Caroline (31 page)

"Grandmere, it is beautiful! But where...?"

"It was my own wedding dress," the old woman replied happily. "I cannot express the pleasure it would give me to see you married in it,
ma chere."

She helped her dress and pinned up her hair with considerable skill into soft curls that framed Caro's radiant face. The gown was exactly her size and Grandmere assessed her proudly.

"You are a bride "And now, let us make haste
ravissante,"
she declared.
.
I have heard the cleric arrive."

In the sitting room, Alec stood with Parson Brown and Pierre, irreverently drinking brandy. He turned when he heard the door open and his eyes swept over Caro. For her own part, the sight of Alec, looking rakish in black with a silver-and-wine waistcoat topped by a snowy lace jabot, took her breath away. When he came forward to take her hand, a familiar tingle ran through her body.

"You are looking exceedingly lovely, cherie," he murmured, his breath warm against her ear.

The marriage ceremony was quickly performed by the somber-faced Parson Brown, and afterward Caro could recall it only vaguely. She kept expecting Pilquebinder to interrupt the ceremony, or that Alec would change his mind... or that perhaps this was just another dream. At the end of the ceremony, however, she was completely alert when the parson declared, "You may kiss the bride."

Caro demurely turned her cheek to Alec, who smiled at her recklessly and caught her in his arms. His mouth came down over hers, kissing her with leisurely expertise until she forgot the parson and wrapped her arms around his neck, molding her body to his. When he let her go, embarrassment set in and she blushed at the sight of Parson Brown's scandalized expression.

Alec was smiling as he whispered to her, "It's all right, you know. We're married now."

Caro looked up into his mocking eyes and found herself laughing. Grandmere appeared then to embrace them both. Her eyes were misty as she scolded Alec, "Now then, go gently
, mon fils
. I expect you to start behaving decently. This is a serious step you have taken."

He gave a rueful smile. "I know, Grandmere. And I promise to try to swallow my medicine like a man. At any rate, I'm used to the idea—I've seen this coming for a long time, and I had a feeling it was as inevitable as death."

He laughed, and Caro tried not to think too much about his choice of words.

* * *

Grandmere produced a bottle of excellent sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France, and the four conspirators toasted while Parson Brown looked on. Caro's face was glowing with an open joy that even Alec's somewhat sardonic attitude toward the wedding could not diminish. To feel his hand at her waist and know that he was her husband, whatever the circumstances, was enough to make her feel ebullient.

Pierre returned to the house through the passageway to deliver the marriage certificate to Ezra Pilquebinder. Minutes later, however, he was back.

"M'sieur, he insists that he must speak with you personally. I confess that his manner is quite threatening."

Alec's face darkened dangerously as he removed his arm from Caro's shoulders and rose to his feet.

"Damn him!" he said angrily, ignoring Parson Brown. "We shall have our conversation and I'll wager he'll wish that he hadn't tried my patience so sorely this day!"

Tossing off the wine that remained in his glass, Alec disappeared into the aperture in the wall. Some minutes later he returned, frowning in a way that discouraged any questions Caro was poised to ask. Parson Brown left soon after, and Grandmere began to complain of acute hunger. Caro was relieved to see Alec grin again in response to the old woman's broad hints.

"Are you trying to hurry us on to our honeymoon? Shall we set sail for France this afternoon?"

"I wish that you might," she retorted, wrinkling her forehead in concern.

"I can take care of my wife, Grandmere. If need be, I will do the rest of the world a favor and eliminate that repellant excuse for a person."

"Is he gone?" Caro asked tentatively.

"Yes. And if he has any regard for his own safety he'll stay far away from you."

"Alec, please tell me what he said!"

"Nothing of any importance. He shouted a great many idle threats that failed to frighten me in the least. It seems he has a difficult time accepting defeat, but he won't back up his claims to you with any evidence." He paused, looking pensive. "One thing that did seem odd—I would swear that he holds some sort of grudge against me personally, beyond what I have done to him this day."

"Did he say so?" she asked anxiously.

"Not in words, but he kept staring at me in the most maniacal way, and there was something in his manner...."

"Oh, Alec!"

He sighed. "I was also trying to think of a way to get him to say your name, but I couldn't ask him without letting know that you've lost your memory. I don't want him to know."

"That's right... he never did say my true name, did he? And we didn't say it either."

"Enough of this," Alec declared abruptly, helping Caro to her feet. "I want the two of you to stop looking so worried; all is well now. Grandmere, thank you for your meddling, and we shall see you later." Alec grinned over his shoulder as he and Caro stepped through the door opening onto the garden. "Much later."

Outside, all the trees were gray and bare against the blue sky, but to Caro the garden couldn't have appeared more beautiful if it had been the first day of spring.

"At the risk of underplaying my appetite for you,
cherie,
I plan to order us a disgustingly large meal which I intend to devour before I do anything else," Alec told her casually as they strolled toward the house.

"Lovely! I am ravenous!" Caro exclaimed.

"Well, I am pleased to hear that. Maman was telling me last night that you seemed to have completely lost your appetite. She was worried for your health." His eyebrow lifted and Caro knew he was teasing her.

"I seem to be feeling much better!" she laughed.

