When the Splendor Falls (74 page)

Twenty-two

Never seek to tell thy love

Love that never told can be;

For the gentle wind does move

Silently, invisibly.

William Blake

“Leigh.”

Her name came soft as a whisper to his lips, and even over the clamor surrounding them she heard his voice and glanced up into his face, still disbelieving that he was here, that he had returned to Royal Rivers, that he held her in his arms once again.

“
Once again
,” he said, seeming to speak aloud her innermost thoughts, “we meet, and never as I would have imagined. But then you always have come upon me in unguarded moments, when I am most vulnerable,” he murmured in greeting, the pale eyes becoming shadowed as his gaze rested on the pallor of her face. In the flickering torchlight, her flesh seemed as smooth as carven ivory. He reached out to caress the curving line of ashen cheek and was startled by its coldness. He found himself thinking of a stone effigy he’d seen on an ancient noblewoman’s tomb—cold, unresponsive, forever lost to life—and his arms tightened protectively around Leigh’s chilled body, holding her close against the wild beating of his heart as if he’d had a disturbing premonition of yet another parting that would separate them—and perhaps permanently this time.

Leigh felt the strength of the arms holding her, the heat of his body warming her, and she felt as if she, too, had somehow come home. For a long moment, she stared up into his face, the hawkish features so familiar, so beloved, yet his expression was strangely somber, and she wondered if he would always be a stranger to her. Would there never be a moment in time when they met with a singleness of mind, oneness of body and spirit?

Something of those deep yearnings must have crossed her face, perhaps only for a fleeting instant, but Neil suddenly felt himself drawn into her as if he were already touching the warmth and softness of this woman he loved.

“Thank goodness, you have returned!” Camilla cried, hurrying up to them in a rustle of silken skirts that disturbed the silence that had fallen around them, holding them enthralled.

Camilla Braedon had never been considered beautiful. She was short, with dull reddish-brown hair that was turning gray and had been pulled back into an unflattering, albeit neat, chignon. Her features were unremarkable, and childbirth and the years of living a pampered life had added a slight plumpness to her face and figure, but it was not unsightly, and actually seemed to become her, for she was a warm and vibrant woman who loved to mother everyone.

That was why Camilla was considered beautiful by those who knew and loved her. She possessed an inner beauty that would never fade. It emanated from her, shining through her cornflower blue eyes and creating an aura of beauty that others with perfectly featured, cameo faces would never possess. “We have been so worried. When you did not return in the afternoon, I knew something tragic must have happened. And,
mon Dieu
, but it has been a long afternoon, especially with that Jolie so silent, pausing as if she heard voices none of us could hear, then she would begin to mutter those strange incantations as if death were lurking over her shoulder, and it very nearly did, because she walked up so softly behind Stephen she nearly scared the poor man to death. And the aunts have been in a dither all day long and I have been beside myself trying to calm the little dears down, for they have become so fond of you, Leigh. And you know how easily upset they become when their daily routine is altered.

“But Nathaniel was not worried. When you were not here by sundown, then, he begins to worry, because he knows his son would not disobey him and go anywhere other than the
pastor
’s camp, especially with Leigh accompanying him into the high country. My son is no fool, and he fears his father’s wrath. So, we wait a little longer, but still you do not arrive, and Nathaniel is about to set out in search of you when in rides Neil. I could scarcely believe my eyes, or my ears when Jolie says she knew
he’d
be coming. Heard Thunder, she said, although I don’t know how she could possibly have heard Neil’s horse, Thunder Dancer, so far away. But I have come to believe she knows what she is talking about;
that one
has the gift. My mama knew their kind when she lived in Santo Domingo. You think she might be Haitian?” Camilla asked nervously, then smiled, touching their arms as if reassuring herself that they were both there beside her. “I was so happy to see Neil again, and always I remember that first time I saw him—and see!” she exclaimed, reaching up to touch the thick braid of golden hair. “It is the same as then,” she declared, glancing over nervously at Nathaniel, who had not been pleased to see his son wearing his hair like a Comanche, even if he was a man full grown and could do as he pleased. For she also remembered the battle of wills that had followed for months afterward between Nathaniel and his fourteen-year-old son after Nathaniel had cut the damning braid from his son’s golden head, but this time—if the braid was cut—it would have to be by Neil’s own hand.

