Diamonds and Dreams (61 page)

But they held her steady and pulled her
directly in front of the huge portico that opened into the
courtyard. Unable to move, breathe, or think, she watched in alarm
as the two great doors of the mansion slowly opened.

“Let me go,” she begged, her voice no more
than a slight whisper. “Please don’t make me see him.” Anguish
pouring from her heart, tears steaming down her face, she turned
her head and closed her eyes.

“There he is!” the man next to her screamed.
“Goldie,” he said to her, taking hold of her chin and turning her
head, “look, lass! Thanks to you, there he is!”

By their own accord, her eyes opened. She
saw him. Saber. Dressed in the most elegant clothes she’d ever seen
him wear, he was standing at the top of the marble steps, his
seaweed gaze sweeping over the mass of cheering villagers. Her
banging heart stopped altogether at the sight of him.

And then his gaze roamed no further, but
settled intently on her. At his piercing stare, her knees buckled,
and she sagged between the two men holding her.

A thousand emotions swept through her when
he began his descent on the marble steps. His stride was quick,
purposeful; his eyes never left her. She tried to flee, but her
muscles refused to work. She longed to scream, but her voice
wouldn’t come. She could do nothing but stand there and watch
helplessly as he neared her. What was he going to do? Why was he
doing this to her? The questions reverberated through her mind.

A hush came over the shouting villagers as
he moved off the last step. Goldie could hear nothing at all but
the deafening thunder of her heart. The crowd parted, making way
for him when he began walking toward her.

No, God, she prayed desperately. Don’t let
this happen! Please don’t!

Her prayer went unanswered. Saber stopped
before her. Her head bowed, she saw the tips of his shiny shoes
through the blur of her tears. The men who held her released her,
and she stood there, trembling so hard she could see the skirt of
her dress shake.

Swallowing and trying to find a shred of
courage to see her through her torturous situation, she raised her
gaze. Slowly. Up it went, from his shoes to his legs. She swallowed
again at the sight, remembering the muscles, the strength of those
legs. She saw his slim hips, his flat belly, his broad chest. And
then she looked at his face.

The world and everything in it ceased to
exist for her. She was aware of nothing but Saber’s eyes. Their
glow. Their softness.

Very slowly, Saber reached out his arm and
picked up her quivering hand. He held it gently in his own for a
moment that was an eternity to Goldie. Then, he turned, and
increasing his pressure on her hand, he led her to the steps.

In a mindless daze, she trailed behind him,
vaguely aware that all eyes were upon her. She felt weightless, as
though she were drifting through a cloud, through a dream.

Only when she tripped on a step and stumbled
did reality come back to her. Stung with humiliation, she braced
herself for the fall.

It never came. Instead, she felt herself
being lifted into a familiar embrace. Into arms whose might she
knew well. The scent of sandalwood drifted through her senses,
making her dizzy with bittersweet feelings. Her head next to his
chest, she heard the steady beat of a heart she’d once thought
belonged to her. Weak with emotion, she couldn’t find the strength
to protest when Saber carried her the rest of the way up the steps.
She realized then that whatever plan he had for her, she would have
to deal with it as best she could. There was simply no
escaping.

As if she were made of the most fragile
crystal, Saber set her down on the spacious veranda, keeping his
arm around her waist. She felt his hand, his long, strong fingers
caress her there. When she swayed, that same warm hand steadied
her.

Unable to concentrate on any one thing, she
looked down, surveying the dense gathering of people below. Her
confusion intensified. Why had Saber brought her up here? Where was
Jillian? Her mind filled with questions so numerous that she could
not name them. They blended into one seething tangle of
bewilderment.

“Goldie.”

His voice, so much like sweet, rich
chocolate, stole her breath. What was he going to say? What was he
going to do to her?

“Poppet.”

She couldn’t look at him. She was afraid.
She couldn’t understand any of this.

“Goldie, love.”

