Hugh went to speak with his sister when she was in the rose garden. He stood talking with her for a moment and then said abruptly, “I’ve been somewhat surprised about Leonie.”
Maria looked up quickly. “What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s got what she wanted most. She has a family. She has security, but somehow, well, she just doesn’t seem right.”
“No, she’s not entirely happy.”
Hugh stood for a moment admiring one of the roses. He plucked it off and stuck it in his buttonhole. “I think I know what her problem is.”
Maria looked at him. “What do you think is bothering her?”
“It’s a secret, but let me work on it. I think I can help.” He smiled, turned, and left the garden.
Maria stared after him and shook her head. “You always were a mysterious fellow, Hugh,” she said, “but I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Hugh went at once into the house. He searched until he found Leonie in the library. She had pulled several books from a shelf and was poring over one of them. “Hello, Uncle Hugh,” she said.
“I have to talk to you, my dear,” Hugh said.
As Hugh came to stand over her, Leonie felt a moment’s discomfort. “What is it? You sound serious.”
“Well, it is serious,” Hugh said. He studied the girl’s face and said, “You’re not as happy as you should be.”
“Why, I’m perfectly happy,” Leonie protested.
“No, you’re not. It’s been two months now since you’ve been proclaimed officially and proven to be, by our good lawyer, the granddaughter of Maria Augustine. So now here you are, Mademoiselle Leonie Augustine, heir to a prosperous plantation. But you stay in this house. You never go anywhere. You don’t have any young men calling on you.”
“I don’t want any young men calling on me,” Leonie said. “I’m happy enough as I am.”
Hugh leaned forward and took her hand. “My dear,” he said quietly, “you know my history. You know that I had a loss, and I allowed that loss to ruin much of my life. So I’ve come to beg you not to do the same as I did.”
“I don’t understand you, Hugh.”
“You know, in a way Leonie, moments in time—that’s all we have. We don’t have yesterday. They are only memories. And no one is certain about tomorrow. But this very moment, right now, we have that. And I saw that I wasted many moments when I could have been doing something good and productive. I want to keep you from making that same mistake.”
“You think I’m wasting my life?”
“I think there’s something that you want very desperately, and you don’t know how to get it. Therefore, think of me as your elderly uncle. Sit down, Leonie, and let me give you a push.”
“A push? What do you mean?”
“I mean there are times in our lives when we need someone in our lives to help us get started when we are uncertain and unhappy. So I’m giving you a little push. Now sit down and listen to your Uncle Hugh!”
The day had been long, and Ransom slumped in his chair at his desk. He had seen many patients, and now that the day was over, he was drained. A knock on the door startled him.
Getting to his feet, he thought, I thought I locked the outside door.How can anyone get in to my office? He opened the door, and when he saw who was there, he exclaimed, “Why, Leonie!”
“Yes. I need to talk to you, Ransom.”
“Well, come in.” He stepped back, and when she stepped inside, he saw from her face how serious she was. Her lips were drawn tight. “Is someone ill?” he asked at once. “Lady Maria?”
“No. Everyone is fine—except me.”
Ransom leaned closer and studied her face more intently. “You’re not having headaches or any kind of aftereffects from that fall?”
“No, I’m not. Physically I’m all right, but I—I do have a problem, and you’re the only one that can help me.”
“Of course I will help in any way I can, Leonie,” Ransom said at once.
The two were standing in the center of his office. The light cast a pale corona across her face, and he saw the tension and the strain there. “Come now, it can’t be all that bad,” Ransom said soothingly.
“I don’t know how bad it is, but I will in a few minutes. I have something to confess.”
“Confess? Why, I don’t think it can be very bad, knowing you.”
“I don’t know if it’s bad or good, but I’ve got to say it.”
“Just say it then, Leonie.” He reached out and took one of her hands and held it between both of his. The action seemed to encourage her, and she looked up into his face.
“I haven’t had any experience in love, Ransom. I can only follow my heart.”
Ransom was puzzled. “Well, I haven’t had much experience myself.” A thought came to him, and his brow wrinkled. “You haven’t fallen in love with someone, have you?”
“Yes, I have.”
Leonie felt his grasp tighten on her hand and saw that her words had shocked him.
“Who is it?” he demanded. “Who could you have met in this short length of time?”
“I met you, Ransom.” He stared at her. Leonie knew she had to speak quickly, or she would never be able to express herself. “I have loved you for a long time. I know it’s not proper for a woman to say this to a man. That men are supposed to make the first move. And I’ve been waiting for you to come, but—you never have, so I can only tell you what my heart is. I love you, and I want to be your wife. I know women aren’t supposed to say this, but I have to, Ransom. I know I’ll never love another man the way I love you.”
As Ransom looked down, he saw the tears glimmering in Leonie’s eyes, and her lips were trembling. She whispered, “Do you have any feelings at all for me?”
Ransom could not answer for a moment, but then he put his arms around her and drew her close. “Yes, I do, but I haven’t come for a very good reason. You’re going to be a wealthy woman. You’ll be able to move in high society here. I’ll never be rich. My heart is in serving poor people. You know that, Leonie. I couldn’t ask a woman with money and position and all that goes with it to step down to my lifestyle.”
“Oh, Ransom, I don’t want those things! The money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve already decided that whether you love me or not, when I get the inheritance it will go toward making your dream come true—for it’s my dream too.”
And then Leonie saw great happiness come to Ransom Sheffield’s face. He pulled her forward and kissed her, and she surrendered to his embrace. She felt as if she were coming home as he held her. Leonie remembered how he had held her tenderly and gently when she had come out of her coma, and now she was not in a coma at all. She was strong and full of a woman’s desires and dreams. She put her arms around him and held him close.
Finally he lifted his lips and said, “So you’re determined to be the wife of a poor doctor.”
“Yes,” Leonie said, and her eyes sparkled. “Oh, we’re going to have such a life together. And you’re going to have to do one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re going to have to tell me every day that you love me. You’ll never know how hard it was for me to come and say what I said. I felt so awful!”
“I do love you, Leonie, and we’ll tell each other, every day.”
And so they made the pact, and both of them knew as they stood there that they would be one, and they would never lose what they felt for each other at that moment.