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“Hush! What Eldon might not have seen, he sure heard about.”
“Oh, my word, then everyone must know!”
“No, not everyone. And it doesn’t matter anyway. Beau learned the truth and had the wisdom even while he was lying drunk in the jail to be sure I found you.”
“You knew all this and yet you didn’t care?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Now you tell me, was it the same way with Jarrett Cain? Were you the same woman you were last night when you were drunk with him.”
She blushed. “Well, in a way, but then not.”
He looked confused.
“My body wanted those unseemly things when I was with him, Daniel, I can’t deny that. But my heart ached the whole time for the wrongness of it; that it wasn’t you. I ached for you. I did such shameful things with those men, and last night again with you.”
“Not shameful to me.” He shook his head.
“You saw it all, and you can still say that?”
“I can.”
“But you were drunk.”
“No, I’d had one glass of wine. You had all the rest.”
Her blush deepened.
“I expect no less from you, Hannah, than seeing your passions pour like a raging storm. At heart you are a lusty savage. It’s a beautiful thing to see. You cannot fool me when it comes to that tawdry side of you. When I look at the last few weeks, I realize that this was just as much my mistake as yours. It was for me to protect you from those who would abuse your innocence and the fire that breeds your lust. It was for us to enjoy that fire together, but keep it otherwise under control. I failed you, Hannah. And I am sorry for that.”
She looked at him amazed. “Oh, you are a good man, Daniel. But twisting the truth of this matter by accusing yourself does not assuage my guilt.”
“If you need my forgiveness, you have it, Hannah. But in my eyes you’re guilty of nothing but doing what you had to do.”
“You do believe that?” she was amazed.
“I do.”
She could feel that in her bones. “You know, I think in time I might actually believe that,” she smiled. “I mean if you could call last night beautiful…” she blushed, “it was, well…”
“It was what?”
“The most amazing sex I’ve ever had. And if that’s so…perhaps, there’s no room for guilt.”
He took her hand in his. “Maybe not. I mean if you insist on feeling ashamed, I can whip you daily to assuage your guilt. If you need to pay your penance hanging naked in the yard, so be it,” his eyes twinkled darkly. “But hear this, wife, I will never again allow you to take yourself from me for any reason. You are my wife and you will not deny me the love you owe me. I love you still.” His eyes narrowed and his voice thundered quietly. “No circumstance, no evil man can change that. I would not be much of a man if it did. We’re going to sleep in this bed, we’re going to have sex here and anywhere else we so desire because we’re both lusty, wicked people, who like to do those terrible things.” He laughed. “We’ll make love enough in our own bawdy way so that in time, that nightmare will disappear.” He looked at her lovingly. “It’ll look like one of those picture postcards from the fair, something that fades to dust and blows away. That’s all it is, Hannah, that nightmare. This, here, this marriage can’t be destroyed as long as we love each other.”
The last of those invisible knots that bound her heart loosened, tears streamed from her eyes and she moved to his lap where he held her for a long time.
EPILOGUE
A few days following the reunion between Hannah and Daniel, three men from town rode into the yard, and brusquely cornered Daniel on the porch. Hannah watched from the barn where she’d been milking the cows, while Travis stepped out from around her and quickly moved to the porch and joined the conversation. The discussion was carried on at a distance too far away for her to hear, but given the gravity of the mood, she sensed she should stay where she was. When the group broke apart, the three men mounted up again and waited for Daniel to saddle Buck.
“Where are you going?” she called to him, as he led his horse from the barn to the waiting party.
“Travis, tell her when I’m gone,” he said to his friend, then he turned to her, “And you, Hannah, go nowhere. NO WHERE.”
“Yes, sir,” she looked up at him dazed.
Daniel was gone for the rest of the day and most of the next, arriving home so exhausted that he wouldn’t say a word about his mission.
