Dinner was a joyous occasion. And when the twins had been tucked up in bed, it was still a warm and wonderful night, for all of the household had gathered in the parlor, family and servants, and Eric tried to speak lightly of some of what had happened. “Think of it! We’ve ‘cocktails’ now! They say the mixture of spirits and sugar and bitters was born in a tavern in 1776, when barmaid Betsy Flannagan gave a tipsy patron a glass with the brew stirred up by a cockfeather! And we’ve ghost stories galore. They say a buxom young woman named Nancy Coates fell madly in love with Mad Anthony Wayne, and cast herself into the river when she discovered him returning to Fort Ticonderoga with a society girl. They say that Nancy still haunts the fort, that she walks about bedraggled and wet and calls for Anthony by the light of the moon.”
Amanda arched a brow to him in disbelief. Then she leaned toward him, whispering softly, “There is a woman here, alive and well, who haunts your hall, calling your name! Eric! Eric! See there? That woman is going up to bed now and shall wait to haunt you, should you come soon enough.”
He laughed aloud. Amanda was up, pausing by Jacques, kissing the top of his head. “Good night, Father, good night, all!” Gracefully she swept from the parlor.
“Well, then!” Eric rose. “I’ll say my good nights too. Jacques, Danielle, Cassidy, Pierre—Richard.”
Richard stopped him, standing in the doorway. “Lord Cameron, it is good to have you home, sir. Good to have you home!”
Eric nodded. “Thank you. Thank you, all of you.”
He left the parlor and he started up the stairs, and when he came to the picture gallery, he paused. He looked at all the noble faces staring down at him, and he smiled rather wistfully. “Well, milords, I think that I am home for good. There is still the forging of a country to take place. And I’m not so sure that I’m ‘Lord’ Cameron anymore. That title came from the estates in England. But I am still Eric Cameron, gentleman of Virginia. I rather like that. I hope that you all understand.”
They would, he thought. They had forged the land, and now he was hoping to forge the new country. They didn’t seem too distressed as they stared down upon them.
“I really don’t know what the future will bring,” he continued. “There’s going to be so much to do to unite thirteen very different states. Why, Patrick Henry told me that being governor here in Virginia was a nightmare at first, for laws were so difficult to form, and because they must be made so very carefully. And so I wonder at the future. I promise you, though, this hall with survive—”
“Eric. Oh, Eric …”
He heard her voice, coming from the bedroom. Soft and sweet and most certainly—haunting. Very haunting. His grin deepened as he looked at the portraits. Particularly at the portrait of his wife. Ever challenging, ever lovely, her sweet smile as haunting as the tone of her voice.
He bowed low to the portraits. “My lords, I’m afraid that the future will have to wait. I, Eric Cameron, gentleman of Virginia, am most earnestly interested in the present!”
And with that he turned about and hurried down the hall, into the bedroom and into her arms. This was the present, and together they had earned their freedom, their peace, and their home …
And the splendor of the night together.
Indeed, the future could now wait!
Books by Heather Graham from Dell
SWEET SAVAGE EDEN
A PIRATE’S PLEASURE
LOVE NOT A REBEL
DEVIL’S MISTRESS
EVERY TIME I LOVE YOU
GOLDEN SURRENDER
THE VIKING’S WOMAN
ONE WORE BLUE
AND ONE WORE GREY
AND ONE ROAD WEST
LORD OF THE WOLVES
RUNAWAY
SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
Heather Graham, Love Not a Rebel
(Series: North American Woman # 3)
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