Virginia Henley (49 page)

He ran a distracted hand through his long black hair. “Roz, we don’t have a few months. Tony has conceived. I had no idea until I tended her wounds last night.”

Roz put her hand on his arm. “You must have a hundred things to do. Leave this one to me.”

Savage nodded. “I have a jackal to hunt down.” * * *

* * *

Lady Randolph entered her granddaughter’s bedroom with a female servant carrying water and dressings. “I’ve come to assess the damage.”

“Roz, no. I’ll do it myself,” Antonia said firmly.

“Fiddlesticks! Stop behaving as if you were the first woman ever to have a child. I was the first!”

Antonia said, “Oh, Roz, you always make me laugh. I mustn’t laugh; my world is coming apart.”

“Antonia, in this world if we don’t laugh, we cry. In any case a child is something to celebrate, not mourn. It’s flying in the face of convention, of course, to have a child without marrying. You’ll really set the gossips on their fannies if you produce twins!”

“Ohmigod, don’t say that!” Tony cried. Why had the possibility never occurred to her?

“Let’s have a look at you.”

Antonia lay down and helped Roz remove her bandages. The gashes were ugly, but whatever Savage had put on them had already begun its work of healing. They were now not much worse than heavy scratches. There was no sign of infection.

Roz gently washed them and patted them dry. “They’ve already begun to scab over. I think we should let the air at them. What do you think?”

“I think you are right as always,” Tony replied.

“In that case I think you’d better marry Indian Savage. He’s far too wealthy a catch to let him escape.”

“I don’t love him for his money!” Antonia flared.

“Then you do love him?” Roz asked.

“No! The answer is no! I don’t love him and I won’t marry him.”

“Have it your way, darling. You usually do,” Roz said lightly.

When she left Antonia’s room, Roz went in search of Eve. She found her bedchamber easily by the steady stream of house servants running to and fro. Her daughter
was propped up in bed with a breakfast tray across her knees. “Could I have a private word, Eve?”

Her daughter banished the servants with an imperative hand, then glanced at her with cool condescension.

“You do that so well. You must have had slaves in an earlier life,” Roz said dryly.

“Don’t be tiresome, Mother,” Eve said sweetly.

“Tired, my dear, not tiresome. I hope you’re ready for a few home truths. Eve, I’m tired of shouldering your responsibilities. Motherhood didn’t suit you very well, so you cast the twins aside like so much unwanted baggage. I don’t believe you loved Russell, and I don’t see any evidence you ever loved the children, because you have always been totally wrapped up in yourself. I venture to say that up till now you’ve been a wretched failure. But, Eve, you are one of the most fortunate women in the world. You have a second chance. How many of us have the chance of redemption?”

“What do you mean?” Eve’s cheeks were flushed a dull red.

Roz’s face set with determination. Her voice was harsh and implacable. “You will go to Antonia and you will convince her that you and Adam Savage were never intimate.”

A low knock came on the door. Roz opened it to find Mr. Burke. He had very thoughtfully returned to Government House to bring everything the ladies would need.

“Faddy Burke, I love you.” Roz squeezed his hand in gratitude.

“And I love you, too, ma’am,” Mr. Burke said sincerely as he lifted the trunk into Eve’s bedroom.

Eve stared at the closed door for five full minutes after they had departed.
So, they think they have a monopoly on love, do they? How dare they accuse me of not loving my children?
She flung open the lid of her trunk to search for something that would make her look motherly.

There was nothing, of course, but after much deliberation she ignored the silk chiffon and chose a plain linen morning gown. It took her an hour to do her face and hair, then she slipped along to Antonia’s chamber.

Her daughter was standing at the window with unseeing eyes. She wore a loose calico wrapper whose brilliant native pattern of blues, greens, and gold showed off her dark beauty to perfection. Eve finally admitted she had never shown her daughter affection because she knew her beauty would one day far surpass her own. That day had arrived.

As Tony whirled to face her mother, her hair spread out in a silken cloud of black curls, her generous mouth formed into a lovely O of surprise, and her wide-set green eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

“Are you feeling recovered?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Are you up to a mother-and-daughter chat?”

“Not really, Mother—”

“Antonia,” Eve beseeched, “give me another chance?”

Tony brushed her hand impatiently across her eyes. “Come and sit down, Mother.”

Eve fiddled with her silver bangles. “I’ve not exactly been the best mother in the world, but believe it or not I
do love you, Antonia. When you were a little girl you were so pretty, so precocious, I was actually jealous of you. Twins, you know, have a knack for stealing everyone’s attention. You were Russell’s darling and he never tired of showing you off.”

“I admit I loved the limelight, but you were always the beauty of the family, Mother. I felt I could never live up to that. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to see Father again.”

“When your father died, Antonia, I turned to Adam Savage for financial aid, but when I told you we were going to be married I’m afraid that was just wishful thinking on my part. My hopes along with my vanity were quite shattered yesterday when Mr. Savage came to ask me for permission to marry you instead.”

