Chapter Ten #3
“You’re a beautiful girl, Caralee. The man who took you is an outlaw. A ruthless, brutal criminal without the slightest hint of conscience. The fault would not be yours if such a man forced himself on you. I have to know, my dear—you didn’t lie about that, did you? The man didn’t rape you?”
She flushed, yet she also felt an odd sense of relief.
At least in this she could tell the truth.
“No, Uncle Fletcher.” A faint smile curved her lips.
“I guess he figured you might not pay if he stole my virtue.” Then the smile slid away as a grim thought struck suddenly.
“It wouldn’t have mattered … would it, Uncle Fletcher? ”
He cleared his throat. “Don’t be silly. Of course it wouldn’t have mattered. You’re my own dear sister’s child, the flesh and blood of my own kin. You don’t think I would leave you at that villain’s mercy?”
The smile returned, and with it a wave of relief even more vast than the first. “You might have been stuck with me if he had. I don’t suppose there’s much of a market these days for fallen women.”
Her uncle smiled, too. “Actually that isn’t the truth. You’re an American. You’re beautiful, and you’re obviously a lady.” Thanks to me, his look clearly said.
Carly squirmed a little in her seat. For a moment she felt as she had when Ramon said he would marry a woman of pure Spanish blood—like a ragamuffin just out of the mine patch.
“Out here,” Uncle Fletcher was saying, “women like you are few and far between. Why, Vincent Bannister was devastated when he learned you’d been abducted.
He offered to go after those outlaws himself, but of course I wouldn’t let him.
Vince is a city boy, after all. He doesn’t know a thing about riding through the woods, chasing down criminals. ”
No he didn’t. If she’d thought sandy-haired Vincent Bannister was a bit of a dandy before, now that she’d known Ramon, he seemed completely foppish.
“By the way, he’ll be coming here with his father the end of next week. He’s been worried about you. I sent word of your safe return, and now that you’re back, he wants to see you.”
“That’s very kind of him, Uncle. I just hope he doesn’t…”
His look turned slightly hard, the veins standing out in his forehead. “Doesn’t what, my dear? You aren’t saying you don’t want to see him?”
“Vincent is a very nice boy. I just hope he doesn’t think that I’m … interested in him.”
“You’re telling me you’re not? Why, may I ask—and it had better not have anything to do with that bastard, El Dragón.”
Carly straightened in her chair. “Of—of course not.”
“If I discover you’ve lied to me, Caralee—if you wind up carrying that outlaw’s child, I swear I’ll—”
“You’ll what, Uncle Fletcher?” Carly came to her feet. “Send me off someplace where you won’t have to see me? Disown me? Make me fend for myself on the streets?”
Her uncle blustered and turned red in the face. “Of course not. That isn’t at all what I meant.” He raked a hand through his graying auburn hair. “Sit down, Caralee. We might as well get something straight right here.”
She did as he said, leaning forward on the edge of her seat, her hands clenched tightly in her lap.
“What I said about men is the truth. There are a good many out there, but few of them have the breeding, the wealth and power the Bannisters have. And this little escapade will hardly enhance your reputation. Vincent Bannister wants to marry you. He’s told me so in no uncertain terms.”
“Vincent wants to m-marry me?”
“Of course he does. Why shouldn’t he? You’re a beautiful young woman. You’re perfectly trained in all the social graces—I’ve personally seen to that. He wants to be your husband and I think it’s a darned good idea.”
She tried to hang on to her temper, but it wasn’t easy. “Well, I think it’s a dreadful idea. I hardly even know Vincent Bannister.” She was crunching her skirt, she saw, mashing the soft blue velvet in a fist. She opened her fingers and smoothed the wrinkled fabric.
“I’m sorry, my dear, I didn’t mean to upset you.
Perhaps I should have let Vincent speak for himself, but I feel strongly that after what has happened, it would be best if you did not tarry.
Marriage to Vincent will insure your entree into all the proper social circles.
I want that for you, Caralee. I mean to see that you have it. ”
Or did he want it for himself? Carly wondered.
Once he had told her he wanted an appointment to the Land’s Commission.
He’d said the Bannisters had a great deal of influence in that arena.
She thought of what Ramon had said about him stealing Rancho del Robles and wondered if the deed from Thomas Garrison had covered up some hidden scheme.
“What if I don’t wish to marry him? What if I want to marry someone I love?”
Fletcher scoffed. “Don’t be a child, Caralee. There is no such thing as love. Marriages are made for the sake of expediency. If would be beneficial to both of us if you married Vincent Bannister.”
“I-I’m not ready for marriage. I need time to consider. I’ve only just met Vincent.” She couldn’t seem to think. It was all happening too quickly. She had known there might be consequences to her abduction, but she hadn’t thought of this one.
“I’m all you have, Caralee,” her uncle said. “You must trust me to see to your best interests.”
She forced herself to smile. She owed him so much. He had saved her, given her a chance for a whole new life. She had always been desperate to please him, to pay him back for the things he had done. She wanted so badly to win his acceptance, perhaps even his love.
She would do almost anything for him.
Anything but this.
“As I said, Vincent is a very nice boy. I understand your concern, but I care nothing for Vincent Bannister beyond friendship, and I’m not going to marry him.” She rose stiffly, her dark blue riding skirt rustling against the legs of the carved wooden chair. “Now if you will excuse me…”
He didn’t try to stop her, just scowled as she stalked out of the room.
Fletcher waited till she closed the door, then moved to the sideboard and poured himself a drink.
He didn’t usually imbibe this early, but his headstrong niece had driven him to it.
His mouth curled up in a grudging half smile.
Part of him admired her. She had fortitude, beauty and brains.
She reminded him of his dear sister, Lucy, the only woman he had ever really respected.
If he could find a woman with half his niece’s spirit, he would marry her tomorrow.
Which didn’t mean he intended to let her have her way.