Lords of Honor (71 page)

“Oh!” Grace
’s eyes widened
.
“Owen, I love Alice and I want her back desperately, but I cannot bear for you
to be hurt either
.
Owen, I
-“ S
he faltered
and s
topped
speaking altogether
.
She
cast her eyes
downward
.
She feared he might see into her soul.

“What, Grace
?
Tell me…” Owen brought his
fingers
up
to
caress
her jaw
.
He t
ilted
her face
upward
and g
azed into her
mesmerizing
brown eyes
.
He h
eld his breath
.
He k
new what he wanted her to say
.
He f
ear
ed
what she would
say
.

Grace st
iffene
d
.
What if
he did not love
her any longer
?
What if he never could
?
She couldn’t bear to hear such a thing at this moment
.
Her heart was already broken in two with Alice being taken from her
.
Grace shook her head, her golden brown waves moving about her shoulders as she did
.
“I just couldn’t bear it if something happened to you, Owen
, o
r
to
Alice.”

“I’ll be fine, Grace
.”
His thumb moved slowly along her jaw
.
He wanted to kiss her
.
He l
owered his head slightly then stopped himself
.
Grace’s emotions were in turmoil with
their
daughter being torn from her
.
He would not take advantage of her
.
He knew if he kissed her he
might not
stop with just that
.
He’d not leave her alone and with child again in the event h
is attempt to
get Alice back
was unsuccessful
.
Owen knew he’d have to wait
to woo Grace
.
He would b
ring Alice back
to
her
first
.
And when he returned
,
he would kiss Grace
for hours on end
,
make
love
to
her and marry her
.
The three of them would be
a
family
, a
s
they
should have been all along
.
If Grace would
still
have him
.

Grace
gave him a small smile
.

“Try and rest, Grace
.
You need to be well when I bring Alice
back
to you.” Owen did lower his head agai
n
.
He
allowed himself to kiss her cheek
.
He smoothed her hair from her face
.
“I will wake you before we leave tomorrow
.
It will be early.”

“Very well
.
Good night, Owen
.
And thank you.”

“
There is n
o need to thank me, Grace
.
Alice is
our
daughter
.
I want nothing more than to see her and hold her
.
To know her
.
And I want to see you smile with joy when I bring her to you.
”

Grace
n
odded
.
She watched Owen leave her chamber
.
She f
elt suddenly cold and alone
when he
pulled
the door
closed
behind him
.
She extinguished the lamp and lay down
.
She curled up with Alice’s dolly and cried herself to sleep.

Before daylight, Grace
started awake
when
a
soft
knock
sounded on
her door
.

“Grace
?
Are you awake?”

It was Owen
.
“Yes,
just a moment
.”
She rose
, hastily slipped into her wrapper
then
hastened to
open the door
.

Owen and Gabriel Chynoweth
, the Earl of St. Mabyn
,
entered her chamber
.
The door was left open.

Gabriel smiled
.
“I
need to take your hand
in mine
, Lady
M
arston
.
Please, sit.” He pulled a chair
up
near to her
.
“J
ust close your eyes and think of your daughter.”

Grace nodded
and sat
.
She o
ffered her right hand to him.

“Do you write with that hand, Lady Marston?”

“Yes
.”
Grace
answered
.

Gabriel took her
h
and
in his
.
He asked her, “What is your daughter’s name?”

“Alice.”

“What do you call her most of the time, Lady Marston
?
Any pet names?”

“I call her sweeting
quite
often
and Allie sometimes.”

“Very good
.
Close your eyes
.
Breathe deeply
.
Think of your daughter
.
Imagine the two of you doing what you normally do together.”

Grace fought back the tears that threatened
.
She took deep breaths
.
She r
emembered
fondly
how she played
every morning
with Alice in the nursery
.
How Alice loved her favorite doll
y
made of cloth.

Gabriel entered the in
-
between world
.
He could see a dark-haired little girl with bright blue eyes p
laying with a doll
.
The
rag doll
was
dress
ed in pink
.
He saw Lady Marston sitting beside little Alice
on the floor
.
They laughed
.
Lady Marston sang a song to Alice
.
Alice began to sing along.

Then he heard it
.
A little voice
carried through the void
.
“Mama
!
Mama
!
I’m lost.
W
ant to come home, Mama.”

“Alice?” Gabriel asked her.

“Who are you
?
A bad man?” A fearful little voice asked him.

“No
.
I’m a friend of your mama’s, Alice
.
We are trying to find you
.
Do you recognize where you are?”

“In a dark room
.
I have a blankie.”

“What can you hear Alice
?
What kinds of sounds
?
Are there a
ny smells
you can identify
?”

“I hear
men
shouting
and h
orsies
outside
.
It smells like my goldfish.”

“Look around the room, Alice, let me see what you see.”

Gabriel saw a small, shabby room
.
One bed, one chair, one window way up high
on the wall
.
One door
.
There was a chamber pot in the corner.

“I sat on the pot like a big girl!”

“Good girl, Alice
.
My name is Gabriel
.
I will be checking on you often, so don’t be
frightened
of me
.
I’m going to come find you soon
.
I will bring you back to your mama.
”

“Will my mama
be here soon
?”

“I,
and some other men
,
will come fo
r you and take you to your Mama
.
I will talk to you soon, sweeting.”

“Bye
.
Could you bring my dolly?”

“Yes. If
I can, I
will bring
your dolly
.
If not I will buy you a new one
.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gabe-rell.”

“I’ll see you soon, Alice
.
I will talk to you often like this, Alice
.
If you need me, you call
out to
me
.
Remember my voice, Alice.
”

“
Yes.”

The vision faded
.
Gabriel focused on Lady Marston
.

“I heard her voice
.
I could feel my little Alice
.”
Grace teared up
.

Owen offered his hand to help her to her feet
.
He rubbed Grace’s shoulder to comfort her.

“Do you by chance have her doll with you, Lady Marston?”

“Yes, my Lord
!”
Grace walked to the
bed
and
picked up the precious item
.
She
hugged it to her chest
before
hand
ing
it to him.

“We’ll
bring it back, Lady Marston
, w
ith Alice
.”
Gabriel nodded and left Owen with Grace.
He closed the door behind him.

“I’ll see you soon, Grace
.”
Owen stepped closer to her.

Grace felt a large lump in her throat
.
She feared for Owen
; she fe
ared for Alice
.
She w
ondered if she would see either one of them again
.
She blinked back tears and could only nod.

Owens’s hands moved to her shoulders
.
He pulled her close
.

Grace began to cry
.
“Please come back, Owen
.
Find my baby and come back to me
.
Please?”

Without thinking, Owen lowered his head and pressed his lips against Grace’s
.
He kissed he
r tenderly
.
He lifted his head and
gazed
into her liquid brown eyes, “I will, Grace
.
And when I bring Alice back, we’ve a lot to talk about, you and I
.
She is my daughter
.
I want to be her
true
father.”

Grace
gave him a small smile
.
She n
odded through her tears
.
Of course Owen would want
to be a part of Alice’s life
, e
ven if he no longer loved
her
.

“I’ll see you soon, Grace.” Owen released her.