“I’ll check the stables and kennels, although what she’d be doing there at this hour is beyond me,” Daniel said. “You two look through the house.”
Lily and Cameron checked the conservatory, the library, the art gallery, the chapel. No Rose. “I suppose we should check all the vacant guest chambers, but that will take hours.”
“What about the ballroom?” Cameron asked.
“Why not?” Lily said, and they descended.
Rose was not in the ballroom. “My God,” Cameron said, shaking. “What if someone took her?”
“We have lots of servants, Mr. Price. They’re on duty at all hours. It would be nearly impossible for someone to kidnap a person under this roof.”
“Then if she’s gone, she went of her own accord?”
“Most likely.”
“Oh my God.” Cameron sat down in one of the chairs on the side of the ballroom. “What the hell have I done?”
“If she left, Mr. Price, someone would have seen her go. Yet when I questioned the servants, none of them had any knowledge.”
“They could have been paid off.”
“Our servants are very loyal.”
“Damn it!” Cameron stood and paced around the room. “I need some air.” He strode toward the double doors at the back of the ballroom, unlatched the lock, and went outside onto the terrace. He paced back and forth across the terrace, and then settled his elbows on the ledge and looked down.
There, lying under the stars, bathed in the glow of the moon, sleeping peacefully, was Rose.
Chapter Sixteen
“Rose, my love. Rose. Wake up.”
Rose stirred and opened her eyes. What a lovely dream. She was under the stars, and Cameron was gazing down at her with love in his eyes. He held a rose. She reached for him, closing her eyes again tightly, willing the dream to last. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted, carried her away…
“Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up.”
“No.” Rose refused to open her eyes. “Not yet. Don’t want to wake up.”
“Yes, sweetheart. Please.”
Rose opened her eyes, her vision slowly clearing. She was sitting in a chair. Was that Cameron kneeling before her? And where was she? “What is going on?”
“You’re in the ballroom, sweetheart. You fell asleep on the lawn,” Cameron said.
“Yes, yes, of course.” Rose remembered now. “What are you doing here?”
Cameron took her hands in his. “Your sister and the duke found me. They insisted I come see you. And Rose, I’m so glad I did.”
“Oh, no.” Rose exhaled. Lily had told him.
“I’ve been a fool.” Cameron brushed a piece of grass out of her hair. “Why did I ever try to live without you? You’re my muse, the other side of my song. I need you. I love you.”
“Cameron, what is this about?” Rose brushed his hand away. She couldn’t take more of his lies. Her mind was still muddled with sleep…
“No, please don’t push me away.” He reached for her hands again and brought both to his lips. “Can you ever forgive me?”
Rose shook her head. “Cameron, don’t do this. Please.”
“Tell me you still love me. Please tell me you still love me.”
“Stop.” She pushed him away. “I can’t listen to any more of this. You won’t hurt me again. I swear it!”
“I will never hurt you again.” Cameron’s face was twisted in anguish. “God, I’m so sorry. I love you, sweetheart. I love you.”
Rose’s lips trembled, but she willed herself to remain strong. “This isn’t fair. I know you’re just here because of…what Lily told you.”
“What Lily told me?” Cameron arched his eyebrows. “She said only that you loved me, that you were suffering.”
“For God’s sake, Cameron, I may be young and innocent but I’m not a ninny. You’re here because of the babe. How could Lily do this to me?”
“Do what?” Lily said, entering the room. “Rose, thank God you’re all right.”
“Lily, how could you? How could you tell him?”
“I didn’t,” Lily said. “I would never betray you Rose. How could you think it?”
“The
babe
?” Cameron stared into Rose’s eyes. “You mean, you and I, we made…”
“Then how did he know?” Rose asked.
“You clearly just told him, dear,” Lily said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think you two should talk. Alone.” She strode up out of the room.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.” Cameron cupped Rose’s cheek in his hand, gently caressing it with his thumb. The toothy smile that Rose loved spread across his face. “Are you feeling all right? You’re not…ill, are you?”
“No, Cameron. I’m fine. I just a get a little dizzy and a little nauseated sometimes.”
