The Soft Whisper of Dreams (26 page)

‘Yes, let’s.’

The canapés were out of this world and Maddie sincerely hoped there would be some left over since she could only manage a few with the tight corset constricting her torso. The champagne went down smoothly, however, and she was soon floating on a cloud of happiness. She greeted her father and uncle, thanked her mother and Wes for the wonderful presents and mingled with the other guests. Through it all Alex stayed by her side like the perfect escort he was meant to be.

Maddie noticed several local beauties eyeing him up and asked if he shouldn’t do the polite thing and talk to some of the other guests.

‘No, I only want to talk to you,’ he replied. ‘Besides, I promised Wes I would be your beau this evening. He’d beat me black and blue if I didn’t stick to that.’

Maddie didn’t believe him for a second, but gave up protesting. When he swept her into his arms to begin the dancing she forgot about everyone else in the room. Only he existed. How I have missed him! He whirled her around expertly and she closed her eyes and savoured the moment. The feel of his hard body against hers, the smell of his aftershave, his soft hair brushing her cheek. It was heaven and she never wanted it to end.

Halfway through the evening Alex walked her towards the huge French windows, which had been thrown open, and out onto the terrace at the back of the house.

‘I need some air,’ he declared and pulled her along to the farthest corner where there was a stone bench conveniently situated. They sank down on it.

‘Are you having a good time?’ he asked and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against him and closed her eyes.

‘Oh, yes. It’s wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a lovely birthday before.’

‘Good. I’m glad.’ He was silent for a long while and nothing could be heard except the distant roar of the sea.

For some strange reason, Maddie suddenly remembered the gypsy’s predictions for her, and the woman’s words came back in snatches. ‘I see a tall, dark, handsome man. He shares my blood, and he will try to help you.’ She glanced up at Alex’s profile, then closed her eyes again. That part had come true anyway. Alex was of the gypsy’s blood and he had helped her fight Blake-Jones.

‘I see danger. There is another dark man, he is evil and there is a red-haired man, he is good. You must face them both before you can find happiness. But take care, the danger is strong.’ Maddie shuddered. Yes, the danger had been exceptionally strong. Four times she had come close to death, but she had survived. ‘You will find a way when the time comes.’ She had. Somehow she’d found the strength to fight the deranged man and now he was gone. There was nothing more to fear. But what was the last thing the woman had said?

Maddie pondered this for a while, then out of the blue the gypsy’s words popped into her mind.  ‘... and do not worry, there will be happiness, as long as you let yourself believe in it.’ What had she meant by that? Of course Maddie believed in happiness, didn’t everyone? The words didn’t make sense.

‘Are you cold?’ Alex’s question brought her back to the present.

‘Sorry? Oh, no, I’m all right.’

‘I should have brought some champagne. Shall I go and get you some?’

‘No more, thank you, or I’ll disgrace myself. Are you trying to make me drunk so you can have your wicked way with me again?’ She giggled.

Alex grinned. ‘No, I’m trying to break down your barriers. I thought perhaps champagne might do the trick.’

‘Barriers? What are you talking about?’ Maddie was sure she was still fairly sober, but she didn’t follow him at all.

‘I can never seem to make you even talk to me, I mean really talk, properly, let alone penetrate the fences you have put up against me. And there’s something I want to ask you.’ He seemed very serious, all of a sudden, and Maddie waited for him to continue.

‘Maddie, do you think I’m a bad person because I’ve been to prison?’

Maddie’s eyes opened wide and she sat up to look at him in the moonlight. ‘No, of course not. Why should you think that? Oh, I know, that stupid argument we had. You should have let me finish and not jumped to conclusions. I wasn’t going to say that at all.’

‘You weren’t? What were you going to say then?’

‘I only wanted to tell you that I don’t date players. I don’t like being toyed with and as I’ve said before, I most definitely don’t like one-night stands. Although I suppose we sort of went beyond that, technically speaking …’

‘Players?’ Alex looked incredulous. ‘You think I’m a player, now?’ He started to laugh.

‘What’s so funny? You are extremely handsome, as I’m sure you’re aware, and I’ve learned from experience that men like you don’t have steady relationships with women like me. I’m not going to make that mistake twice, believe me. Besides, there was that woman who was all over you in Dartmouth and Annie told me all about how you used to bring home different girls every weekend. Then there was Wes’s ex and ―’

‘Please, don’t repeat it. I can imagine what she told you. I suppose you know all about Caroline as well?’ Maddie nodded. ‘I thought so. That’s just wonderful; all my sins come home to roost.’ He shook his head. ‘Oh, I don’t know why I bothered with all this. It was probably a stupid idea after all. Come on, let’s go back inside.’ He stood up abruptly.

‘But ... Alex, what did I say? For God’s sake, what’s this all about?’

He rounded on her, a look of sadness mixed with anger on his face. ‘Okay, I’ll tell you. I had Kayla and Wes arrange this ball for you and I was going to ask you to marry me. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but some things you’re just sure of … and I was going to tell you that I love you more than any other woman in the world, that I think you’re absolutely gorgeous and I can’t live without you.’ He turned away and stared out to sea. ‘But what’s the use? You’ve already made up your mind about me. I thought the only thing you might hold against me was my criminal record, but I see now that I was wrong. Well, I’m sorry I bothered you. I sure as hell didn’t intend to have a one-night stand with you, it just happened and for the record, I wanted a lot more than that. There, are you happy now?’

