping one’s thoughts private would be impossible. “Yes, but on land, I’m simply Jared Amesbury, second son of the fifth Earl of Tarrington. I never use my real name when I’m at sea. I hate to besmirch the family name while I play pirate.” He quirked a self-depreciating grin so much like Cole’s that Alicia blinked.
Cole snorted. “Could’ve done better than a stupid name like Black Jack.”
“It was all I could come up with in a pinch,” Jared said easily with a shrug.
“So no more donning a Nicholas disguise when you come on land?” she teased with a smile.
A glint that exceeded Cole’s in wickedness glimmered in his eye. “Too bad we couldn’t play the part beyond a brotherly embrace.”
Alicia put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh at his brazen suggestion.
Cole punched him in the arm. “Watch it, little brother, I can still thrash you,” he growled, but an affectionate light shone in his face.
Jared grinned in reply. “To answer your question, sister-in-law, I must wear the disguise whenever I go into London, at least for a while, but in the small town where I’ve let the house for the summer, no one should know my face except for two close friends who will help me. Besides, I’ve cut my hair, shaved my beard, and with these ridiculously uncomfortable clothes,” he gestured to his finely tailored suit, “I doubt any former foes, or victims, would recognize me as Black Jack. My first mate hardly knows me now.” He pulled again at his cravat until it became quite rumpled.
A breeze rippled the lake water and carried the scent of the first flowers of spring. Overhead, birds twittered as they flirted and built nests. All around them sprang new life and new hope.
This morning, Jared had come for a visit on his way to a country house he would use for the summer. Alicia drew a deep breath, perfectly happy, perfectly at peace. She smiled up her husband, admiring his handsome face, and supremely gratified to see him fully recovered. Every time she thought of how close she had come to losing him, she could barely hold back the tears. She squeezed his hand. He released her hand so he could put an arm around her and pull her in close.
Jared shot them a look of reproach. “Perhaps I should leave you two alone?”
“Would you mind?” Cole grinned wolfishly and Alicia blushed.
“When the staff gets the house prepared, you are invited to pay me a visit.” Jared smirked. “That is, if you can refrain from indulging in these sickening displays of affection.”
Alicia smiled. How easily she smiled these days! A light heart did that to a person. “We would be happy to visit. That is, if the doctor approves.”
She touched her stomach where the first hint of roundness had recently begun to develop. Cole placed his hand on her abdomen and looked at her with such tenderness that tears pricked her eyes.
Self-consciously, she glanced at Jared and then blinked at the unexpected wistfulness in his expression as he watched them share such an intimate moment.
Jared looked away and cleared his throat, tugging at his poor, abused cravat again. Then he brought a careless tone to his voice. “I can’t picture you as a father, Cole. That seems to defy reason.”
Cole chuckled. “I agree. Alicia deserves your pity for having me as the father of her children.”
“You deserve my pity just for being stuck with this lout,” he whispered to Alicia. “Do you wish to escape? With me? The house I’ve let is quite fine. You even have the correct surname, so no one will ever be the wiser.”
“It might be hard for her to ignore the knife sticking out of your heart, you blackguard,” Cole warned.
Alicia glanced at her husband. She sighed blissfully. Her husband. Cole. “I can see your atrocious manners must be a family failing, husband. He’s as incorrigible as you.”
“I, at least, was trying to steal my own wife, not my brother’s.”
“But you led me to believe that you were trying to steal your cousin’s wife,” she reminded him.
“See? He’s a cad,” Jared interjected. “You deserve someone better. Someone honest.”
Alicia raised her brows. “A pirate is more honest?”
He puffed out his chest. “I’m an honest secret agent playing a dishonest pirate.”
Cole laughed.
Alicia patted his arm. “Poor dear. With this family, it’s a wonder you’ve turned out as well as you have.”
Cole and Jared exchanged a look. “She hasn’t met Christian, yet,” they said simultaneously, then burst out into laughter.
Cole shook his head. “Not until she’s firmly in love with me. It will be several more years before I risk that encounter.”
“Why?” Alicia asked. “From everything you’ve told me about him, he’s perfectly respectable.”
“Not merely perfectly respectable—perfect,” Cole replied mournfully.
“The perfectly perfect Christian,” Jared added in a sing-song voice as if they’d said that phrase repeatedly, and probably at Christian’s expense.
“He is the youngest and always was mother’s favorite,” Cole explained. “He always does and says everything exactly as he ought. If he wasn’t so humble and likeable, I’d hate him.”
“I plotted to kill him once,” Jared offered cheerfully.
