“Lord, help me.”
“I pay you well, Daniel. Occasionally, you have to earn your money. I need you to buy me some time. A few months will probably suffice. Once Cassandra is with child, she won’t consider divorcing me. Not if it means leaving her child behind.”
“And if she isn’t pregnant by the time her father is released? What then?”
Luke leaned forward over the chair. “Trust me, Daniel. I plan to work very hard to see that she is very pregnant before she ever sees her father or older brother again.”
The attorney snorted. “And be bound to a woman who despises you for the rest of your life? Champion plan, Luke. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”
“Have you got a better idea?” Luke challenged. “I can’t lose her, Daniel. And I will if I don’t lock her into this.”
“No,” the other man admitted with a sigh. “I don’t have a better plan. I wish to God I did because this one has holes in it large enough to accommodate a horse.” He shook his head. “Are you sure this isn’t a passing fancy? There are a lot of women out there.”
“I don’t want any other woman; I want her.”
“And her father and brother? What’re you going to do, keep them in jail until they have prison pallor?”
“I’ve decided to have them released from jail and transported over the mountains to my silver mine.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “To keep them prisoner there, you mean? Luke, stop and think.”
“I have,” Luke said firmly. “Look at things as they stand. The poor fellows are locked up. They’ll be much better off over at the silver mine. Able to work, for one thing.”
“Which equates to kidnapping and slave labor.”
“I intend to pay them twice what they earned here—more than any other man in the mine—to compensate for the fact that they’re more or less being sent there against their wills.”
“Big of you.”
Luke sighed. “Come on, Daniel. What else can I do? I care about this girl. I want to keep her with me. If I keep her father and brother in jail for three months, she’ll never forgive me. This idea is much more”—Luke broke off, searching for the right word—“humane.”
Daniel rubbed his jaw. “How the hell do you intend to keep them at the silver mine? The first opportunity they get, they’ll hightail it back here.”
“Not if they’re kept under armed guard, they won’t.”
“Dear God, you really have gone over the edge. What if they try to run? Are you going to order that they be shot?”
“Of course, not. But they don’t have to know that.”
“Pardon me for saying it, but this is not a very good way to get off on the right foot with your in-laws.”
“I’m not concerned about what my in-laws think of me,” Luke retorted. “There’s only one person whose opinions matter a damn.” More than a damn, he realized with a mental shiver. “This plan will work, Daniel. I’m counting on you to see to the details.”
EIGHTEEN
A twelve-branched candelabra at the center of the dining-room table cast a flickering amber glow over the pristine white tablecloth; long-stemmed goblets filled with darkest burgundy caught the light like prisms. Luke toyed absently with the base of his goblet, giving it a half turn, then twisting it back to its original position, his gaze fixed on the twinkling beveled edge of the glass. He had no appetite for the tender morsels of beef swimming in mushroom sauce on his plate, or for the baby potatoes and onions simmered in butter. In his recollection, he’d never been so nervous in his entire life.
How, exactly, did a man broach the subject of marriage? Luke couldn’t imagine himself on bended knee. Yet, at this point, he would be willing to do even that if it would assure him a positive response.
Seated to his right, Cassandra glowed as richly as the goblets, her new, wine-colored silk dress, recently delivered from Miss Dryden’s shop, shimmering in the candlelight, the ecru lace of the prim collar and cuffs complementing the flawless ivory of her skin. In the soft illumination, her sable hair, caught up at the crown in the usual loose array of curls, gleamed with highlights.
Gazing over at her, Luke felt his gut twist in an aching knot. What if she refused his proposal? All aspects of his plan except getting her to agree to marry him had already been executed. That afternoon, her father and brother had been removed from the jail and transported out of town to Luke’s silver mine, the marshal having been generously bribed to ensure his complete cooperation. Milo and Ambrose Zerek were now under armed guard—a different form of incarceration, to be sure, but one that, in Luke’s estimation, would be far more forgivable when Cassandra eventually learned the truth. Though still enduring imprisonment, both men would be well-treated and given far more comfortable living accommodations than they’d ever enjoyed before—not to mention much better wages—until such time as Luke elected to have them released.
