Mishap Marriage (22 page)

‘Too damned right you haven’t,’ Zack bit back, surprised to see her eyes glazed with what he thought must be tears. ‘What’s this, Caroline? Regret?’

Caroline paled and looked strangely meek and humble. ‘It’s a terrible thing—regret,’ she replied with a break in her voice. ‘It plagues you—never leaves you alone. I’m not proud of the way I’ve treated our daughter.’ She looked at Shona in beseeching appeal. ‘I had wondered if Zack had told you about Victoria and now I know. I hope you love her as sincerely as if she were your own. I hope you will allow me to write to her on occasion—that I can still see her. I would be grateful. You won’t stop me doing that, will you? I am still her mother when all is said and done.’

Shona met her gaze. She had expected to feel a stab of painful jealousy on coming face-to-face with the woman whose child had become her stepchild, but she felt nothing other than a profound pity and a new understanding. Before her was a woman whose life had been shaped by a strict upbringing. Her parents, with their toe in the door of society and meaning to get themselves firmly inside, had forced their daughter into marriage with an austere, impotent old man she did not even like. These were not qualities to recommend him to a young girl whose heart and mind would be full of dreams and yearnings of handsome, virile young men who would sweep her off her feet.

It was easy to see how, in a moment of weakness, all the loneliness that was past and still to come had flooded up within her, bursting out of her control. And Zack had been there to take her in his arms, trying to soothe and comfort her until they had settled their wants and needs in the age-old way. She must have suffered all the torments of the damned when she had produced a child as a result of that one weakness. Her husband, refusing to acknowledge its existence to avoid scandal and shame, had made her cast the child aside.

Seeing the pain and sadness in the other woman’s eyes, Shona said nothing for a moment, then she nodded. ‘We are not here to indulge in the rights and wrongs of the situation and it is not my place to judge you, Lady Donnington. Victoria has to be our main concern and I give you my word that when she is well and Zack brings her to live with us, she will be loved and cared for. You will be able to see her whenever you wish.’

‘Thank you,’ Caroline said, meeting Shona’s eyes directly. ‘I think you really mean that.’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘I do appreciate that. I don’t think I could be so generous, were I in your position.’ On a sigh Caroline turned from them. ‘I’ll go and see Victoria.’ At the door she turned and looked back, her dimples once again in evidence. ‘I should tell you that Robert has asked me to marry him. I have accepted, of course. Our betrothal is to be announced in
The
Times
tomorrow. Will you wish me well, Zack?’

Zack smiled sardonically. ‘Your marriage is not high on my list of reasons to celebrate just now, Caroline. But, yes, I do.’

When Caroline had left them, transfixed, Zack stared down at his wife sagely, a flash of pride in his eyes. He was strangely moved by what she had just done. ‘That was very noble of you, Shona. You are an extraordinary woman.’

The compliment warmed her. She couldn’t mistake the approval in the tender smile Zack gave her. It was reward enough, she decided, for her efforts to quell her jealousy. ‘And you are an extraordinary man.’ She smiled and laid her head against his warm, strong chest. ‘Most people would not have allowed me to say that to her when we had not even been introduced.’

‘Well,’ he said slowly, as though carefully choosing each word, ‘I suppose everything happens for the best. I’ve been bitter ever since Victoria was born and I was unable to give her a proper home—but now I can see the good that can come out of it. I hope Caroline appreciates your generosity.’

Shona sighed, the firelight casting shades of gold across her pensive face. ‘Have I really done the right thing? You are not angry with me?’

‘Far from it,’ he murmured, taking her hand and kissing her fingers. ‘Caroline is still Victoria’s mother. I would not deny her the right to see her. Although she might have to wait a while. When Victoria is well enough I’m planning to take her down to Harcourt Hall. Some country air will be good for her. It will also be a chance for the two of you to get to know each other.’

Shona smiled. ‘I would like that. I look forward to meeting her. I hope we can be friends.’

‘You will be. She won’t be able to resist you.’

She looked up lovingly into his silver-grey eyes. His tender words inspired her. ‘Might we stay there for a while? London holds no attraction for me just now and I do so love the English countryside.’

He grazed his knuckle along the curve of her cheek. ‘I don’t see why not. We need time together and my business can be conducted from Harcourt. Besides, it is your home now. Our home.’

Shona kissed his lips lightly. ‘Thank you, Zack. It would seem that everything has been resolved happily at last.’

‘The happiest thing of all is that Victoria will recover and the situation between us has been resolved,’ he answered, the scent of her perfume making his senses reel. The glow from the fire was shining on her, warming her eyes. He had never wanted her more and he longed for the moment when they could be together in the privacy of their room and he could awaken all that was sensual in her nature. ‘I do not deserve you. I’m sorry, Shona. Last night I spoke in bitterness and anger, wounding you without meaning to. If I had driven you away, it was only what I deserved—especially after what I did to you on Santamaria...’

