'Mistress Livonia gave me money and told me to run. She and Mama were going to tell the authorities I'd been sold. When the authorities arrived, Livonia told them it had been an accident. Neither woman mentioned me at all. I hadn't done any damage to Adderley's face with my punch. I was just thirteen and didn't know how to fight. Everyone in the state knew what a drunk Adderley was. No one doubted Livonia. She told them how her husband had stumbled and crashed into the mantel. It was ruled an accidental death.'
'Did anyone else see what happened?'
'No.'
'Why would her sons come after you now? What evidence do they have?'
'The letters I wrote to my mama. She saved all of them. Adderley's sons must have found them. I mentioned the past in several of the letters and told Mama I was afraid for her.'
Harrison let out weary sigh. 'You aren't guilty of a crime, Adam.'
'I was a slave, and I dared to raise my hand against my owner. I touched him. His sons believe I should be killed just for that.'
'Do you think Adderley's sons went to their mother and forced her to tell them exactly what took place?'
'Oh, yes. Lionel's turning out to be just like his father. Mama's letters are filled with her worries about Mistress Livonia. None of it matters, does it? If two white men accuse me of murder, we both know I'll be convicted.'
'Not without a fight,' Harrison promised. 'I have to ask you something else. Do you want to stay here and fight this, or do you want to run?'
'Would you let me run if I wanted to? You put up everything you own to ensure I would stay around.'
'I didn't put up my most valuable asset,' he answered. 'I'll still have Mary Rose, if she'll let me stay.'
'What do you advise?'
'In my heart, you've become my brother, Adam, from the day I married your sister. I don't want to see anything happen to you. As your attorney, I would advise you to stay and fight.'
'So the brother in you wants me to run, and the attorney wants me to face it.'
'Something like that,' Harrison agreed. He happened to notice the framed words Adam had copied down and hung on his wall. It made sense to him now, the reason Adam so loved the passage.
'Make me a promise, Adam.'
'What is it?'
'When this is over and we've won, you'll take the passage down and put it away.'
Adam stood up and stretched the muscles in his shoulders. 'I've lived my entire life hiding and waiting. I don't want to live like that any longer. I always knew the day would come, and now that it's finally here, I'm going to stay around and face it. 'For whom the bell tolls,' ' he added in a whisper. ' 'It tolls for thee.''
'Hell, that's grim.'
'I'm feeling grim. I'm entitled tonight. Are we about finished talking?'
Harrison smiled. 'We've only just begun. We're going to talk about what you're going to say when you're on the stand, and what I don't believe would be a good idea to say. Sit down, Adam. It's going to be a long night.'
Harrison started taking notes. Cole carried in a tray with cheese and biscuits and beer. Since he wasn't asked to leave, he stayed inside the library and leaned against the edge of the desk while he listened to Harrison question his brother.
Travis and Douglas joined them an hour later, but Mary Rose stayed behind. She thought Adam would speak more freely if he didn't have to worry about her.
She couldn't eat anything, her stomach was too upset, and after sitting at the table all alone thinking about Adam, she finally got up and went to her room.
Her thoughts kept turning to Harrison. What in heaven's name was she going to do? He'd called her Victoria. Who did he love? Didn't he know he'd broken her heart when he'd called her that name? Why couldn't he love her just the way she was?
There was a flower on her pillow. It wasn't a rose, but a brilliant red fireweed.
She finally understood what he had been trying to remind her of from that first night in England when he'd had a long-stemmed rose placed on her pillow. He knew what it would be like for her in England, how difficult the transition would be for her to make, and so, while everyone else was diligently trying to change everything about her, Harrison had been quietly reminding her that he loved her just the way she was. He accepted her, flaws and all.
She was his Rose.
She was overwhelmed by her husband. How could she have ever doubted him? And how could he ever forgive her for not having enough faith in him?
She sat down on the side of the bed, and while she gently pressed the flower to her heart, she bowed her head and cried.
'The flower was supposed to make you happy, not sad.'
Harrison was standing in the doorway. Her heart felt as if it had just done a somersault. He looked so worried and tired… and vulnerable.
'You love me.'
'Yes.'
'Thank you,' she whispered.
'For loving you?'
She shook her head. 'For putting up with my uncertainty. I love you so much, and I've been so afraid inside. Wait,' she added when he started toward her. 'I have to beg your forgiveness first.'
A slow smile caught her by surprise. She shouldn't be smiling now. She needed to be serious so he would believe her when she promised to never doubt him again.
'You have the patience of Job,' she began. 'All this time you've been waiting for me to understand, haven't you?'
'No, you always understood. I was just reminding you.'
'You called me Victoria.'
'I did?' He looked astonished by what she'd just said.
'You broke my heart.'
Harrison closed the door and went to her. He stopped just a foot away.
'I love you, Mary Rose MacDonald. I don't care what name you go by. If you want to change it every other week, that's okay with me. You'll always be my Rose.'
She didn't want to hold the flower any longer. She wanted to hold her husband. She put the fireweed on the side table and stood up. 'I love you too,' she repeated. 'I'm so sorry I doubted you. Can you ever forgive me?'
'I should have been there for you. I knew what you were going through, and I should have quit working for your father a long time ago. I shouldn't have wanted to finish everything first. Can you ever forgive me?'
'You quit?' she whispered.
'You didn't do anything crazy when you came back here, did you, sweetheart?'
'Crazy? Like what?'
'Like getting one of those divorces I read was easy to procure here.'
'I'm not answering until you kiss me. Oh, Harrison, in the midst of all the confusion today, you remembered I used to think fireweed was a rose. Please kiss me.'
'I'll only marry you again if you did get a divorce. Forever, Mary Rose. I meant it.'
And then he finally pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the love and tenderness he possessed. The ache he'd been suffering during their separation vanished, and now he felt complete again.
She placed fervent kisses on his face. 'Why did you wait so long to come to me?'
'Sweetheart, if you had looked behind you while you were on ship, I could have waved to you,' he exaggerated. 'I got here as soon as I could. Let me kiss you again.'
They were both shaking with their need for each other when they pulled apart. Mary Rose rested the side of her face against his chest. She loved the way his heart hammered in her ear, loved everything about him. Even when he was driving her crazy with his stubbornness and his arrogance, she loved him.