Alicia gasped. “You didn’t!”
Jared blinked as if surprised she’d oppose such a thing. “I didn’t carry out my plan. Mother found out.” He let out a slow breath as if he’d been the one who nearly lost his life.
“Oh, dear, what have I gotten myself into?” Alicia fanned herself dramatically.
Cole swept her into his arms and kissed her soundly. “A lifetime of happiness, my dear.”
“It certainly won’t be du
ll,” she agreed.
Rudely ignoring Jared, Cole kissed Alicia again. This time his lips lingered. She sighed and leaned against him, counting herself fortunate indeed, and vowed again to love him for all eternity. Then, immersed in his scent, his warmth, his kiss, she thought of nothing at all.
Acknowledgements
Thanks especially to my readers. I hope you enjoy The Stranger She Married. Please stop by www.donnahatch.com to enter my contests, view deleted scenes and sneak peeks, and to join the private e-mail list to receive an announcement when my next books will be released.
I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Book Two of The Rogue Hearts Series, The Guise of a Gentleman:
CHAPTER 1
England, 1819
Lily Standwich was a traitor. Elise choked on her tea, hoping she’d simply heard wrong. But no, Lily had indeed betrayed their pact.
Seated in her front parlor, Elise set down her teacup with a bit more force than she ought to have on the Chippendale table. “Married? Lily! What are you thinking?”
“Oh, good heavens, I’m only forty-two, not a hundred. Why, my hair isn’t even gray yet.” Lily smoothed her dark hair and nibbled her biscuit as if she hadn’t just delivered such shocking news.
Sinking back against the parlor settee, Elise could only stare. She and Lily had shared so many confidences and reassured each other about the freedoms and pleasures only a financially stable widow could enjoy. Now, they would lose that common bond. Elise would grow old, alone, while all her friends moved into a world dominated by husbands, a world of which she was not a part. Elise didn’t care to have a husband again. Until a moment ago, she’d believed Lily felt the same way. When did Lily change her mind?
Elise sputtered. “Yes, of course, I didn’t mean to imply you were old, but…but why remarry?”
Lily gave her a look one normally reserved for a slow-witted child. “I love him. And I want to spend every moment with him, day and night.”
Dismay weighted Elise’s heart. She knew her friend had been spending time with the widowed Mr. Harrison, possibly even indulging in clandestine meetings with him, but taking a lover hardly equated marriage. Elise would never take a lover, and she’d vowed long ago she would never remarry, a vow Lily had also made. And broken.
Elise shook her head in disbelief. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Using her fingers, Lily ticked off a list of Mr. Harrison’s attributes. “He has money of his own, comes from a good family, and already has two sons, so there’s no need of an heir.” She moistened her lips, her expression turning earnest. “But it’s more than that. We truly enjoy one another’s company. He treats me like a queen. For the first time in years, I’m truly happy.” Lily delivered her last sentence with such dreaminess, Elise half-expected her friend to be jesting. She wasn’t.
Elise’s world tilted to one side and a knot formed in her stomach. She stared absently at the blue and lilac patterns on the carpet and tried to sort her tangled thoughts. “But you had no intention of remarrying.”
Lily heaved a sigh. “I know I’d often said that. But it was just noise to try to make us both feel better about our widowed state. What else should I have done? Confess I was dying of loneliness?” She touched Elise’s arm, her voice hushing. “I have a chance to be happy again. Can’t you be pleased for me?”
Her face warming with shame at her own selfishness, Elise managed a wan smile. “Of course. Pray, forgive my ungracious reaction. I was merely surprised.”
“I understand, my dear.” Lily eyed her with apprehension. “We’re having a soirée in two weeks’ time to celebrate. Will you come?”
Elise retrieved her tea cup and sipped to give herself time to form an answer. The familiar emptiness in her heart returned. “You know I dislike large gatherings.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to make a few social appearances now and again.”
Sighing, Elise nodded in resignation. “I suppose you’re right. Charlotte Greymore has been telling me the same thing. Just yesterday, in fact. Yet, it doesn’t seem right going to events without Edward at my side.”
Lily patted her arm. “He was a good man, and you made a lovely couple, but he would not wish you to mourn all your life, any more than John would have wished it for me.”
Elise looked at her clenched hands. “Perhaps not.”
“There are any number of eligible gentlemen in the area. It’s possible someday you, too, will remarry and find happiness again.”
“You know I plan to remain a widow.”
“Nonsense. You are, what—? Eight and twenty? Hardly in your dotage. A lady as young and lovely as you should not remain at home alone.”
