Married? Glenna could not believe her ears. The look of incredulousness must have shown clearly on her face, for he frowned.
“I did not ask properly, did I? Merely assumed you would agree. Apparently there are parts of my former arrogant self still lingering about. Let me speak plain. I meant what I said last evening. I do love you. My life going forward will be a quiet one. No more parties, gambling, whoring, or carriage races. There will be little money, as I am not sure what occupation I could unearth for a man such as me.” He paused, letting her mull over his words. “But I am willing to try, and I want you with me, Glenna, to share it all. Never will a woman be as cherished. I will love you, devote my entire attention and life such as it is, as well as every beat of my heart to ensure your happiness.” Cupping her cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her deeply, his tongue plunging deep. He trailed his lips across her cheek, bit on her earlobe, and whispered hotly in her ear. “And ensure you have never-ending pleasure. My past may be sordid, but I learned much, and I want to share it all with you and only you.” Nuzzling her neck again, he continued. “My passion is an entity unto itself. It too is beyond human. Even now, I long to be inside you. Know this: I shall be making love to you often. Every day and night and more besides. There will not be a moment of the day you will not feel as if I am still inside you.”
Heat bloomed in the most feminine part of her. Inasmuch as the prospect of being alone with Luke in a remote, private area held a good deal of appeal, her thoughts drifted back to what he had said. He was beyond human. She’d seen the proof: His quick healing abilities and increased strength. Running through the woods at a fast pace no mere mortal could match. The fact he could play the piano when he couldn’t before. Now he promised never-ending desire, but more importantly, love. She would be giving up the life she had built for herself here. Luke stared at her, worry plain on his face. Glenna stroked his cheek, the cool skin stimulating under her trembling fingers. Looking into his beautiful, kaleidoscope eyes, she made her decision. “I love you, Luke. I would go anywhere with you. To the ends of the earth.”
He groaned and pulled her into a tight embrace. “You do me a great honor. There is one thing.” He paused. “There is a chance I may not be able to father children. Reed never had a chance to run any tests. Can you accept it?”
A tiny part of her experienced a twinge of disappointment, but she never longed for children, anyway. “I can. We will take life as it finds us. If we have children, all well and good, if not, we find our joy in other ways.”
“A sound plan.” Luke kissed her cheek and stepped back. “Such a wise, wonderful woman.”
“I was thinking, in your past, did you ever play the piano?”
“No. I was inept.” He chuckled. “The lessons were a complete waste of time. Good God.” His eyes widened. “But now I can play…and well.”
“More evidence to prove you are not Ravenswood. Reed was correct about the metal plate on the side of your head acting as a conduit. It not only repaired your brain function, but stimulated your creative side. I have a feeling there is much to learn about what you can and cannot do, Luke.”
He paced about the hut again, deep in thought. “Yes. It would seem so. As for where we shall go, would Cornwall suit? Some areas are isolated enough to ensure privacy, and it is close enough that Reed or Patrick could visit. A few hours by train at most.” He stopped and smiled at her. “Remember your dream of living by the sea? To hear the sound of the waves battering against the rocks? To hear gulls squawking overhead and smell the salt air and feel the cool mist against your cheek? Of living in a house high on a cliff overlooking a rugged coastline? Allow me to give you what you most desire. Allow me to love you as you deserve to be loved.”
“You said I would live with a man who will adore me with every fiber of his being and love me with everything he holds in his heart,” she whispered.
“You remembered. And I will, I vow it.”
“I remembered every word, Luke.” Glenna gave him a brilliant smile. How she loved him. “Yes. I would love to go with you to Cornwall.”
* * * *
They stayed hidden for a few more hours, and as soon as the sun touched the horizon, they made their way to the Parker residence to fetch Reed. They entered the servants’ entrance and hurried toward the cellar, for where else would Reed be?
“Have you both taken leave of your senses? Where have you been?” Reed boomed. He stood in the hallway with arms crossed, not far from the cellar door.
“Reed, the servants will hear you,” Glenna admonished.
“Bugger the servants. I dismissed them for the rest of the week with pay. They are off doing God knows what.” His frown deepened. “I waited all afternoon, arguing with myself if I should go out and look for you both. But then a group of men stopped by, telling me the horrid tale of a lurching creature terrorizing the village and harming a small child. Please do not tell me that was you.”
Luke shrugged. “Very well, I won’t. Let’s say it was Viscount Ravenswood.”
