Chapter 23

“Here they are,” Ruth announced with a sly wink at Circe.

“We didna’ expect t’ see the two of ye for days,” Sean said.

“Weece!” Tally flung herself at Reese’s legs. He bent down, swung her up into the air, and caught her on the way back down. He repeated the action over and over making the little girl giggle uncontrollably.

“I do not plan on being a pampered wife. I want to help around here as much possible, inside the house and out. So, with that being said, is there anything I can help you with?” Circe asked Ruth. “And remember, I do not know how to cook.”

“All right. Well, then—”

“Willyouteachme?” Circe asked low and in a rush, making the question sound as if it were one word.

“What?”

“Will you teach me how to cook?” she asked again, softly, not wanting Reese to hear.

“Circe, the food I fix is very different from English fare.”

“It matters not to me. I do not know that Reese and I will ever be able to afford a cook, so I feel it is best that I know how.”

“All right,” Ruth replied.

“And will you give me a tour of the inside of the house?”

“Wouldn’t ye rather Reese show ye?”

Circe looked at her husband once more and a smile teased her lips. “I am afraid of what might happen if he shows me the rest of the house,” she confided to her friend.

Ruth burst into laughter causing Circe to blush furiously, and the men to look at the two women.

“What’s going on over there?” Reese asked good-naturedly.

“Ruth just said that she would show me the rest of the house.”

“I don’t mind doing that.”

Circe turned to Ruth and gave her an I told you so look. “You and Sean are busy talking, Ruth can show me around.”

“If you’re certain,” Reese said, looking somewhat disappointed.

“I am.” She gave him a secret smile before she followed Ruth out of the room. Bored with the men’s conversation, Tally trailed after the women. Circe stepped into the first room Ruth showed her. It was completely void of any furniture and there were no coverings of any sort over the windows. This was the same as every room they entered except for the bedchamber Ruth and Sean shared, the children’s room, Reese’s bedchamber, and the kitchen. “I do not understand,” she said. “Why are there so many empty rooms?”

“The first night Reese was here, he ended up sleeping on the floor because a family of mice had made their home in his mattress. Family is a kind word, really. I think it was more of a village.”

“He told me about that,” Circe said, laughing.

“Reese and Sean dragged nearly every piece of furniture out of the house and burned it. When desperate, mice will eat almost anything, and well, they left their mark around here.”

“I remember the huge fire on the beach. I found Reese down there watching a pile of furniture burn, poor man. With all that has been happening, I had completely forgotten about that. I guess I did not realize how destructive mice could be.” She looked around the large, empty room and sighed. “Well, I suppose I should be happy that there are no more rodents scurrying about.” The women stood in the last room and Tally slipped past them dancing around and singing a song she had made up. Circe smiled at the little girl.

“One day ye’ll have one of those,” Ruth said.

“I hope so.”

“Enjoy yer time with yer husband. Once the children come along, they’re always around.”

“Dance!” Tally yelled at her mother and Circe, certain the two women had forgotten about her.

“Not now, Tally,” Ruth admonished her daughter and gave Circe a look as if to say, See, this is what I was talkin’ ‘bout.

“Why not?” Circe countered and joined the young girl in a dance of her own making.

“What’s going on in here?” Reese asked, lounging against the door.

Circe came to a stop and almost doubled over in laughter. “Tally has been teaching me one of her dances.”

“Let’s teach Tally a new dance, shall we?”

“And what would that be?” Circe asked her husband as he approached her, her head cocked at a curious angle.

“How about a waltz?

“But that is—”

“Scandalous?”

“Yes,” she said a bit breathless, aching to feel his arms around her once more.

“Scandal be damned. We’re husband and wife now. Dance with me?” he asked.

“Yes,” she sighed.

Reese hummed the opening strands of a popular waltzing tune and at the appropriate time swept his wife into his arms. He led her around the room in a dizzying circle. Circe glanced at the doorway and saw Ruth wrapped up in Sean’s arms, swaying to the music.

