Caroline (34 page)

"Well," commented Alec, "we have exposed another of your many talents! What shall it be next—painting perhaps?"

"I imagine I could do tolerably well on the side of this old boat," she laughed, basking in the comfort of his arm about her.

Natalya skated up to them at the same moment one of Alec's friends gestured to him and he excused himself and skated over to greet his friend. Thus, Caro was left alone with her new sister-in-law for the first time since the morning of her marriage. Natalya watched her shrewdly.

"I have been longing to speak to you in private, Caro. Honestly, Sacha hovers about you like a hawk—I never would have thought he would make such a protective husband. Even now he is watching you! Does he expect someone to come and snatch you away?"

"Of course not!" Caro exclaimed hotly.

"You know, this is all
very
queer. Was I right the other day about you two carrying on all along behind my back? I cannot conceive of you practicing such a deception, but at the same time, there doesn't seem to be any other answer! Sacha couldn't have fallen in love and decided to marry you in an hour's time! I know that he would give a step like marriage a great deal more thought—especially since he has avoided it so diligently all these years!"

"Natalya, really—I do not know what to say to you. Alec has already explained—"

"We are friends! You can be frank with me, can't you? Everything that Sacha said to us was so pat as to be almost ridiculous. It would be so out of character—"

"Ah!" a deep, sarcastic voice broke in from behind them. "But surely, Natalya, as a romantic female you could imagine even me being transformed under the spell of true love - ?" Alec's face was serious behind the mocking smile. "Do not be so inquisitive, little sister. You really must learn to tend to your own affairs."

Caro's heart pounded with relief while Natalya blushed under Alec's cool regard, stammering an apology.

"It is all right," Caro told her before Alec could speak. "I understand your curiosity, but there is really no mystery to solve. Alec and I are married now and we are very happy, but that is no reason for
our
friendship to cease. You and I should be closer than ever now that we are related!"

Natalya's crestfallen face brightened somewhat and Alec reached out to pat her cheek, adding, "All is forgiven, chicken, as long as you curb your inquisitiveness. No more questions—is that clear?" Natalya nodded and Alec drew Caro closer to him.

* * *

As the final preparations were made for Christmas, Caro's days were busy and blissful. Alec introduced the German custom of bringing a tree into the house and set up a plump Scotch pine in the rear parlor. That evening, they strung corn and berries to wind through the branches while Pierre carved little wooden ornaments which Grandmere painted. Alec told them he had learned about Christmas trees during the war, when he had crossed the Delaware with Washington to surprise the Hessian troops at Trenton on Christmas Day. They had been so deep in their celebrations that an attack had been the last thing they expected.

Candles were set on every surface, filling the windows with a cheerful welcoming light and spreading a warm golden glow through the rest of the house. Caro placed garlands of pine and holly on the front door, then hung them liberally through the hallway and over all the mantels. On Christmas Eve Alec produced a spray of mistletoe which he fastened on the arch dividing the entry hall. He was delighted to be able to initiate Caro into the English custom attached to the plant.

"What is that?" she inquired suspiciously. "Those berries look quite evil. Are you trying to poison me?"

Alec suppressed a grin as he coaxed, "Why don't you come over here and take a closer look? The leaves have a very interesting shape."

Caro approached cautiously. "Have you hidden some insect in there?" she inquired with playful distrust.

Alec drew her under the mistletoe. "Actually," he smiled, "I do have an ulterior motive and there is more to this little plant than meets the eye."

She glanced up warily at the oval leaves and clusters of waxy red and white berries. Alec's arms slid around her waist, caressing the green velvet of her gown's bodice. "There is a rather charming custom that is always practiced beneath the mistletoe, so pay attention and learn it well. You must take care never to find yourself under it with any man but me or I shall be forced to take drastic measures!"

"What are you talking about?" she exclaimed in bewilderment.

"Talking is not the right word, my dear. Allow me to demonstrate."

There were devils dancing in his eyes as he tilted her chin back with a fingetip until she was gazing up at the mistletoe. His other arm drew her closer until her breasts pressed against his chest, then he kissed her slowly, tasting the sweetness of her pliant mouth and the honeyed softness inside. Something warm and vital passed between them; Caro could feel it tingle through her veins like a tangible thing. When Alec lifted his head, his lips clung to hers momentarily and she could read the desire in his eyes, briefly accompanied by something else that she could not name. If Grandmere had not appeared, Caro felt that he would have spoken, or taken her up to bed.

The memory of his eyes and the elusive magic of the mistletoe kiss played at the edges of her mind all that afternoon and evening. It reawakened the issue that had become her greatest puzzle—the question of Alec's true feelings. She knew that he loved her body and that he hungered for her in a physical way that never ceased to excite her. There were times, however, when she felt that he was trying to convey a deeper message to her, but after the moment passed, she would decide that her imagination was overactive. Hovering in the back of her mind, along with the memory of the tragic Emily, were some miserably haunting words of Natalya's:

"Sacha breaks girls' hearts like pieces of fine china, and yet the silly fools return for more... He will never marry, and it is just as well, for Sacha could never love any woman for more than a week." Caro wondered how long the man she married would want her, for she couldn't quite let herself believe he loved her.