She felt his hand beneath her chin, his
fingers bringing her face upward to meet his. She blinked several
times, totally captivated by the softness in his beautiful
eyes.

When he had her attention, Saber slipped his
hand into the pocket of his waistcoat, bringing forth a small black
velvet box. His eyes never leaving Goldie’s, he lifted the top of
it, waiting in breathless anxiety for her reaction.

Lowering her eyes, she looked at what he
held out to her.

Nestled within folds of dark green satin lay
a gleaming gold ring. She thought the setting the most beautiful
thing she’d ever seen. Yellow diamonds, some large, some tiny, were
arranged in the shape of an exquisite flower. She knew in the heart
of her heart that the blossom of diamonds was none other than a
dandelion.

“For so long,” Saber began softly, taking
the ring from the box, “I wondered what the connection was between
a diamond and a dandelion. The answer eluded me until you spoke of
your dreams. Your diamond dreams. In one’s dreams anything can come
true. And so, Goldie, it is with dreams that I join the diamond and
the dandelion. Your dreams. My dreams. By accepting this ring,
love, you will be uniting our dreams forever.”

She looked up at him, refusing to believe
she’d heard him right. “I—Saber...”

The awe in her huge, golden eyes made him
smile down at her. “I love you, poppet. I want you to be my
duchess. Marry me, Goldie Mae.”

He held the ring before her. She realized he
was waiting for her to draw up her hand to receive it, but she
couldn’t do it. Fear continued to stab through her. Surely this was
going to end. It wasn’t true. She
knew
it wasn’t.

Saber saw the hesitation, the disbelief in
her eyes, and knew exactly what she was thinking. “Goldie,” he
murmured, his voice as soft as the sweetly scented country breeze,
“the dreams aren’t ending, poppet. They’re only beginning. Marry
me. Say yes?”

“Saber, I...”

Her mind screamed for her to run. Shouted to
her that it was all a prank, and that it would end in her complete
and utter humiliation, just like always. Saber would bring Jillian
out. They’d laugh at her. The villagers would join in on the
merriment. It would be the worst thing that had ever happened to
her.
Run, Goldie! Run!
her mind continued to scream.

But her heart... From the deepest recesses
of her heart whispered a voice so dear to her, it brought tears to
her eyes when she heard it.
Trust me, Goldie,
he begged her.
Trust me.

The quiet whisper in her heart overcame the
frenzied shouting in her mind, and in that instant her decision was
made. Slowly, tremulously, she lifted her left hand. Time was
suspended as she waited to see what Saber would do. Never in her
life had she felt so totally vulnerable, so wide open for hurt.

Warmth seeped through every part of her when
Saber took her hand and clasped it in his own. “Saber,” she
whispered, unable to say more.

“Will you marry me, Goldie?”

Still speechless with wonder, she could only
nod.

Saber slid the ring on her finger, his own
fingers shaking as uncontrollable joy crashed through him. She was
his.

This wonderful poppet called Goldie was his,
now and forevermore.

“From this moment on,” he began, bringing
her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to it, “I will give you
everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

Tears of the most profound happiness she’d
ever known streamed down her face. Every hurt, every confusion,
every heartache she’d ever had melted away. “Saber,” she squeaked,
unable to decide what to look at—the wonderful, sparkling ring, or
the beautiful glow in his eyes.

Her tears, so like small diamonds, made
Saber smile, for he knew they were not born of sorrow. “Look,
Goldie,” he told her quietly, his voice trembling with emotion,
“look at our home, and see the mere beginnings of all the dreams I
will make come true for you.”

She cast one last glance at the wondrous
ring shimmering on her finger, then obeyed his tender command.
Raising her head, she peered up at the mansion.

What she saw sent a rush of pure
astonishment coursing through her. From each open window of the
house fluttered ruffled curtains of pink and white gingham. She
couldn’t contain a squeal.

