Ecstasy's Promise (Historical Romance) (46 page)

"No. Not a chance at all. He will do whatever Victoria asks him to."

"Why, when it is against her best interest?"

"Because she is his whole world."

"I never really understood their relationship."

Mammaw hesitated, wondering how much to tell Edward. "Bodine was my husband Robert's illegitimate son. He is Victoria's uncle."

"Does she know?"

"No. Bodine does not want her to know."

"I could kill him with my bare hands at the moment."

Mammaw squeezed his hand. "I think you should be grateful to him. He will take very good care of Victoria, wherever they are."

29

Georgia

Bodine leaned against the trunk of the big willow tree and watched the workmen as they labored, rebuilding the manor house at Farraday Plantation.
The building was coming along nicely; soon Victoria
would be able to move in.

Bodine sighed heavily. He had given up trying to reason with Victoria. Every time he brought up the subject of them returning to Texas, Victoria would withdraw from him and become silent. He stopped
trying to talk to her about Edward, because when his name was mentioned Victoria would shut herself up
in her room for hours at a time. Bodine, fearing it
would be bad for her and the baby, went along with
Victoria's wishes.

As soon as they had arrived in Georgia, they had taken up residence in the town house, and because Bodine wanted to humor Victoria he uncovered the
hidden gold from the swamp and hired workmen to
begin construction on the manor house.

There had been enough money left to hire field
hands to plant cotton. The cotton crop was good and
ready for picking.

Bodine cursed under his breath. No matter if the
house was completed and Victoria could move in—it
would not make her happy. He knew she would never be happy until she and Edward were together once more.

And what about Paul O'Brian? He had been a constant visitor at the townhouse since they had
returned to Georgia. Sometimes it seemed to Bodine
that Paul was the only one who could get through to Victoria. When she was with Paul she seemed more relaxed, and even laughed sometimes, though those
times were few and far between.

"Damn," Bodine said out loud.

Paul was a good man and Bodine hated to see him
get hurt by being caught between Victoria and Edward once more.

He headed toward the house, climbed the steps, and walked through the unfinished rooms.

Victoria had insisted that the house be rebuilt to
look as much like the old one as possible, and he had
taken pains to see that her wishes were followed to the letter.

After talking to the workmen for a while, Bodine
walked down by the river. Where was this all going
to end? he wondered. It was only a matter of time before Edward located Victoria. Then what?

Bodine heard a wagon coming up the driveway. He retraced his steps to the front of the house, just in time to see Moss jump from the wagon. Moss
looked at Bodine with a worried frown on his black
face. "It's time, Master Bodine. Miss Victoria is having her baby. Becky sent me to fetch you."

Bodine had never felt such fear and dread as he felt at that moment. He mounted his horse and rode hard until he reached Savannah, praying all the while that his little Victoria would survive the birth of her baby.

Time seemed to pass slowly as Bodine waited in the parlor. He sat on the couch staring off into space, took a drink from the glass of brandy, then stared at the clock on the mantel. Two hours had
gone by since the doctor had sent word to him from
the upstairs bedroom where Victoria was in labor.
Victoria's pains had started the day before and it was
almost nightfall again.

He felt as though he were reliving a time long ago
when he had sat in this very room with John Farraday and waited for Victoria to be born. He
closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. He had dreaded the time when Victoria would give birth for
over six months now. In his heart he feared her fate would be that of her mother.

There was a heavy rap on the door, and he got up reluctantly to answer it. Paul O'Brian was standing on the porch, a wild look on his face.

"Moss told me the baby was coming! I came as fast
as I could."

Bodine opened the door wider so Paul could enter.

"What's the news?" Paul asked, unable to tell anything from Bodine's expression.

"No news," Bodine said. "Come into the parlor. We can wait together."

Paul entered the small room. "Bodine, isn't it taking a long time?"

Bodine poured Paul a brandy and handed it to him. "It has been almost twenty-four hours now."

Paul took the brandy and sat down on the sofa. Bodine stood by the fireplace, his arm resting on the mantel.

"What does the doctor say?" Paul asked.

"He fears for her life," Bodine answered, the expression on his face never changing.

The room was quiet. The ticking of the clock was the only sound that could be heard. After a while, Paul stood up and started to pace the floor. He stopped in front of Bodine.

"Why is it so quiet, Bodine? I have heard that women in labor scream out in pain."

Bodine emptied his glass and looked at Paul. "Victoria stopped making any noise about an hour ago.

"Oh, God, Bodine," Paul said, his face full of grief, "that is not good, is it?"

"Sit down, Paul. It does not help if you wear the carpet out."

"How can you be so damned cool? One would think you care nothing about what is going on upstairs."

Bodine looked at Paul, his gray eyes blank. "Drink your brandy, Paul."

Just then there was an agonizing scream that came from the upstairs bedroom. Paul's face lost its color. The hand that held the brandy glass shook. His face was wild. He turned to Bodine. "I am glad it is not my baby that is killing Victoria," he said in agony.

Bodine walked out into the hallway and looked up the staircase. Paul followed him. They heard the cry of an infant. Both men looked at each other. They waited silently for what seemed hours, watching the doorway at the top of the stairs.

Finally they saw Becky come from the bedroom, carrying a small white bundle. She came down the stairway and offered the tiny infant to Bodine. He took it from her and waited for her to speak.

"Miss Victoria has a son," she said with tears in her brown eyes.

"Victoria?" Paul said. "How is Victoria, Becky?"

"I don't know, Master Paul. The doctor is worried about her. He don't think her chances are good." She shook her head sadly.

