Caroline (26 page)

He held her for a long time, staying inside her, stroking the damp tendrils back from her brow. That was her favorite memory: the sheer bliss of their union and the feeling that all the barriers between them had been burned away.

After that Alec had walked across the room to pour two portions of brandy, barely coating the bottom of her glass. While they sat in bed sipping the brandy little was said, but Alec had idly twisted a strand of her hair around his finger, and their bare legs touched intimately beneath the covers.

Caro would never have imagined that there could be more, but there was. After the brandy was gone, Alec cradled her in his arms and kissed her so sensuously that she felt faint. This time, it took little encouragement for her to return his caresses. The warm feeling of his body and the play of his muscles beneath her fingers excited her. Her heart had pounded when he guided her hand to a different place, and finally he began to groan as she hesitantly caressed him. In the end, his mouth had aroused her again as the pulsing built within her, and they had coupled once more, urgently. Together, they found ecstatic release, and she knew nothing would ever be the same....

Now, lying against his sleeping body, Caro wondered why she felt no shame or embarrassment. She remembered her first wave of panic when Alec had dragged her into his room, realizing now that she had wanted this all along. Her need for him had been eating away at her, robbing her of her natural joy in living. Now, as she rubbed her cheek against his chest, she was awash with contentment.

In answer to her snuggling caress, Alec's hand suddenly slid over her arm to cup a warm breast. With one graceful movement, he was on top of her, his eyes sleepy in the moonlight.

"You never have enough, eh?" he teased, and Caro smiled saucily up at him.

"I confess that lust seems to have overcome me...."

"How convenient," he murmured, kissing her leisurely as she clasped her hands around his neck. "I feel the same way."

* * *

Caro reluctantly opened her eyes to the shadowed warmth of the covers which were pulled up to her forehead. Sunlight filtered in through the opening above her eyes, and drowsily she recognized the sound of splashing water. Slowly, she adjusted her knees against the bed, nudging her way up until her head emerged from its cozy cocoon.

"Ah—awake at last. My little flower of virtue greets the light of day!"

Alec's voice, rich with amusement, revived her instantly. She propped herself on an elbow to search him out. He was standing in front of his bureau looking glass, shaving. To Caro, no man could have appeared more attractive. Bare-chested and brown in the sunlight, he stood smiling at her, his lower face covered with white soap. Caro could only beam back at him, feeling that old familiar flush creeping into her cheeks. Alec walked over to the bed, admonishing:

"Caro, how can you blush at me now?"

Then, before she could speak, he ran his finger across her cheek, then leaned forward and topped her nearest breast with a dab of soap. Forgetting her nakedness, Caro hopped to her knees to retaliate.

"You are incorrigible! I—"

She broke off at the sound of knocking at the door. Alec appeared coolly imperturbed in spite of her panic.

"Oh, dear!" she whispered as Pierre called:

"M'sieur, I have your coffee."

Alec sounded amused as he answered, "That's fine, Pierre. Ah—why don't you just set it outside."

There was a bewildered pause.

"
But, m'
sieur, what about your shaving?"

"I'm doing it myself today."

"Yourself?" The increasingly confused tone of Pierre's voice delighted his master. Caro, meanwhile, had taken refuge under the covers, certain that the valet was going to open the door. "But what about your dressing?" he called again.

"I can manage, thank you."

"
But, m'sieur,
I must prepare your clothes!"

By now he was clearly agitated, and Alec laughed out loud. "Pierre, I assure you that I am perfectly capable of handling these tasks alone."

"As you wish," he conceded in an offended tone.

Caro listened for the sound of retreating footsteps before cautiously peeking out. Alec was back at the basin, shaving with clean, quick strokes of the long razor.

"What a coward you are!" he laughed.

"That's not so!" she returned heatedly. "I had good reason to hide. What would happen if Pierre had found me here?"

Alec bent to rinse his face, then rubbed it with a towel as he crossed over to the bed.

"You wouldn't be ashamed of what you've done, would you?" he inquired in a deceptively light tone. "I had the distinct impression last night that you were acting with a clear head and had no regrets afterward."

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed sitting up. "I really am not ashamed, Alec. Although—perhaps I ought to be...."

One of his brows arched, but his face remained serious as he ordered, "Caro, come over here."

She hesitated for only a moment before obeying him. As she moved to stand in front of him, she felt the sun's warmth on her bare skin as well as Alec's appreciative gaze. He put his arms around her, his broad chest pressing against her breasts. She turned questioning eyes up to him and he kissed her with a lazy warmth that left her weak and hungry.

His lips were tracing a fiery pattern over her neck and shoulders as he murmured, "Caro, you have done nothing wrong. You
are
virtuous—that is something in your heart that can never change and it transforms everything you do into an act of beauty." He paused, tipping her chin up. "It took me awhile to figure it out. None of the old rules apply to you, I think, because you've created a whole new set of standards. Maybe it's because you have no memory and can't remember all those rules. Or maybe it's just
you."
He lifted her off the ground, kissing her again, and Caro felt him stiffen against her stomach.

"God help me," he moaned with a pained smile. "You know, it's that body of yours that always throws me off the track. Virtuous maidens are rarely made like you are; that's how I finally realized they must have broken the mold with Caro!"

There was another knock at the door.

"Sacha!" Natalya called. "What's this cold coffee doing outside your room?"

