‘I’m only sorry I haven’t anything to give you in return for the lovely picture,’ Cassy said with genuine regret.
‘Just promise to come again and that’ll be the best present ever. We hardly ever see a pretty face, let alone get the chance to touch a soft cheek.’
‘Come on, Cass,’ Bailey said, moving closer to her side. ‘We’d best not keep Mr Solomon waiting out there in the cold.’
Cade followed them out into the vestibule where the front door had been left ajar and they could see Lottie seated alongside her father in the dog cart. ‘Where is it you’re going?’ Cade asked, eyeing the rickety contraption and aged pony with a worried frown.
‘To East Ham, Captain,’ Bailey volunteered. ‘Whitegate Farm, to be exact.’
‘That’s a long way to go in an open cart which has obviously seen better days, and the horse looks tired already.’ He stepped outside and returned after a brief discussion with Eli. ‘This isn’t the weather to be travelling any distance in an open carriage,’ he said by way of explanation. ‘I’ve offered to take you in my barouche. I’ll be happy to drive you there and bring you safely home.’
Lottie stepped inside the house rubbing her hands together. The tip of her nose glowed pink and she was shivering. ‘Are you sure, Captain? We’d be most grateful but we don’t want to impose on your good nature.’
‘Yes,’ Cassy added hastily. ‘We can’t take you away from your men on Christmas Day. It wouldn’t be fair.’
Cade smiled and shook his head. ‘By the time the punch bowl is empty they won’t care who is there to serve them their turkey and Christmas pudding. My housekeeper will cope magnificently, as always, and I wouldn’t think of allowing you to travel to the wilds of Essex in that contraption. I suggest you go into the small parlour where there is a fire burning and I’ll send for the carriage.’
‘I’m obliged to you, sir,’ Eli said, having followed Lottie into the vestibule, ‘but this is too much to ask of you, particularly on such a short acquaintance.’
‘Nonsense,’ Cade said genially. ‘I feel like a jaunt into the country and I’ve given my coachman the day off to spend it with his family. I was wondering how I would spend the rest of the day, and this will give me a chance to get out of the city for a few hours.’
‘I do hope that Flora and Mr Mullins won’t mind,’ Cassy whispered to Lottie as they settled themselves in the luxury of Captain Cade’s barouche.
‘One more won’t make any difference,’ Lottie said, leaning back against the leather squabs. ‘I wonder what Bailey and the captain are talking about out there on the box.’
‘Army men always have something in common,’ Eli murmured, closing his eyes. ‘It’s been a busy week with so many orders to complete. Wake me up when we get there, Lottie my dear.’
There was little traffic on the roads, and, despite the hard-packed snow, they arrived at Whitegate Farm in a little over an hour. Dora Cope let them into the farmhouse, taking their outer garments from them and hanging them on the oak hallstand. She glanced at Cade in some surprise and Cassy moved swiftly to his side. ‘Mrs Cope, this is Captain Cade, who was kind enough to drive us here in his barouche.’
Cade inclined his head as he met Mrs Cope’s curious gaze. ‘If my presence here causes you any inconvenience, ma’am, I can take myself off to the local tavern and return at a given time.’
‘I’ll have to ask the master, sir.’
‘What’s this?’ Mullins demanded, joining them with a welcoming smile almost splitting his face in two. ‘Why do you keep our guests standing about in the hall, Dora? Come into the parlour, everyone, and have a glass of sherry wine before we have our dinner.’
‘Luncheon, Mullins,’ Flora said sternly as she emerged from the parlour to greet them. ‘You took your time,’ she added, and her eyebrows shot up as she spotted Cade. ‘And who may you be, sir? I can see by your apparel that you aren’t the coachman.’ She rounded on Eli. ‘I thought you were driving them in your cart?’
Faced with the fierce woman, Cade seemed unperturbed. ‘I apologise for arriving uninvited, ma’am. I’m just about to leave.’
‘No, please, don’t go, Captain Cade.’ Cassy turned to Farmer Mullins with a beseeching look. ‘The captain was kind enough to drive us here in his barouche. He could have left us to travel in the dog cart and it’s bitterly cold outside.’
‘No, really, I’m quite happy to go to the tavern and wait,’ Cade said pleasantly.
