Читать книгу Commander's Little Surprise - Mollie Molay - Страница 13

In the morning, Victoria awoke to find sunlight streaming through the lace curtains on the bedroom windows. The distant sound of a vacuum cleaner outside the door told her she’d overslept.

She’d been exhausted from worrying over her reaction to meeting Dan O’Hara again.

Poor Rolande, she mused guiltily as she turned over and stared at the carved ceiling above the bed. Even knowing he hadn’t been able to meet her needs, he’d always tried to be kind and compassionate. He’d deserved so much more from her than her gratitude then. Even in death he deserved her loyalty.

How loyal could she be to his memory when she wasn’t able to put her long-ago encounter with Dan in the past where it belonged? How loyal could she be when just the memory of Dan’s tongue tracing her lips and his hands stroking her breasts caused molten heat to engulf her?

A knock on the door saved her from her runaway erotic thoughts. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was long past the time when she was usually up and around. “Come in, Lydia!”

Her long-time companion entered the room carrying Caroline, Victoria’s baby daughter. To Victoria’s dismay, tears had formed in the baby’s velvety blue eyes. One look at her mother and the baby held out her arms.

“It’s almost ten o’clock and this little imp has been crying for you for the past ten minutes,” Lydia said. “I tried to distract the little darling, but she doesn’t want her nanny or me. She wants only her mama to give her her bath.”

Right on cue, Caroline babbled what sounded like mama.

Tickled that Caroline was beginning to talk, Victoria reached for the baby. “Come here, sweetheart,” she said with a wide smile to cover her aching heart. There was nothing better to chase away her unhappiness than holding her baby daughter.

Victoria rubbed noses with the babbling little girl and kissed the tiny hands that pulled at her face and hair. It was true. Whenever it was possible, Caroline’s bathing ritual was kept for her, at her request. She looked forward to the moments when she would wash Caroline’s soft baby skin, dry her with a warmed towel and rub her tiny body with sweet-smelling baby powder. It was in these moments that she could forget the disturbing moments in the past and allow herself to enjoy the present.

“I’m sorry,” she told Lydia with a wry grin. “I’m afraid I was worn-out after May’s housewarming party last night.”

Victoria hid her face in Caroline’s tummy and blew air bubbles. If ever she needed to remember what she could lose if she allowed the past to intrude, these precious moments with the baby were a reminder.

Lydia busied herself with hanging up the dress Victoria had worn last night. “Have you forgotten May invited you to tea this afternoon?”

“No, I haven’t.” Victoria pulled a lock of her hair out of Caroline’s fist and kissed each dimple on each tiny knuckle before she threw back the bedcovers. “In fact, I am particularly eager to speak to my cousin—the sooner the better.”

“So?” Lydia peeked out from the closet. “Something did happen at the housewarming to upset you?”

“I’m afraid so. Please stay for a few moments, Lydia.” She gave Caroline a hairbrush to distract her. “I met a man at May’s housewarming last night, Dan O’Hara. You were right. He’s the American I met at May’s wedding.”

Lydia gasped and covered her lips with her fingers. “He recognized you?”

“Maybe. I honestly don’t know. I insisted I wasn’t the woman he thought he remembered before I left. I think I managed to discourage him, but I didn’t remain long enough to find out.”

Lydia shook her head and took the brush out of Caroline’s mouth. “I sensed you were upset when you came home last night, but I never imagined anything like this. What are you going to do now?”

“Do? Nothing,” Victoria answered firmly. As if she needed a reminder of who she was today, she glanced at the lace curtains embroidered with the Baronovian coat of arms. The symbols reminded her she was a member of the royal family and had been married to her country’s ambassador before she had assumed the post upon his untimely death. “I made a bargain with Rolande and I intend to keep it,” she said softly. “I will never do anything to hurt his memory.”

Guilt flooded her again. She had to forget Dan. She had to forget the touch of his lips against her throat out on the patio last night and the thrill of having his hand caress her bare back.

Lydia wiped a tear from the corners of her own eyes. “It’s my fault for urging you to go to May’s housewarming last night!”

“Please don’t blame yourself. I knew that once I came to Washington, meeting Dan was bound to happen sooner or later. He is my cousin’s husband’s best friend, after all. Please, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Lydia didn’t look convinced. “Perhaps, but you are young. I pray no harm comes from this meeting.”

Victoria threw the bedcovers aside, put on her robe and slippers and plucked Caroline out of the bed. “Time for your bath, sweetness,” she told the baby. Before she left the bedroom, she glanced back at Lydia. “Nothing bad is going to happen. I intend to make sure that it doesn’t!”

“IF YOU SUSPECTED Dan O’Hara was the man I met in Baronovia how could you have introduced us last night?”

Her cousin, the Duchess Mary Louise of Baronovia, now May Stevens, gasped. “Oh, Victoria! I never knew who the man was, any more than you did. I just wanted you to have company and to enjoy yourself during the evening. What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Nothing now,” Victoria replied. “I’m afraid it’s too late. Somehow Dan tied me in with a woman he said he met at your wedding. He asked questions, but I pretended not to know what he was talking about. I only hope I was able to convince Dan I’m not his mystery woman.”

“Is there nothing I can do to help?”

“You can back me up if he comes back to question you.”

“I’m not very good at telling white lies. At least, that’s what my Wade tells me. But I promise to try. I hate to see you so unhappy.”

Victoria crumbled the blueberry scone on her plate and studied the tea leaves at the bottom of her cup of cold tea. In spite of her brave words to Lydia, and now to her cousin, she still felt an ache around her heart.

“Happy? What is happiness?” she finally asked. “It’s a different thing to different people. As for me, I have never regretted my bargain with Rolande. Besides, nothing good could possibly come of my meeting with this Dan O’Hara.”

“Don’t mistake me, Vicky,” May answered slowly, as if she debated the wisdom of what she was saying. “From the few remarks you’ve made about your husband, I know the truth about him. I was fond of Rolande, but I am more fond of you,” she went on, compassion shining in her eyes. “You may call me a romantic, but I believe in true love, in destiny. A destiny where even unlikely lovers such as Wade and I were fated to meet and marry,” she said as a tender smile curved at her lips. “I only feel you are much too young to remain a widow.”