“It was not a happy homecoming for my poor Neil when he discovered his beloved wife is missing. I was so upset, and then the look on his face upsets me even more,” she said with genuine affection for her stepson, although when she looked at him, she knew a deep sadness in her heart for the loss of her own son, her dearest Justin, who had resembled his father, and Neil, and would never return to Royal Rivers.

“I should never have allowed you to ride with Gil, not that he wouldn’t have protected you, for my son is very brave, like his papa and his brothers, but it was not proper for you to ride so far from Royal Rivers. You were given into our protection by Neil, and it was our duty to see that no harm came to you. It was easy enough in winter Leigh, when you had to stay indoors because of the snows, but now it is spring, and you ride all the time, everyday, and never will you ride in the carriage with me when I visit my friends,” she said, throwing up her hands as if she did not know what to do with so headstrong a young woman. “You will have to be very strict with this one, Neil, or you will never have a moment’s peace—never knowing where your beloved is.”

“I know exactly where she is,” he said, not in any hurry to release the warm body in his arms.

“Let me down,” Leigh said, loud enough for his ears alone, her heart pounding as she realized he had not denied she was his beloved. Although she protested, Leigh was happy to stay in his arms, their touch making it easier to forget the terror of the afternoon when another pair of arms had closed around her.

“But to have Neil arrive home at exactly such a moment, aah, I could not bear to face him, knowing how deeply in love the two of you are. And for Leigh it was tragic too. She should have been here to welcome you home, Neil. She has pined away for you, and thought of nothing but you day after day, and that is because she loves you so. And why should she not? I have heard of the romantic marriage at midnight, how you swept her off her feet with such fiery protestations of love and, to claim her for your bride, had to force that poor preacher man out of his warm bed. Ah, that Adam, I remember him. Always the jester. Ah, but he was a good boy, and we will always take care of his precious
bébé
. Ooh lah!” she said, laughing, for she had loved the romance of it all, and had exaggerated Leigh’s story a trifle, and now to see Leigh’s face flaming with embarrassment before she turned it away from Neil’s gaze caused her no end of delight. “But true love will not be denied, and Neil is a man who will do as he sees fit. And he is the bold one. How could he leave his wife in danger, and not send her to us when we have such a big house and so much food, and so many brave men to protect us? And we have come to love her and her family so. Ah, and to have the little ones here, their voices filling the house with laughter again,” Camilla said, wiping away a tear of happiness. “And soon, maybe, we will have more little ones in our home? And I will be their grandmama,” she said, eyeing them hopefully. “I would never have forgiven you, Neil, had you not seen fit to marry this beautiful child. But why you did not do it four years earlier than you did, when in Virginia to buy horses, I do not know.”

“Neither do I, ma’am,” Neil said softly, holding Leigh closer, his grip becoming almost punishingly painful against her ribs, for they both remembered the reasons why he had not married her five years ago—she had chosen another. And they both knew the reasons why he had chosen to marry her a year ago—and they’d been anything but romantic.

“What? No kiss yet?” Camilla demanded over her plump shoulder as she hurried away, having caught sight of her son in conversation with her husband. “Do not mind all of us gathering around so. This time, it will be quite proper for you to kiss your wife in public, after all, you have been parted for so long. We shall be very discreet, and very disappointed if you don’t,” she warned, stopping for a moment to make certain they did as she requested, her hands held together expectantly.

Neil felt Leigh trying to struggle free from his embrace and a glint came into his eyes as he bent his head to hers. “For pride’s sake, my dear,” he murmured, his lips parting in the slightly curving smile that always made her nervous. “We cannot allow all of your efforts to go for naught, especially after that fairy tale you wove for my family’s benefit—or was it for your own?” he asked softly, his lips lowering closer to hers.