‘What sort of fellow would I be to turn a man out in the snow?’ Mullins demanded, shooting a warning look at Flora. ‘You must stay, Captain. There’s food enough to go round and plenty of room at my table.’
‘Why are you all standing out here?’ Belinda hurried from the parlour to hug Cassy. ‘We were getting worried, darling. I thought you’d had an accident on the road, it’s so treacherous . . .’ She broke off, staring at Cade. Her eyes widened and her cheeks paled alarmingly, as if, Cassy thought, she had seen a ghost.
‘Belle?’ Cade’s voice shook as he murmured her name and he stood perfectly still, as if rooted to the spot.
Moving like a sleepwalker she took a step towards him and collapsed in a dead faint.
Chapter Twenty
Belinda opened her eyes. At first she had no recollection of what had caused her to tumble into unconsciousness, but as the mists cleared from her brain she realised that she was lying on the sofa in Farmer Mullins’ parlour. She struggled to raise herself on one elbow, but firm hands pressed her back against the cushions and Cassy held a glass to her lips.
‘Sip this, Ma. It’s only water.’
Obediently, Belinda allowed the sweet fresh spring water to slide down her throat. A sea of faces hovered above her but standing close behind Cassy she saw a tall man with one side of his face disfigured by a livid white scar. For a moment she wondered what a stranger was doing in their midst, and then the truth hit her once again like a bolt of lightning. She sat up straight, staring at him in wonderment. ‘George,’ she whispered. ‘You’ve come back to me.’
Cassy turned to Cade with a worried frown. ‘My mother isn’t well, Captain. She must have mistaken you for someone else.’
‘I thought I was dreaming,’ Belinda murmured, unable to take her eyes off his face. Despite the disfigurement and the lines of suffering etched on his otherwise handsome face, she would have known him anywhere. ‘Are you really here, George?’
‘Who the hell is George?’ Flora demanded crossly. ‘What’s going on, Belle? Have you lost your mind?’
Cade moved swiftly to kneel at Belinda’s side. He took her hand gently and raised it to his lips. ‘I’m here, Belle. It’s a miracle. When Cassy told me a little of her history I thought it must be you, but I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t wait any longer to find out, which is why I came today. Can you forgive me for giving you such a shock?’
‘What’s this all about, Ma?’ Cassy whispered, reaching out to clutch Bailey’s hand.
Belinda heard her daughter’s voice but the words were muffled by the beating of her own heart and the rhythmic sound of the blood drumming in her ears. She had no words for anyone other than the man whom she had believed to be dead for almost seventeen years. She raised her hand to touch his face, tracing the scar with the tip of her finger. She had thought at first that he was a phantom or a figment of her imagination, but the warmth of his breath on her face convinced her that he was a living being and he was there by her side, holding her hand. She gazed into his dark lustrous eyes and was lost in their depths. She could feel their souls uniting once again and the years fell away. ‘I was told that you died,’ she said softly. ‘They said you’d been killed in action.’
‘I was left for dead and when I eventually returned to my regiment I was told that you had married and gone to live in England. I never thought I would see you again, Belle.’ He bowed his head and she felt his warm tears caress her flesh. She slid her arms around his neck. ‘George, my dearest, darling George.’ Holding him close, she looked up at Flora. ‘Might we have some moments alone, please?’
For the first time since she had known her, Belinda saw her sister-in-law disconcerted and at a loss for words. Cassy was leaning against Bailey with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide with shock, and the others had moved to the doorway as if preparing to make a rapid exit.
‘Please, Flora,’ Belinda said again. ‘I’ll explain everything later.’
‘Outside.’ Flora recovered enough to shoo those lingering in the doorway from the room. ‘I don’t know what this is all about,’ she added, grabbing Cassy by the arm, ‘but I’m sure we’ll find out in good time. That means you too, Ollie.’ She hustled everyone into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
The room was strangely silent. All Belinda could hear was the ticking of the black marble clock on the mantelshelf and the crackling of the log fire. ‘George,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t believe it’s you.’
He raised his head and his eyes were magnified by tears. ‘My God, Belle. I thought I’d lost you forever.’ He rose from his knees to sit beside her, enfolding her in his arms and holding her as if he would never let her go. ‘I knew you had married Sir Geoffrey, and of course I heard that he had died. I even went to your house in South Audley Street but was told that Lady Davenport no longer lived there. You seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth and I had no way of discovering your whereabouts, until I met Cassy at the ball.’