Antonia searched her face. How much courage this must be taking.

“So, my dearest, if you accept his proposal I want you to be married from Government House. We’ll invite all the planters for miles around and I’ll be able to show off my beautiful daughter.”

Antonia smiled through her tears. “Thank you, Mother. That is so very generous of you, but Adam and I don’t need any of that. All we need is each other.”

Adam Savage stood grim faced as he looked down at what was left of the corpse. The giant leeches had drained every drop of blood from Bernard Lamb’s body. His lingering horror must have been unspeakable. An obscene death for an obscene man, Indian Savage thought with satisfaction. He would have the body buried where it lay in the jungle, not on any part of Leopard’s Leap.

Savage knew he must report the death to the family who waited back at the bungalow. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that the twins’ lives were no longer in jeopardy, but his heart still felt heavy. He didn’t look forward to another confrontation with Tony, but he was prepared to use force if force was necessary.
He tethered his horse to a post in the shade of the bungalow.

Antonia was sitting in his big chair on the verandah, watching for his return. He walked toward her slowly, drinking in her dark beauty. When she saw him coming, she stood up and took a tentative step toward him. Then suddenly they were in each other’s arms.

Tony began to sob and Adam enfolded her against his heart.

“Oh, Adam, I’m so sorry about Leopard’s Leap. I know how hard and long you labored over your tea groves. I know the pride and passion you feel for this place.”

“Hush, love, hush. The only thing that matters to me is that you are safe.” Incredibly it was true. His heart was singing. His senses were dizzy from her close proximity. “Leopard’s Leap hasn’t been destroyed. I’ll rebuild, replant.”

She pulled from his arms, looking into his face to see if he was just saying the words to comfort her. “Adam, is that really possible?”

“If you want something badly enough, nothing on earth can keep it from you.” He kissed the tears from her eyes, then he kissed her mouth, realizing he was starving for her. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

He took her by the hand, then lifted her before him into the saddle. Her arms clung to his powerful body as he pressed her close, urging the horse in the direction of the tea slopes.

When she saw the blackened devastation stretching acre after acre, it was worse than she had dreamed. But her eyes followed Adam’s finger as he pointed out things she hadn’t noticed. His lips, murmuring his plans, brushed her ear, sending a delicious shiver down her spine. His head bent over hers lovingly, sharing his thoughts and ideas. Already the workers were clearing the slopes of the blackened clumps of charred tea bushes.

The debris of the factory was being carried away. “We’ll
build bigger and better,” he told her with enthusiasm. It was a good thing he had such boundless energy, he would need it.

“What about tea plants?” she asked softly, hearing his heart beating beneath her cheek.

“What? You think me so shortsighted I don’t have tea seedlings? I’ll show you tea seedlings!”

They rode at least two miles until they came to a banana grove. Adam pushed aside the wide, flat leaves and there, in the protective shade of the plantains, delicate tea plants thrust their green leaves through the rich soil.

She laughed happily, lifting her mouth for his kiss.

“I want you in my bed tonight. Shall we get married?”

“Yes, please,” Tony begged prettily, rubbing her ripe breasts against him until he groaned.

“Of course,” she whispered teasingly, “we won’t be able to make love until my wounds are healed.”

He traced her love-swollen mouth with the tip of his tongue. “Trust me to find a way … or two.”

They exchanged vows in the spacious living room of the bungalow. Anthony gave his twin into the very good care of the master of Leopard’s Leap. It was a most solemn occasion. Lady Antonia Lamb became Mrs. Adam Savage of Edenwood and the Marchioness of Blackwater.

Eve and Rosalind were both weeping, as became a mother and grandmother of the bride, and when Mr. Burke came forward to congratulate the groom, Tony saw the suspicion of a tear in his eye as well.

“Please don’t feel sad, Mr. Burke,” Tony admonished him.

“My dear, ’tis relief I feel. Savage is the poor devil who’ll be fetching the bucket for you from now on.”

Savage murmured, “A firm hand applied regularly to the backside will put an end to her drinking and carousing about in trousers.”

The household staff of Leopard’s Leap had outdone
themselves. When dinner was served in the long dining room, it was more like a banquet. It was ten at night before Denville proposed the last toast. Roz lifted her hands for silence.

“I think we should continue this party at Government House and let the newlyweds have their privacy.”

When the two carriages pulled away from Leopard’s Leap, Adam swung Tony up into his arms and carried her back into the bungalow. “You are an outrageous baggage. Did you wear bright yellow to shock them?”

She moved against him sensually, brushing her hand provocatively across the bulge at his groin. “They’d be shocked if they knew the effect bright yellow had on you. It arouses you to madness. The first time I wore it you took me across your desk!”

“You exaggerate.”

“Exaggerate
means to enlarge or increase beyond the normal. I plead guilty, milord.” Tony deliberately touched his swollen erection once again. “Take me to bed.”