‘... there will be happiness, as long as you let yourself believe in it.’

Maddie stared at him. God what an idiot I’ve been! ‘Happy? I ... no. I’m not happy, I’m ecstatic!’

‘You what?’ He turned around to scowl at her ferociously.

‘Alex, you idiot. Kiss me.’

‘Kiss you?’ It was Alex’s turn to stare. 

‘Yes, please. If you tell me you love me often enough I might believe you, but you’ll have to prove it to me too.’

‘You mean ...?’

‘Yes, I mean! Yes, I would love to be your wife! Yes, I love you like crazy and no I don’t give a damn whether you’ve been to prison or not! I also don’t care how many women you seduced, as long as that part of your life is over now. You really want to marry me?’ She couldn’t believe it. It was too wonderful to be true, surely.

Alex smiled as her words finally sank in. ‘You bet I do. In fact, if you hold on a second I’ll do this right.’ He fumbled inside his jacket, brought out a tiny box and flipped the lid open. Then he went down on one knee in front of her. ‘Maddie Browne, I love you more than I can say. Will you marry me?’ He held out the box which contained an antique ring of delicate craftsmanship topped by a small emerald.

‘Oh, Alex, yes. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.’

Alex grinned from ear to ear and hauled her into his embrace. ‘Right. Now if you want me to prove my love it might take a while,’ he warned and kissed her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids and finally her mouth. ‘But I’ll do my best.’

‘That’s quite all right. Take all the time you need, only, do you think we could perhaps go somewhere more private? People might see us.’ She nodded in the direction of the French windows.

‘As a matter of fact, I know the perfect place. There’s this little sandy cove not very far from here, where no one but the seagulls will hear you cry out.’

Maddie felt her cheeks grow warm. ‘You think you’ll make me cry out then, do you? Perhaps you were just lucky last time.’

‘Not a chance. You’ll do it every time, for the rest of your life. I guarantee it. And by the way, I love it when you blush.’

‘Well, in that case – what are we waiting for? Get me out of this dreadful corset before I expire!’

Epilogue

Anyone watching the beautiful bride walking down the aisle on her father’s arm would have said that she was truly radiant. Not to mention the spitting image of the red-headed giant who guided her to her future husband with such obvious pride.

That pride increased no end when later on the priest asked, ‘Do you, Madeline Sorcha Browne Ruthven take this man for your lawfully wedded husband?’, and there were those who swore they had seen tears running down the big man’s cheeks. No one was ever sure.

However, the frail lady by his side was most definitely crying with happiness and kept twisting the shiny new wedding band on her own left hand. She looked on with maternal pride as her oldest daughter was married, attended by her youngest, who looked almost as lovely as the bride herself. The two girls were followed by the groom’s niece, who skipped down the aisle in a fairytale dress of sky blue silk and tulle.

None of the guests remarked upon the extraordinary events which had preceded this wedding. They simply wished Maddie and Alex all the best for the future, and headed back to Marcombe Hall to celebrate them with as much fuss as could possibly be managed.

In the first floor gallery, where the wedding breakfast was held, everyone’s eyes were on the bride and groom. If they’d turned around, they might have seen a strange sight – the subjects of two of the gallery’s huge paintings smiling and nodding at each other. The man, Jago Kerswell, whispered to the love of his life, Lady Eliza Marcombe, ‘Another happy ending – exactly what this house needs. Looks like they’re following in our footsteps.’

‘Yes, I hope they’ll be together for eternity, just like us, my love.’

And the happy couple looked set to do just that.

About the Author

Christina Courtenay lives in Herefordshire and is married with two children. Although born in England she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden. In her teens, the family moved to Japan where she had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Far East.

Christina is vice chairman of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
The Soft Whisper of Dreams
is her eleventh release with Choc Lit and a follow-on to her novel,
The Secret Kiss of Darkness
.  In 2011, Christina’s first novel
Trade Winds
(September 2010) was short listed for The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Award for Best Historical Fiction. Her second novel,
The Scarlet Kimono
, won the Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award. In 2012,
Highland Storms
(November 2011) won the Best Historical Romantic Novel of the year award. And
The Silent Touch of Shadows
(July 2012), Christina’s fourth novel, won the award for Best Historical Read at the Festival of Romance.
The Gilded Fan
is Christina’s fifth novel and the sequel to The Scarlet Kimono and was published in 2013. In addition, Christina is also the author of the YA novel,
New England Rocks
, and a number of Regency e-novellas, which can be found online.

www.christinacourtenay.com

www.twitter.com/PiaCCourtenay

More Choc Lit

From Christina Courtenay

The Secret Kiss of Darkness
Prequel to The Soft Whispers of Dreams

Must forbidden love end in heartbreak?

Kayla Sinclair knows she’s in big trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a life-size portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man at an auction.