Unbidden (The Evolution Series) (43 page)

“W
hy did I trust him?  Why did I not see what he had become?”

“It is natural to trust your own brother and to see him as you knew him to be in the past.”  She smiled down at him, almost pityingly
. He was adrift, uncertain. Yet his next words were so revealing, they shook her.

“I have lost my whole family
. Not that it was much of a family, mind you, but it was mine.”

She smoothed the lines from his brow
. “I do not think Doeg is lost to you. I do not think he is beyond redemption.”

“You
, of all people, think he might still have good in him?”

“I do.”

“Hmmph. You may be right, but I will not seek reconciliation with him. He is not welcome in our home. If he comes to me then we will see, but I will not allow him to frighten you or cause discord between us.”

She could not hide her relieved smile
. “I have to admit I am glad of that. What of your father?”

David reached for her, bringing her down into his embrace.
“He showed no real remorse, not for Doeg or my mother or your treatment. Yet how can I seek punishment for a feeble old man who committed a crime over twenty years past?  I will do as I said and no more, for Doeg’s sake. When Doeg returns he will have to take responsibility for this mess. If he needs help with our father or the estate I will do my duty, but that is all.”

She kissed him gently, just a soft brush across his lips to ease his hurt
. “I know nothing can replace your own blood family. Do not forget, you have gained a new family with all the people at Alda. You have my mother who dotes on you. And there is Theo, just a day away. He is more than a brother to you.” 

“Do not forget the most important part,” he said quietly.

She cocked her head, questioning.

“You
. Do you really love me, Rochelle, with the frightening desperation I feel for you?  I nearly went mad trying to get here, to get to you. I meant what I said to my father:  if I had lost you I would have killed him, and Doeg, and probably myself.”

Her smile was immediate and beautiful, reassuring and gentle
. She cradled his face in her hands. “I do so love you. Beyond all reason, I love you. Into all the dark chasms you do not wish for me to see, I love you. Your life is with me now.”  They shared a deep kiss before she continued. “I never thought I wanted a husband, but now that we have chosen each other, I never want to lose you.”

She touched him with the tenderness she knew he craved, the shine of her green eyes carrying him beyond the present pain of loss to a place where he could see a future full of love.

EPILOGUE

Winter 834

Rochelle rubbed the swell of her belly absently as the baby turned a flip. David smiled at her across the fire. It had taken her almost two years to become pregnant so she guarded her and the babe’s health carefully. She had never spent so much time sitting in the hall as she had since autumn. She still loved Alda, but it no longer held the largest part of her affection. She had given up long rides on Regret and now avoided even short bumpy rides in the cart. David informed her of the activities on the estate and she worked a few hours a day on the ledgers, laying plans for spring. Next summer would be a challenge, with David gone to the army, his forge just reaching full operation with a talented journeyman swordsmith, and a newborn to love, but she trusted Ardo and Samuel to keep the tenants muddling along with her limited guidance.

She smiled at the thought of Samuel
. Ingrid had captured his fancy immediately when she returned to Alda with them from Atrum Calx. It had taken Samuel two years to mature enough to earn Ingrid’s love and the trust of her son. Ingrid had conceived immediately upon their marriage and would deliver their baby in the next few weeks. Marta had borne two perfect children since her terrible loss in the fall of 831. Rochelle could feel genuine happiness for the other women now that her own child grew beneath her heart.

A knock on the door broke her contented reverie
. David crossed the room with that confident gait of his. At the door, a young man bobbed his head in deference as he spoke, finally producing a letter. “I will want to send a reply,” David said curtly, inviting the messenger to the table where Ruthie offered a hot meal to him.

Rochelle struggled to contain her curiosity until David finally came to sit with her
. “It is from Doeg,” he said simply as he unfurled the parchment.

Rochelle held her breath. She
said nothing, allowing him to read in silence. She had not laid eyes on her hateful brother-in-law since he’d left her and David in the hut in Bavaria. David had seen him every summer, of course, and reported that Doeg was truly reforming himself, having found a mentor in an army friend who was willing to teach him how to run an estate. Doeg had not had much time to be a student. He inherited the burden of Atrum Calx in fall of 832 after Drogo died, ironically having fallen down the steps on a late-night visit to the latrine. David had seen to the estate as promised in the interim, but conditions for the tenants were only slightly improved. Nonetheless, Doeg spurned David’s offer of continued help. David had interpreted that as Doeg’s bid for independence, where Rochelle viewed it as a slap in the face. And so, they did not discuss Doeg very often. Nor had they needed to.

David smile
d at the parchment. “Doeg is married.”

“Oh!” Rochelle cried in surprise
. “Who is she?”

“No idea,” David replied.

“What do you mean?  He did not give you a name or a description or anything?”

“No.”

“He must have known her last summer. He never said anything?”

David laughed
. “Rochelle. This is my brother we are talking about. We do not exactly sit around the campfire discussing love interests.”

Rochelle huffed in frustration
. “If he did not want to tell you anything, why did he bother to write?”