When they entered the house, all the servants, alerted by an excited Pierre, rushed forward to express their congratulations. Caro smiled until her face hurt, and even Alec appeared rather pleased.

"This is your mistress now," he told them. "See to it that you all obey her without question." He turned to the cook. "Elsa, I am exceedingly hungry. Could you contrive to prepare a meal that would do justice to this occasion? We will eat in my chamber." He paused. "That is,
our
chamber."

Caro was euphoric as she ascended the stairs on Alec's arm. A small voice in the back of her mind warned that it would be wise for her to match his restraint, but it was impossible to conceal her feelings. When they reached his rooms, Caro slipped off her shoes and darted into the dressing room to peek into her old bedchamber.

"I thought I would never see these rooms again," she confessed as Alec came up behind her, encircling her waist with his arms.

"I gather you were not pleased by that prospect."

"I was miserable the day I left," she answered frankly, turning in his arms to meet his eyes. "Oh, Alec, how could you have left me that day the way you did? I have never felt so wretched in my life!"

"I could not take time for explanations—I was lucky to make it to New York in time as it was." His voice softened slightly under her wide-eyed regard. "Besides, I felt that it was probably the best solution in the long run."

Golden sparks kindled in her eyes. "The best solution! You made love to me all night long—and the best solution at the end was simply to discard me like some plaything that you'd grown bored with? Don't you have any feelings or scruples? And what about me? How could you use me so cold-bloodedly? You knew that I was no common wench. You knew—"

Alec silenced her tirade with a kiss that melted all her rage, even as she struggled against him. In the end, her heart was pounding in a different way and she was kissing him back. When he released her, his turquoise eyes were cool.

"Spare me your outrage, Caro. I have never lied to you since the day we met—certainly not by promising you anything that I did not intend to deliver. If anything, I belittled my feelings for you—to both of us. You did not get anything the other night that you did not ask for, and now you have me where you want me, and you have the nerve to complain about my behavior!"

Caro gulped, her cheeks burning, as there came a soft tapping at the door. Alec opened it to admit two serving girls carrying trays laden with a half dozen covered dishes. Pierre appeared behind her with another chilled bottle of wine and two glasses, and seeing Caro looking forlorn, he went across the room to her.

"Madame Beauvisage, I want to offer you my most heartfelt congratulations." He lowered his voice then to a whisper. "He would not have done this for anyone else but you. In m'sieur's case, that counts for a great deal."

Caro smiled, realizing the truth in his words. After Pierre had left, she watched Alec shed his coat and waistcoat, loosening the neckcloth with one quick pull.

He is like a magnificent wild animal, she thought. It is what makes him so special. I would not want to tame him and he will hate me if I try.

Alec opened the wine and poured, then held a glass out to her. Caro smiled, her heart in her eyes as she went to him.

"I should have taken the time to think before I spoke earlier..."

He lightly touched her cheek with one brown finger. "Don't apologize. You had a right to be angry and I shouldn't have responded like such a brute. Now, let us eat. We shall both need our strength this afternoon!"

Chapter 22

Looking back, it seemed to Caro that they made love unceasingly during the first twenty-four hours of their marriage. After lunch, Alec had undressed her unhurriedly, admiring and caressing her body in the bright daylight.

"I should warn you,
cherie,
that I plan to shamelessly abuse my privileges as your husband," he told her in a tone of casual amusement. "If I must be married, then I intend to make the best of it." Caro beamed as he pulled the pins from her hair, and Alec's own smile widened. "I am so glad you approve, dear wife."

When they were in bed together, Caro told herself that Alec was expressing physically the emotions that he would not put into words. He was gentle and demanding by turns, and she responded ardently. More than once she had to stop herself from crying out her love for him, but she forced herself to hold back, feeling that one day her chance would come.

The sunlight was dimming into a warm glow when Alec left their bed at last. While pouring more wine for them, he looked back at Caro, lying against the pillows. Her skin was peach-hued in the gathering twilight, her brown eyes were soft with contentment, and her hair spilled across her breasts like honey.

Alec grinned. "You look like a cat who has just consumed a quart of cream."

Caro smiled drowsily, stretching her arms over her head with artless grace.

"A perfect description," she murmured.

Carrying the glasses of wine, Alec crossed the room and rejoined her in bed. Caro immediately slipped inside the circle of his arm, molding her soft warm body to his, and Alec was soon setting his glass aside. As his brown hands began to touch her again in ways that made her nerves tingle, Caro somehow managed to find her voice.

"Please wait," she whispered, without conviction. "I want to talk to you." Alec ignored her, lifting up her curls to kiss her shoulder. Caro gasped, biting her lip. "It's about Nicholai. "

His head came up as he regarded her coolly. "I had hoped you would have enough good sense to allow me to forget that matter."

He reached over to pick up his glass again, but Caro tugged at his bare arm insistently.

"Don't you see how unreasonable you're being? You have condemned me most unjustly and I demand the right to clear my name!"

"I wasn't aware that we were in court."

"I cannot allow you to think that I would betray you with Nicholai! I could never have let him touch me! I—"

"I suppose you were forcing yourself to endure him in the garden. Perhaps you felt sorry for him? Or perhaps he dragged you there by force? Unfortunately, my dear, I know how easy it is to 'force' you!"