Love Inspired Historical June 2014 Bundle: Lone Star Heiress\The Lawman's Oklahoma Sweetheart\The Gentleman's Bride Search\Family on the Range (63 page)

“Yes!” she cried as if he had tormented the confession out of her. That one outburst seemed to uncork a jug of potently fermented emotion. It spewed forth in a torrent of frenzied weeping, amid which Jasper thought he heard her sob, “No!”

He had been paying almost no heed to his driving, trusting the horse to find its way home at whatever speed suited it. Now he abandoned any pretense of attention. Dropping the reins, he reached for Evangeline, as he had longed to do all evening. He had never thought he would hear her in tears. Not long ago, he would have believed her incapable of weeping. Now he knew it must require terrible provocation. Delighted as he was to glimpse her feelings at last, he reproached himself for distressing her.

“Shh!” He wrapped his arms around her the way he would one of his children if they were hurt or upset. His feelings for her were every bit as strong as for them. He wanted to provide for Evangeline and protect her, comfort her and care for her. After a lifetime spent caring for others, she deserved all that and more. “There now, dear heart, it will be all right. I will not do anything you don't want. You do care for me a little, after all, don't you?”

She was still weeping too hard to speak, but he could feel her head move up and down against his shoulder in a welcome nod of agreement.

“That is the best news I have heard in years!” A powerful wave of happiness swept over Jasper, leaving behind a film of briny moisture in his eyes.

“We were meant for one another, you and me.” He savored the sensation of her in his arms, where she so obviously belonged. “I wish I'd seen it sooner, but I am thankful I found out before it was too late.”

Evangeline's weeping eased to a series of sniffles. No doubt she realized she had nothing to cry about now that they understood one another. A happy, fulfilling life stretched ahead of them—one he was eager to begin.

He fished out a handkerchief and swiped it over her face in the darkness, his touch awkward but tender. “Dry your eyes now, my sweet, and I will do everything in my power to give you no cause for tears again.”

Evangeline reached up and took the handkerchief from him. She wiped her eyes properly then blew her nose. Her bonnet had slipped back off her hair, allowing Jasper to press his cheek against the silken strands.

That did not provide enough of an outlet for the tenderness he felt toward her. When Evangeline had finished drying her tears, Jasper cupped her chin and raised her face to his so he might kiss her properly on the lips.

He began with a soft, almost tentative approach. Part of him still could not quite believe he had been blessed to find love a second time, especially with such a fine woman, who was every inch his match. He marveled that he could still remember how to kiss a woman after years of bereavement, during which he had driven himself in an effort to forget what he was missing.

But at the first brush of her soft, full lips, it all came back to him. Evangeline's response, hesitant yet sweetly eager, told him that she had not been kissed by another man. Jasper considered that a precious gift and a treasured responsibility. He sought to make it an experience that would stir her senses and her heart, leaving her without a doubt of the depth of his feelings for her.

Earlier, Jasper had wished it were day so he could divine Evangeline's feelings by looking at her. Now he realized sight was far too limited a sense to fully communicate all the subtle complexities their hearts held. He blessed the warm, fragrant summer night that cast a veil of privacy over them, giving the delightful illusion that nothing and no one existed outside the circle of their embrace.

Then suddenly the gig lurched and sped up as the horse neared home. It dragged Jasper and Evangeline into the well-lit courtyard of Amberwood. A stable boy, who must have been watching for the party's return, ran toward the gig calling out to them.

Jarred from the quiet shadows of intimacy, Jasper pulled away from Evangeline and seized the reins. She drew back just as abruptly as he, adjusting her bonnet to cover the chestnut tresses he had kissed only moments ago. It felt like much longer. And it seemed like a whole other lifetime ago they had set out for the village assembly.

So much had changed since then and a bright new future stretched before them. Jasper could scarcely wait to share their happiness with the children, for he knew they would be almost as delighted as he to have Evangeline as part of their family.

* * *

For twelve blissful hours, Evangeline lived in a hazy dream of perfect happiness.