“I have an idea, keep humming,” Circe instructed. She stepped away from him and approached the couple. “Where is the baby?”

“Still asleep.”

“Good, then you can join us for a bit.”

“But we don’t know this dance,” Ruth argued.

“It is easy. Come along.” She took their hands and pulled them into the room. She guided Ruth to Reese while she took control of Sean. It took no time at all for the couple to learn the steps and soon both couples were dancing with their respective spouses. The only difference was that Tally insisted upon dancing with her parents, so Sean held her while the couple waltzed. “I wonder how Little Sean will take it when his older sister forces him to dance with her,” Circe mused.

“Oh, I imagine he’ll go along with it for a while. Then he’ll realize it isn’t a game and will try to stay far away from her.”

“I imagine you are right.” The baby started crying from the other room, and the other couple excused themselves, taking their daughter with them despite her protests. “It looks as if the storm is passing.”

“O’Connor said we should be able to get back in the fields tomorrow. It’ll be sloppy, but we can’t delay anymore. What did you think about the house?”

“It is quite empty. I had forgotten about the mice that had taken up residence until Ruth reminded me.”

“We can purchase furniture, or I can see if some of the men are capable in that area.”

“No, I am fine with how it is.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes,” she said as they continued to move around the room. “The men have more important things to do than to build me furniture, and the money needs to go towards getting the plantation operational once more. It will all come together in time.”

“You’re very understanding. Most wives would demand new furniture, perhaps even a new house.”

“I was not raised as most women; therefore, I do not think like they do,” she said with a shrug.

“Thank goodness for that.”

“Ruth is going to teach me how to cook,” she confessed.

“I didn’t marry you for your cooking skills.”

“No, you married me to save me from a horrible man. The least I can do is learn how to cook.”

“Only if you insist.”

“I do. I also want to know what I can do to help outside of the house.”

“Circe, you don’t have to help. You are my wife and that earns you some freedom.”

She stumbled to a halt and pulled away from him, her hands fisted on her hips. “Reese Taggart, I will not be pampered. Windcrest Plantation now belongs to the both of us, and if it is going to be a success, I am going to help make it so.” She watched as he walked up to her, cupped her face with both hands, and kissed her possessively. Circe did not even fight him, but readily gave in to the heady sensation and his drugging kisses. When they finally broke apart and after she managed to get her breath, she asked, “What was that for?”

“For not being like other women. I cannot wait to thank your parents for raising you as they did,” he said.

“What about me? I was stubborn enough to follow their teachings despite society trying to force me to adhere to its beliefs.”

“Oh, believe me, you’ll receive your reward later,” he growled playfully before kissing her again, and then he picked her up and swung her in a circle. Her laughter filled the room and the house and brought a genuine smile to his face.

*     *     *

It was actually two days after the rain came to a stop that the men were able to get back into the fields, leaving the women behind. Ruth taught her how to make a basic, but edible, meal. She helped clean the rooms that were being used and watched over the children to allow Ruth some much needed rest everyday, which she took grudgingly. When the baby grew fussy, wanting to be fed, she would take him into his mother.

When they could, she and Ruth would take Tally outside to play in the courtyard or to the private beach. Circe enjoyed the friendship she was cultivating with Ruth, but she most looked forward to spending time with Reese when he came in from the fields each night. 

The two women worked together to get the evening meal ready for the men who trudged home, exhausted. Reese and Sean would clean up and then join their wives at the table. Talk always surrounded the plantation and what had to be done next. The work was never ending. After the meal was eaten and the dishes cleaned, the couples retired to their respective bedchambers.

Each night, Reese made love to her, continuing to introduce her to the pleasures of marriage, but at the end of their first week together, his lovemaking seemed different. As if he were not as completely focused on her as he had been. When the same feeling continued several days in a row, Circe knew she could no longer ignore it. They were lying in each other’s arms when Circe asked, “Reese, is something wrong?”

