Love, Come to Me(100)

“Are you . . . unhappy about the idea?”

Amy regarded her with unblinking turquoise eyes. “I don’t mind it. I like to read. I’d like to take classes.”

That was encouraging. “Some of the best young ladies’ academies in the country are in Massachusetts,” Lucy said warmly. “They’ve even founded a female seminary in Wellesley . . . in a few years, if you wanted to continue your education, you could go to college just like men do.”

The last four words seemed to attract Amy’s close attention. “Are you a feminist?” she asked, clearly intrigued by the idea.

“In some ways, maybe,” Lucy admitted. “I certainly think that women should be allowed to study and learn things. I don’t think we should be treated as if our minds are inferior.”

“Mama and Raine say that a man won’t marry a woman if he thinks she’s smarter than he is.”

“That certainly indicates something about your brother,” Lucy muttered.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing, Amy. I was just thinking of going to talk with Heath.”

“About Raine?”

The perception in those steady blue-green eyes reminded Lucy uncannily of the way Heath looked at her sometimes. “About many things,” she replied. “I haven’t talked to him in two weeks. We have catching up to do.”

“He didn’t know Raine was coming along,” Amy said, undeceived by Lucy’s evasiveness. “Neither of us did. On the morning we were to leave, she said that her people in Goochland County wouldn’t take her in. And she doesn’t have any kin left in Henrico County.”

And now she’s right where she wants to be, Lucy thought with a stab of fury. How easily men were taken in by women! A few tears, some sweet Southern helplessness. Oh, it must have been ridiculously easy for Raine. And here she, Lucy, was, harboring the woman under her own roof! It had the makings of a fine farce.

“Why don’t you take a little nap?” Lucy suggested calmly, noticing the faint gray shadows underneath the girl’s eyes. “I’ll come and wake you in time to freshen up for dinner.”

Amy nodded gravely, watching Lucy’s every movement as she left the room and closed the door.

Heath was waiting in the bedroom for her, dressed in clean clothes, his freshly washed hair shining and damp. The new bronzed darkness of his skin was startling against the whiteness of his shirt. They stared at each other, unsmiling, and invisible signals seemed to race back and forth between them. He was tense. She was furious. He was prepared to be stubborn, and so was she. Underlying everything was an overwhelming surfeit of frustration. They hadn’t made love in weeks, and all the channels of communication that had once been open were now sealed shut. Want and anger combined to form a boundary between them.

“I would like to talk downstairs in the library.” Lucy’s voice was taut. “There is less chance that we’ll be overheard there.”

“You must be planning to shout,” he said dryly.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. But if you won’t listen to me any other way, then I will shout. And if you decide to treat this lightly and laugh at me, then I will walk out that door, and I wouldn’t come back until she is gone from this house.”

All humor left his expression. “I’ll tread lightly on your temper, Mrs. Rayne . . . if you’ll do the same for mine. Shall we move the discussion down to the library?”

The beginnings of sunset filled the library with a pinkish light that mingled with the glow of the lamps. Heath poured himself a drink, noticed Lucy’s extended hand, and with a quirk of his mouth, he handed her a watered-down version of the same. Lucy welcomed the warm, steadying effect of the spirits, and she took one sip after another until her teeth no longer chattered against the rim of the glass. She closed her eyes and waited for the drink to sear its way down to her stomach, and then she looked at him with an indescribable mixture of emotions gleaming in her eyes.

“How could you bring her here?”

“I would have warned you that she was coming with us if I’d had a chance. But the morning we were leaving—”

“I heard about her problems with her family from Amy,” Lucy said. “It’s just too bad. I have a lot in common with Raine’s relatives—I don’t want her living with me, either.”

Heath tilted his head back and downed the last swallow of whiskey, the movement replete with masculine grace. Then his eyes locked with hers in an intense stare. “She’s not going to be staying with us for long. When Victoria left for England, she wanted Amy and Raine to go with her. Victoria has family there that would take them in. But they both refused. Amy knew that I’d come and get her. And Raine . . . well, I guess she just didn’t want to move to another country, but she didn’t give it much thought beyond that.”

Lucy could have strangled him. She gave it plenty of thought. Raine knew exactly what she was doing—she knew she’d see you again. She wants to see if she can get you back, you idiot!

“But now,” Heath continued, “Raine is thinking seriously about England. She’s going to stay a few days until we get Amy settled somewhere, and then she’ll leave to join Victoria.”

“Why didn’t Raine just stay in the South until she made up her mind?”