Chapter 24

Grandmere joined them for dinner that night, the first meal she had shared with them in several days. Caro knew that she had been purposely leaving them alone, and appreciated the gesture. The two women had not spoken at length privately since the night she had gone into Alec's room, but Grandmere's affection, support, and approval shone eyes each time she looked at Caro.

Their Christmas Eve supper was simple, for the cook was already deep into her preparations for the next day's feast. The entire house was aglow with burnished candlelight, providing a perfect background for Caro's radiant golden beauty, while outside snow flurries swirled through the winter sky. At Grandmere's urging, Alec had prepared a small wassail bowl of whipped syllabub made with white wine, cream, and grated lemon with a dollop of frothy beaten egg white on top. Caro loved it, and found that it served to enhance her holiday mood even more.

After dinner, Alec transferred the wassail bowl to the parlor and the three of them sat talking before the fire. Grandmere told Caro of her Christmases as a child in the French countryside, when she would put out her sabots on the hearth for Pere Noel to fill with candy and toys.

"Every year we made a
crèche
with more
santons
—small clay figures coming to see the Christ child. We would keep the
santons
year after year, adding new ones to the old. As a child, I loved that more than any other Christmas custom, and I saw to it that Jean-Philippe and Antonia continued it in their home."

Alec smiled, remembering. "I broke one of the little peasant figures one year—it was one of the oldest, made by Maman before I was born. I was terrified, but although Danielle was urging me to destroy the evidence, I could not bring myself to do it."

"I recall that!" Grandmere exclaimed. "Jean-Philippe was so proud and impressed when you came to him and showed him the broken what you were made of."
santon.
You said, 'Papa, I did this, but I will not accept a punishment because it was an accident and I am very sorry about it.' When they wrote to me about it, I knew

Alec laughed and lifted the candle from the table next to him to light a cheroot. As it flared briefly, he noticed Caro, staring into the delft tile fireplace with faraway brown eyes. Leaning back in his chair, he smoked in silence, watching her, while Grandmere bent busily over her crewelwork. At last he reached out to touch her hand and she started, blinking to refocus her eyes.

"Are you feeling all right?" he inquired with unusual gentleness.

"Yes," she breathed, frowning slightly as though bewildered. "I think I was just remembering something, but of course, I can't be sure if it was real or merely a dream...."

"Tell me," he said quietly, and Caro met his clear eyes.

"It was awfully strange; I imagine you'll laugh at me! But I could see in my mind the door to the house—not Belle Maison, but another house—fly open and a mysterious man throwing in a present. Throwing it at me, then disappearing immediately. I'm sure that I was very young—a little child. I remember unwrapping it and finding layer upon layer of paper—so many that I believed there was no present inside at all."

She paused and Alec prompted, "Go on!"

"I can't remember any more. That's all."

His eyes were sparkling and he squeezed her hand tightly.

"That is a fantastic clue, Caro—you must be Swedish, for you were describing the Christmas custom of the
Julklapp—
a crazy, multi-wrapped gift brought by an elusive, unrecognizable person. Does that help you remember any more?"

"No... but it's wonderful just to know that little bit about myself. Do you suppose I grew up in Sweden?"

"I doubt it. You have no accent—and the fact is that all Americans were foreigners a short while ago. Everyone brought their particular customs with them across the sea—like Grandmere's
crèche
with the
santons."

Caro smiled at him in the firelight. Grandmere spoke up then, from her chair:

"Sacha, I will stay to watch you light the Yule log, but then I must go. I suddenly am very tired."

She waited until Alec had turned away, then winked broadly at Caro. He got up to call to Pierre, then they disappeared outside and she waited to see what would happen next. When they came noisily back down the hall, they were carrying a huge log which they took into the south parlor by the decorated tree, where the fireplace was cold. Grandmere's wrinkled face shone with a childlike smile as she took Caro by the hand and they followed the two men.

"Bring me some pine boughs, sweetheart," Alec called, and Caro ran to fetch them.

The evergreens were spread across the log as Pierre summoned all the available servants to come and watch. Alec drew Caro near the fireplace as he poured fine wine over the giant log. Then, a charred piece of wood was produced which Alec held up to a nearby candle.

"Tradition," he told her in confidential tones. "This is part of the Yule log that burned at Father and Maman's house last year."

When he held the burning piece of wood down to the log, it burst into flame and everyone cheered. Caro clapped too, looking up at Alec's profile outlined against the orange glow. Suddenly, he turned, catching her in his arms, and kissed her soundly while the clapping grew louder in their ears.

They went forward then to offer Christmas wishes and whipped syllabub to everyone.

In a few minutes, the servants had disappeared discreetly, taking their wassail with them, and Grandmere began to yawn. After she had kissed them and left via the whispering closet, Caro suddenly felt unaccountably shy. She went over to the fireplace and looked at the blazing log. Alec came up behind her, folding his hands around her waist, and Caro found it difficult to breathe.

"So! You say this log is supposed to burn the full twelve days of Christmas!" she exclaimed in a voice that sounded unusually high and far away to her.

"That is what we hope for." He pressed a warm kiss where her shoulder curved into her neck and felt her shiver in response. "I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?" he inquired with cool amusement. "Actually, my purpose is quite the opposite."

Gently he rotated her to face him. In the leaping firelight, he looked like Satan to Caro, all black and bronzed with flashes of white as he smiled recklessly down at her. Her senses swam as he bent nearer until she inhaled the intoxicating aroma that was part of him.