Jasper's kiss tingled on her lips. His heartfelt declaration of his feelings and the tender endearments he had addressed to her echoed in her thoughts, drowning out any reluctance. Emotions she had long stifled welled up in her heart, leaving no room for fear or doubt. She knew only that the man she cared for returned her feelings without reservation.

Her heart seemed to dance on air, encased in a delicate soap bubble of shimmering rainbows. She fell asleep with Jasper's handkerchief clutched in her hand and woke from the sweetest dream to find it still there, proof that the events of the previous night were more than some moonlit fancy.

The children were already awake and eating their breakfast with Jane when Evangeline emerged, drowsy but smiling, to join them.

“Did you enjoy the dancing last night?” asked Matthew, his head cocked to one side in a quizzical way that reminded Evangeline of a bright-eyed bird.

“Very much,” she said, ruffling his dark hair. How like his dear father's it was.

“Did you dance with Papa?” inquired Emma in her shy manner that seemed to ask something more. Had the perceptive child sensed the feelings her father and governess had managed to conceal, even from themselves, until last night?

“Of course.” Brushing Emma's cheek with the back of her fingers, she recalled the way Jasper had clasped her hand, as if she were a priceless treasure he was proud to touch with care. “Your father was kind enough to dance with all the ladies.”

She was the one he had wanted to dance with, though. Evangeline knew he would have claimed her company exclusively if propriety had not decreed otherwise.

“I wonder if that is why Papa did not come to breakfast with us this morning,” Alfie pondered between spoonfuls of porridge. “Perhaps dancing with all those ladies tired him out and he needs to rest.”

“Perhaps so.” Evangeline beamed at Alfie as if he'd made the cleverest remark she had ever heard.

In truth, she thought it more likely that Jasper did not want the children to see them together and guess their feelings before they had reached an understanding.

They had been prevented from discussing their future last night by the arrival of the other carriages so soon after them. Not wanting to risk embarrassing Jasper or Miss Webster, Evangeline had slipped away to the nursery before any of the guests noticed her tear-stained face and the radiant smile she could not hide.

“You look different this morning.” Owen regarded her with a grave countenance.

Evangeline tried to quench the hot tingle in her cheeks, without success. “It is probably the effect of my late night—pallor, dark circles under my eyes. That's one of the reasons it is important to get a good sleep.”

Owen's nose wrinkled up in a way that made her want to kiss it. “That makes no sense. You look better...prettier.”

“He's right,” Rosie agreed before Evangeline could pretend to dismiss the compliment she secretly cherished. “You look like one of the princesses in my book of fairy tales.”

Evangeline brushed a kiss on Rosie's plump cheek, something she did not do nearly as often with her pupils as she would have liked. “I think you and your brother need to rub the sleep out of your eyes. Now, let's finish eating so we can go for a walk. It is a glorious morning.”

As they finished their breakfast, Evangeline caught Matthew and Emma exchanging puzzled looks.

“Are we going to practice more for the concert with Miss Webster?” asked Rosie as they headed off for their walk a while later.

“Perhaps.” Evangeline smiled down at the child, trying not to betray her uncertainty.

Would the concert go ahead as planned, with Jasper and Miss Webster singing a love ballad after he had declared his feelings for someone else?

Evangeline wondered how the lady would react when she found out. Had Margaret Webster come to care for Jasper, the way she had? Of course, she must. What woman with a functioning heart could keep from losing it to such a man, especially if he made the slightest effort to win her? Jasper had gone to great lengths to secure Miss Webster's affections—even seeking courting lessons to aid his efforts.

A wave of bilious shame rolled through Evangeline's stomach. Never in her life had she stolen anything that belonged to someone else, but suddenly she knew how a thief with a conscience must feel. It seemed as if her soul was shriveling into something small and hard.

While the children plucked wild raspberries from a patch of brambles they had discovered, Evangeline told herself she had not
stolen
Jasper's heart from Margaret Webster. She had never intended to care for him nor tried to make him care for her—quite the opposite, in fact. It was not her fault he had developed feelings for her.

