The American Bride - By Karla Darcy Page 0,70

he wanted to strangle her.

"Do you hate me so much then?"

Cara gasped at her own temerity. Then she recoiled as Julian lunged toward her. His hands bit into her shoulders as he hauled her to her feet. In his agitation he shook her until Cara thought her neck might break.

"Hate you? Haven't you been listening to me at all? My dear girl, I love you. That's why you must go away."

"Love me?" Cara felt stupid with her inability to understand.

For answer Julian pulled her against his chest, bending his head to her ashen face. His kiss was excruciatingly gentle as he tried to communicate his love for her without words. Cara was stunned momentarily, then her heart expanded at the wonder of his words as their meaning finally penetrated her brain. Her senses fired at his touch. Blissfully Cara melted against him, reaching up to circle his neck with her arms. With a groan of despair, Julian tore her arms down and pushed her away.

"Now do you see why it's impossible? I couldn't keep my hands off you if you were to remain in England."

He flung himself down on the wooden bench. His breathing was ragged as he fought for control. Puzzled by his behavior and even more confused by his words Cara stared down at him in motionless dismay. Then suddenly her eyes opened wide and she expelled her breath in a sigh of pure pleasure. She knelt down at Julian's feet taking his hands in her own. Putting them against her cheek she scanned his anguished face.

"Please, Julian, don't be angry with me. At least not yet," Cara cautioned with a guilty laugh. "You say you came to the Duchess to ask for an annulment of your marriage. Why, Julian?"

"Because I had fallen in love with you," he stated flatly.

Cara closed her eyes, bending her head to kiss his hands. Then glancing up into his beloved face she smiled. It was a smile of such infinite sweetness that Julian found his own heart swelling with love.

"Did you tell her Grace why you wanted an annulment?"

"I tried. I couldn't seem to be able to explain it very well." Julian clutched at Cara's hands by way of apology at his own inadequacies. "It had never mattered before whom I married. What little I had seen of marital bliss was a sham. I had never met a woman I could either love or trust. And then you came storming into my peaceful life."

Julian's dark head bent to Cara's burnished curls and he kissed the silken strands. Then tipping her head, he kissed her softly on the lips.

"You annoyed me. You angered me. You frustrated me at every turn. You took over my household; made me burn with desire and had the audacity to criticize my behavior toward the children."

Cara had the good grace to look shamefaced but Julian did not fail to spot the mischievous smile at the corners of her mouth.

"You ran from me in the woods and I searched for you all over the county. And there you sat, night after night, in the schoolroom telling stories and embroidering some infernal chair cover. I must have been blind."

"But I didn't want you to find me," Cara declared.

Defiantly she met Julian's black-browed glare. Then ignoring the interruption he continued.

"You were everywhere I looked. And when I didn't see you I thought about you. First it was in anger; then in frustrated desire. And finally with love," he finished quietly.

The two of them were silent. Cara was the first to break the spell of enchantment around them. Her question jolted Julian back to the present.

"What did the Duchess say about the annulment?"

"She said it was impossible," Julian replied furiously. "She even had the gall to ask me if I intended to make you my mistress."

"Do you, Julian?" Cara asked curiously.

"I could never treat you so shabbily, my dear," he answered. "I do love you so but I could never permit you to become the topic of malicious gossip. It seems our honor stands in the way of our love."

His last words were spoken ironically as he brought her hand to his lips. Gazing down at the exquisite girl at his feet he was proud of his decision no matter how much it hurt. Cara's face glowed with pride and her eyes touched him with love.

"So you see, my dear, this is goodbye. I was sent out here to wait for my wife. Unaccountably I found you instead."

It was Cara's turn to