“Why would you think that?” he countered, not really answering her question.

“You seem distant the past few nights, especially when we are…well…intimate.”

“I’m just tired. It feels like whatever success we have, there is ten times the amount still left to do. I don’t know that we’ll ever make this a profitable plantation.” The beat of drums could be heard in the far off distance. Reese must have felt her tense, because he pulled her closer.

“We can always return to England,” she offered.

“And what will I do there?”

“We have talked about you teaching.”

“No, you have talked about me teaching. Dammit, don’t you see, just because I’m married doesn’t mean anything to those people. I’m still Wild Lord Taggart with a reputation that people can’t and won’t forget. Besides, I may be married but it is to someone just as scandalous as I am. I am certain that will help matters tremendously,” he said sarcastically.

Circe sat up and looked at her husband. “Reese Taggart, are you feeling sorry for yourself and bringing me into it?”

“No. Perhaps I’m just facing the truth for the first time in my life. Perhaps I’ll never be more than a walking scandal. Someone for people to talk about. Tell me, why did you agree to marry me?”

“Reese, you know why,” she said softly.

“That’s right. You’re just like Isabelle was—”

“Do not compare me to her.”

“Why not? You’re using me for what I can do for you. You didn’t want to marry me. I practically forced you into it. You married me for protection.”

“That is not the only reason,” she said slyly, as she straddled him.

“Oh, yes, how could I forget that I am to serve as your stud? To give you the children you always wanted. And you don’t want to be compared to her?”

“What is going on?” she asked, trying to move back to her side of the bed, but he refused to let her go.

“If you keep moving, I’ll show you exactly what’s going on.”

“Not like this Reese, please. I—”

“What Circe?” he asked seductively.

She wanted to tell him that she thought she was falling in love with him. That she had never been so happy in all of her life, but the way he was acting made her cautious. “Despite your behavior tonight, I still want you,” she said instead.

“And you’ll have me,” he replied, pulling her down for a passionate, mind-numbing kiss, as he thrust into her.

*     *     *

Reese slipped out of bed, leaving his sleeping wife behind. He dressed quietly so as not to disturb her. His head ached as if he had been on a drinking binge. He grabbed his boots and crept out of the room, glancing at Circe once more. After making his way to the kitchen, he sat down, and pulled on his boots. He stood and rummaged for some food and then headed outside.

The moon was still high in the sky, telling him that it was hours before daylight. His body was exhausted, but his mind would not shut down and allow him to sleep. He started towards the sugarcane field, but changed his mind. He decided he needed to be away from there for a while, so instead he walked to the beach. The tide was high, so he had to sit on some rocks. Reese sat and watched as wave after wave pounded the sand. He heard a crunching sound and spun around to see Circe standing at the top of the cliff.

“What in bloody hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

“I followed you.”

“You were asleep.”

“I am a light sleeper.” She picked her way down the cliff face. She sat close to him but was careful not to touch him. They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Circe was the first to speak. “Do you hate me, Reese?”

“No.”

“Are you certain? Because it felt like it tonight. Tonight felt nothing like friendship. I could return to England and pretend this never happened. I could try to find a husband there or become a governess or something like that.”

“You could forget me that easily?”

“Hardly,” she said, “but I do not want you to come to hate me, especially when I—”

“What?”

She took a deep breath then let it out. If she told him how she felt this would be the point of no return. She would have no upper hand. Her heart would be laid bare before him for him to easily crush.

“Well? You what?”

“I love you, Reese.”

“What?!” he asked dumbfounded. He looked at her and studied her face in the moonlight. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but he watched her quickly swipe them away.

“I know,” she gave a despairing chuckle. “We have known each other a short time, but there it is. Is four months a short time? It has felt like a lifetime to me. It has felt like I have known you my entire life. That there has not been a time that I did not know you.”

“I…I…”

“I know, I am babbling again. You do not have to say anything back. In fact, I am really not expecting it,” she said. They sat in the quiet night, the sound of the waves washing over the beach soothing them. “Reese, I wish you were more confident about yourself than you are.”

