Today's Embrace (17 page)

Rosie must have caught the bored, unamused eye of Lady Elosia. She blushed and bumbled out of the room.

Rogan felt sorry for her. It was nothing new to have girls titter in his presence. When he was young it amused him, and he would deliberately give them his most devastating smile. Evy was the only one who hadn't acted that way. The only girl who had presented a challenge to him. And
when she finally did smile at him, he hadn't shown it, but he had dreamed of kissing her. He'd only revealed that recently—on their honeymoon. “
I had that effect on you?
” she had gasped, delighted, clapping her hands together. “
Oh, if only I had known!
”

“
Which is the very reason I didn't tell you, you heartless creature.
”

He looked down at the package. It was from his friend, Derwent Brown. He'd been expecting a report on the gold mine, and any other happenings. Rogan thought Derwent was swimmingly good about reporting the news. He might have made a respectable newspaperman. He was anxious to get alone and read it.

The postmark caught his eye. Why was he not at Fort Salisbury, but Bulawayo?

“Is it about diamonds?”

Rogan came back to his aunt's curious voice.

“No. This would be the report on the Zambezi gold mine. Though the postmark looks as though Derwent mailed it from Bulawayo.”

“The van Buren man is there as well. Did Evy tell you she received a letter from him?”

Rogan became alert. “Heyden?”

“A doctor. Some uncle, or other, to Katie.”

“He's a cousin, Dr. Jakob van Buren. No, I didn't know he had written her. He's in Bulawayo?”

She looked smug. “I must say I'm surprised Evy hasn't told you. Extraordinary!”

He tried to keep his irritation from showing. “She mentioned it to you?”

“No, I saw it. The postmark on the envelope was the same as Derwent's parcel. You know … Bullswayo.”

He ignored her unwillingness to learn the name. He wanted to ask her when Evy had received the letter, but that would reinforce his aunt's enthusiasm over discovering Evy's “secret.”

“If you'll excuse me now, Elosia, I've work upstairs.”

“Yes, of course. Is Evy feeling any better? Rosie said earlier that she
was lying down asleep. I'd heard that Mrs. Tisdale saw her leaving Dr. Tisdale's a few days ago.”

He turned and looked at her.

Her eyes gleamed.

Tisdale? “Nothing to worry about. We agreed that she'd be checking in with the doctor to make sure she's up to the voyage to Capetown. And Dr. Jackson will be here tomorrow to give his opinion.”

Elosia appeared satisfied … and perhaps faintly disappointed at his response. If it was disappointment, it couldn't be over Evy's good health.

He turned and left the room. His jaw set. So she went to see Doc Tisdale? And, just like Jakob's letter, she hadn't told him. And his aunt had taken notice.

He dashed up the wide staircase to the second floor on the west side of the mansion to their suite.

He entered and saw the bedroom door was still closed as he'd left it with Evy asleep. All was silent, and the rain tinkled on the windowpane.

Forget it, Rogan. So she didn't tell you she went to see Tisdale, or about the letter. We're newly married, and both of us are used to independence and privacy. She forgot, is all. It's not important
.

Had his beloved old aunt wished to cast suspicion between him and Evy? Why had Evy gone to Dr. Tisdale?

Rogan frowned over his concerns and walked into his small office next to the sitting room. The rain clouds made the cloister dark. He lit the lamp and dropped Derwent's report on the desk, removing his coat and rolling up his sleeves. He undid his tie and tossed it aside—then his frown deepened. He remembered that Evy picked up after him. He snatched the tie from the table and looked around for a place to hang it. He finally folded it up and impatiently stuffed it in his jacket pocket. Single life on the veld had some advantages!

It was a relief to get away from all the gibberish of maids and the small talk. It would be refreshing to read Derwent and Mornay's report on his gold and learn what was happening with the British South Africa Company. He longed for the masculine world he'd left behind.

He opened the package and removed Derwent's letter, followed by a heavy report. Some of the first words in the letter hit hard—

Rogan slowly folded the letter and set it aside. He took time to remember his friend Mornay. The loss, on a personal level, hit hard. There were none better as a hunter-guide than the old Frenchman, except perhaps his father before him. Rogan had lost a friend and ally. He had hoped they would sit around the campfire together and discuss his most recent ideas about Henry's map upon his return. Now it would never be.