“To hell with bed. I’ve waited an eternity to take you to my bathing room.” His gaze was so intense, she blushed at the things she knew he would do to her.

“Your eyes are as blue as … a baboon’s bum,” she whispered wickedly. Then she screamed as his teeth bit down on her earlobe.

Anthony was back at Leopard’s Leap at the crack of dawn. Adam and Tony had slept only about two hours. They awoke in each other’s arms with strands of black hair entangled about their naked bodies.

The lovers clung to each other, whispering, kissing, touching, tasting. They ignored Anthony’s cheerful voice as he talked with the house servants. As their passion mounted everything faded away until there were only two, alone in paradise. Their bodies fused, becoming one.

As always it was a wild, erotic love ritual, burning, thrusting, surging, pulsing, throbbing. Savage was all rippling
muscle, all rampant, driving male. Antonia was all silken, liquid heat, all scented, sultry sensuality. At their mutual, bursting implosion, lust melted into delicious, overwhelming love.

He cradled her against him with one powerful arm, while his fingers brushed the clinging tendrils of hair from her temple, then traced the lovely curve of her cheek and throat.

“He won’t go away, you know,” she whispered.

“Anthony? No, I can hear him pacing out there.”

“He’s worse than a plague of locusts. I wanted us to have a long, lip-licking breakfast in bed, then a warm, scented swim in the bathing pool.”

“I’ll lick you tonight,” he promised, recalling last night’s lovemaking in the pool. The wet slide of skin, the liquid tremors, until they were love slick and almost drowning in need. “By tonight your scratches should be all healed over and I won’t have to be so gentle with you.” He groaned as he ran his calloused palm down her tempting leg. “When your long legs swoop up into the curve of my back, I want to lie like that forever.”

Adam and Anthony spent the first of many days together. He got to know his wife’s twin brother well. Anthony was so enthusiastic about everything, Adam could tell Leopard’s Leap was already in his blood. He recognized the symptoms. Ceylon had had the same effect on him when he first arrived. It was still a part of him, of course, but his future and the future of his children now lay in England.

They began the tedious, backbreaking work of replanting. Adam noted with satisfaction that Anthony’s enthusiasm did not diminish with hard work.

“Will you be returning to England soon?” Anthony asked his new brother-in-law.

Adam nodded. “If Tony would like to go home and feels up to the voyage.”

“Is she unwell?” Anthony asked with concern.

“No, she’s not unwell. She’s blooming with health. She’s redolent with child.”

“Oh, I see,” Anthony said, laughing. “I can understand why you want to get back to Edenwood. Mr. Burke has already packed grandmother’s things for England, and mother’s off to Bombay for a holiday, but I simply don’t want to leave yet.”

“Why don’t you stay on at Leopard’s Leap? The lease to the East India Company has only a year left on it. If you’re a successful planter by that time, I’ll make you a partner,” Savage offered.

“Do you mean it?” Anthony asked, astounded at his generosity.

“You’re a godsend, an answer to my prayers. What more could I ask than to leave Leopard’s Leap in your care? I have a vessel called the
Jade Dragon
in Colombo. I use it for export on the China run. Why don’t you try your hand at that too? There are only two cargoes I forbid: opium and ivory.”

A fortnight later the trunks were stacked at the front door of the bungalow. The factory was being rebuilt and the fragile tea seedlings had been planted up the rolling slopes of Leopard’s Leap.

Adam Savage carried his bride from the bathing pool into the spacious bedchamber they would use for the last time. He had let Antonia decide whether they would stay or return to England. She made the decision for them, knowing what was in her husband’s heart. Though he loved Leopard’s Leap, it was time to found their dynasty at Edenwood.

Adam slid into bed beside her and lifted her onto his hard body. “Sweetheart, I’m so much in love with you. Thank God you finally believed there was nothing between your mother and me.”

She raised herself up on her knees above him, poised
for the plunge. “Indian Savage, you don’t really believe me that naive, do you? I simply came to the conclusion that you were right, as always. It was none of my business!”

She heard a low growl in his throat, before he pounced. Soon, however, they were both purring. Much later, in the still of the fragrant night, they sat propped against their pillows, sharing plans for their future. Savage reached for a cheroot made from fine Jaffna tobacco. He lit it, inhaled deeply, then stretched back luxuriously. When his glance was drawn back to Tony, he was stunned. She, too, was smoking a cheroot.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

“Something you taught me to do,” she pointed out, her lids half closed against the blue smoke. “What’s sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose.”

“Too goddamn much sauce!”
My God, she is lovely,
he thought. “I suppose I’ll have to give it up if I expect you to stop,” he conceded.

Tony crushed out the cheroot and slid down against him in the bed. Savage became instantly erect. She rolled him between her hands like a fine cigar. “Mmm,” she murmured outrageously, “let’s put this on the mantelpiece and I’ll smoke it in the morning!”