Shadows (34 page)

“Don’t you think then, that you and Pierre must be related?”

He nodded, his blue eyes wide.  A small smile curved his mouth.  “I think…I always knew.”

Rory reached for Melissa’s hand, carried it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, making her heart leap in delight.  “So that’s the story finished.  Now we can concentrate on simply enjoying our holiday.”

Melissa blew him a kiss.  “Unless I feel I’m related to Justine, of course.”

Rory groaned.

The priest got smoothly to his feet, bowed his silver head in Melissa’s direction and smiled his thanks.  “Madame.”  He glanced meaningfully at Rory and Christophe.

“Of course.”  Rory answered the unspoken request by getting to his feet and leading the two men down to the lower level of the mill.  Melissa let her gaze drift out across the fields.  Where the grass grew high and unchecked, two people walked hand-in-hand.  Melissa squinted.  One wore black, and the other a dull red skirt.  As Melissa got to her feet, they both turned to face her.  The figure in black raised a hand in a gesture of farewell.

Melissa waved in response, but even as she did, the two figures wavered like a mirage in warm air and vanished.

Tears pricked her eyes.  They were happy, and together and she was glad for them.

Some time later Rory came in and washed his hands carefully at the sink.  He seemed subdued.  Melissa walked up behind him, clasped him close and laid her cheek against his back.  “Have they gone?  The priest and Pierre?”

“They’ve gone straight to the church.”

She handed him a towel with a little sigh of relief.  “Thank goodness it’s all over.  I saw them just now, Pierre and Justine.  They walked away through the meadow hand in hand.”  Tears formed in her eyes, and she blinked them away.  “I think they're happy with what you've done today.”

He dried his hands slowly.  “I hope so.”

He didn't look happy though.  She searched his face for clues and found none.  “What’s wrong?  You look awfully serious.”

“All this talk of the past has made me think of the future.  What people will think of us two hundred years from now?  It’s a sobering thought.”

“My goodness, yes.”

“You asked me to marry you.”

Melissa’s heart did a somersault in her chest and ended somewhere closer to her throat.  “I did.  You accepted.  I hope you’re not having second thoughts?”

Rory threw down the towel, grasped her shoulders and brought her close to him.  “No second thoughts.”

Hurrah.  Relief allowed her to smile, but he still wasn't finished.  “I’m thinking of our descendants and their birthmarks.  How many shall we have?”

Bewildered by so many conflicting emotions, she couldn't answer him right away.  Descendants?  They didn't even have any children yet.  “How many what?  Chi…Children or birthmarks?”

“Children, you idiot.  Two?  Six?”

Melissa gulped.  The horrors of childbirth loomed but she closed her mind to the fears.  She wanted children, of course she did.  But six?  Six was an awfully big number and he still looked serious.  Did lawyers really want big families?  Or was he teasing?  “Six might be rather a lot, don’t you think?  Perhaps we should get married first, make a home and worry about children later.”  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.  “You might be able to persuade me…”

Grinning, his arms tightened, lifted her off her feet.  “That six is a good number?”

Her anxiety disappeared when he laughed.  “It is possible.”  She stared at his mouth, longed to touch it and ran the tip of her tongue over her own in anticipation.  “But you might have to use an awful lot of persuasion.  A huge amount of persuasion, in fact.”

He dipped his head.  “My pleasure, ma’am.”  He stooped, swung a strong arm beneath her knees, and moved away from the kitchen with her in his arms.  “I may as well begin right now.  Believe me, I have plans for you.”

Melissa threw her arms around his neck, found his mouth and stopped worrying about anything at all.