‘Hush,’ she whispered, putting her fingers on his lips to silence him. ‘It is in the past.’

‘When your brother insisted that I should marry you, I was repulsed by the very idea of having my life laid out and being forced to commit to something I had not thought of myself. Yet much as I wanted to rebel against it, I found myself wanting you, more than I have wanted anyone or anything in my life.’

Shona’s heart soared and his confession brought a smile to her lips. Nothing else mattered but the fact that he wanted her, that she was his wife and she was not going to lose him. Her life was so complete and wholly absorbed in him.

Epilogue

O
ne week later Shona looked at the pretty little girl clinging to Zack as he carried her into his brother’s house. She was an extremely pretty child. Her dark brown hair fell in gentle waves about her oval face, which was pale and delicate following her illness. Her brown eyes fringed with sooty-black lashes were searching Shona’s intently. Praying silently for acceptance, Shona smiled softly, gently touching her cheek, hoping to put her at ease.

‘Hello, Victoria. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you so much. Your father’s told me all about you. I do hope we can be friends.’

‘This lady is my wife, Princess—your stepmother,’ Zack explained gently.

Victoria looked at Shona a little uncertainly. She didn’t see her own mother very much and was unsure what a stepmother was. A little smile began to appear at the corners of her mouth. She seemed to be assessing her. When her eyes ceased to regard her so seriously and her smile gradually broadened, which was a delight to see, Shona began to relax. It also brought a relieved smile to Zack’s features, which told Shona how apprehensive he had been about this meeting between herself and his daughter.

It really was a breathtaking smile that lit up the child’s face. In the dimpling creases in her cheeks, in the lovely directness of her gaze, Shona could clearly see Victoria’s resemblance to Zack.

Victoria looked up at her father and said very softly, ‘Can I be the lady’s friend, Papa?’

‘I think she would like that.’ His eyes twinkled at his wife.

‘What shall I call her?’ Victoria asked with a little frown creasing her pretty nose.

Sitting beside her husband and taking Victoria’s hand in hers, Shona said, ‘Why don’t you call me Shona? I would like that.’

‘That’s a pretty name,’ Victoria replied. ‘Shona.’

Shona sensed that Victoria hadn’t known much kindness in her short life—only that shown to her by Zack and Mrs Young. And she was right. Victoria didn’t understand the significance of this strange woman’s relationship to her father. But her presence and her soft words had a comforting effect on her and she smiled, her soft pink lips opening like a tiny rosebud.

* * *

As the lowering sun was beginning to stain the sky with swirls of pink and blue, with sunset hues that lit the trees and turned the glittering river to gleaming gold, it touched upon Harcourt Hall’s ancient stones with a honey-toned hue and gave the mullioned windows a fiery glow.

Zack and Shona stood on the terrace, watching Victoria indulgently as she scampered about the lawn surrounded by lovingly cared-for gardens. They could see that she was responding to the love that was being wrapped around her. Zack had presented her with a puppy that very day and the two were noisily getting to know each other.

‘Which of them will tire first, do you think?’ Shona asked as her husband’s arms snaked about her waist and he hugged her to him.

‘There’s a question,’ he murmured, nuzzling her neck. ‘Would you care to place wager?’

Shona laughed on being reminded of the time she had bid five hundred guineas for his pleasure. ‘I don’t think so. I did that once before and look where my recklessness got me.’

Brushing her hair aside, Zack chuckled softly as his lips caressed her nape. ‘Into my bed, as I recall.’

‘I remember it well.’ Sliding her hands along his arms, she sighed with contentment as Victoria ran and skipped and attempted a cartwheel before tumbling harmlessly on to the puppy. ‘Thank you for bringing me to this. There is so much peace in this world of ours.’

‘It was my pleasure. What did your brother have to say?’ he asked, curious as to the contents of her brother’s letter which had arrived earlier.

‘Not much—you know Antony—except that Carmelita has been delivered of her baby, a boy. He’s to be called Colin—after our father. Naturally Antony’s very happy—an heir for Melrose Hill. I also had a letter from Aunt Augusta—she’s to visit very soon. She also told me that Thomas has taken ship for Virginia. At last he has what he always wanted.’

‘And you, Shona—do you miss the island?’

‘Sometimes, but then I look around me—at this beautiful place—and when I think of you and Victoria, I know this is where I want to be.’

‘I love you,’ he whispered, kissing her cheek with boyish sweetness, knowing he would wake in the morning as he had done every morning for the weeks they had been together at Harcourt, in a state of luxurious bliss. His body would be heavy and sated from loving her and he would stretch, knowing her womanly body was next to him.

A burst of joy would explode inside him when he remembered the night past and he would know that all was well with the world.

* * * * *