Innocent Fire Read Free

shaved and dressed neatly, and his eyes were no longer red. His face was lean and hard, and his virility, his magnetism, frightened her. His presence was overpowering. She couldn’t help trembling.
    “I have chosen a man for you to marry,” he said bluntly.
    Miranda gasped.
    “I want grandchildren. A grandson. Your mother would want that, too. You are too beautiful and too rare to rot away in that damn convent.” His dark eyes held hers and she could not look away, although she was stunned by his sacrilegious manner. “If you are at all like her, you will not regret my doing this.”
    Miranda couldn’t speak. Her entire world had been crumbling piece by piece, and now lay in ruins around her feet.
    “I met him a few years ago. He lives in Texas. He has a ranch, and thousands of acres of land. He is a gentle man, educated, and he will not hurt you. You only have to please him and he will worship you, believe me.”
    “Marriage! Texas ! Papa, no, please…”
    “You will not change my mind. He is already in love with you. He saw your portrait, the one Angeline gave to me two years ago, and he fell in love. He asked me then for your hand, but you were too young. I told him I would think about it. Last year, I agreed. Your mother didn’tknow—but I know she would have liked him.” His voice broke off. “This is for the best, Miranda.”
    Although her entire life she had tried—sometimes unsuccessfully—to learn obedience before anything else, she couldn’t accept this. But, God, what could she do? She was so afraid. This man was her papa, and if he wanted to marry her off to some strange barbarian, he could. Miranda closed her eyes and began to pray, even as she stood right there in front of her father. She knew that God had chosen this as her punishment for not being as docile and obedient as she should have been.
    “What are you doing?” her father asked.
    “Praying,” she told him honestly.
    Edward seemed to hesitate, but then he said, “There is one thing, Miranda.”
    What more could there possibly be? Miranda wondered, waiting.
    “Your eldest son must return upon his majority to take his title and his lands.”
    Miranda shut her eyes briefly. He was sending her to Texas to breed her to some barbarian for a grandson. She could not believe that this was happening. “Papa? Why this man?”
    The earl of Dragmore smiled grimly. “There are several reasons, Miranda. Your husband to be—John Barrington—is the grandson of Lord Barrington, the fifth earl of Darby. His lineage is impeccable. He is also a man—not some London fop. You are as delicate as your mother. I want to see you bear strong children, Miranda, not weak, fragile ones.” He turned away, his word final. “You will travel next week with my sister Elizabeth. Your fiancé will meet you in Natchez.”
     
    “Are you daydreaming again, dear?”
    Miranda was brought back to the present as her Aunt Elizabeth, a thin, tall, kindly widow, bustled into their room. It was the best lodging in Natchez, although crude compared to what Miranda was used to. Thankfully, their room was clean. Even the town of Natchez was crude, full of big, brawny men—all of whom carried guns—and colored people, so many colored people, all slaves. The very thought of slavery revolted her.
    “I suppose.”
    “A man has arrived to take us to your fiancé, child.”
    “What?” Miranda gasped. Why hadn’t her fiancé come? What kind of a man was he that he would promise to come and then not appear?
    “It seems that John Barrington has suffered a bad accident and could not come. The man who has come for us carried a note for you, and for me. Here, dear.” Elizabeth handed her an envelope.
    Miranda’s hands were trembling as she read it. It was brief, but expressive.
    My dearest Miranda,
    Please forgive me, but I have met with an untimely accident, and am temporarily bedridden. My very close friend, Derek Bragg, will escort you to my ranch. I entrust you to his