“He wants me to meet her,” David said cautiously
. “He wants me to come to Bavaria.”

The END

A note
from the author

I hope you have enjoyed your journey in David and Rochelle's world. If you did, one of the most wonderful things you can do for an independent author like me is to write a
review on Amazon
.

Second Love: A Short Historical Romance Story
tells Ingrid and Samuel’s story. The 10,500 word story is chronologically set between the last chapter and epilogue of
Unbidden
.

Please continue reading for a quick excerpt from
Redeemed
, Doeg's story
and book two in the Evolution Series. Can a quiet widow help our damaged villain find redemption?

The third book in the Evolution Series is
Vain
, the story of Theophilus
, who discovers unexpected companionship with his tailor’s daughter.

If you'd like to try a sweet (clean) romance set in Arizona Territory in the 1880s, please check out my book called
Sass Meets Class
,
in which an American girl with plenty of common sense can't resist a member of the British nobility.

All my books are available in print from Amazon or Createspace.

Thank you for reading
Unbidden
!  If you liked it, I'd really appreciate a review at
Amazon
,
or on your favorite website for readers like Goodreads or Shelfari, or just mention it to your friends.

If you would like to connect with me, I am on
Facebook
(www.facebook.com/jillhugheyromance), I maintain a
blog
(http://jillhughey.blogspot.com), and also tweet @jillhughey.

Happy Reading!
Jill Hughey

May
2013
 

January 834

Doeg’s requirements in a prospective wife seemed simple enough when he started the search
. He had learned in the last three years to examine his goals and break them into finite steps of surmountable size. He’d done just that, determining his essential needs in a spouse and discarding all other considerations. For example, he would not demand wealth, having turned over a new leaf to be an independent man. Intelligence was not needed and in fact, could be much over-rated where a woman was concerned. He also did not care if she was graceful, well spoken, or religious. And physical attractiveness had no bearing on it whatsoever. She could be tall, gaunt, and toothless since he had no intention of looking at her very often. He would not insist on a particular age as long as she would outlive him because he could not imagine ever going through
this
again.

No, he never wanted to waste another ten months of his life in the apparently futile search for the one woman in Bavaria who could meet his two requirements, which at the beginning of the hunt last March had seemed so elementary he had expected to be married by April.

And the two requirements were so obvious to the naked eye that he couldn’t believe so many females had failed. He only wanted a woman who could, firstly, identify his problem and secondly, enact an immediate plan to solve it. Simple.

The fire in the center of the room cracked and Doeg glared at it
. It was January. No one found a wife and got married in January. Nor would he, which meant he faced another spring of searching and probably another summer without the spouse he desperately needed. When something skittered across the toe of his short leather boot he instinctively kicked out, knowing the little vermin was long gone, hidden in some mouse-hole in the great hall of Doeg’s very own house.

His clerk Guy sauntered out of the kitchen
, eating an apple tart carefully positioned so the pebbly crumbs fell on the floor instead of his gray wool tunic. His dark hair was, as always, parted to one side, a section swooping over his forehead like the wing of a vulture. He knew of Doeg’s quest, though no one knew of the two requirements. Guy and Doeg's overseer Ermold had silently watched the parade of women through spring and autumn, and neither could fathom why one woman after another had been rejected as soon as she’d entered the house. A single question was all Doeg had asked before thanking the miss or madam for her time and turning her over to Guy until her entourage could leave again.

“Perhaps you should give the one from early November another go, sir,” Guy offered helpfully as he licked his becrumbed fingers
. Doeg didn’t know why he bothered. The tarts had been tasteless as always.

“Not likely,” Doeg replied
. The one from early November had answered the question wrongly then sat in a chair for a week, refusing to budge until he’d informed her of the imminent arrival of the next prospect who had also answered the question wrongly then burst into hysterics when she found a spider in her bed. Both November candidates clearly lacked the fortitude to deal with his problem.

“Then how about October,” Guy ventured
. At Doeg’s blank look, he added some description. “You know, the one with the big teeth and bigger….”  He cupped his hands in front of his chest suggestively.

“Never,” Doeg growled
. That one had offered to come to bed with him and God knew he wasn’t looking for attention of that sort.

Guy stared at him for a good long time
.

Doeg didn’t care for such impertinent scrutiny
. “Have you more to say before you hie yourself to bed?  You have your own hut a short distance from here if I recall.”

“Well, sir, I have been hesitating to mention someone I know.”

Doeg ears perked. “Go on.”

“I have been hesitating because I don’t want you to think I’m trying to saddle you with people from my family.”

“Go on.”

“She is a cousin….”

Fine
. Doeg kept his thoughts to himself but nodded to encourage Guy to continue after each piece of information..

“About three years older than me.”

Don’t care.

“Widowed.”

Don’t care
.

“And she was comely enough the last time I saw her.”

Don’t care
.

“The thing is….”  Guy did not seem inclined to finish this sentence.

“Go on,” Doeg ordered curtly.

“The thing is…she appears to be barren.”

Perfect.
“Go fetch her tomorrow, Guy. How many days will it take you to return?”