Essentially, life for the two men wouldn’t be much different than when they’d worked for Luke in Black Jack. Better, actually. Warm, dry shelter; good food, and plenty of it; plus great pay. The only major difference was that neither man would be allowed to see Cassandra or Khristos until Luke gave the word. It really wasn’t an evil thing he was doing, Luke assured himself. More like “unusual.” And it was necessary.
“Cassandra,” he said in a strained voice that sounded nothing like his own, “there are some things I need to talk to you about.”
She fixed that liquid, drowning gaze on him, her lush lashes so long and thick they swept up to her brows. “What kind of things?”
Luke toyed with his goblet, working his jaw. “First of all, about your papa and brother.”
The blush along her cheekbones drained away. “Are they all right?”
“Yes, they’re fine,” he hastened to assure her. “Better than fine, actually.” He managed to flash her a smile. “I’ve been feeling so guilty about their being kept in that jail. After the things you’ve told me, I know it’s been sheer torture for your papa, being locked up like that. So…I, um…took the liberty of pulling a fast one.”
Her color restored now that she knew her loved ones were all right, she frowned slightly. “A fast one?”
“You remember my explaining to you that I couldn’t let them off scot-free, for fear that other men might begin jumping my claims?” At her nod, Luke continued. “Well, that is still a concern. So today, I had your papa and brother transported from the jail under armed guard to one of my silver mines. I’ve put out the word that they’re being sent there to do hard labor to reimburse me for damages. But the truth is, they’ll be doing the same sort of work they did for me here, only for much higher wages, and I’ve arranged for them to have nicer housing for the duration of their stay and a lot better food than they’d have gotten at the jail.”
She laid her hand over his wrist, her already-shimmering gaze turning even more luminous. “Oh, Luke…you never cease to amaze me. How sweet of you to do that for them.”
He shrugged a shoulder, eager to get past the dirty business of lying to her again. After a lifetime of lies, telling one more should have been as natural as breathing. It unsettled him to find that it was just the opposite.
“I figured they’d be a lot happier this way, and they’re bound to feel better about things, now that they’ll be drawing good wages for the duration of their sentence. It’s a more palatable situation, all the way around.” He swallowed. “I won’t pretend I did it for unselfish reasons.” He met her gaze. “I’ve come to care very much about you, you know. I can’t bear the thought of your harboring bitter feelings toward me because of what’s happening to your papa and brother. This way, my conscience is clear.”
Luke only wished it truly was. Instead, guilt gnawed at him.
“Bitter feelings? Oh, Luke, you’re such a silly man. You’ve been nothing but kind to all of us. How could you think I would harbor bitter feelings toward you, for anything? Just the opposite. I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
br /> “I don’t want you to feel indebted to me. It’s extremely important to me that you don’t feel that way, in fact.” He took a sip of wine to moisten his suddenly dry throat. “I have a question I want to ask you, and if you say yes, I don’t want it to be because you feel obligated to.”
“What question is that?”
Luke tightened his fingers around the stem of the goblet. “I, um…I’ve been thinking—about you and me. Having you here has made me very happy.”
Her eyes brightened with sudden tears. “Oh, Luke, have I made you happy? Sometimes I’ve wondered. The specifics of my duties have been a little difficult for me to grasp, and lots of times you’ve seemed so frustrated with me that—”
“Forget the damned job, Cassandra, and your…duties.” He hauled in a strangled breath. “I want you to marry me.”
Sudden silence. Luke sat there, his temples thrumming with every beat of his heart. When she didn’t say anything, he rushed to add, “Please, Cassandra, don’t say no without thinking it through. I have a lot to offer you, if you’ll only just—”
She interrupted him with an airy laugh. “‘Don’t say no?’ I thought we’d already settled this last night.”