Resting her hands on his chest, she could feel his heart beating in time with hers. It seemed as though the years had rolled away and they were young lovers stealing a few moments together in secret. She looked into his eyes, hardly daring to believe that the only man she had ever loved had been restored to her. It was, she thought, a Christmas miracle. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she whispered. ‘Nothing matters now we’re together again.’
He smoothed her tumbled blonde locks back from her forehead, brushing her eyelids with his lips, kissing her cheeks and finally claiming her mouth in a long and tender kiss. ‘I love you, Belle. I’ve always loved you.’
‘And I love you, George.’ She raised her face, parting her lips and giving herself up to the rapture of his kiss. The scent of him was the same; the taste of him had not changed. He still had the power to make her go weak at the knees and forget everything except her desire for him. When he finally released her, she laid her head against his shoulder. ‘What happened to you, my love? You were listed killed in action. It broke my poor heart and I thought I’d die too.’
‘I was left for dead after a skirmish with local tribesmen. We were outnumbered and it was carnage, although I didn’t know that at the time. We were close to the border and I remember very little of what followed, but somehow I managed to crawl away from the dead and dying to a place of relative safety amongst the rocks. I was found several days later, half dead, by a Pathan farmer who was searching for some of his goats that had strayed. He took me back to his tribe and they tended me as if I was one of their own, which of course I am, partly anyway, and speaking their language was an advantage. Gradually I began to recover, although for a time I was wracked with fever and it was many months before I could walk again. Eventually I made my way on foot back to the garrison only to discover that you were beyond my reach forever.’
‘Oh, George, my darling, it wasn’t what I wanted. In the end I had no choice.’
He clutched her hand to his heart. ‘You thought I was dead. I wouldn’t have expected you to give up your life for someone you would never see again.’
‘You don’t understand,’ Belinda said softly. ‘I was carrying your child, George.’
‘Belle, if only I’d known.’
His voice cracked with emotion and she raised her hand to stroke his cheek. ‘I didn’t know myself until after the news came that you’d been killed. I wanted to die too but I had another life to consider. My father arranged the match and I had little choice but to agree to marry Sir Geoffrey. I gave birth to our daughter in Bombay and Mahdu cared for us both. She accompanied us to England and she found a woman in Cripplegate who promised to care for the baby as if she were her own.’
Cade looked deeply into her eyes, his lips parted in wonder. ‘All these years I’ve had a daughter and I knew nothing of her existence.’
‘She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen and it tore my heart in two when she was taken from me at only two months old. Sir Geoffrey was much older than me and he already had a son and heir. He didn’t want any more children and he would never have married me had he known about my baby.’
Cade gripped her by the shoulders, his eyes searching her face. ‘Do you mean to tell me that Cassy is my daughter?’
‘Couldn’t you tell just by looking at her, George? She is so obviously your child.’
He shook his head. ‘I thought she must be Davenport’s daughter, although somehow I think that deep down I knew the truth all along.’
‘Cassy is ours, George. It almost killed me to give her to that woman, but I was able to send money to support her even though being married to Geoffrey meant that I could never see her. If I had gone to that terrible place in Three Herring Court I wouldn’t have been able to leave without her, but Mahdu went there in my stead, once a year on Cassy’s birthday under cover of darkness.’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘I can’t believe that we’re together at last, and that we have a wonderful daughter.’
‘She’s a remarkable girl. We only found each other a short while ago, but I wouldn’t give her up for all the titles and wealth in the world. She is so like you, darling George. I wonder you didn’t see it the first time you clapped eyes on her.’
‘Something drew me to her that evening in the Guildhall. I thought she was the loveliest little thing I’d ever seen, and I wanted to protect her. Now I know why.’ His smiled faded and his lips twisted as if he were in pain. ‘How can I ever make it up to both of you? My suffering is as nothing to the pain I caused you and our daughter.’
‘Ma?’
Cassy’s voice from the doorway made Belinda turn her head, and Cade released her with a guilty start. She rose from the sofa, holding out her arms. ‘Cassy, you must have guessed the truth by now.’