“Mine, of course. As you say, ‘for pride’s sake’ people will sometimes tell the most outrageous lies,” Leigh told him with that cool, disdainful look, that look of Travers pride that always managed to get under his skin, sending a well-aimed shaft of anger through him as he felt challenged to force a different response from her.

Leigh frowned as his smile widened with purpose, then suddenly she felt his arms begin to fall away from her and she reached up around his neck to keep from falling into the dust at his feet—a place she vowed she’d never be.

But his arms hadn’t fallen away completely, and now they tightened around her just before her feet touched the ground. He held her pressed against the muscular length of his body, his mouth finding hers without hesitation as she looked up at him in surprise, her soft, parted lips fitting perfectly against the hard, finely chiseled curves of his.

Why did it never change? Leigh wondered helplessly as she felt that same breathlessness and sudden twist in her stomach whenever he was near, the roughness of his unshaven chin heightening her sensitivity to his touch. His lips were warm and sensuous moving against hers, his arm around her waist bending her slightly backward, bringing her hips more firmly against his and she knew she was lost, and it frightened her, because she didn’t want to give of herself again, not unless she knew there was love between them. The kiss deepened, his tongue touching hers intimately, and Neil sighed, loving the feel of her. Leigh’s senses were so filled with his scent, she felt as if she were drowning in him, and she couldn’t draw a breath of her own into her lungs. Her breath had become his.

Suddenly he felt her pulling, and none too gently, against his braided hair, trying to lift his mouth from hers, her slender body struggling against his, but her struggles only served to meld them closer, and he couldn’t control the tightening in his loins, and when she tensed, he knew she felt his masculinity hard against her. He winced when she gave the braid a painful yank, refusing to lessen the pressure. Slowly, he allowed his mouth to lift from hers. She was breathing heavily, her dark blue eyes staring up at him triumphantly, then widening slightly when she saw the corner of his lips twitch slightly as he smiled, but before she could draw her breath to protest, he began to lower his mouth to hers again, ignoring the pain as she still clung to the braid—as if she sought to control him. While holding her attention, his hand moved from her waist, dropping lower over the soft buckskin of her skirt until he found the curve he wanted, and he lightly pinched her buttock in retribution, her indrawn breath and surprised look of indignation causing him to laugh aloud with the joy of having her in his arms again. “Always remember, my dear, two can play the game, and I like to win.”

“So do I,” she reminded him with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth now, which gave him cause to worry as he wondered what she would do next.

But even Leigh was surprised by the odd expression that suddenly spread over his face as his nostrils flared slightly. Sniffing, Neil raised an astonished eyebrow as a very unsavory odor wafted to him from the lovely woman he held in his arms.

Leigh began to protest her innocence, realizing now what he had smelled as she felt the dampness of her leather jacket, but she never had a chance. Hardly having opened her mouth, she was rudely interrupted.

“Baaaa! Baaaa!”

Neil couldn’t control his startled look as he stared at her, wondering how she had managed such a sound. But when he glanced down to find a damp, woolly lamb butting determinedly against his legs, trying to wedge itself between his and Leigh’s, and bleating more and more loudly for its mother—which it thought it had found as it looked up sadly at Leigh—he grinned in resignation, laughing softly.

Leigh smiled in response. She had forgotten how wonderful the sound of his laughter was.

Neil sniffed again and Leigh found herself laughing, rather than finding offense. “Wet wool?” he queried, eyeing the closely buttoned leather jacket, and remembering now the lamb he’d taken from her lap when she’d ridden onto the
rancho
. Until now, he’d forgotten the creature.

“Pedro’s herd was attacked last night and he lost several ewes. This little one became lost and we found it on the trail. If we’d left it alone, the wolves would have gotten it, and we were too far from Pedro’s camp to return,” Leigh explained, bending down and picking up the forlorn little lamb, cuddling it close.

“A lesson to be remembered,” Neil said, holding Leigh’s gaze meaningfully over the woolly head of the lamb.