Mouth lax and feeling as if he were standing at the edge of a hole, swinging his arms to keep from falling in, Luke gaped at her. “Pardon?”
She shrugged her slender shoulders, the expression in her eyes quizzical. “Well, didn’t we? Settle it, I mean? That I wasn’t going to be a nun because my true calling was to be your wife and the mother of your children? I thought it was all understood.”
Scenes from the previous night flashed through Luke’s mind: himself playing the role of intoxicated, conscienceless seducer. He’d gotten her tipsy, then nearly taken her virginity. As he recalled, he’d never said a damned word to her about any permanent arrangement, much less about marriage.
At his continued blank expression, Cassandra suddenly smiled and touched his cheek, her slender fingers feathering lightly along his bunched jaw. “You’re so funny sometimes, Luke. As if either of us would even consider doing such…um…what we did if we didn’t intend to get married.”
He caught her hand to hold it against the side of his face, craving her touch in a way he couldn’t define. “Then your answer is yes?”
She rolled her eyes and leaned toward him. “Of course it’s yes. I would never have…well…engaged in such activities if I hadn’t already decided to marry you. As it was, we did a terribly wrong thing, jumping the gun as we did. We really should have waited until Father Tully blessed our union.”
She withdrew her hand and reapplied herself to her meal, taking dainty little bites of the succulent beef and chewing industriously. Luke stared at her, dumbfounded. Once again, it was driven home to him like a sledge hammering a nail that the two of them had come from entirely different worlds.
What struck him most strongly, however, was her complete confidence that it had been his intention to get married. Hell, if she’d been any other woman, he would have walked out and never looked back, not once considering himself obligated in any way. After all, he hadn’t actually coupled with her. Yet in Cassandra’s mind, they’d taken an irrevocable step.
He smiled, relieved beyond description on the one hand and amused to his jaded soul on the other. To think that he’d sat here at this table through half the meal, sweating and agonizing and unable to eat, scared to death that she might say no, and all the while, she’d been convinced that marrying him was the only option. She had decided, had she?
He smiled as he took another sip of wine, the choking sensation in his throat miraculously gone. She was his, as simply as that. No arguments, no getting down on his knees, not even a prettily worded proposal. The little minx expected him to marry her because, quite simply, it was the right thing to do. He kept forgetting he was supposed to be a prince, God help him.
“May I ask when you plan for this wedding to take place?” he asked, laughter lacing each word.
“Well, as soon as Papa and Ambrose get back, I would think.” Her lovely brow pleated with a sudden frown. Leaning toward him again, she added in a low voice, “Unless, of course, my curse doesn’t come.”
“Your what?”
Her cheeks turned a pretty pink. “You know, my…um…curse. If it doesn’t come, we can’t possibly wait until Papa can be here to give me away.”
It suddenly hit Luke what she meant by “curse,” and it was on the tip of his tongue to disabuse her of the notion that she was in any danger of being pregnant. Then it occurred to him that she’d just supplied him with the perfect excuse to rush things.
“Sweetheart, it’s for that very reason we don’t dare wait until your papa gets back. If you’re…well, in the family way…how would it look if the babe came nearly three months early? People would know that we…um…jumped the gun, and the shame of it would stay with our child forever.”
Her eyes darkened with concern. “Oh, my…” She refocused, meeting his gaze with a question in her own. “Is it likely, do you think? That I’m…well…you know.”
Luke had already told so many lies that one more hardly seemed an issue. Or so he assured himself. “It only takes once.”
“Oh, my…” She sank back against her chair, letting her fork fall with a clatter onto her plate and putting a hand over her waist. “Oh, Luke, when I get married, I want my papa there to walk me down the aisle!”
Luke saw tears welling. That always made him feel slightly panicky. His feelings about this girl defied explanation or reason.
“Honey, how about this? Let’s be married quietly, with just Khristos in attendance, and two witnesses. I’m sure Pipps and Mrs. Whitmire would happily volunteer. Then, when your papa returns, we’ll have a second ceremony—a grand wedding, with all the trimmings. You can wear a beautiful white dress, and he can walk you down the aisle. Ambrose can be my best man.”
