Secret of the Wolf (58 page)

another Haven, to help whoever needed sanctuary in a complex and sometimes

frightening world
.

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 450 of 455

A world Johanna would never view again with the same eyes. Or the same heart
.

She spoke to her father of this and that, the trivialities that so often filled his once-

brilliant mind. She took comfort in such things, as he did. She brought him his tray,

helped him eat the dinner Mrs. Daugherty had prepared, and took him to his room to

rest
.

Then she went to face Quentin
.

May was just leaving the parlor when Johanna found him there. She saw on his face

that he'd been making his farewells to the girl; sadness and pride mingled in his

cinnamon eyes
.

He glanced toward the kitchen, where May had gone to join her mother. "May will be

leaving us soon," he said. "Her mother tells me that she has assembled certain

damaging information about Mr. Ingram's personal and business practices that will

make him very unlikely to interfere with her decision to take May to Europe. It's

something of a miracle, how things have changed for both of them.”

"Indeed." Johanna sat on the chair nearest the fireplace and folded her hands in her lap.

"It is far more than I could have hoped.”

"But things have changed for all of us, haven't they?" He sat down on the sofa opposite

her. "I sometimes wonder if I'm dreaming. And then I look at you, and realize there is

such a thing as heaven on earth.”

She shivered as if with fever. Now. Tell him now. But she was as tongue-tied as she'd

feared, driven mute by his tender words. All that would come to her was a single

stuttered question
.

"What

what had the messenger to say of your sister? Is she well?”

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 451 of 455

"Better than well." He leaned back, watching her with a secret smile. "The little vixen

has married—an American, no less—and I didn't even know it! Another long and

complicated story, which she promises to tell me in detail when we meet again. But

she's never sounded happier. I confess that she almost doesn't sound like herself at all.

And she tells me that my brother's family in England is well, his two young children

growing like weeds. They're all on excellent terms now

" His smile faded. "We've been

too long apart. She said she's had men searching for me for over two years, since I

stopped writing. I owe my family a great many explanations.”

"There is

nothing to stop you from tendering them in person," Johanna said,

managing a smile of her own. "Your sister found you at the right time.”

"Yes. I'm myself again—more myself than I've ever been.”

"Then you should not delay going to her.”

He gazed at her with that long, unblinking, predator's stare that Fenris had bestowed

upon him. "Do you want me to go, Johanna?”

No! Not without me

She swallowed the cry. No need to become hysterical, Johanna.

Calm, calm and prudence
.

"I want you to be happy," she said. "You have so much to reclaim, Quentin. All the

things you left behind, in England—your family, your heritage—”

"My old ways as a rake and ne'er-do-well?" he said. "Oh, yes. The second son,

returning home to become a burden on his family.”

"You would not be a burden on anyone," she said, her throat growing thick with passion
.

"Except upon you.”

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 452 of 455

She surged to her feet. "You were never a burden. You were my patient, and then my

friend. My dear friend.”

"Only a friend, Johanna?" He rose with deliberation. "As I recall, you told me that you

loved me.”

This was the moment. Speak. Her mouth was so dry that she could hardly swallow
.

"You promised me, Johanna, that you'd see me through to a cure. Are you going to

abandon me now?”

"You are no longer my patient. You have not been, since we—" She caught her breath,

her face unbearably hot. "In any case, you have made remarkable progress, crossed

the most difficult threshold.”

"But I'm not cured, you know. I have all of Fenris's memories, as well as my own. Ugly

memories." He wasn't joking any longer. "I must learn how to forgive myself. I don't

know if I can do it alone.”

She refused to let him belittle his own extraordinary accomplishments. "You are strong,

Quentin, or you would not have survived.”

"Not that strong," he said, walking toward her. "Not strong enough to leave you." He

knelt at her feet. "You see, I love you, Johanna.”

He loves me. He

loves

me. Her entire body vibrated like a metronome, and her

mind went utterly blank
.

