It was almost midnight when Ballard decided it was time to leave. Cyril sent his man to order Ballard’s wagon brought round and they waited on the veranda for the stablehand to hitch it up and drive it over. It was a warm, moonlit night and Ballard wondered if he would be able to convince Clover to stop along the way and make love under the stars. After a long evening in her world, feeling increasingly estranged from her, he had a strong need to feel her wrapped around him, her passion warming them both.
Cyril leaned against a wide column at the top of the veranda steps. “I was wondering if you both would come back for a visit when my other two sons return.”
Ballard glanced at Clover, who nodded, and replied, “We would like that very much, sir.”
“I will confess to having ulterior motives.” Cyril smiled at Clover. “Certain things Joshua has said in his letters make me think he has become caught up in the social whirl in Boston. His fiancée is from a prominent family.”
“He has become an intolerable snob,” Theodore muttered.
Ignoring his son’s sour interruption, Cyril continued, “When Joshua left for school, there was little one could call society around here. I have always considered that a good thing myself. But if that is what Joshua thinks he wants, or what his fiancée requires …”
“Showing him that there is some society here might make it easier for you to convince him to stay,” Clover finished.
“Yes. Selfish of me, perhaps, but I wantallmy sons near me. Kentucky is growing fast and I believe each of them could make a good life here. Sending them back east to school may not have been a good idea. I was looking for them to gain the skills needed to help build this land, but it appears they may have been seduced away from it.” He smiled briefly at Theodore. “Well, some of them anyway.”
“Then we shall have to show them that they can have the best of all worlds right here,” Clover said.
“I certainly intend to try. Here is your wagon.”
Ballard tensed with jealousy when Theodore kissed Clover’s hand. It required an effort to give the young man a friendly smile and agree that they ought to get together again soon. It would be both impossible and somewhat childish, but he had a strong urge to keep Clover far away from Theodore Potsdam.
Corey Winston, who had brought the wagon to a halt, hopped down from the seat. Clover was startled by the venomous look the man gave her before he strode away. Ballard’s frown told her that he had seen it too. She thanked Cyril and Theodore again for a pleasant evening and let Ballard help her into the wagon seat.
“Ballard, have you done anything to that stablehand?” she asked as the wagon pulled away.
“Nay, not that I recollect. I have nae even met the mon more than a few times. I got the feeling that glare was aimed at ye as weel, which makes no sense at all.”
“No, it does not, for this is the first time I have ever set eyes on him.”
“There is obviously something stuck in his craw, but I cannae be bothered about it now.”
She nodded. “We have more than our share of villains already. And although it is a lovely night, I shall be glad to get home.”
They rode for a while in silence. Clover’s obvious contentment after a pleasant evening only added to Ballard’s tense restlessness. There was just no way around it. Tonight he had been forced to face the inescapable truth—he would never be able to give Clover the kind of life she deserved. And now that her mother was about to marry Colin Doogan and the twins would go live with them, Clover was free to seek a better life elsewhere—with the man of her choice.
He loved her too much to try to stop her.
Yes, he loved her, he realized with sudden conviction. What had begun as a marriage of convenience had been fed by passion and nurtured by growing understanding and respect, and had blossomed into a deep and abiding love. A love that had become the very foundation of his life.
Yetbecausehe loved her, he must let her go, if that was what she wanted.
At last he could keep silent no longer. “Clover, we need to talk.”
She turned to him in surprise, her alarm growing at the sight of the dark scowl on his face, visible despite the deepening shadows as they traveled through a particularly dense stretch of woods.
“You sound so grave,” she said.
“‘Tis a grave subject I wish to discuss.”
Ballard swallowed hard and wondered why he was having such difficulty spitting out the words. For a moment he considered allowing himself just a little more time with her, but he quickly dismissed the thought before he could give in to temptation. If he kept her any longer, it would only make their eventual separation more painful, and they would risk making a child. Then she would be truly trapped.
“Did ye like Cyril’s home?” he asked, and inwardly grimaced at that foolish start.
Clover frowned at him. “Yes. It is a very elegant home. It reminded me of some of the estates back east.”
“I thought it might have reminded ye a little of your home in Langleyville before your fortunes soured.”
“Just a little. Mr. Potsdam has a larger purse than my father ever did. It was dreams of being like the Mr. Potsdams of the world that drove my father to gamble what money we did have on such chancy investments.”