Death. It was often sudden and surprising, though every previous generation had passed through its doorway. No one should be shocked by it, but they almost always were. As for men under the sun, with death came the end of every dream.

Rogan opened the desk drawer and took out his small Bible and flipped to Job. If he could find those verses again … He'd come across them on Sunday while sitting with Evy in chapel as they waited for
Vicar Osgood to step behind the pulpit. Those verses were being reinforced in his mind, because of Mornay's death.

He found them in Job chapter twenty-two and read slowly, starting at verse twenty-four: “Then you will lay your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Yes, the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver; for then you will have your delight in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.”

He pondered. Pondered their wisdom, their warning, their invitation. He remembered Mornay. He considered his own heart.

Now Mornay was gone. He had left everything behind, including his skills, so treasured by others. But Mornay had showed more than benevolence by giving his possessions to Dr. Jakob for the mission station work. He showed a trust in God's Word that rules beyond death.

It was good that Dr. Jakob was able to direct Mornay back to his Christian faith. Though Derwent hadn't said so, Rogan believed Derwent's consistent life had even more to do with Mornay's decision.

Thunder rumbled over Grimston Woods.

Derwent might not know as much about mining as the geologist, whom Rogan hired to work with him, but Derwent's keen discernment was something Rogan held in quiet regard. If Derwent sensed trouble stirring on the veld at Bulawayo, then he was likely on to something.

Julien was shopping about for someone to lead that expedition. Where was Heyden? Somehow he didn't think the Boer was very far from Bulawayo.

All this troubled him even more because of Evy. If only there were some way to get her to stay home and allow him to proceed on this dangerous venture alone.

Yes, he'd made a wise decision in arranging beforehand for Dr. Jackson to see her tomorrow. Now, if he could just convince Jackson to tell Evy that she was not strong enough to make the trek to Bulawayo …

Evy awoke from a long, restful nap, got dressed, and came out into the sitting room to find a lovely candlelight supper awaiting her.

“Rogan, what a delightful surprise. And I slept through the entire preparation!”

He came to her, took her face lightly between his hands, and kissed her. She looked at him, and he smiled, a dark flash to his eyes that could surprise with its intensity. He grew serious, studying her face.

“Are you happy being my wife?”

Her brows lifted. “Why, what a question.” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged tightly. “Wonderfully happy.”

“That's how I want you to stay. You're feeling rested now? No more dizzy spells?”

“Oh no,” she hastened. “It … was nothing.”

“Nothing,” he repeated, regarding her.

“You're looking at me … strangely.”

“Am I? It's your beauty. It never ceases to stun me.”

“Mmm, nice … but it wasn't the stunned look of breathlessness that I saw just now, Rogan, dear.”

He winced. “Never call me
dear
. Sounds feminine.
Darling, the one and only man of my dreams
—anything casual will do,” he teased, “but not
dear
.”

She laughed. “I'll remember. How about Prince Charming?”

He pretended to consider. “It's all right, but not very original. Tell me, love of my youth, why did you see Dr. Tisdale?”

The smile on her lips froze.
Who
had told on her? Lady Elosia? Mrs. Tisdale?

He drew her against him, holding her face against his arm as he buried his face in her hair, and his embrace so tightened that for a moment it cut off her breathing.

“Who's been spying on me?”

“Spying?” He held her away by her shoulders, his eyes flashing. “Doesn't your husband have a right to know if there's something wrong?”

She felt her cheeks flame. “There is nothing wrong with me!”

His lashes narrowed. “Then why did you go?”

Her breath came rapidly. “This is quite unfair of you.”

“
What
is?”

“This.” She spread her arm toward the lovely table with sparkling crystal and dinnerware and gleaming candlelight. “Do you need this to spring questions on me as though I … I were hiding things from you? I suppose it was Lady Elosia who told you.”

“It was. She was worried about you. As am I. You nearly passed out upstairs this afternoon. Do I not have a right to know why you went to see Tisdale?”

She turned away, miserable. How quickly the lovely gesture of a romantic supper had turned into a conflict.

“Yes,” she said wearily, “you have a
right
. If that's what means the most to you,
your rights.
”