“My angel. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t want me. I wasn’t going to trap you. And you left anyway. I had no idea where you went or where to find you.”
“I went to Bath. I got a job there. I’m the house composer for the new Regal Theatre.”
Rose couldn’t help smiling. He was finally doing what he loved. “That’s wonderful, Cameron. I always knew you could—” She stopped herself from gushing. “So that’s how Lily found you.”
“Yes.”
“How did she get you to come here then? Bribery? Force?”
“Of course not. She simply told me you were suffering. And that you weren’t marrying Xavier.” He exhaled sharply. “I…never wanted to leave you. There were circumstances. I’m so sorry.”
“Cameron, I can’t think right now,” Rose said. “Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’ll see that a guest chamber is made up for you.”
“Please, let me explain,” he begged. “I did lie to you, but not in the way you think. I always loved you. That was never a lie, sweet. I swear it. The lie was that I didn’t love you. Please, hear me out. I swear on my life I’ll never lie to you again.”
Rose sighed, closing her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to pull him to her and never let him go. “All right. Tell me the truth.”
He was still kneeling before her. He cleared his throat. “Xavier came to me before Kat’s illness and asked me to write a song for you. I agreed to the commission because after you ran from me that first night, I didn’t think we had a future.” He took a deep breath. “Then, after we made love, I meant to cancel the commission. But then Kat had to be hospitalized.”
Rose reached out and pushed a strand of Cam’s hair behind his ear. “Yes?”
“I needed money, Rose. Xavier’s commission was the easiest and fastest way to get it. I had to choose between my sister’s life and the woman I love most in the world. I knew Xavier would take care of you and you would want for naught. That you’d have a much better life than I could give you. It killed me to do it, but I…let you go.”
“Cameron…”
“I knew the only way you would leave me is if I convinced you that I didn’t love you and I told you to go.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I must be a hell of an actor.”
“Cameron, none of this was necessary.
“I didn’t see an option at the time. I’m sorry.”
“I would have helped you. I would have done anything for you and for Kat.”
“I didn’t want to take your money. What kind of man would that make me?”
“The kind who lets the woman who loves him share his burdens, Cam.”
“Cam. You called me Cam.” His smile lit up his face. Then, “I’m the man, Rose. I’m supposed to take care of you, not the other way around.”
“We’re supposed to take care of each other,” Rose said, caressing his cheek. “That’s the way of things. Didn’t your mother and father share their burdens?”
“I suppose so…but that’s different.”
“How so?”
“Well…they never really had anything of value… It was just different, that’s all.”
“That’s ridiculous and you know it.”
“I still can’t offer you much, Rose. Not what you’re used to. But I have my position at the Regal. It’s only three hundred fifty pounds per year, but I can still take private commissions. I’ve made some great contacts. And I have a townhome in Bath. My mother and sisters will have to stay with us though. And then there’s the issue of the song Xavier commissioned. I have to give him a refund. I…I don’t think I can live with myself if I don’t. That will be a lot of money, two hundred pounds. Oh, bloody hell. What was I thinking? You deserve so much more than I have to offer.”
Rose threaded her fingers through his black locks. “You trimmed your hair.”
“Yes, for the opening.”
“I liked it long.”
“Then I’ll grow it back.”
Rose laughed. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’d love you even if you were bald as a billiard ball.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. I love you. I love you.” He pushed the rose into her hands buried his head in her lap as she stroked his hair.
“It’s all right.” She stroked the stem of the flower lovingly. “There are no thorns.”
“I carved them off with my jackknife during the ride here.”
“That was sweet,” Rose said.
He looked up at her. “Please marry me, Rose. I want nothing more than to spend my life making you happy. Making our child happy. I’m sorry that we’ll have to pinch pennies for a while, at least until I can pay back Xavier.”
“Cam,” Rose said, “I can pay Xavier.”
“No.”
“Yes. I have an income from my father’s estate. I’ll have it until I die.”
“I can’t take your money.”
“If we marry, it will be your money.”
“I can’t.”
“Now you’re just being stubborn. Do you think Xavier wouldn’t have taken my income if I’d married him? Or any other peer for that matter? Why do you think there are such a thing as dowries? And by the way, I have a substantial one.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“Neither do I. And my father may not give it to me anyway if I don’t marry a peer.”
