Coming Home (26 page)

J
ULIANA CLUNG TO the carriage strap. Colly had set a brisk pace. She peered out the window. They were bowling alongside a very pretty river and in no time at all the carriage slowed, getting ready to turn.

Butterflies as big as bats swirled in her stomach. She knew what he wanted. Of course she wanted the same thing, but … He had already done so much for her. In leaving him, she had sought to do something for him. Well, that's what she'd been telling herself. She chewed her lip.

The door opened. ‘Coming down, or are you going to stay there all day?' Colly asked.

‘Oh!' She hadn't noticed they had stopped, let alone heard Colly alight. She held out her gloved hand but Colly simply spanned her waist with his hands and lifted her down on to a clean corner of the inn yard. A boy holding the horses' heads pretended he hadn't noticed, but a grin split his face from ear to ear.

Colly stepped aside for her to precede him into the Old Bank Inn's foyer.

Juliana felt the rhythm of her heartbeat accelerate. How absurd. This was Colly. She was safe. But of course safety was not the issue.

‘May I go with you to your room?' Colly asked her diffidently, his face a frown of anxiety. ‘I'd far rather do this in private, Juliana, because a man doesn't need an audience when he – when he tries to propose.'

Juliana's heart jumped. Oh! If only … She gave him a nervous half-smile. They'd spent more than two weeks together in the close confines of a cabin so she'd look ridiculous if she said no, wouldn't she? ‘That's fine,' she whispered, knowing her smile was a frail, frightened thing. She was going to disappoint him.

But when he ushered her into her bedchamber she stood amazed on the threshold. ‘Oh, Colly!' She clasped her hands underneath her chin and spun slowly, taking in the big bedchamber crammed with hundreds and hundreds of flowers. Late summer flowers flourished on every table
and in every nook and cranny. Peonies and poppies rubbed petals with lavender and snapdragons. Dahlias jostled for position with delphiniums, all grouped in the colours of the rainbow. The heady perfume reminded her of the Lady's Garden at Trewbridge.

‘Good,' Colly commented with satisfaction, shrugging out of his greatcoat. ‘They got it right.'

‘
Right
? It's exquisite!' She flitted from vase to vase inhaling the scents and exclaiming over the fresh cool blues and butter yellows. Then she turned to Colly. ‘You did this for me?'

He spread his hands. ‘Of course. There isn't anyone else I'd want to do it for. Never will be.'

‘Dear Colly.' She smiled mistily and sat down on the edge of the big bed before she fell down. It bounced invitingly. ‘I do love you so but …' She trailed off as he sat down beside her and she felt herself sinking deeper into the brocade cover.

He took her hand. ‘Running away solves nothing, Juliana. I don't care about your awful relatives but I'm grateful they're dead,' he added, grinning. ‘As to the other matters, they are finished with. There is nothing to connect you to either incident. But there's something else you haven't thought about yet.'

Puzzled, she looked an enquiry.

‘You will have a dowry when that property is sold. Do you realize you might become a magnet for fortune hunters?'

‘Good heavens!' Juliana felt her jaw slacken. She hadn't forgotten Lord Brechin's comment that her property would be a respectable dowry, but she
had
forgotten that some of the officers she had nursed had told her that in England, money could sometimes gloss over a person's faults. She had looked forward to being a woman of independent means but she hadn't realized how ‘respectable' she had become overnight. How ridiculous people were. As if mere money could determine one's true qualities!

‘I am not looking forward to despatching the queue at your doorstep,' Colly said gloomily.

Juliana couldn't help it. She giggled. ‘Ah, but you would be first in the queue. I seem to remember you had designs on me long before I inherited anything.'

He brightened. ‘So long as you remember that, Miss Colebrook.' Then he turned to her and set to work untying the ribbons of her bonnet. He cast the bonnet aside and, kneeling on the rug, began on the ties of her cloak.

