“There is nothing whatsoever that I myself find attractive about the man. Is that what you’re concerned about?” Rebecca felt him scrutinizing her closely.
“Not really, but there are other things. Mark was not exaggerating about the snow. I worry that you don’t realize a lot of things about me, Rebecca. Or about what life will be like here for you.” He turned from her, a faraway look in his eyes. “I’m not sure you’d be happy at Stavewood in time.”
“What would make you even imagine that?” Rebecca impatiently awaited his reply, leaning forward in her chair and hoping he would look at her.
“Once the snow does fly it won’t stop, not for months. Then there’s the cold. Dressed properly we could get into Billington occasionally, but it will become an excursion, and you’ll find you probably don’t want to spend much time outdoors. If there had been less commotion going on here I would have taken you out riding several times before now, just to get you out before winter.”
Rebecca watched the side of his face closely as he gazed into his brandy, swirling the dark liquid in the large glass.
“There’s the house to run,” he continued seriously, “And if you enjoy your knitting and that sewing machine over time as you seem to now, maybe you’d be happy here.”
“Timothy, are you afraid that I decided to start sewing because you didn’t take me shopping when I was cold?” Rebecca never meant to make him feel she was not being well cared for.
“I can probably buy you anything you desire, Rebecca. But, however fortunate I have been in my business dealings, the fact remains that I’m not much more than a glorified logger who lives in the middle of nowhere. With Dianna around you’ll even be more confined at Stavewood than ever. Yet, even once that situation is resolved, some isolation will always be a factor.”
He turned to her, his face solemn and unsmiling.
“Timothy, whatever gave you any idea that I could possibly be anything less than completely contented here? I love to sew, that has nothing to do with whether or not you can buy me things. Yes, I was cold, but I’ve found that fine wool. That wool comes from you. Stavewood is a very large house, with a full staff and I am sure I will have more than enough to keep myself busy. Please do not imagine that I could ever feel restless here with you.”
“Oh, Madam,” he shook his head. “Trust me, you will get restless!”
“Firstly, my dear sir, let me tell you that I am nothing less than perfectly contented here. Do you imagine that if I were to get bored, confined by some snow, I would love you any less?” Rebecca rose from her chair and stood to face him.
“It’s happened.” Timothy looked at her openly.
“Well, it won’t happen to me, Timothy!” Her tone was unwavering and she looked frankly into his eyes. “I am more in love with you than I ever imagined possible. I came here for you, for Stavewood, because it’s where I have always belonged. If I were to find myself in England again, with or without the means to care for myself and, even if the world seemed perfect, were anyone to ask me if I would set foot on that train again, I would not hesitate for a moment.”
He studied her face closely, her eyes welling up with tears and a fierce determination in the emerald depths. He took her gently by the shoulders.
“Rebecca,” he whispered passionately. “It seems that everything imaginable has stood in your way to keep you from being here now, yet none of it stopped you. How can I possibly meet the expectations you must have after all of that?”
“Timothy, don’t you see you already have? We have many things to be worried about, but my feelings for you and the happiness I have found here should never be one of them. You must believe in that and put at least that worry aside.”
He pulled her to him intensely, holding her so tight against him that she began to ache. She listened to the deep timbre of his heartbeat and cursed everyone around him who had not appreciated the generosity and love he was so eager to give.
“If there’s anyone who is undeserving, Timothy, it would be me,” she whispered. “You are a wonderful man, and I plan to spend the rest of my life appreciating your love.”
He held her in front of him and stood looking at her face, the soft warmth in her loving eyes and the perfect delicate features of her astonishing beauty. He kissed her ravenously.
Rebecca felt totally complete in his strong arms as they stood embracing. For a time now they were quiet and safe from the threat that surrounded them both.
“You cannot imagine sleeping in that cold, empty bed alone tonight,” he whispered.
“I’d rather not, but I think it would be best. I don’t care what anyone thinks, but I do care about Mark and what he is learning and it simply seems unacceptable.” She stood with her hands resting against the big man’s chest.
“Then we’ll sleep in your room tonight,” he stated, pleased with his alternative.
Rebecca giggled. “You think it’s about which room we sleep in?”
“Then we’ll stay awake all night while I make love to you and not sleep at all.” He looked down into her eyes, his own eager and smiling.
“You would have me sneaking around every morning until we’re married? I don’t think it matters which room we’re in, or whether or not we actually sleep. We will be discovered,” she scolded.
“I’ll go for the reverend now, and it will be done.” He could see that Rebecca believed he was teasing her.
“At this hour? I think not!”
“Then at daybreak. It’s settled!” He kissed her warmly and she fought with her resolve.
“Timothy,” she whispered and he lifted her lightly in his arms.
“This is kidnapping!” Rebecca giggled.
“Even better!” He chuckled deeply as he climbed the stairs two at a time.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Timothy laughed as Rebecca wrapped herself in the twisted, white sheet, scolding him soundly for having lured her once again to his bed.
“I think that would be a perfect wedding gown.”
“I think not,” she gasped. “Why, it’s not even decent!”