Reed started. The shock on his face was plain to see. “So you know the truth.”
The temptation to throttle this man within an inch of his life nearly overcame Luke. But there was no time for arguments and recriminations. Besides, he’d already decided to forgive Reed at the hut, though annoyance still lingered and probably always would in one form or another. “I thought to take a walk through the village, to see if your explanations for my appearance would work. As you heard, they did not. I did not even get a chance to explain.”
“Well, I am sorry to hear it, but not entirely surprised. When did the memories return?” Reed asked.
“The memories came flooding back when we found a place to hide. Doesn’t matter how or why, let us agree I can begin to understand why you did not tell me of my former life. Does it make me any less angry? Not much to be truthful. But I am willing to forgive you, even if I cannot forget all that has happened. For now, at any rate.”
Reed raised an eyebrow. “And Glenna? Is she to be forgiven as well?”
“I should hope so; we are going to be married. Thanks to the incident of today, we should depart immediately afterward. Here is your opportunity to warn me away from your cousin. Again.”
“I… I apologized for that,” Reed sputtered, clearly flustered.
Glenna gaped at her cousin. “Reed, you warned Luke? How could you?”
Reed pouted. “I was thinking of you, I swear. What did it matter, he clearly didn’t listen.”
Glenna threw her arms around her cousin. “I’m sorry it all worked out this way, and there is no time for admonishments or lengthy discussions, but we need your help, my dear, to plan our…our…”
“Escape?” Reed murmured.
Glenna stepped back. “Yes. Luke and I love each other very much. Wish us well and come with us to the vicar’s. We’ll need money and transportation.”
“You are leaving?”
Luke could see the devastation on Reed’s face. He cared for Glenna and would feel her loss keenly. More of his annoyance slipped away at witnessing Reed’s heartbreak.
Luke stepped forward and held out his right hand. “Wish us well, Reed. Regardless of the lies and the experiment itself, I don’t dislike you, and we would like your blessing. Let’s face it, if not for you, I would not have this second chance at life. At love. At happiness and contentment. Here is the amazing thing: I will have all that with Glenna, and rest assured I will make it my life’s work to see she has all that and more.”
Reed glanced down at the hand, then took it, giving it a firm shake. “Well, I cannot ask for more. You have my blessing, both of you. We best start to get Glenna packed.” Reed hesitated. “Do you think it wise to just show up at the vicar’s? Not only will it shock the poor man, he may alert the authorities.”
“I doubt he would do such a thing. Patrick Dornan is my good friend, a tutor in my youth. Once he gets past the shock of my appearance and reappearance, I am confident he will assist us.”
“Well, if that is the case, we should head to the vicar’s immediately. I have money in my safe. You are both welcome to it,” Reed replied
Luke nodded. “Good man.”
Forty minutes later and after hitching the wagon, Luke hid under a tarp and the three of them headed to the vicarage. How would Patrick react to seeing him moving about? Perhaps he’d heard already. Regardless, he did not relish the thought of surprising his good friend like this. The village was small and tittle-tattle traveled at lightning speed, especially a horror tale of a dead, dissolute viscount coming back to life and staggering about the countryside. If the mob of men stopped at Reed’s, who knows where else they went. Good God, would the account reach his family? No doubt of it, as much as he may dread it, he definitely had to see his father as soon as possible.
In the hour before they departed the hut, Glenna told him of Jeffrey’s mother, alone in an asylum in Scotland. To his shame, he barely remembered the poor young woman. All this wretched drama and heartbreak was his doing. Quite sobering. Glenna also told him a little more about Mary Fenton. Since the assignation was more recent, he recalled meeting her secretly every night for a week. The seduction had been easy; the poor girl fell under his spell in no time at all. He didn’t hesitate in taking what was offered, and he rutted her good and hard in the hayloft until he had his fill. Bored with the clinging farmer’s daughter, Luke walked away when sated as he always did.
How many other children did he leave scattered about? Despicable. No thought for his actions or the consequences. No guilt for the damage left in his wake. Perhaps his resurrection, rebirth, or whatever you call what happened was penance. He was convinced of it now. Reparation for all he had done. He deserved it.
The wagon pulled up in front of the stone cottage and apprehension filled Luke. He’d known Patrick Dornan nearly the entirety of his life. Previous life. He liked and admired the vicar and the man was one of his rare true friends. Truth, Luke. He was my only true friend. All those people in his society circle in London were merely acquaintances in debauchery, nothing more. While he did have close chums at Eton and Oxford, they grew apart and he lost all contact with them when he chose a different, licentious path. They were no doubt married with children and living happy and rewarding lives. He never thought he would long for such an existence. But he did now.