“That’s another thing.”
“I don’t care. Dowry be damned. I still have my income. It’s mine. He can’t take it away from me. The trust is very specific on that.”
“How much is your income, Rose?”
She smiled, stroking his stubbled cheek. “Two thousand pounds per year.”
“Good God.”
“So you see, I can pay Evan, and I can help you take care of those you love, and nothing would make me happier.”
“I still don’t feel right—”
“Cam, you’re being foolish. Do you know how many peers are in dire straits, with their estates dwindled down to nothingness due to poor management and excess spending? Do you think any one of them would have a problem taking my money? They certainly would not. Why do you think so many peers marry American heiresses? To replenish their coffers. So why do you have such a problem with it?”
“I don’t know. Foolish pride, I guess. I want to do everything for you, give you everything. I don’t want to take from you.”
“Then you deprive me of the joy of giving to you,” Rose said. “I never cared that you had nothing. I love you. I would have lived in a shack with you. I would have cooked your meals and cleaned your house and scrubbed your back when you came in from a hard day’s work. Don’t you see?” Rose began to weep. “All I wanted was to be with the man I love.”
She left the chair and knelt beside him on the floor. “I love you, Cam. There will never be another for me. I want your name. I want our child to have your name.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Cameron lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her passionately, their teeth clashing, their tongues plunging, until they were both gasping for air.
“Marry me, Rose. Please marry me.”
“Yes,” Rose said. “I will.”
Cameron touched his lips to hers, and then stood with Rose in his arms and whirled her around the ballroom. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re mine again!”
“I always was, Cam.”
He kissed her lips, her nose, her cheeks, ran his tongue down her neck to her shoulder and nipped it lightly. “We’ll have to marry quickly, due to your condition. I’ll take you to Gretna Green tomorrow.”
Rose laughed lightly. “It
is
tomorrow, Cam.”
“Then we’ll leave today. Now. I’ll borrow a carriage from the duke.”
“No, no,” Rose said. “We can’t. My aunt is getting married today. I need to be here. And you have a job, Mr. Price. You have responsibilities. You need to be at the theatre in the evening.”
“Damn. We need to marry quickly. We can’t wait for the banns to be read.”
“We’ll get a special license.”
“I wouldn’t have the first clue how to do that.”
“Daniel will know. We’ll ask him.”
“But what of the cost?”
“Who cares?” Rose laughed. “We both have money, you silly. We can take care of it. Together.”
Her heart melted as Cameron smiled down into her face, the smile that she had seen so seldom, and that she hoped she would see much more now.
“Yes, together, sweetheart.”
They both looked toward the stairway as Lily came bustling down. “I’ve had the maids prepare a chamber for Mr. Price, Rose. You’d best be getting some sleep. It will be a big day around here tomorrow with the wedding and all.”
“Mr. Price will be staying in my chamber, Lily.”
“Good Lord. I take it your conversation went well then? As if I have to ask, with you in his arms as though you’re going to be carried over the threshold.”
“We’re getting married!” Rose exclaimed.
“Thank God.” Lily sighed. “I’ll turn a blind eye tonight. Thank goodness Papa and Thomas are already abed. Good night now.”
* * * *
Cameron gently laid Rose down on her bed and sat down beside her. “Are you sure we can do this with you in your condition? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Cam, you’ll hurt me if you don’t.” Rose pulled him toward her and kissed him, untied his cravat, and unbuttoned his formal shirt. “Take your clothes off. I don’t want anything between us.”
“Nor do I,” he said, smiling. He eased her nightdress over her head. “You are an angel. Heaven couldn’t have created a more perfect being if they’d tried.” He slid his hands over her body. “You are so beautiful, Rose, and you’re mine. I still can’t believe that you’re really mine.”
“I’m yours,” Rose whispered. “And you’re mine. Now let me see that sensational body of yours.”
Cameron’s smile lit up his face as he began to disrobe.
“I love your smile, Cam,” Rose said. “I love the way your one front tooth overlaps the other one.”
He laughed softly. “You do?”
“Yes.”