Magic In The Storm (9 page)

“Yes, that one,” he said, his voice deepened
with emotion.

Adriana swallowed hard, and felt awkwardly
warm all of a sudden. She didn’t dare to say a word, just gave a
nod and then carefully ripped it out of her book.

“Thank you,” he said, as she handed it to
him. “I shall always treasure it.”

Her eyes met his. She tried to look away, to
act like the demure young lady she was supposed to be, but she just
couldn’t. He drew her to him, like a moth to the flame.

He was the first to break the spell, taking a
step away from her as if it were the most difficult thing to do.
“I’ll keep this carefully.”

He turned and ran back to his house. He
slipped in and out quickly this time, returning to squat by the
wood and set it alight. Not meeting her eyes, he gave a stir to
whatever was in the pot with a large spoon.

“What are you making?” she asked, moving
closer, unable to even stay two feet away from him.

“A potion to heal the animals,” he
answered.

“A potion? You mean medicine?”

He paused for a moment then replied,
“Yes.”

He kept his back toward her, and seemed to be
muttering some words as he stirred the pot. He sprinkled in a
powder from a wooden bowl sitting next to him and continued
stirring and mumbling.

She watched, fascinated. “What is wrong with
the animals?”

“They have the pox.”

Adriana gasped and took a step backward away
from Morgan. The pox was very dangerous. She had heard that even
being near someone with it could cause you to become ill as
well.

He looked up at her then and narrowed his
eyes. “Is there something you fear?”

“It... it is just that, well—wouldn’t it be
better to simply put the animals out of their misery rather than
try to heal them? You might catch it yourself if you get too
close.”

Morgan turned back to his cooking. “No. I
will not get it. It only affects the animals in my barn. This
potion will cure them.”

“You know a great deal about healing?”
Adriana asked, wondering if she dare ask about her leg and how he
had healed it.

Morgan stopped stirring the pot. “I know
about healing animals,” he said.

“What sort of healing do you do, aside from
making medicine?”

“What other kind of healing is there?” he
said, keeping his faced turned away while sprinkling in more
herbs.

Adriana swallowed hard. “The other day,
you—you touched my leg.”

Morgan abruptly stopped what he was doing and
stood up to his full height before her. Looking deeply into her
eyes, he said intensely, “You imagined that.”

Adriana looked back, not able to break eye
contact. His black eyes glittered with something indefinable that
sent chills down her spine. He didn’t look angry. He stared into
her eyes so hard that his gaze seemed to penetrate her mind.

He said once again, “You imagined I touched
you, Adriana. I did not do so.”

His voice was deep and resonant, but Adriana
somehow knew he was not speaking the truth. Having him this close
to her, feeling the warmth of his body at arms’ distance, she knew
she had not imagined the experience. No matter what, nothing he nor
Lady Vallentyn said would convince her that he had not healed her
leg.

Slowly she shook her head. “No. I know what I
saw. What I felt.”

Morgan looked away quickly. “You are wrong.
How could I have healed your leg? It’s impossible, Adriana, you
know that.”

“I do, but...”

“It must have been your imagination,” he
said, sitting back down on the ground and tending to his pot
again.

That’s what Lady Vallentyn had said, Adriana
thought to herself, or was it what she had thought? She couldn’t
remember. She just remembered beginning to doubt her memories after
she had met with her hostess to try to find out more about
Morgan.

“Who are you, really? Why do you live here?
Are you Lord Vallentyn’s gamekeeper?” The words tumbled out of her
before she could stop them.

He looked up at her, uncertainty wrinkling
his forehead.

Adriana knelt down on the grass next to him.
Gently placing a hand on his forearm, she said, “I simply want to
get to know you.”

Morgan softened at her touch, and she saw the
tension leaving his shoulders. He gave a little shrug. “I am no one
you should know. No one you should care to know.”

“But I do care.” And indeed she did, too
much, for someone she didn’t even know. But they shared
something.

Morgan turned his head to look at her hand
still resting on his arm. Looking into her eyes, he asked, “Who are
you
? What brought you here to Vallentyn?”