Reed knocked on the side of the wagon to let him know it was safe to come out of his hiding place. With his scarf hiding most of his face, Luke stepped across the threshold. The coziness of Patrick’s small parlor was a familiar and welcome sight.
“What is it? Glenna, Professor Parker. Who…”
Luke closed the door and tore the scarf from his head. Patrick cried out and reeled, stumbling into the table and nearly losing his footing until Reed grabbed his arm to steady him.
Patrick, more out of habit than anything Luke surmised, blessed himself as he stared unbelievingly at Luke. “Blessed Mary. You…died! I saw you laid out in the coffin! I said the prayers over your grave. I mourned you. How is this possible?”
“I am sorry to alarm you, my dear friend. It is a complicated tale. Please, let us all sit.”
Patrick, pale and with tears in his eyes, whispered, “It is you.” He pulled Luke into a tight embrace. For a fleeting moment, Luke experienced the connection, the warmth. Not quite as strong as Glenna or his son, but there nonetheless.
“You did not hear any talk today?” Luke asked as he stepped back.
Patrick shook his head. “No, I was away to Horley for the afternoon. I have only just returned. I haven’t heard a thing. What has happened?”
“I am being hunted and because of it I cannot stay in this area. I mean to leave later tonight.” A thought struck him as he replayed Patrick’s words in his mind. Coffin and grave, which would indicate a funeral. Burial. Luke turned to gaze at Reed, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “So the account you bought my recently deceased corpse from a surgeon was patently false. Pure fiction.” Luke frowned. Perhaps he’d been too hasty in declaring he would forgive Reed. Glenna was blameless in this part of the tale, as she only came upon them after Reed had dug him up. Good God. Luke’s insides lurched at the sickening thought.
Reed had the grace to blush. “It was fiction. Again, accept my apology for the lie, but how could we tell you who you were? I will admit I also thought of my own self-preservation as I was dealing in things I had no right to. I see that now. But as time passed we both kept quiet more to protect you. If you can accept anything from all this, please believe that at least. ”
Patrick looked incredulously from one to the other. “You brought him back--from the dead?”
Luke’s insides lurched again. Bad enough to think he lay dead on a slab, but to have been actually buried in the ground? Dirt thrown on top of him. Left to molder and rot. The worms of eternity slowly munching away at his remains. “Yes, Patrick. I was brought back from the dead.” On that note, they all took seats in the parlor.
Reed exhaled, his breath shaky. “I am not sure where to start.” After a slight pause, Reed began his narrative, from his varied experiments on small creatures, then on bigger mammals like cats and voles. To the ultimate test--a human being. How Glenna stumbled across the experiment and stayed to assist. How the storm combined with the electricity from the generator acted as a catalyst. The awakening. Luke interjected a few sentences here and there, but let Reed continue. When Reed concluded, Luke also informed them all what happened in the village that afternoon.
Patrick shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I simply cannot wrap my head around this.”
“Neither can I,” Luke said. “Nevertheless, I am here and alive, and be damned if I will brood about the circumstances or my appearance. Not any longer.”
“Your father sent his man with all your belongings the day after you were buried. The letter accompanying it said I could sell them and use the proceeds for charitable works. I planned to do just that, in your name, of course. I also planned to use the money to continue the upkeep of the widow Greenough,” Patrick stated.
“Who is the widow Greenough?” Glenna asked.
My God. He remembered. “One night after drinking in the village tavern, I stumbled outside to witness a couple of drunken men harassing a beggar. Usually, I would continue on my way, but when I heard the feeble cry of a female, I stepped in and halted the attack. The men ran off, and an old woman dressed in rags lay in a heap at my feet.” Luke paused as the memory flooded his mind. “I could not leave her there to succumb to her injuries or to the elements, so I found two rooms for her, and I pay the innkeeper once a year.” Luke shook his head. “My one good deed.”
“It seems you were not completely soulless.” Glenna smiled.
“A moment of compassion against a lifetime of dissolute and self-absorbed behavior. It hardly registers.”
Glenna’s mouth dropped open. “Good heavens, Luke. I think I saw the widow at your funeral. She mourned you and seemed quite upset over your demise.”