Her squeal made Saber chuckle. His chuckle
turned to full-fledged laughter when he noticed she had no shoes
on. “My barefoot duchess,” he teased. “I take it your
unquiet
delight means you like the curtains? The village
women have been sewing for days. The men, too, have been working.
Do you see anything else, poppet?”

She examined her surroundings more intently,
her hands flying to her open mouth when she saw the white picket
fence. It encircled the entire manor house. “My fence,” she
murmured. “Oh, Saber, my—”

A mewling sound interrupted her. Looking
down, she saw a multitude of kittens, one trying to climb up her
skirt. With another squeal, she bent and scooped the wiggling ball
of gray fur up into her arms.

Saber thought he would burst from the joy of
seeing her so happy. “And inside the house there are—”

“Pink sofas with little white arm pillows
that have strawberries stitched on ’em, and a rockin’ chair with my
name carved on it!” she finished for him.

He nodded, laughing again. “But the
parlor—Goldie, it’s completely empty. We even took down the
wallpaper. It’s your tea parlor, poppet, and I want you to decorate
it to your heart’s content. I’ll take you all over Europe so you
can find just the right things to put in it. It’ll be a thousand
times better than Imogene Tully’s. And your kittens can sleep all
over the furniture, and we won’t ever get mad at them,” he added.
“And we’ll plant magnolias, Goldie. We’ll plant hundreds of them,
and no one will ever cut them down. And look there, poppet. What do
you see?”

She looked in the direction in which he was
pointing and saw an array of gilded cages, each one holding a
brilliantly colored bird. More tears trickled down her cheeks as
she recognized the significance of his gifts to her.

“No one will ever let your birds go,
Goldie,” Saber promised. “They’re yours. I’ve even figured out how
to keep the cats away from them. We’ll convert one of the rooms
into a bird room, and we’ll keep it locked all the time. This is
your home, Goldie. And no one will ever have the right to tell you
to leave it.”

“Saber, I—”

“And as for the other dream you told me
about...” he continued, deliberately letting his voice trail away
as he smiled rakishly at her. “Remember those twelve children you
always wanted? Well, I must admit that
that
dream is one I’d
like to start making come true right now.”

His admission made her tremble anew.

“We’ll fill the whole mansion with children,
poppet,” he told her excitedly. “Ravenhurst will ring with laughter
once more, for by giving you all your dreams, my own have come
true. I’m back on my lands, where I belong. Because of you, Goldie.
All because of you.”

She could find no words to describe how
happy he’d made her. Relying on actions, she set the kitten down,
then threw herself into Saber’s arms.

Holding her close, Saber turned to the
silent, awestruck crowd below. “People of Hallensham!” he roared.
“I present to you Goldie Mae, the future Duchess of
Ravenhurst!”

The cheer that went up was deafening. Goldie
smiled, laughed, waved, and cried. She embraced Big and Asa as they
joined her, then received yet another surprise when the aunties
came scurrying out of the house. Between them, with a huge, bright
smile on her face, was Rosie.

“I been adopted, luv!” Rosie exclaimed. “An’
not jest fer a while, neither, but
ferever!
Saber says I’m
part o’ the family now, I am!”

“Rosie!” Goldie shouted above the din of the
villagers’ applause. “Miss Lucy, Miss Clara!” Glowing with radiant
happiness, she turned back to the man who had made her every dream
come true, and held his face in her hands. “Saber—Great day Miss
Agnes, I love you!”

He took her hands from his cheeks and kissed
each of her wrists. “And I love you, Goldie. Now, tomorrow...” He
looked up, casting an expression of the deepest gratitude to the
heavens. “I’ll love you all the hours God sends.” Taking her into
his arms, he bent to kiss her.

Right before his lips met hers, Goldie
caught sight of the estate garden. What she saw sent her joy to the
highest pinnacle.

The roses were blooming.

* * *

Read
Chapter One
of Rebecca Paisley’s
delightful novel
The Barefoot Bride