“I noticed that! Well, if not a wedding gown then perfectly acceptable for coming back to bed.” Timothy lie on his side, reclining on a high stack of pillows, watching her pace the room in the revealing sheet.
“Please, I have to get to my room before the entire household is up!” Rebecca leaned toward him, whispering loudly, offering the man an inviting glimpse of her barely covered breasts.
“Alright,” he sighed as the girl wrapped herself more decently. “Sew up the thing if you must, but be quick about it so we can hurry up and get married.”
“You’re not serious,” she gasped.
“Perfectly!” He smiled smugly and brushed a lock of hair from his face, his broad shoulders bare and bronzed against the white sheets. “We’ll go into Billington straight away this morning and be back here having a honeymoon before nightfall. You did agree to marry me!”
“But, what about a wedding?” Rebecca was sure he was most certainly joking.
“We’ll have a wedding in the spring with flowers, relatives, the works. Whatever you please, Rebecca. We’ll invite the entire county if that makes you happy, but we’ll marry today.” He sat up on the bed, not bothering to pull the blanket across himself, shaking back his mane of hair.
Rebecca blushed and smiled at the clear view she was afforded of his bare thighs and exposed position.
“Oh, pardon me. I’ll be more careful for the rest of the day,” he smiled, gallantly covering himself. “But, after today you’ll have to get used to it.”
“Stop teasing me and get me back to my room!” she demanded in a hushed tone.
“I’m dead serious, Rebecca.” His demeanor became suddenly subdued.
“You can’t be!” She sat in the chair, tucking the sheet around her bare legs.
“Why not? Of course you want a wedding, a gown, a celebration. I would never imagine denying you any of that. We will have it all, all of i
t and more, but I don’t want to wait.” He faced her, his forearms on his thighs as he leaned toward her earnestly.
“You really are serious. You want to elope?” She could not believe he was ready to marry her this instant. “Just so that I don’t sleep in my own room?”
“Partly, but that certainly is not the main reason. It’s rather obvious, you have to admit, that having you in my bed has not been all that difficult, at least the last few nights.”
“Oh, stop!” She began to pace the room, trailing the sheet carelessly behind her. “It seems so rushed, so sudden, to just run off.”
“Are you unsure in any way that you want to marry me?” His voice was questioning.
“No, of course not!” She turned to face him. “That’s not it at all!”
“Then, why not? If you are ready, and trust me, I am much more than ready. Why not?”
“I’m not sure why not. It just seems reckless, I suppose.”
“Rebecca, you got on a train and traveled halfway around the world for about ten words in an ad, and you think marrying me today is reckless?” He laughed heartily.
“Oh, stop, Timothy. You’re twisting it all around.” She resumed her pacing.
Timothy set his foot firmly on the trailing sheet as Rebecca paced past him and she lost her grip on the fabric and he deftly gathered it into his lap.
She faced him, entirely bare, and frowned.
“Marry me, Rebecca,” he said softly, as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Not in a week, or a season, or a year. Marry me today. I have spent far too long without you. We’ll dress and tell Mark and the staff. We’ll go to Billington today. I’ll buy you the biggest ring that money can buy and bring you back here as my wife. Back to Stavewood. Here, the way it should have been the day I finished it.” He looked clearly into her eyes, never wavering as she listened quietly.
“A ring?” Rebecca choked.
“Of course!” Timothy burst into laughter. “The biggest we can find. Say yes!”
“But what will I wear, and what will we tell everyone and-and…” she stammered. “Yes!”
The air was crisp and clear as Rebecca snuggled into the furs in the coach, warmly dressed in a smart black wool dress Timothy had borrowed from one of the maids. Although the dress was designed to be covered with a large apron, and might look severe on anyone else, on Rebecca it was stunning.
Her hair carefully arranged, and her cheeks glowing with excitement, Timothy climbed in beside her and shouted for the driver to go ahead.
“Are you excited?” he whispered close to her ear and put his strong arm around her, pulling her warmly to his side,
“Yes,” she giggled. “Very!”
“You’re sure you want to do this today?” he asked.
“You!” she huffed. “Two hours ago it seemed like I had no choice, and now you ask me if I am sure? You are incorrigible, Timothy Elgerson!”
“Not nearly as much as I expect to be tonight.”
Rebecca could feel the deep vibration of his laughter as she nestled close to him.
“Is it too cold to open the window?” Rebecca felt so closed in, within the confines of the coach, while the air seemed so sweet and fresh outside.
“Not if you’re warm enough. I’ll open the window if you like.”
Timothy pulled back the heavy curtains, opening up the view to a startling blue sky, and he slid open the window.
Rebecca looked out at the leaves, drifting by the hundreds down around them and she inhaled the crisp air. With the trees having lost so many leaves, the panorama opened up and Rebecca could see for miles as the carriage rolled gently down the hillside from Stavewood.
“The air smells different today,” she mused aloud.
“That would be from the snow yesterday. When the snow falls enough to cover the ground the air can be so clear it nearly hurts to breathe it sometimes.” He spoke softly as he reclined in the carriage.
“Timothy, why is the third floor closed at Stavewood?”