"I forgot about that. One moment - " With amazing speed, he reached for the shirt he had worn the previous night and helped Caro put it on.

"She's probably on her way to your room. Be quick!" he commanded softly, adding a playful slap on her bottom as she scurried toward the door to the dressing room.

"Are you all right?" Natalya's voice came again from the corridor. "Shall I bring it in for you?"

"Don't bother," Alec replied as he opened the door. Over his sister's shoulder, he could see Pierre hurrying toward them, an envelope in his hand.

Chapter 19

Pierre had been suspicious from the beginning, and the feeling increased when he went into his master's bedchamber and watched him read General Washington's communication. A light fragrance of jasmine assailed his nostrils when he glanced at the bed which was in a state of total disarray. Unwillingly, he associated the scent with Caro, and suddenly felt alarmed.

Alec tossed down the paper and said curtly, "Prepare my uniform. I'll be leaving immediately on horseback for New York."

"New York!
Mais,
m'sieur—"

"General Washington is arriving there tomorrow and will be meeting with his officers for the last time. He'll be bound for Mount Vernon then, and I'll wager he hopes never to see any of us again!" Alec laughed. "I must reach the city by tomorrow evening, so I must go by horseback. Just pack the bare essentials."

As Alec reached for his coffee, Pierre walked toward the dressing room, his glance falling on a frothy pile of lemon bedgown near the fireplace. Afraid to investigate further, he continued on to get his master's clothing from the wardrobe. When he re-entered the room, the spot where he had seen the mysterious yellow garment was bare, and Alec stood across the room unbuttoning his breeches.

Pierre helped him dress, then assembled his extra clothing and necessities for travel. Alec was checking his appearance in the glass while his valet gathered the previous day's clothes for the laundry.

"M'sieur, where is your shirt? I cannot seem to locate it," Pierre said in a puzzled voice.

With a sharp glance, Alec retorted, "You begin to wear on my nerves with your ceaseless questions, Pierre. It is not my province to keep track of my clothing, so I suggest that you tend to your duties and refrain from bothering me."

* * *

Caro was shocked to learn that it was past nine o'clock when she returned to her own bedchamber. Barely managing to change from Alec's shirt into a high-necked bedgown before Natalya's knock, her nervousness increased at the sight of the brass bathtub full of cold water which sat before the fireplace. She was positive that Natalya, and later, Rose, could both easily read the lie in her face as she explained:

"I finished my bath so late that I fell asleep before I could ring for someone to remove it."

"Did you just wake up?" inquired Natalya with studied casualness. "Rather odd for you, Caro—especially since you went to bed so early last night. Why weren't you at dinner? We were all quite worried!"

Caro's face went blank as she sat down at her dressing table to brush her hair. Before she could frame a reply, Natalya exclaimed:

"But how silly of me. I suppose you couldn't bear to sit with Sacha all evening, knowing that today we're leaving Belle Maison. That was awfully sensible of you." She paused, frowning. "Don't tell me you fell asleep without braiding your hair? It's in a terrible snarl!"

Caro tried to duck her head to hide the telltale blush that stained her skin.

"Yes! Actually, I did. I was exhausted last night. Grandmere gave me two glasses of wine, and they must have combined with that hot bath to truly sedate me."

"Two glasses of wine? Whatever for? Why, it was barely five o'clock when you went over to her cottage!"

Caro brushed her hair agitatedly. "Really, I can't see what it matters! I really should be getting dressed for breakfast. Perhaps you could call Rose for me—"

"Certainly! My, you are as jumpy as Sacha this morning!"

Caro's spirits were high by the time she left her room for breakfast and, as she hurried down the stairway, the whole world seemed to have taken on a rosy glow. The plans for her move into Philadelphia that day seemed obsolete, for she instinctively felt that Alec would change them. Even though he had never actually pledged his love to her or made any verbal commitment, his last words that morning had left her brimming with new hope.

Pierre stood near the dining-room door, waiting. "Mademoiselle—"

Caro smiled shyly, sensing that somehow he knew. "Good morning, Pierre! Isn't it a beautiful day? I am famished—"

"Mademoiselle, I have been asked to speak with you. M'sieur wished me to tell you that he has gone to New York."

"New York?" She went pale.

"Yes, mademoiselle. General Washington is journeying home to Mount Vernon and he wishes to meet with his officers in New York town tomorrow evening. It is to be a last farewell, I think."

"But—how long will Alec be gone? Did he know about this before—that is—"

"The general's message was only delivered this morning. As for the duration of M'sieur's absence—I really cannot guess. Four days at the very least."

Caro was crushed. As she thanked Pierre and walked woodenly into the dining room to sit down, she realized that her despair was much deeper than that of the past month. Alec had left her, which meant that today she would move into Philadelphia with the senior Beauvisage family. Her first society ball would be held in four short nights.

The plate of buckwheat cakes with maple syrup that sat before Caro was long cold when Jean-Philippe and Antonia Beauvisage arrived. Natalya forgot her worry over her friend's downcast appearance at the first sight of the smart, polished carriage speeding up the drive.

"Maman and Papa and Katya are here!" she exclaimed, tossing her napkin down and scrambling to her feet. Natalya dashed outside to meet her family as they emerged from the carriage. Caro stood in the door watching, somehow stirred by the appearance of Alec's mother and father.