Cassy looked from one to the other, her puzzled frown fading into a look of wonderment. ‘Are you telling me that he’s my father?’
Belinda nodded her head, struggling to keep back tears of joy. ‘It’s a miracle, Cassy. He has come back to us. George is the man I’ve always loved and he is your father.’
‘I had no knowledge of your existence, Cassy,’ Cade said, eyeing her as if she were a fragile piece of glass that might shatter at any moment. Rising slowly to his feet, he hooked his arm around Belinda’s shoulders. ‘You can’t imagine how happy this makes me. I loved your mother all those years ago and I love her now, more than ever, and I’ll love you too, if you’ll let me.’
Cassy’s shuttered expression sent a shiver down Belinda’s spine. She could not understand why her daughter was not as overjoyed as herself. The fairytale ending to their story seemed to be slipping from her grasp. ‘George is your father, my darling. That’s why I gave you his name.’
‘I’m Cassy Lawson, not Cade.’ Cassy tossed her head, staring at Cade with a challenge in her dark eyes.
They were so alike, father and daughter. There could be no doubting Cassy’s parentage. Belinda could have cried with frustration. She opened her mouth to explain but, as if sensing her distress, George gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. ‘My full name is George Cade Lawson,’ he said quietly. ‘But when I was at Sandhurst there were several Georges in my year and I was known by my middle name. The only people who ever called me George were my father and your mother. The memory of our love was sacred to me and it was too painful to hear others using my Christian name. When I first opened the home I became Captain Cade. It was never meant to deceive, it just came about.’
Belinda held her breath, but she could see that Cassy was shocked and wary as a stray cat faced with a new owner. ‘Aren’t you happy for me, darling?’ she said anxiously. ‘I know it will take time to get used to the idea, but we’ll be a real family at last.’
‘They’re sitting at table,’ Cassy said stonily. ‘Aunt Flora sent me to tell you that Mr Mullins is carving the turkey.’ Turning on her heel, she left the room.
Belinda made as if to follow her but Cade caught her by the wrist. ‘Let her go, my love. Give her time to get used to the idea of having me as her father.’ He pulled Belinda into his arms, gazing into her eyes. ‘I can hardly believe it myself.’
His kiss was everything that Belinda had dreamed about and more. When they drew apart she met his tender gaze and saw the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago, unscarred and handsome. ‘Never leave me again, George,’ she murmured.
‘I don’t intend to, Belle. I’ll get a special licence and we can be married next week, if you agree.’
‘Next week? That’s too soon. I have arrangements to make and then there’s Flora. I can’t leave her to fend for herself. We’ve all had to work to support ourselves, George.’
‘Don’t you want to marry me, Belle?’
‘Of course I do, silly. I want nothing more in the whole world, but there are other people involved. There’s Cassy for one. We need to be gentle with her. She’s just a child.’
Cade smiled and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. ‘By my reckoning she’s about the same age as you were when you became a mother. Your little girl is a woman now, Belle. And unless I’ve mistaken, both Bailey and Oliver are aware of the fact. Perhaps it’s just as well they’re leaving for India the day after tomorrow, or who knows how the situation might have developed.’
Belinda stared at him, shocked out of her euphoric state. ‘What are you saying?’
He chuckled. ‘Unless I’ve misread the situation, those two young men are head over heels in love with our daughter.’
‘Nonsense,’ Belinda said firmly. ‘Bailey is like a brother to Cassy and as for Ollie, he falls in and out of love on a regular basis. I think he’s far more interested in Lottie than in Cassy.’
The door flew open before Cade had a chance to respond and Flora stood there, glaring at them, arms akimbo. ‘I think you’re both a bit old to be playing Romeo and Juliet. Are you joining us for luncheon or are you going to loiter in here like a pair of star-struck adolescents?’
‘You must forgive us, ma’am,’ Cade said, slipping his arm around Belinda’s shoulders. ‘We’ve only just found each other after what seems like an eternity.’
‘Then another hour or so won’t make much difference,’ Flora said tartly. ‘I’m as romantic as the next person, but you’re making the rest of us feel distinctly uncomfortable. Perhaps you should give more consideration to Cassy. She looks as though she’s been poleaxed, and I don’t wonder at it.’ Flora swept out of the room leaving the door swinging on its hinges.