"I do like you as a friend, Graham. Please don't ask me for anything more."
Graham took that small concession on her part as a victory and his expression lit with triumph. He leaned over and gave her cheek a quick kiss, and then took her hand to continue their walk. "I'm grateful you want me for a friend," he said. "I don't mean to pry, but there isn't another man you like better, is there?"
Alanna shook her head. "You're simply impossible, aren't you?"
"Where you're concerned I am. Now please answer my question. Is there someone else?"
"No," Alanna assured him quickly, and again he flashed a wide grin. She knew other women considered him handsome. The Frederick sisters certainly did. He was bright, too, during dinner he always entered discussions with her uncle with a confidence born of knowledge of the subject. He was undoubtedly a fine prospect for a husband, but as she walked by his side, her conviction to avoid marriage never wavered.
Chapter 11
Byron offered an apology to Hunter before they reached Will's Creek, but it was coolly shrugged off and their relationship never resumed its former warmth. While the Indian and Elliott had grown closer during the four months they had served together, Byron came away from the experience feeling bitter and alone. When their bateau reached their plantation dock one hot August afternoon, he felt none of the elation of his last visit home.
Elliott was in only marginally better spirits than Byron, but he was consoled by the fact that their defeat was common knowledge throughout the colonies, so they would not have to disclose the wretched news themselves. It was a small comfort, but he clung to it. Both he and Byron had lost weight, and their faces no longer retained any trace of youthful softness. They had left home as exuberant young officers of twenty-one and twenty-three, and returned home hardened veterans of what they now regarded as a futile campaign.
Unlike the Barclay brothers, Hunter had not been burdened by the guilt of defeat. He had done his best under the worst of circumstances, and took pride in it. He would have preferred to return to Virginia with exciting stories of their victory to entertain Melissa, but lacking those, he knew there were other far more pleasurable ways for them to pass their time.
While Byron and Elliott climbed out of the bateau slowly, he leapt over the side and had to fight the impulse to run up the path to the house, shouting Melissa's name. After waiting four long months to see her, any further delay was excruciating, but he had to adopt an impassive expression, as though his visit were without the special significance Melissa's presence gave it.
John and Rachel hurried down to the dock to greet their sons, and Alanna followed along closely. They were all enormously relieved to see Byron and Elliott had returned home unharmed, and greeted Hunter politely. "Did you get my letters?" Rachel asked. "The one you sent from Alexandria made no mention of Ian and Melissa, so I feared none of my letters reached you."
"Mail delivery was haphazard at best, Mother," Byron explained. "Was there a particular reason you wrote to us about them?"
Rachel turned to her husband. "You know I wrote to them."
"Yes, my dear, but it's no wonder they didn't get the news of the wedding."
"Wedding?" Elliott asked. "Are Melissa and Ian engaged?"
"They were married in May," Rachel rushed to explain. "It was a wonderful wedding, and we missed you both terribly. That's not the only news though, we'll have a grandchild in January!"
Byron and Elliott were quite naturally surprised to learn of their sister's sudden marriage and expected child, but Hunter was stunned to hear the woman he loved had wed another. Angry tears stung his eyes, and as he turned to hide them his gaze met Alanna's. She had undergone such a dramatic change since April that he almost didn't recognize her. She could no longer be mistaken for a servant, now that she wore an attractive gown and lace-trimmed cap. Her manner was confident rather than timid. Afraid she could see his pain, he turned back to the bateau and began unloading it.
He had expected to have to hide his feelings until he and Melissa could be alone, but love would have been far easier to conceal than the despair he now felt
. He heard John Barclay curse the lack of support from other colonies as a factor in their defeat, and realized that whatever sorrow he displayed would be mistaken for the same anguish Byron and Elliott were making no attempt to disguise. They were merely discouraged, however, and he was heartbroken.
By the time he had set the last piece of luggage on the dock, Hunter had his emotions under firm control. He would not scream and plead when he saw Melissa, he would simply ask her to explain why she had made love to him, and then wed another. She was a passionate woman, and he was not surprised she and Ian had conceived a child so quickly, but that was a small insult compared to the betrayal of her marriage.
It wasn't until they reached the porch and he saw Melissa waiting at the door, that her motives instantly became clear. She may have been wed only three months, but the fullness of her bosom and thickening at her waist made it plain her journey toward motherhood was further advanced. When she avoided his glance, he knew with a devastating certainty that her child was his.
He dropped his belongings on the porch and, unable to offer a coherent excuse, walked away.
"Hunter?" Elliott called.
Hunter turned back to wave, but kept on walking. He had been a full-grown man at sixteen, and in the last eight years he had known several woman as intimately as he had known Melissa, but none had touched his heart. Sweet memories of the stolen moments they had shared had never left his mind, but obviously her thoughts had seldom, if ever, strayed to him. That he had given her a child apparently meant nothing to her, or she would have sent for him, and he would be her husband rather than Ian.
He remembered Ian as a likable young man with a friendly smile, but there was nothing remarkable about him. He was white, of course, and apparently that was all that had mattered to Melissa. She had chosen to wed an English gentleman rather than an Indian brave. He was accustomed to white men attempting to take advantage of him, but this was the first time a white woman had succeeded in doing so, and he had never felt so humiliated. Melissa had used him, perhaps merely to satisfy her curiosity, and then gone on to Ian.
Torn by the desire to turn his back on Melissa forever, and the equally strong need to confront her, Hunter ran along the river until he had taken the edge off his rage. He then began to play out scenes in his mind, in an attempt to find words that would convey his disgust in a manner Melissa would never forget. There was nothing he could say that would be too mean after what she had done to him, and he practiced insults until he was certain his would ring in her ears forever.
With their father's encouragement, Byron and Elliott described their recent adventure, but Alanna excused herself at the first mention of bloodshed. While she had listened to her cousins' tale, she had been haunted by the memory of Hunter's agonized expression when he had learned of Melissa's marriage. He had tried to hide his pain, and had succeeded with the others, but she was far more observant. She could appreciate his need for solitude, but at the same time, she did not want him to suffer needlessly.
As she started across the lawn toward the dock, Alanna could not help but marvel at the improvement in her attitude since Hunter's first visit. She had been terrified of him, not for who he was, but simply for what he was, and that had been most uncharitable of her. Due to her aunt and cousin's encouragement, she was more comfortable in the company of others now, and because she felt she owed him an apology, she thought this might be the perfect time to give it. As she had suspected, he was down by the river, but he had left his buckskins and moccasins on the dock and was swimming. Not wanting to embarrass either of them, she turned back toward the house, but Hunter had already seen her and called out her name.
Alanna turned around slowly. "I wanted to speak with you, but it can wait."
Hunter reached the dock in three long strokes, but remained in the water. He flipped his hair out of his eyes. "Did Melissa send you?" he asked.