Adriana removed her hand, but settled herself
next to him on the ground. She wanted to be close to him. Perhaps
if she told him about herself, he would open up to her as well.

She gave a little shrug. “My guardian, Lord
Devaux, brought me here. He and Lady Vallentyn are trying to
arrange a match between me and Lord Vallentyn.”

“You’re going to marry Vallentyn?”

Once again she shrugged. “I haven’t made up
my mind yet.”

“But that’s why you’re here,” he said,
sitting back.

Adriana gave a nod.

“You don’t want to marry him,” he said, more
as a statement than as a question.

Adriana almost felt as if he could read her
mind, or her feelings—it unnerved her. She stood up and took a step
away from him, looking blindly at the trees that closely surrounded
his home.

“No. But I may not have a choice. My guardian
is trying to force my hand. So far, though, I haven’t given in. I’m
going to find a way to convince either him or Lady Vallentyn that
Lord Vallentyn and I shouldn’t marry. I’ve got to.”

“You can’t just tell your guardian that you
don’t wish to marry?”

Adriana gave a little laugh at that. “Oh, no.
He could care less about what I want. He’s only concerned with
what’s best for himself, and somehow he’s become convinced that
this marriage would be to his advantage.”

Morgan stared at the ground, deep in thought
for a moment. “I know what it’s like to have no one care for you or
what you want,” he said, almost in a whisper.

Adriana’s breath caught in her throat; her
eyes stung with tears. The emotion, the sadness with which he said
this—it touched her deep inside.

Without a thought, she moved back and sat
down on the ground next to him, wishing she could take him into her
arms. In his deep, black eyes, he looked so sad and lost. His long
hair hung loose about his shoulders—one side tucked behind his ear,
the other brushing his cheek, the length of it grazing his collar
bone. Somehow it just added to his beauty, and his sorrow.

Once again, she found her hand in his as she
looked deeply into his eyes. “You’re all alone here,” she said
quietly, knowing that this was true.

He nodded, “And you?”

She tilted her head slightly without breaking
their eye contact, to indicate that she was.

She gave a little shrug. “But I have my
painting.”

“I take care of the animals,” he said, giving
her a little smile. And just like that, she didn’t feel so lonely
anymore.

Moving away from the fire, he positioned
himself so close to her their knees touched, but she didn’t move
away—she didn’t want to.

Gently, he brushed his rough fingers down her
cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

Adriana felt her face heat with
embarrassment. No one had ever called her beautiful before, and
never with such softness and truth in his voice. Her cheek burned
at the spot where his fingers had grazed it.

“You make me feel beautiful,” she
whispered.

He smiled. “You make me feel good.”

“Why is it that, with you, I’m happy?”

He laughed quietly. “I don’t know. I wish I
understood how or why this is, but I can’t explain it any more than
you.”

I only know this is right,” he added, leaning
forward. Very slowly, with a touch as light as the wings of a
butterfly, Morgan brushed his lips against hers, sending shocks
throughout her body.

He withdrew for a moment, and then slowly he
pressed his lips more firmly to hers. Warmth, connection,
completeness: they all flooded through Adriana. She closed her
eyes, and for the first time, allowed all of her other senses and
feelings to explore this wonderful new sensation. It was as if
something deep within the two of them was holding them together—and
would keep them there for all eternity.

Too soon, he sat back. Adriana opened her
eyes. She wished she hadn’t, because her gaze was immediately
caught by the lengthening of the shadows.

She jumped up. “It’s so late! I must get back
to the abbey before I’m missed.”

Morgan stood too, all softness and joy
abruptly gone from his face. “Adriana, no one is allowed to speak
of me. You must not either,” he said quietly, but in a voice that
resonated in her mind. His eyes bore into hers for a moment as he
ran his fingers down her cheek, giving her a sad smile.

Slowly, Adriana nodded, her mind feeling as
if it were in a fog.