“I am,” he sat up proudly.

“No, you are not,” she responded sadly. “You are only confident that you can charm women. Did you know that from the first time I saw you on the ship, assisting the sailors, I was impressed at how well you adapted to what was going on around you? You were eager to learn and help.”

“And then I got knocked on the head.”

Circe ignored him and continued, “Now look at you on this plantation. You are doing everything in your power to make it a success, trying to learn everything about it. I believe you can do anything you wish to do. No matter what it is. The only person blocking your path, whatever it may be, is you.”

Reese said nothing.

“I was attracted to you on the ship. In fact, I have fought my attraction to you from the moment I knew who you were, standing in that rowboat. I thought I did not want to become involved with a man so embroiled in scandal. I thought I was looking for someone who could give me a staid, boring life filled with children. I thought my husband was going to be a means to an end. You were the opposite of everything I was searching for. I saw you as a man that was off limits to me. You were scandalous and did not want to settle down. Marriage and children were not in your future. We should have had nothing in common, yet somehow I found you so easy to talk to. Then when we arrived here, and I discovered this was your beach, I came here, not only because it soothed me, but also in hopes of finding you. I missed our talks.”

“You avoided me on the ship.”

“Because I thought you were all wrong for me. Reese, I believe in you. If you want to stay here and work this plantation, then we will stay here. If you want to return to England and find a position as a professor or tutor, we will do that. If you think you want to do something else, whatever it may be, I will be with you the entire time.”

“Because we exchanged vows.”

“Because I love you, and I believe in you. I have realized something very important about myself since marrying you.”

“What is that?”

“Everyone keeps telling me I am more like my mother than I believe I am, but I have discovered I am also a lot like my father.”

“How’s that?”

“If you had not offered me marriage and there had not been a way to book passage on the ship, I would have lived with you in sin just to be with you.”

“But you wanted marriage.”

“I did and do, but remember, my parents raised me to be a free thinker. If that was the only way I could have been with you, I would have done it. Just the same is if I thought you had an idea that was completely foolish, I would not hesitate to tell you. It is because I love you that I will go where you go, and I will support you in anything you do, regardless of if we ever have children or not.”

“Do,” he  paused to clear his voice. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I always thought my life would only be complete if I had a husband and children, but I find that is no longer true. My life is complete because you are in it.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Reese, are you frightened of becoming a father?”

“More than you know,” he muttered.

“Then why all that talk the first night we made love about how beautiful you thought my body was, and how it would do all the things you said for our future children?”

“I said it because I meant it at the time, but…”

“But?”

“But I’ve had time to think about it.”

“You do not like my body?” she asked sounding truly wounded.

“No, I adore your body. I’m not sure how to think of myself as a father. If I would be a good one. If I could be one they respect.”

“You are wonderful with Tally.”

“I don’t want my children knowing about my reputation. I don’t want them to be tainted by my past,” he blurted.

“Oh, Reese, look at my past. Do you think they are not going to realize their grandparents are not married? I have lived that life. It is hard, but I think I turned out all right.”

“More than all right,” he muttered. 

“Thank you.”

 “Circe, you are unique, from your name to the person you are. I lived down to my reputation where you overcame yours.”

“I ran from mine, to a place I hoped would have no knowledge of who I was, or who my parents were. I was so incredibly wrong. In fact, some might consider it a waste, except…”

“Except what?”

“Except that I found you. Reese, if we are blessed to have children, we will be there to make certain they are raised to overcome society’s prejudices.”

“I apologize for being an arse earlier. I’m worried about the plantation and well, everything. I took it out on you, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“When you are worried, I want you to come to me, to talk to me. We are in this together.”

“You aren’t like most wives that I know.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” She rested her head on her up drawn knees and gave him a lopsided smile.

“What are we going to do if I can’t make this plantation successful? I don’t just have myself to think about any longer. I have you now, and perhaps someday, a child or children. If this fails, I won’t be able to just take off and do whatever I wish.”