Juliana tried to quell the fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She
looked down on his bent head as he concentrated on disentangling the cloak strings. Very few people got to look down on Colly Hetherington. She stretched out her gloved hand to stroke the springy dark brown waves of hair.

There was a muffled curse from Colly. Her cloak ribbons had become knotted. His lean, brown fingers were shaking, making matters worse.

She stripped off her gloves, then leaned over to pick up her reticule. And presented him with her brand new penknife.

He tilted his head back in shock and gazed into her eyes. Then grinned. ‘What a sensible idea,' he said as he sliced through the ribbons. Her cloak joined the discarded bonnet.

Still on his knees before her, he laid his face on her lap. Gazing straight ahead like a sightless person, she ran the tips of her fingers over his head, savouring the texture of his hair and the curve of his head down to the nape of his neck. Her fingers stilled. He was hers. She desperately wanted to be his. Why was she making things so difficult? Colly would cut off his arm before he hurt her. She knew that. She took a deep breath and tossed her fears and scruples over her shoulder. And could have sworn she heard them thud on the carpet.

‘Yes,' she said.

He glanced up and grinned. ‘I haven't asked you yet.'

She tugged on his hair, smiling, and the hazel eyes darkened. He stood up and hauled her into his arms.

‘Sweet, let me hold you, warm you.'

‘
Sim
, yes, please,' she whispered, burrowing into his chest. She, who had always been so independent, would always need this man. She craved this addictive feeling that only Colly could engender – a sensual mix of security and smouldering excitement. She felt his mouth on her hair and then, slowly, he brushed soft, seductive open-mouthed kisses on her nape and on her cheek, trying to coax her to raise her face.

Smiling, she tilted her head back and exposed her throat so he could lavish those soft, sweet kisses on her neck. Her smile grew when he followed each kiss with a murmur of pleasure. ‘Dearest Colly,' she whispered. She curled her arms around his neck. ‘Kiss me properly,
meu amor
,' she demanded.

He drew in his breath and she felt a quiver of laughter shake his body. ‘Yes, my lady. Anything you say, my lady.'

And then he kissed her ‘properly'. Oh,
how
he kissed her. He began at the corners of her mouth, placing soft, warm kisses there. Surrendering to the seductive sweetness she opened her mouth, and
Colly knew exactly what to do. One hand was employed in steadying her head as he kissed her deeply, delicately tipping her teeth with his tongue. His other hand smoothed down her body from her neck to her thigh and back again as if he were committing the curves to memory.

Juliana shivered. Oh yes. She wanted to make love with him.

‘Juliana,' he murmured, as he took her hand and pressed a kiss on to her palm, ‘I always knew it would be like this.'

‘So did I,' she assured him fervently. ‘But I was so frightened …' She trailed off and bent her head.

‘And now?' he asked anxiously, his hands grasping her elbows to pull her close.

She looked up into his face and smiled. ‘
Eu quero fazer amo com você
,' she whispered, stroking a hand down the side of his brown face.

He blinked. ‘Uh?'

She giggled and he tickled the side of her neck. ‘I said I want to make love with you.'

‘It sounds more romantic in Portuguese,' he admitted. ‘And when the time comes, all will be well, you'll see.'

‘I know,
meu amor
, I know.'

J
OHN TREWBRIDGE WATCHED as Colly lifted Juliana down from the carriage. He smiled with satisfaction when Juliana clung to Colly as she was lowered to the ground.

John strode forward to greet them. ‘Colly, so pleased you caught up with Miss Colebrook. You'd best put the poor girl down. You're crushing her.'

Grinning, Colly turned with Juliana in the crook of his arm. He thrust out his free hand. ‘John, Miss Colebrook has done me the honour of agreeing to become my wife.'

‘Congratulations to you both!'

Colly released Juliana and said, ‘It must be nigh on dinner time. If you can contain your curiosity till then, my lord, we will tell you our plans.'

‘Plans? No need. Mother has everything organized. You are to have the gatehouse and she wants to talk to you about a licence.'

