going to marry me, aren’t you, Caryn?’
‘It’s all so sudden,’ she protested. ‘I can’t take it in.’ She could feel herself trembling as reaction began to set in. ‘You didn’t attempt to see me last year when your father died.’
‘I dared not let myself. I was only here a few days, anyway.’ He brought up his other hand to trace the line of her mouth with the tip of a finger, making her tremble with another, quite different emotion. ‘You told me once that you loved me,’ he said softly. ‘Does that still follow?’
Caryn was hard put to it to think of anything other than what he was doing to her with that slow caress. She caught at his hand, staying the movement yet not pulling away. ‘We hardly know one another,’ she whispered. ‘Not in any real sense.’
‘We know how we feel,’ he returned. ‘That’s the most important.’
Caryn wasn’t sure. She felt totally confused. For this to happen after two years of hatred was beyond all reason. How could she even begin to sort out her emotions?
‘Does your mother really consider me the kind of wife you should have?’ she asked. ‘There must be others far more suitable.’
‘Suitable to whom, and for what?’ Logan queried. ‘If I’m going to take a wife at all, then it has to be my choice.’
He studied her for a brief moment, then tilted her chin and kissed her again, this time with less restraint, parting her lips in surging response. Caryn didn’t try to think, only to feel—the way she had always felt about this man deep down in her heart. He had been her first love; she wanted him to be her only love. Nothing else seemed important right now but that.
‘I take it the answer is yes,’ he said with a touch of arrogance when he lifted his head at last. ‘It must be soon. There isn’t a lot of time left.’
‘It can’t be that soon.’ She was breathless, heart racing, mind in a whirl. ‘What do I tell my parents?’
‘The truth, up to a point,’ he suggested. ‘Just leave out the more intimate detail. They’ll surely understand the need for haste when they know about Mother.’
‘She won’t mind their knowing?’
‘Providing they keep it to themselves. The last thing she’d want is for the whole town to know.’ Logan took her hand, pressing the back of it to his lips in a gesture that warmed her all the way through. ‘You’re of age. It’s your decision, not theirs. Your life.’ His smile was an inducement in itself. ‘You won’t regret it, Caryn. I’ll make sure you don’t.’
Caution went to the winds. Whatever the cost, she thought recklessly, she couldn’t turn her back on this dream come true. Logan had to love her, even though he hadn’t actually used the word. How else could he contemplate marriage?
‘Yes,’ she breathed, not trying to keep her emotions in check any longer. ‘Yes, Logan, I’ll marry you. As soon as you like!’
He made no attempt to kiss her again, much as she wanted him to. His acknowledging nod was verging on the perfunctory. ‘Give me half an hour to return Ballantyne to the stables, and I’ll come and see your parents,’ he said. ‘Or better still, why don’t you come on back with me, then we can drive in together?’
It was all going too fast, much too fast, but Caryn wouldn’t allow herself pause for reflection. Logan was in charge all the way; that was how she wanted it. It was how she had always wanted it.
He put her up before him on the horse, the same way he had that other evening. Only this was different, so different, she thought blissfully, leaning against him. She could feel the strong beat of his heart through the two layers of clothing, the radiating body heat. The muscles of her inner thighs went into spasm at the memory of that other time. Such an age ago, but never forgotten. And soon to happen again, if Logan had his way. Only this time they would be man and wife.
Whitegates lay back from the coastal road. Built of mellow brick, and Georgian in design, the house was large and imposing, the formal gardens immediately surrounding it full of life and colour. The stables lay off to the rear, reached via a lane running alongside the property, with the seventy acres of privately owned land stretching beyond.
A youth came out to the yard to take the horse as Logan handed Caryn down from its back. She knew him by sight if not by name, and was aware that he recognised her too from the way he gaped at her.
‘You can talk to Mother while I get out of these things,’ said Logan, turning her back towards the house. ‘It won’t take me long.’
‘What do I say to her?’ Caryn asked, panicking at the very thought of facing the woman.
‘Just be yourself,’ he advised. ‘She won’t bite.’ He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘She wants this as much as I do.’
Neither of them more than she did herself, came the fervent thought as she looked up into the lean features. She belonged to this man, wholly and for ever. Time had no bearing. A day, a week, a year, even two yearsit was all the same.
They went in through a side door, passing along a corridor to emerge into a lofty hall panelled in oak. The staircase rose from the centre, branching off at the halfway point to galleried landings either side. Black and white tiles polished to a high but non-slippery sheen covered the floor.
Glancing around, Caryn felt intimidated by the obvious signs of wealth allied to superb good taste, conscious of her simple cotton trousers and shirt, her windblown hair. Even in jodhpurs and riding boots, Logan looked completely at home.
He crossed to double doors on the right and ushered her through to a room full of soft evening light. A beautiful room, full of antiques yet with a lived-in look that gave her fresh heart. Seated on a brocade sofa by the side of the white marble fireplace, Mrs Bannister welcomed the two of them with a smile that seemed wholly genuine.
‘I gather that congratulations are in order?’ she said to her son. To Caryn, she added, ‘Come and sit by me. We have to get to know one another.’
‘I’ll leave you to it, said Logan. ‘I’m going up to change.’
Stay, Caryn wanted to beg, but he was already closing the door in his wake. Feeling totally at a loss, she moved to do his mother’s bidding, perching on the very edge of her seat.
‘Do make yourself comfortable,’ the older woman invited. ‘I realise how difficult this must be for you, but I can assure you that I thoroughly approve my son’s choice.’
‘But you don’t even know me,’ Caryn pointed out bemusedly.
‘I know of you—and of your family. The Gregorys are very well respected.’ She paused as if to choose her words, eyes reflective as they dwelt on the face turned towards her. ‘You’re very young. The only question I would ask is, are you quite sure this is what you want?’
‘Oh, yes!’ Caryn could say that without hesitation. She gave a laugh. ‘I’m still reeling from the suddenness of it all, but it’s definitely what I want. What I always…’ She broke off, colouring and looking down at the hands clasped in her lap. ‘Logan said he’d told you… everything.’
‘Yes, he did. Two years ago. It was the only way he could make me understand why he had decided to accept his friend’s invitation to partner him in Australia.’ The tone was matter-of-fact. ‘It seemed the best thing at the time.’
Caryn said softly, ‘Because of me you lost your son for two years.’
‘Not wholly. I visited him. In any case, he and his father didn’t get along too well, so it was better for them both to be apart for a while.’ Her voice briskened. ‘That’s all in the past. We have the future to look to now. You’ll be prepared to live here at Whitegates after you’re married, I trust?’
‘Well, yes, of course.’ Caryn hadn’t got that far in her imaginings as yet, and could find no other