sort of like a messenger. None of what happened was his fault. He didn't steal you out of your crib and throw you in the trash. I think you should remember that.'
Cole liked Travis's comparison. He latched on to it with the tenacity of a child holding on to a piece of forbidden candy.
'If you had lived back in the middle ages, do you think you would have killed the messenger?'
She glared at her brother. She thought his question was a stupid one at best.
'No, I wouldn't have killed the messenger, but I sure as hell wouldn't have slept with him either.'
None of her brothers felt like correcting her unladylike language. They understood how upset she was. If cursing made her feel better, they wouldn't stop her. Their little sister looked stricken, and devastated.
'What about your father?' Adam asked her once again.
'You said we would talk about him tomorrow,' she reminded her brother. 'If I do decide to go to England, will all of you go with me?'
The younger brothers made Adam answer for them. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. He suddenly felt as weary as an eighty-year-old.
'We can't go with you. We're part of your past.'
'You're my family,' she cried out.
'Yes, of course we are,' Adam hastened to agree. 'That won't ever change.'
'We aren't making you go,' Cole said. 'We love you, Mary Rose. We could never throw you out.'
'Then why do I feel as though you are? All of you believe I should go to England, don't you?'
'You've got to give yourself time to get used to the notion of having another family,' Travis said.
She nodded agreement. Oh, yes, she needed time. She straightened up, asked to be excused, and ran up to her bedroom. She spent the next hour sitting on the side of her bed, trying to make sense out of her life.
Her thoughts kept returning to Harrison. She was thankful he wasn't there now because she didn't want to have to face him just yet. She didn't know what she would say to him.
He had told her she would hate him. She thought about the warning he had given her, and then became furious all over again.
What in God's name was she going to do?
She finally stood up, put on her robe and her slippers, and went downstairs to the library.
Adam was waiting for her. Even though all of their lives had been turned upside down, some things remained predictable.
Like little sisters needing to be comforted.
It was what family was all about.
She didn't feel better the following morning. She felt worse. Because she was hurting so inside, she went to Douglas. He always took care of her aches and pains, cuts and bruises, even the ones he couldn't see.
Douglas understood her need to get away for a while. He didn't believe she was being a coward because she didn't want to see Harrison, and so he took her to the Cohens' house in Hammond. Eleanor insisted on going with her friend, and since she was fully recovered from her bout of illness, Douglas agreed to let her tag along.
Eleanor surprised Douglas. She seemed to be genuinely concerned about Mary Rose. The young woman had put her own concerns aside, a first in Douglas 's estimation, and really tried to comfort his sister. She held on to her hand and kept promising her that everything was going to turn out all right.
When Harrison returned to the ranch, he demanded to know where his bride was. Adam, Cole, and Travis could honestly tell him they didn't know. Douglas gave him a little more information when he realized how upset and concerned Harrison was. He explained that Mary Rose needed time alone to sort out her feelings, insisted she was safe and being looked after, and then suggested Harrison get on with his plans and leave for England.
He couldn't promise Mary Rose would follow. Harrison had expected just such a reaction from his bride, but he was still shaken by the anguish he'd caused her. He desperately wanted her to understand, and yet knew that right then she didn't understand at all.
She would come to England though. Of that he was certain. He told Douglas to wire him as soon as Mary Rose and Eleanor were on their way. And then he said his farewells, reminded Adam to take good care of MacHugh, and began his long journey back to England.
Walking away from the woman he loved was the most difficult thing he'd ever done, and even though the separation was to be temporary, he was still in agony. He felt as though his heart were being torn out of his chest.
She would come to him. He repeated the belief until it became a chant.
And he never, ever doubted. His belief in her was every bit as strong as his love for her. She would do the right thing. She was noble and good and kindhearted.
And she loved him.
No, he never doubted.
Mary Rose was both relieved and heartbroken that Harrison had left. She knew she wasn't being reasonable, but she was too distraught to think straight.
She refused to discuss her father for a full week. Thoughts of the man kept intruding, however, and once she'd gotten past her own self-pity, she began to feel guilty because she was being coldhearted toward him.
It took her another week to come to the conclusion that she would have to go and meet him. It was the only decent thing to do, and when she informed her brothers of her decision, she qualified it with the announcement that she had no intention of staying in England long. She planned to visit him, meet his relatives, and then return to her ranch, where she belonged.
She wouldn't talk about her plans for a future with Harrison, and her brothers wisely decided not to prod her into making any decision about her husband she might later regret.
Mary Rose insisted on saying good-bye to Corrie. She made Travis go with her and extracted a promise from him that he would take supplies to Corrie once a week until Mary Rose returned. She would introduce her brother to the woman after she'd visited with her, so that Corrie would know what Travis looked like and wouldn't try to shoot him.
Because it was the middle of the week, Corrie was expecting her. Mary Rose called out her greeting from the center of the clearing, and then slowly walked forward. The rocking chair was on the porch, and Mary Rose was pleased to notice that once she started toward the steps, the shotgun was removed from the open window.
She put the basket of gifts on the windowsill and took her seat. Corrie touched her shoulder, then dropped the book she'd been loaned into Mary Rose's lap.
Mary Rose still wasn't certain if Corrie could read or not, but she didn't want to insult the woman by asking her outright.
The basket disappeared from the window. Mary Rose waited a minute, and then said, 'There's another book in the basket, Corrie. If you don't want to read it, just hand it back out the window.'
Corrie patted her on her shoulder once again. Mary Rose concluded she did know how to read, and wanted to keep the book.
It took her a long while to work up enough courage to tell her friend she was leaving for England.
'Would you like to know how I ended up in Montana Territory?' she began.
She didn't expect an answer, of course, and proceeded to tell her friend all about how her brothers had found her in a basket in New York City. She didn't go into a lot of unnecessary details, and when she started to talk about her father and how she had to go to England to meet him, she began to cry.
While Corrie gently stroked her shoulders, Mary Rose confided all her fears to the woman.
'Why do I feel guilty because I don't feel anything more than compassion for the man? I don't want to go and meet him, but I know I have to, Corrie. I'm being terribly selfish, but I like my life now. I hate having it disrupted. Besides, I already have a family. I don't want a new one. I know it's wrong for me to feel this way, and deep inside, I'm so scared. What if none of them like me? What if I disappoint my father? I don't know how to be a proper English lady. They say my name is really Victoria. I'm not Victoria though, I'm Mary Rose. And how will I ever be able to go on with Harrison? What kind of marriage can we have without trust in one another? Oh, Corrie, I wish I could stay here. I don't want to leave.'
Mary Rose continued to weep for several more minutes, and then reached up to wipe the tears away from her face.
Corrie grabbed hold of her hand and held on to it. The comfort the woman was giving her made her weep all