The usual discomfort arrived that always came on the heels of a compliment. Her late husband had often told her she was comely, but he had seen her through the eyes of love. With a decidedly average figure, hair that had darkened from blond to a color more closely resembling old wash water, and newly lines around her eyes, she had little to tempt a man.
It didn’t matter. She would never remarry.
Elise shook her head sadly. “I’m happy for you, Lily, but please do not expect me to follow in your footsteps.”
“Think of your son. A boy needs a father’s guidance.”
Of course Lily did not mean to sound callous, but although Edward had been gone for five years, Elise still missed him. No man would ever take his place. And she had no desire to announce to the world that she had ceased mourning him, lest a gentleman entertain the idea she might engage in a liaison. Not that she’d have suitors stumbling all over themselves in the attempt.
She folded her arms. “I’m not willing to consider remarrying. I’m surprised after all our discussions on the subject over the years you would think I’d so easily change my mind just because you did.”
“You’re right. I apologize. I know this must seem very sudden to you, given all our talks. I’m happy. And I want you to be happy, too.” Lily paused. “Do come to my party. This will just be a few friends, not a big, elaborate fête.”
Spurred by a sense of duty to her friend, Elise nodded. “Very well, I will attend and toast to your happiness.”
Lily smiled. “Excellent. Most of the guests will be old friends. There will be only one new face.”
“New face?” Suspicion curled in her stomach. “Jared Amesbury has returned to England and
has let Richfield Manor for the summer.”
Elise raised her brows. “Richfield Manor has not been occupied for as long as I can remember.”
“I suppose Mr. Amesbury wished to rusticate after such a long time overseas. I knew his mother, the countess. Lovely lady. She passed on two years ago. His father, the Fifth Earl of Tarrington, is well- respected, and his children make him proud.”
The names meant nothing to Elise. She had lived in this summer home in the country just outside Brenniswick since her marriage to Edward nearly ten years ago. Before that, she lived a quiet life a few miles to the north and had traveled very little either before or after her marriage, though she’d spent much of her youth poring over travel books and dreaming of far-away lands awash with adventure. She and her father had often spoken of trips they planned to take when the war ended. Those plans ceased upon his untimely death. Many dreams died with him. The rest of her dreams died with Edward.
Lily leaned forward, her brown eyes twinkling.
“I visited Mr. Amesbury upon his arrival. He has grown into a most handsome man. Educated at Cambridge. I believe he served in the Royal Navy during the war. Or was he a privateer? I forget. No matter. He would be a most welcome addition to Brenniswick, don’t you think?”
Elise folded her arms and said firmly, “I’m not interested in meeting eligible bachelors or widowers.”
“Of course not, dear,” Lily agreed too quickly.
Elise suspected agreeing to come to the soirée had been a mistake. Despite her promises to the contrary, matchmaking appeared to be high on Lily’s menu. Elise had no d
esire to taste that dish.
“The soirée is two weeks from tomorrow.”
Elise took her hand. “Lily, I wish you and Mr. Harrison all the happiness in the world. He’s a fine man and is fortunate, indeed, to have you.”
Lily smiled, looking relieved. “I can’t tell you how much it means to hear you say that. I feared you’d be disappointed or feel abandoned.”
How well Lily knew her. But no amount of enticement would have made Elise say anything to hurt her friend. Instead, she again squelched her own feelings and wished Lily happiness.
After Lily took her leave, Elise stood motionless in the foyer, her emotions spinning like dust motes in the sunlight which swirled around her. Her friends were moving on without her.
Charlotte Greymore had married two years ago to a fine man she’d loved for years. Now Lily would remarry. Elise would have to face widowhood without her two dearest friends. Oh, they’d see one another from time to time, but things would be different. She’d be alone.
Nonsense. She had her young son and a large estate to manage for his inheritance. What more did she need? Certainly not a man!
She took her foolish emotions in hand and wrestled them into submission.
In the nursery, she checked on her son who sat reading with his nurse, although Colin looked as though he’d rather be chasing frogs by the lake. Colin perked up at her arrival, but she laid a finger over her lips and gestured to his nurse. His shoulders slumping, he sat back on his haunches and propped his chin on his fist. Smiling, she retrieved her hat, gloves and riding crop. As was her custom, she also picked up her double-barreled rifle before heading for the stables.
Prince’s welcoming whinny met her. At the door, she paused to breathe in the scent of hay and horses. Edward had detested the odors of the stables and always had the stable lads bring his horse to him, tacked up and ready to ride. In contrast, Elise liked the earthy stable smells. They resurrected fond memories of her dear father.