Paul felt weak. He leaned against the wall for support. "Oh, God!" he cried.

Bodine carried Victoria's son into the parlor and sat down on the sofa. He pulled the blanket aside and stared down at the tiny infant.

"Bodine, you are the damnedest man I have ever seen!" Paul yelled at him. "How can you just sit there and feel nothing?"

Bodine looked up at him, and Paul stared back in amazement. There were tears in the big man's eyes. Paul sat down and looked at the baby. Black hair covered the tiny head, and deep brown eyes peeped out from tiny black lashes. Bodine cradled the baby gently in his arms.

Texas

Maj. Ray Courtney had ridden to Rio del Lobo from San Antonio in record time. He waited impatiently for Edward in his study. Ray had seen Edward try to trace his wife and had seen him come up empty-handed. But now, there would be news for him. Ray wondered whether it would be good or bad. He took the letter from his breast pocket and stared at it.

Edward came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Ray, I am sorry to have kept you waiting. If I had known you were here, I would have been home sooner. Juanita told me you have been here for some time."

Ray studied his friend's face. There was a great change in him. Edward wore a haunted look about the eyes. He never smiled, and if rumors were correct, he had started drinking too much.

"What brings you to Rio del Lobo?" Edward asked him.

Ray held the letter out to him. "I was asked to deliver this to you."

Edward looked at the letter and frowned. He reached his hand for it and looked at the handwriting. It was written in a hand unknown to him. His name was scrawled across the envelope.

"Go ahead, Edward, it contains news of your wife."

"Oh, God," Edward cried out in pain. "She is dead."

"You cannot know that, Edward," Ray said quickly. "You must open the letter first. Maybe it contains good news."

"I know what it says. If she were alive, she would have written to me herself. This is not her handwriting." He thrust the letter into Ray's hand. "You read it, Ray. I cannot."

Ray broke the seal and read the few words that were written; then he smiled with relief. Edward had turned his back to him waiting for Ray to tell him that Victoria was dead.

"She is all right, Edward! Here, read for yourself."

Edward turned quickly and took the letter from Ray. His hands shook as he read it, hardly able to believe what his eyes were telling him.

You have a son. Mother and baby are well.

Bodine

Edward felt his legs grow weak and he sank down in a chair. He sat for a long time, not saying anything, letting the news sink in. For so many days now, he had searched, hoped, waited, and then when the date came that he knew Victoria would have delivered the baby, he gave up all hope. He felt in his heart that she had died, and a part of him died too.

He had gone through the motions of day-to-day living, but he was detached from everything, not caring, not feeling. He felt that if he could see Victoria's dead body, then he could pour out all his grief, but riot knowing was the worst of all.

"Do you know what this means?" Edward smiled for the first time in months. "She is alive, Ray, Victoria is alive."

Ray smiled. "Congratulations, Edward. You are a father now."

Edward shook Ray's hand vigorously. "We will celebrate," he said. "Come, Ray, we drink to my son."

Edward poured them each a drink and they toasted the new Hanover heir.

"How did you come by the letter, Ray?" Edward asked.

"Well, it is all very strange. A man came to the fort and asked to see me. He came to my office and asked if I was a friend of yours, and I told him I was.

He handed me the letter, and asked that I deliver it to you as quickly as possible. He said it was very important and had information concerning your wife. When I tried
to
question him, he became very
evasive and left without giving me his name."

Edward was thoughtful for a long moment; then he smiled. "Victoria will come home, now, Ray," he said confidently.

"Let us drink a toast to that," Ray told him. So they drank a toast to the speedy return of Victoria, and to Edward's son.

Georgia

Michael Farraday Hanover was two weeks old. Victoria was feeling so well it was hard to follow the doctor's orders and stay in bed. She wanted to spend every moment she could with her son. He was a good baby, and hardly ever cried. His hair was black and silky. His deep-brown eyes seemed to look at her as if he knew she was his mother. He waved his little arms about aimlessly.

There was a knock on the door, and Bodine came in. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. He reached out his hand and Farraday clasped Bodine's finger in his tiny fists.

"He has the look of his father."

"Yes, he does."

Bodine looked into her eyes. It was no longer easy for him to read her mind as it once had been. She had become silent, and kept her thoughts to herself.

"I found a buyer for the town house," Bodine told her. "He offered a fair price for it."

"That is good, Bodine. We can use the money for Farraday Plantation. When does he want to
take possession?"

"Sometime next month. He would also like to buy Farraday Plantation," Bodine told her, watching her face for a reaction. "I said I would ask you."

Victoria frowned at him. "Bodine, you know it is not for sale."

He removed his hand from the baby's grasp and looked at her. "Don't you think it's about time for you to return to Texas?"

"I told you before, Bodine, I am never going back. I am going to take my son to Farraday Plantation and make a good life for him."

"Victoria, I have done everything you asked of me, but I do not see the sense in staying in Georgia any longer."

"I will never return to Edward after what he has done. Surely you understand how I feel."

Bodine shook his head. "Do not ask me to •understand. You are keeping Edward from seeing his son. That is a bad thing to do to a man. I told you I did not believe anything went on between Edward and that woman. A man like Edward will always have women throwing themselves at him."

"And I chose not to believe him," Victoria said. "If you had seen them in that hotel room together, as I did, you would not have believed him either."

"Yes, I would have," Bodine said, rising. "Edward is a man of principles, and he is not stupid."

"Please, Bodine. I will not discuss it anymore. I am not going back, and that is final."

Bodine looked down at her from his great height. "I sent Edward word that he has a son."