“You absolutely can, as long as you take me, and our hypothetical children, with you. We will not be left behind, you know. I am afraid you are stuck with us for the rest of your life, like it or not.” Circe sat there and watched Reese process all she had said. She knew that he realized she meant their relationship to be permanent when he let out a breath he seemed to have been holding, letting his head drop as he exhaled.

“Come here,” he said, holding his hand out to her. Her hand felt warm when she placed it in his. He was awed that she trusted and supported him so readily. It was something he never thought would happen to him. He helped her to sit between his legs and lean back against his chest. He watched her turn her head to look up at him. He bent down and captured her mouth. They shared a brief, but poignant kiss before she fully relaxed against him. After a while, Reese could feel her chest and abdomen rising slow and steady beneath his hands and arms, indicating she had fallen asleep.

His chest felt tight with…what? He had never felt what he was feeling for any woman. He felt overwhelmed with emotions he was afraid to put a name to. His arms tightened slightly around her, holding onto her as if she would slip away from him. How did she know she loved him already? Already? You’ve known her for months now, he chastised himself. But how does she know it’s love and not lust? That question caused his stomach to churn nauseatingly. He rested his cheek on top of her head and closed his eyes, allowing the peace of holding her in his arms lull him to sleep.

*     *     *

Circe blinked awake as she felt the morning sun rising. Her back and bottom ached. She tried to shift to stretch her sore and aching muscles, but she was still being held tightly in her husband’s arms. A smile played along her lips. She knew the talk they had had was much needed, and even though he did not tell her he loved her, she was content in their relationship. She had meant every word she had told him. She would follow him wherever he went and despite the fact that she desperately wanted a child, his child, she knew she would be happy with him if a child never came along.

Her eyes studied the beach and she saw some things that must have washed up on the shore. She could not make out what they were from this distance.

“Reese,” she said.

“Hmmm?”

“Reese, the sun has risen. We should return home.”

“First, a kiss,” he said.

She turned sideways so that her head was pillowed in the crook of his arm. He kissed her with a raw passion and hunger she had not felt before. Where the last few nights he had been aloof, this morning he was beyond passionate. Circe draped her arm over his shoulder and kissed him back with equal intensity. When they finally pulled away from one another, they were both breathless.

“You truly are beautiful,” Reese said. “If we do have children, I hope they look like you.”

“Oh, Reese.” She wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed him hungrily. “Do you think we could make it back home before Sean and Ruth wake up?” she winked at him after she asked the question.

“I don’t think it’ll matter much either way,” Reese murmured against her lips.

“Before we go, I want to see what those things are that washed up on the beach.” She got to her feet and started picking her way down the still wet rocks.

“Be careful,” Reese called out after her. “I imagine they’re just some sort of seaweed that has balled up.”

“I am sure you are right,” she readily agreed. Feeling much more lighthearted than she had last night when she followed him down here, she practically skipped to the three objects lying on the sand. What she saw had her screaming in horror. She fell to her knees, clawing at the sand. She did not see Reese scramble down the rocks and race towards her, nor did she hear him call her name. All she could do now was mumble, “No,” over and over and continue to dig and scrape away the sand.

“Circe, what… Oh, my God,” Reese said, shaken to his soul by what he saw. It had been a long time since he had been in church, but he crossed himself and sent up a quick prayer as he dropped to his knees. He pulled Circe into his arms and away from the ghastly sight. She fought to get free of him.

“Help me, Reese! We have to save them!”

“Circe, stop! It’s too late! Sweetheart, stop, now! It’s too late! They’re gone,” he whispered in her ear. In her fear and anguish, her strength tripled and Reese feared he would hurt her pulling her away from the macabre sight.

“No!” she sobbed against his chest, gripping fistfuls of his shirt.

Reese held her face against him and rocked her as the bloated faces of three drowned women, one old and two young, stared back at him.