Then she watched as Morgan turned away from
her and lifted the pot off the fire. He carried it into the barn,
disappearing inside. She, too, turned away and slowly headed back
to the abbey—still feeling the heat of his lips upon hers and
hoping the happiness she had felt with him would not be leaving her
too soon.

A
driana ignored the
clatter behind her as the tea tray arrived after dinner that night.
Pushing aside the deep red drawing–room drapes, she sat down on the
window seat and looked out at the black night, but saw only
reflections in the glass. Shadows moved behind her in the
flickering candlelight, but she kept her face turned toward the
window as if she could see outside.

Odd events from the day kept replaying in her
mind like the shadows in the glass: Morgan trying to start a fire
by pointing at a pile of wood, and his sweet kiss that made her
feel so connected to him; Lord Vallentyn’s blank stare after she
told him at dinner to finally stand up to his mother, after they
had discussed that he was only marrying her because his mother had
told him to do so.

Lord Vallentyn seemed to have no mind of his
own, except when it came to his estate. Then he truly shone—and
almost literally shone too, she thought with amusement. His eyes
sparkled and his whole face lit up when he spoke of his
estates.

But in everything else, his mother’s rule was
law. Adriana wondered if he would ever find the courage to stand up
to her. And if he didn’t, what would she do? Perhaps when Lord
Devaux found out that Lord Vallentyn really had no interest in
Parliament, he would no longer be interested in this marriage.

She rather doubted that getting out of
marrying Lord Vallentyn would be that easy, but it was worth a try.
And it was better than being married to a man she didn’t even know.
The alternative was unthinkable—when Lord Devaux said he would
destroy all of her work if she didn’t agree to the match, she knew
he would not hesitate to carry out his threat.

No, she could not sit idly by while her life
was destroyed.

A hand gently placed on her shoulder made her
jump. Adriana hadn’t even noticed the shadow coming closer to her.
She looked up into Miss Havelock’s kind face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle
you.”

“Oh, no, it’s all right. I was just
woolgathering, I’m afraid.” Adriana tried her best to sound
lighthearted.

Miss Havelock sat down next to her. “I was
sent to ask if you would you care for some tea, but perhaps a
friendly ear would be more welcome.”

Adriana gave a little laugh, but seriously
began to think that Miss Havelock was right—a friend was exactly
what she needed right now. They had spent a bit of time getting to
know each other already, so Adriana was very pleased to have Miss
Havelock’s company, and her friendship.

“Did you have a pleasant dinner with my
cousin?” Miss Havelock asked. Her pretty hazel eyes smiled at
Adriana, and Adriana knew that she could trust her completely.

“It was certainly enlightening,” Adriana
admitted.

“In what way?”

“Well, I learned your cousin wants to marry
me as little as I want to marry him. Only he is much more willing
to fall in line with his mother’s wishes than I.”

Miss Havelock’s face lost its smile. Putting
her hand on Adriana’s arm, she said earnestly, “You must not think
less of Vallentyn just because he won’t stand up to his mother in
this. It... it is difficult. Aunt Vallentyn is...”

“Used to getting her way?”

Miss Havelock stole a scared glance in the
direction of her aunt. “Well, let’s just say, no one dares to go
against her. It would not be wise.”

“That is very much like what Lord Vallentyn
said to me at dinner,” Adriana said, suppressing the slight shiver
that came over her. What silliness! There was surely a rational
explanation for this. It was clear that everyone did as Lady
Vallentyn said, but there had to be something reason why Lord
Vallentyn, not only a man, but a viscount, still listened to his
mother. Adriana couldn’t help but think of her own situation. “I
presume she is holding something over him to force him to marry
me?” Adriana asked.

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, he clearly doesn’t take orders from
anyone when it comes to his estates,” Adriana said, watching Lord
Vallentyn idly play a tune on the pianoforte on the other side of
the room.

“No, but my aunt has no interest in the
estate. Vallentyn may do as he pleases with it—and he does so love
his land.”

“That much is clear,” Adriana laughed.

“Vallentyn,” Lady Vallentyn called out above
the sound of the piano. Her son immediately jumped up and was at
her side in three long strides.