She immediately brightened at the suggestion. “Can we do that? Get married twice?”
“Of course, we can. What do you say? Isn’t that a grand idea?”
“Oh, yes! It’s perfect! And that way,” she pitched her voice low, “it won’t raise anyone’s eyebrows if I’m…well…you know.”
Luke never missed a beat. “Just in case, I think we should see Father Tully, posthaste. I’ll convince him to waive the posting of banns and marry us immediately.”
Given Cassandra’s destroyed reputation, Father Tully was more than eager to see Luke make an honest woman of her. To that end, he not only waived their having to post banns, but he postponed a baptism the following afternoon to perform the quick ceremony. So eager was the priest to get them married, in fact, that Luke had the distinct impression the old man was half afraid Luke might change his mind and skip town.
Not a chance. Luke was getting exactly what he wanted: a lifelong contract that gave him legally sanctioned rights to the girl who stood beside him before the altar, her face aglow as she vowed before almighty God to love, honor, and obey her husband until death did them part. Luke, determined never to utter the word love, subsituted the word “cherish” in his vows to her as he slipped a two-carat diamond wedding ring onto her slender finger.
Slightly off to the right, Pipps, Mrs. Whitmire, and Khristos stood witness to the ceremony. Pipps and the boy beamed with approval, but the housekeeper kept sending dagger looks at Luke to convey her displeasure. Luke wasn’t sure why the older woman disapproved of his marrying Cassandra, and for the moment, he was too happy to care.
When at last Father Tully made a sign of the cross over Luke’s and Cassandra’s bowed heads, Luke was able to breathe a sigh of relief. It was done. She belonged to him, the union blessed by a priest, and no man—not even her beloved papa—could put it asunder. Catching Cassandra by the chin, Luke settled his mouth over hers, the kiss sealing her promises to him and binding her to him for a lifetime.
“Congratulations,” Pipps said when the matrimonial kiss ended, stepping forward in a stiff, pompous manne
r to shake Luke’s hand. In a voice pitched for Luke alone to hear, he said, “I wish you all happiness, sir. It’s pleased I am that you changed your mind and decided to marry the young lady instead of—” Pipps grew flushed and cleared his throat. “Well, enough said. Congratulations.”
In that instant, Luke knew that his servants had somehow determined the truth, that Cassandra was still as sweetly virginal as she’d been the day he brought her to the house. The upstairs maids had probably been watching for telltale signs of blood on the sheets or, God forbid, eavesdropping at the doors. That was the way of it when a man lived in a large house with bored hirelings lurking around every corner.
For a heartbeat, Luke felt slightly embarrassed. He’d made no secret of his intentions when he’d hired Cassandra, and it stung his male ego to think his household staff might be snickering at him behind his back for having failed to carry through. On the other hand, Cassandra wasn’t just any woman, but his lady-wife, and he was glad that at least his servants realized she hadn’t come to his bed before their marriage.
“Yes, well, Pipps, it was the specifics that proved to be my stumbling block,” Luke said softly. “I had a devil of a time explaining them to her, and finally I just gave up.”
The butler released a loud and very undignified snort, his face turning beet red. “The specifics. Ahem! Of course. They can trip a fellow up, to be sure.”
As the butler turned toward Cassandra, his flush receded and the usual rigidity in his expression softened, his stern mouth turning up slightly at the corners. To Luke’s surprise, instead of bowing low over his mistress’s hand, the older man made a rumbling sound low in his throat and gathered Cassandra in his arms. “God bless you, miss. I mean, madam. I wish you a lifetime of only good things.”
Cassandra went up on her tiptoes and hugged the butler’s neck. “Oh, Pipps, thank you!”
Glowing with happiness, Cassandra drew away from the butler to embrace Mrs. Whitmire. Then she bent to enfold her little brother in her arms. “Ah, Khristos! What have you to say, hmm? Your sister’s an old married lady now!”