“What makes you ask, Rebecca?” He looked down at her sweet face, the soft furs gathered around her fetchingly.
“The turret. When I was up there the day I first went up to look for knitting things, we opened the door and stepped out on it. It was so beautiful. I’d never seen anything like it. I thought, perhaps when everything was covered with snow, it might be beautiful as well.”
“What possessed you to go out into the turret at all?” He watched her and listened seriously.
“I don’t know,” she replied wistfully. “It felt as if the house wanted the door open. It was funny because the door was heavy. When it came free it was as if the house sighed.” Rebecca mused at the memory.
“When I built the house there was something inside me that could not be stopped.” His voice was quiet and quaking. “My father used to joke about how many cubits high it should be, and asked if God had commanded me to build it, like Noah and his ark.
“At the time I wasn’t sure myself why I felt I had to build Stavewood and, contrary to what everyone thought, I had begun the house and milled most of the lumber even before I met Corissa.”
“I thought you built it for her?” Rebecca looked up and saw his serious, faraway look.
“No, not originally. After I met her, she was lost and restless. I thought if I brought her to the house it might make her happy somehow. Since it was strong and sound, I thought it would make her feel more secure. I was very wrong.
“Corissa thought it was confining, and the day I took her up to the turret she remarked that it was like a prison tower. Originally there were windows up there, my thoughts being that you could go up there on any day, even the coldest of days when the skies were most vivid and the stars their most brilliant, and admire it all. All of Stavewood, and much more.
“One winter, in a very bad blizzard, one of the windows cracked and I took them all out. After that I sealed off the third floor. Once, I thought we’d have guests in the house, and a family.” Timothy sighed deeply.
“It’s interesting, Rebecca that you would be moved to go out into the turret and I believe you heard it sigh. The day I closed the door I heard it myself.”
Rebecca let a tear fall onto the soft furs and it slid down slowly and dropped onto Timothy’s sturdy hand.
“Would you like windows back in the turret again?” he asked.
“No, because it’s so beautiful outside here, even in the cold. I think the bracing weather is part of the beauty of the view.”
“Maybe that’s why the window cracked.” Timothy considered Rebecca’s unerring observations about the house.
“But, I would like to open the third floor one day,” she sighed. “For a family.”
Timothy held her close, one part of him listening for any sign of danger and the other feeling her perfect in his arms. He had two riders following, discreetly and at some distance, as the couple left Stavewood. Taking Rebecca into the city had other advantages than just eloping.
They rode in silence while she watched the landscape pass and choked back tears at the beauty of the lake, just beginning to freeze.
As they approached Billington, the road filled with coaches, buggies and riders and Rebecca sat up and peered out of the window excitedly.
“Last chance,” Timothy announced loudly. “Speak now or forever hold your peace!”
Rebecca laughed gaily as they pulled up before the jeweler’s.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Inside the shop she was like a child, pointing at the rings and commenting at each one. The jeweler, taken by her exceptional beauty and engaging enthusiasm, pulled out his sizing tools eagerly to measure her finger.
He frowned and cleared his throat. Unable to break the news to the girl, he looked up at Elgerson.
“I’m afraid I have a limited collection in the Miss’ size, sir.”
Rebecca, having not laid eyes on a ring she liked, smiled to get his attention.
“There is a ring here, I just know it, sir,”
she stated confidently. “Could you show me what you do have?”
“I do have a very petite ring, but only the one.” The clerk frowned earnestly.
“I only came to purchase one,” Rebecca replied softly.
The jeweler hurried to the back of the shop, disappointed that the one ring he had was not the new and lavish piece he was sure Timothy could easily afford for the petite bride. The ring was only an old estate piece he had just purchased on a recent trip overseas and he was sure it would not be to the girl’s liking.
“We’ll wait and look at the ring, Rebecca, but I have no problem going on to St. Paul. We can marry there tomorrow just as well.” Timothy watched her eagerly awaiting the return of the salesman, and braced himself for her eventual disappointment.
The jeweler took a moment to clean and polish the piece, and was astounded to discover that, once taken from its surroundings among costume pieces, the ring was quite unusual.
“No,” she whispered calmly. “Trust me Timothy. If this is to be, the ring is here.”
The big man stood behind her and adjusted his stiff dress collar, uncomfortable with her declaration.
The clerk returned, somewhat flustered, and handed the tiny wooden box to Elgerson.
Timothy opened the box slowly as Rebecca stood on her tiptoes and peered inside. She held her breath as the big man pulled the delicate ring from the box and placed it in her palm.
The ring featured a warm gold setting, sweeping in two lacy swirls of tiny diamonds, enclosing a perfect oval emerald, the exact shade of the enchanting eyes of the beautiful bride-to-be.
Timothy was astounded. Where he had expected to purchase a massive diamond to encumber Rebecca’s tiny hand, instead, miraculously, the only one that would fit her was perfect indeed.
She gazed into his eyes and smiled, “This is my ring.”
Rebecca browsed the shop, and soon found a man’s ring, quite heavy, and set with two emeralds of the same shade. It fit Timothy perfectly and looked quite elegant on his fine, broad hand.
Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 1) Page 27
