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He continued to hold my hand, pressing it imploringly while his eyes searched my face for some reaction. “Rowena…”
“I could never think that you, of all people, would ever propose marriage to me with the motive of controlling my money. What a ridiculous idea!” I said forcibly. “But as for marriage,” I added quickly to forestall the words I saw forming themselves on his lips, “nothing could be further from my mind! I’m still in mourning for my father, even if I have ceased to dress the part, and I certainly think I should wait a few years before I commit myself to any such arrangement.”
“Arrangement!” He was staring at me with dismay showing in his eyes. “But Rowena, surely you did not think I was suggesting a convenient arrangement in order to join the SD under one management? It might be the sort of thing that my uncle would think of as a practical suggestion, but I’m not made that way. It is exactly for that reason that I can’t ask you to marry me!”
“Well, then…”
“You don’t understand. Rowena, I’m afraid I’ve fallen in love with you. You surely must have suspected it! I’ve never met a woman quite like you! Beautiful, intelligent, oh, God, what a mess I’m making of this!”
“Don’t, Mark! Please, don’t say any more, or you’ll spoil everything. Our friendship—”
Despair showed in his kind, handsome face as he shook his head at me. “Friendship! You’ll always have that and anything else you ask of me. But I’d hoped, and yet, how could I be so presumptuous? You’ve lived among the aristocracy of England. I’m sure you’ve received innumerable proposals of marriage from men far richer and more eligible than I. Please forgive me.”
“Mark! Will you please stop talking that way? It’s not that at all. Only that I—I’m not ready for marriage yet. Or love, for that matter.” I pulled my hand from his grasp and looked at him severely. “You’re infatuated with me. You know as well as I do that I’m probably the only eligible female in these parts, and so, when we were thrown into each other’s company…”
“How logical you make it all sound,” he said bitterly. “And yet, in spite of all your logic, I think you’re only avoiding the issue. I’m no green boy, you know, and I’ve had my share of affairs of the heart. Do you think I don’t realize the real thing when I’ve found it? I’ve already told you that you were different from any woman I’ve ever met before. What did you think I meant?”
I think he noticed the growing dismay on my face, for his voice softened. “Don’t look so upset! I wouldn’t worry you for the world, nor do anything to spoil our relationship. I love you, Rowena. But I promise not to pester you with my declarations of love again unless you indicate to me that they may be welcome. And in the meantime, please remember that if you ever need anything, you have only to tell me.”
“Thank you,” I managed. But what on earth could I say more than that? I almost wished that I could have cared more for Mark. And yet, the very next day, I was angry with him.
He rode over in the morning, looking rather sheepish, to inform me that I had been invited to dinner at the big house—the palacio, as Marta had described it.
“Oh, so he’s decided to acknowledge my existence, has he? Naturally I refuse!”
“Rowena, please. You and Uncle Todd can’t just go on avoiding each other. I assure you that he’s promised to be on his best behavior tonight. I wish you would agree to come, even if it’s only to show my uncle that he hasn’t frightened you with his exhibition of rudeness!”
I looked at Mark narrowly, but his face was bland, faintly smiling. Perhaps he, too, was cleverer than I thought! Certainly it seemed as if he were deliberately teasing me into accepting this sudden dinner invitation.
“Your uncle’s probably up to something,” I said bluntly.
“No doubt he is! But you might as well find out now as later, don’t you think? I know Uncle Todd. Once his bluff is called he’ll settle down, you’ll see. I wish you’d come, Rowena. If you’ll forgive my saying so, it’s high time you learned more about your responsibilities as half owner of the SD.”
His voice had become stern, almost brotherly. So he had got over his passion for me so quickly, had he? Still, Mark did have a point. I couldn’t go on this way forever.
I sighed resignedly. “Very well, Mark. I’ll come. But only if you promise to escort me there, and to bring me home whenever I want to leave.”
I was suddenly intrigued. So Todd Shannon thought to summon me to the royal presence, did he? After a suitable period of ignoring me, of course. We’d see who came out the victor in this encounter!
It took me several hours, and Marta’s help, to prepare myself. And then, as I looked at myself in the mirror and heard Marta’s admiring gasp, I couldn’t help smiling wickedly back at my reflection.
Thanks to the estimable Mr. Worth in Paris and Cartier in New York, I certainly looked the part of an English duchess this evening.
The gown I had chosen to wear was a deep, midnight blue velvet, cut low in front, with tiny strips of crisscross material to hold it up on my shoulders. Generous folds of the rich material were swathed tightly around my hips, ending in a fashionable bustle behind. I wore silver gloves that came just above my elbows, and silver kid shoes with tiny diamanté buttons.
And my jewels, of course, were diamonds. I had never forgotten what Sir Edgar had told me that night.
Marta, her hands clasped together, eyes wide, muttered in excitable Spanish that I looked like a princesa with the diamond stars in my elaborately coiffured hair. But I must be sure to wear a cloak, to protect my gown and cover my hair. She crossed herself as she murmured something about bandits.
“Nonsense! This is the American side of the border. And Señor Mark will be coming for me, no doubt with an escort of cowboys.”
But I suddenly realized that I was seldom allowed to ride far from the house without an armed escort. Even Mark carried a handgun, and when I had teased him about it, he’d shrugged and told me that his uncle insisted upon it. And yet, I had never seen any of the Apache Indians they all seemed so afraid of, nor any strangers who might be outlaws.
“It will be dark when you return,” Marta said ominously, as she brought me my long, sable-trimmed evening cloak. Standing back to inspect me after I had obligingly put it on, she suddenly broke into smiles again and shrugged philosophically. “The señorita is very beautiful. No doubt the señor will think so too. And they would not harm our patron’s daughter. He was a man who was much loved, your father.”
“They?” I turned from the mirror to look at her questioningly. “Surely, Marta, you don’t really believe that any member of the Kordes family would dare show their faces on SD land?”
Her lips tightened. “They say that this land should be theirs. Your father knew this and he would have helped them regain it if he could. When the señor Lucas used to live here, they would talk of it for many hours. And once, not long before your father died, he came back here with his brother Ramon. It was at night of course, very late.”