But try as she might to assuage her conscience, the fact remained that her happiness would surely cause heartache, perhaps even heartbreak, to an innocent woman who had never been anything but kind to her.

The shimmer was rapidly coming off Evangeline's fragile soap bubble by the time she and the children returned from their walk.

“Go wash your hands now so you don't stain your clothes,” she bid her pupils in a no-nonsense tone they were more accustomed to hearing from her. “And you must change your stockings, Alfie. Those brambles snagged them terribly.”

Jane appeared then to help tidy the children up. But first she handed Evangeline a letter. “This came in the post for you, miss.”

Evangeline thanked her and sank onto the nearest chair to read a few lines while her young charges were occupied. They returned shortly to find her still reading and gnawing at her lower lip.

“Is it bad news?” asked Emma in an anxious tone.

“There's nothing the matter with Kit, is there?” added Matthew, referring to the stepson of Evangeline's friend Leah, with whom he and Alfie corresponded.

“I'm certain Kit is quite well.” Evangeline did her best to mask her distress for the children's sake. “My letter is not from Leah...I mean, Lady Northam.”

“Who sent it, then?” Rosie peered at the letter.

“Mar...er...Mrs. Radcliffe.” Even though Marian had been wed for four years, Evangeline still found it hard to think of her and the others by their married names. “Remember, I told you about her. She has two adopted daughters close to Emma's age and a little son. They live near Newark in Nottinghamshire.”

Even as she spoke, she tried to think of a way to secure a few momentsʼ privacy so she could finish reading Marian's letter and digest its contents. “Jane, will you please take the children out to the garden? I shall be along shortly.”

“Yes, miss.” The nursery maid beckoned the young Chases. “Come along, everyone.”

A very subdued group followed her. Poor dears! They must wonder what mysterious events were rocking their secure little world this morning.

Evangeline read a few more words of Marian's letter then realized she was not alone. She glanced up to find Owen watching her from the door.

Before she had a chance to bid him go join his brothers and sisters, the child spoke in an uncanny imitation of the words and tone she sometimes used with him. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

In spite of the tempest within her, Evangeline could not help smiling. She shook her head. “Later, perhaps, but thank you for asking.”

He seemed to accept her answer.

“Go on, then,” she repeated in a gentle way that was almost an endearment.

Owen nodded, but instead of heading off, he darted toward her and threw his arms around her neck. The next instant he scurried away, leaving Evangeline on the verge of tears for only the second time in as long as she could remember. Reading the rest of Marian's letter did nothing to restore her shaken composure.

When she heard footsteps approaching through the door Owen had left ajar, she thought it must be Jane returning with the children. Had she been sitting there that long?

The calm, ordinary world her body inhabited seemed miles away from the stormy inner realm of her thoughts and emotions. She willed herself to rise from the chair even as she grappled with a horde of regrets, questions and longings doing battle for her heart and soul.

The door flew open the rest of the way and Jasper strode through it looking so handsome and happy it was like an exquisite jeweled dagger plunged into Evangeline's chest. She almost cried out in bittersweet torment.

“Dearest Evangeline!” He swept toward her and seized her hand, raising it to his lips. “Jane told me I would find you here. Forgive me for not coming sooner. I was on my way when I saw you go off with the children. You haven't told them yet, have you...about us?”

She shook her head slowly as if it belonged to a puppet she had trouble operating. “What is there to tell?”

“A great deal, I would say.” Jasper chuckled as if she were teasing him and pressed her hand to his cheek. Only the parts of her in contact with him felt fully alive. “I suppose you do not want to announce anything until the formalities are settled. I cannot believe I let you get away last night without asking...without making certain. It is all understood, of course, but I do not want to deprive you of this special moment.”

Still grasping her hand, he sank to the floor on one knee. Evangeline knew what he was going to say next, but she could not utter a word to prevent him. That was because part of her wanted so much to hear it.

“Evangeline Fairfax,” he began, smiling up at her. “May I request the singular honor and happiness of your hand in marriage?”