"Patients often think that they love their doctors. It is a common—”

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 453 of 455

He sealed her lips with his finger. "But you just said I'm not your patient, Johanna. Can't

you make up your mind?" He sighed and shook his head. "Let me help you.”

Giving her no time to prepare, he leaned forward and kissed her. Deeply, passionately,

with everything he was and could become, with Fenris's ferocity and Quentin's

gentleness
.

"I have a proposition for you, dear doctor," he said, when he let her up for air. "Be my

wife.”

"Quentin—I want you to know that I

I—”

"You might as well take pity on me." He smiled, the old smile laced with both

wickedness and a new resolve. "I've been waiting to love you in a proper bed ever since

that night in the Barbary Coast.”

Rampant desire made it impossible to concentrate. "I have been trying to tell you, but I

am not very good—" She wet her lips and croaked out a laugh. "Quentin, I need you. I

do not wish to go on without you by my side. I love you.”

He gave a crow of triumph and kissed her again. She laced her arms around his neck

and hugged him as if he might vanish if she dared let loose. Was she dreaming?

"You know—" she gulped and started again. "I am merely human. How will your family

accept—”

"My family cares about me, and they'll love you for the remarkable woman you are." He

bared his teeth. "I assure you that they will.”

"But you must want to return to England.”

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 454 of 455

"America is my home now. My old life is over.”

"You

understand that I am a doctor." She laughed again, nervous and jubilant. "I am

not much of a cook. Nor a housekeeper—”

He took her face in his hands. "My Valkyrie. I would never ask you to give up your great

gifts for healing the mind." He kissed her hands, one by one. "I know very well that you

can get along without me. But together—" He swung her off her feet and twirled her in a

dizzy circle. "Beware to anyone who stands in our way!”

They kissed, and danced about the parlor like a pair of dervishes, until Johanna's hair

came loose and they both looked as though they'd just left the bedroom. Johanna didn't

even bother to straighten her frock
.

This was not madness. She loved, and was loved by, a man who expected, even

demanded that she embrace her gifts, just as he embraced his. He'd never regard her

as anything but an equal. A friend, a helpmate, a lover
.

She knew she'd have cause to doubt herself again. So would Quentin. But they would

no longer be alone in fighting their battles. She need not be strong and sensible and

responsible every moment of every day; Quentin could be those things for her
.

As she would be for him
.

"At least one matter is relatively straightforward," she said, summoning up the breath to

speak. "I have already considered that it would be best for the Haven's residents to

relocate to a place far from Silverado Springs, where we can start afresh. You said that

your sister lives in New Mexico. We should be able to sell my uncle's remaining land for

a good price. Surely there is land to be bought and room to build in the Territory. I will

have to talk to the others, but—”

Secret of the Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 03

Page 455 of 455

"Does that mental machinery of yours ever cease its work?" he teased, kissing her on

the nose. "Of course, my Valkyrie. I've passed through the Territory, once or twice. It's a

wild country, but there is still room for men and women to grow. We'll find our place

there.”

"You won't mind sharing our lives with my patients?”

"Not at all. As long as we have a little time to ourselves." He gave her a delightful

sample of what he had in mind for their private times. Johanna found her thoughts

turning with increasing persistence to her bed down the hall
.

But she still had obligations. "I must say good-bye to May and Mrs. Ingram. And there's

your messenger—”

"Not quite yet. You didn't answer my question." He dropped to one knee again, and took

her hand between his. "Will you marry me, Johanna?”

She felt the smile on her face growing and growing until it became a ridiculous grin. "It

seems a perfectly rational thing to do.”

He jumped up, caught her about the waist and whirled her around and around with such

a caterwauling that Mrs. Daugherty, Irene, Harper, Lewis, Oscar, May, and Mrs. Ingram

came to watch in amazement
.

Johanna only laughed. If she'd gone a little mad, it was a price she was willing to pay
.

THE END