Colly blinked. ‘I had thought to have banns read.'

John laughed. ‘Best leave it to Mama. You might make a mull of it.'

 

When dinner was over, the marchioness chivvied Colly and Juliana outside to walk in the Lady's Garden to watch the stars come out.

Juliana sniffed appreciatively. ‘It smells like the inn chamber this morning,' she commented, as they wandered past a bed of musky stocks.

‘That was the idea,' Colly said, smiling down at her. ‘I originally planned to propose to you here, but you ran away.'

Juliana raised her chin. ‘I thought it was for the best.'

‘Not for
my
best, Juliana. I could live without you if I had to, but it wouldn't really be living. I would get by, but there'd be very little joy in life.'

She rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. ‘It is the same for me. I planned on buying a cottage where Tilly and I might live out our days.
After all, it was much more than I ever thought to have. I decided I would help the local people when they became ill. Growing medicinal herbs seemed like a fine idea too. I've never been in one place long enough to do that.'

‘You may grow all the herbs you like at the gatehouse. Maybe one day we might purchase a place of our own, but until then we are nicely set. And the folk at Trewbridge and in the village will be very grateful indeed for your nursing skills.'

She smoothed his cravat. ‘We are very fortunate, Colly. You have managed to establish a bridge with your family and I am well rid of mine. How odd that we set out to do the very opposite.'

He bent to pick a poppy for her. ‘We shall make a family of our own. Even if we are not blessed with children, you and I will be a small family. And if we are fortunate enough to have sons and daughters, we already know how
not
to treat them.'

Juliana smiled. ‘True. And we have friends who are every bit as good as family. Better, in fact.'

‘Indeed. My darling, I am so glad you forgave me for giving you a black eye at our first meeting. I shall never forget waking up from a cloud of laudanum and seeing your bruised face—'

‘Hush, Colly. You were in agony at the time and had no notion what you were doing. Believe me, many patients hit me harder.' She tried to make a joke of it but he would not be pacified.

‘No one,
no one
will ever hurt you again, Juliana,' he said fiercely.

‘I know,
meu amor
. I trust you to protect me always.'

Hidden from the house they stole a quick kiss before walking on.

‘I should like to invite Grandmama and Felicia to visit from time to time, if that should suit you.'

‘Of course. They are my favourite members of your family.'

‘Mine too,' Colly agreed. ‘I will do my filial duty by my parents but I shall keep well away from William. They do not seem to be very happy at Heather Hill, do they?' Colly tucked the bright orange poppy behind the comb in her hair and admired the result against her rich, dark tresses.

‘No. I was only there a short time, but saw that your sister would prefer to be anywhere rather than Heather Hill, and your mama seems to lead her life separately from the rest of the family. And, of course, I received an earful of your father's remorse all the way from Trewbridge to Heather Hill,' she ended, laughing.

Colly shook his head. ‘It's strange, but after being away from them for so long I can see how uncertain my father has always been around
my mother. Mama may have our best interests at heart, but she does not show it. And Father is a person who has to be shown that he is needed. However, I doubt my mother will change.'

‘No,' Juliana agreed. ‘I think your father is destined always to be chasing a star which is just beyond him.'

Colly folded his arms around her, needing her warmth, her strength. ‘You are very insightful, my Angel of Sao Nazaire. I wish we had met many years ago.'

‘We would have been two very different people then,' she said wisely. ‘You would not even have glanced at me.'

‘Rubbish. I would not have been able to resist your chocolate eyes and glossy hair. It is more likely you would have passed me on the street and ignored me. I do not possess the Portuguese address and ease with women.'

‘I would have looked,' she said with confidence. ‘Remember my height. Oh, I would have looked. I would have said to myself, “Juliana, there is a man you can look up to”.'

They laughed. Then she leaned into him and kissed him. ‘And you really are a man I can look up to, Colly.'

Colly held her in his arms and thanked his lucky stars he had met her. It had taken a long and dangerous journey to bring them here, but at last they were home.