He gave her a sardonic grin. “You attended my funeral, Glenna? Not to mourn, but to gloat?”
She blushed. “Yes, I suppose.”
Luke still couldn’t believe it. A funeral, with people standing around and in turns cursing or mourning him. He had the distinct feeling those who cursed him well outnumbered those who mourned him. “Rest assured I will see the poor old lady continues to have a roof over her head. You will act in my stead, Patrick?”
“Of course, I planned to do so at any rate.”
“Regardless, there will be numerous challenges ahead. They will be all the easier to face, since Glenna has consented to be my wife. I want you to marry us, my friend. Right away.”
Patrick rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “Well, this will present a dilemma. However, I do have a special license sanctioned by the bishop and obtained by a couple last year, but the marriage did not take place. The names were never filled in on the document, how that happened I am not quite sure. How fortuitous I did not destroy it. I could change the date to show the marriage took place a month ago with appropriate witnesses.”
“You are wily, Patrick. But let today’s date stand. If anyone ever decides to look up the records, it will support the horror fantasy of me returning from the dead. Besides, today’s doings will soon be forgotten.”
Patrick shook his head. “Not very likely, my son. You know what these small villages are like. I have the distinct feeling you will be known in infamy. The story passed down through generations. ‘Behave, or the dead viscount will come and snatch you away.’ You will become legend.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “How comforting. But I deserve the notoriety. At any rate, I appreciate the fact you will be lying for us.”
“I am sure God will forgive me for the ruse. I will say the words and bless your union with all my heart. Where will you go?”
“I think to Cornwall,” Glenna replied, giving Luke a teasing wink. “Close enough for visits. I do hope both of you will come once we are settled.”
“Are you sure you wish to do this, Glenna? Tie your life to mine?” Luke murmured, giving her a scorching gaze of unfathomable emotion. He had to hear the words again, needed to hear she was sure.
“Luke, you are more alive, more giving and loving than any man I’ve ever met. How could I not share my life with you? Yes. This is the path I wish take.” She gave him such a warm and affectionate smile, his heart skipped a beat. “I love you so much.”
Luke kissed her hand. “And I love you.” Turning, they faced Patrick. And faced their future with open, honest hearts.
Patrick smiled warmly. “Well then, let us commence with the ceremony. We will skip all the ‘dearly beloved’ narrative and move straight to the vows. “Luke, will you take Glenna to be your wife?” Patrick said, his voice soft and solemn. “Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?”
Luke clasped her hand tightly. “I will.”
“Glenna, will you take Luke to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and protect him, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him for as long as you both shall live?”
“I will.”
No rings, but Luke would see to that later. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest. He was marrying the woman he loved. Despite his thundering heart, a serene calm settled in him. For the first time in either existence.
“Glenna and Luke have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. I therefore proclaim they are man and wife.” Patrick beamed. “A rather condensed version of the wedding ceremony, but legal all the same and in the eyes of God. Kiss your bride, Luke.”
As he cupped her cheeks, Luke’s heart swelled with more love than he ever experienced in his life. Leaning in, he gave her a tender kiss of love, respect, and reverence. Still holding her face, he said, “Our love is never-ending and we will remain, forevermore, equals in our marriage. This is my wedding vow to you: I pledge that your name will always be the name I cry aloud in the dead of night.”
Tears filled her eyes and she returned his gaze clearly showing all the love in her heart. He had chosen his final vow wisely. Something he read once in a book. He’d been capable of retaining bits of information after reading it once. It’s what got him through university and left more time for pleasurable vices. He was heartily glad he recalled this vow for it fit the occasion.
“Well met, Luke. A Celtic wedding vow and appropriate as well.” Patrick clasped Luke’s shoulder.
Reed blinked, his eyes moist. “I will miss you, Glenna. I wish you both did not have to leave.”
“The decision has been taken out of our hands.” Luke wrapped his scarf about his head, covering his face. “Now I must go see my father.”
“Luke, is that wise? You can be sure the earl has been informed of what happened today. Those ruffians may still be about,” Patrick stated, worry in his voice.
“I have ways of slipping on to the estate without being seen. I’ve done it many times in the past. Meanwhile, prepare for our departure. Upon my return, we will leave immediately.”
Glenna embraced him. “Be careful, my love.” Her comforting warmth was what he needed. Luke held her close to his heart, kissed her on the forehead, and with a flick of his greatcoat, swept from the room.