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  ‘Oh, but…’ Alexandra hesitated. ‘How long will that take?’

  Jason relaxed. ‘Not long. Until then, you’ll have to be content with being my mistress.’

  There was another satisfying silence, and then Alexandra whispered huskily: ‘That day—that day in the canyon, you said you couldn’t betray the trust my father had given you, but—but you suspected he hadn’t written to you. Why didn’t you challenge me?’

  ‘Because I wanted you to tell me,’ retorted Jason quietly. ‘Besides, I still feel I owe your father so much.’

  ‘That’s not why—’

  ‘Why I’m marrying you?’ he teased. ‘Oh, Alexandra, you know so little about men! Do you honestly think I’d tie myself to any woman out of a debt to her father?’

  Alexandra stroked his cheek. ‘I’ll make you a good wife,’ she averred. ‘I know I’m not much good as a cook, but I’m quite efficient at cleaning. And I’m willing to learn.’

  ‘I know you are,’ he assured her. ‘But for the time being, Miss Holland’s going to come back with us to help you.’

  ‘Miss Holland?’

  ‘Of course. You didn’t think I could abandon her, did you?’

  ‘But how do you—what if she—’

  ‘I phoned,’ he admitted half sheepishly. ‘But don’t blame her for keeping it to herself. I told her what I’d do if she let me down a second time.’

  Alexandra couldn’t find it in her heart to be anything but grateful to the older woman. ‘But she’s not a housekeeper,’ she protested, and Jason smiled.

  ‘With luck, her task will be shortlived,’ he agreed. ‘But for the present, she’ll take the burden of responsibility from your shoulders. Then, later, when our sons are born…’

  Alexandra’s cheeks burned. ‘Our sons!’

  ‘And daughters, too, I hope,’ he teased. ‘Oh, not immediately—I want you all to myself for the present. But Luisa and Elena are willing to resume their duties, and you’ll learn to organise them. And besides, we’ll need a good nanny eventually.’

  Alexandra could hardly take it in. ‘What about Ricardo?’ she ventured. ‘Will he accept me?’

  ‘Ricardo has resigned himself to the inevitable,’ Jason responded gently. ‘You must forgive his familiarity. We’ve known each other a lot of years.’

  ‘He said he knew my father,’ said Alexandra reminiscently, and Jason nodded.

  ‘He did. Like me, he worked in Mexico, too, and when I discovered how good he was with horses, I offered him the chance to work for me when I got San Gabriel. I sank every penny I had in the estancia, and I have your father to thank for that.’

  ‘You mean—you paid for the estancia with the money you earned with my father?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jason nodded again.

  ‘Oh!’ Alexandra licked her lips, and when he looked puzzled, she confessed: ‘I thought—when you were a mercenary—I’m sorry, I didn’t realise…’

  Jason understood. ‘That money was lost in a speculative venture in the States,’ he agreed. ‘There wasn’t a lot of it. The job sickened me after the first few months.’

  Alexandra was glad. ‘So you and Ricardo went to Santa Vittoria.’

  ‘Yes. Ricardo—and Manuel. He was just a boy then.’

  ‘He still is,’ said Alexandra at once. ‘How could you think I…’

  ‘A man in love thinks crazy things,’ retorted Jason passionately. ‘God, the torment you’ve put me through!’

  ‘Miss Holland told me you—you put me to bed the night of the storm,’ murmured Alexandra inconsequently, seeing the beads of sweat start on his forehead.

  ‘I did.’ He closed his eyes in remembered agony. ‘That was when I deluded myself I could handle the situation.’

  ‘So that was why you were so—so casual in the kitchen afterwards.’

  ‘Casual? Was I?’ He grinned. ‘You saw how casual I was a few minutes later.’

  Alexandra wriggled closer to him. ‘I can’t wait to go back to San Gabriel. I’ve hated London. I’ve hated being apart from you. When can we leave?’

  ‘Soon,’ he promised huskily. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll never leave you again.’

  Alexandra sighed. ‘You know what I want to do,’ she murmured dreamily. ‘Go with you on the trail—next time you round up the horses.’

  ‘When the snow has gone?’ he asked lazily, and laughed at her astonished face. ‘Oh, yes, we get a little snow. Not a lot, but some. Why? What are you planning to do? Look for the chestnut mare? There’s no need. I got her back, safe and sound.’

  ‘You did?’

  He nodded, a wry smile crossing his face. ‘Actually, perhaps safe and sound was the wrong description. She’s in foal. I’ll let you choose the name when her time is due, shall I?’

  ‘The black stallion!’ exclaimed Alexandra ruefully. ‘My downfall and my salvation!’

  ‘No—mine,’ Jason corrected her softly, and when Miss Holland came to find out if everything was well, she tiptoed away again, unseen.

  ISBN-13: 9781460347751

  FALLEN ANGEL

  © 1978 Anne Mather

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