For Honor’s Sake (25 page)

“Like what?” snorted Casey, suddenly wary.

Before Rod could grind out his answer, Doctor Vega appeared and the argument was immediately forgotten as the harried man shifted his myopic gaze between Rod and Brett. “Which of you is the lady’s husband?” he asked curtly.

When no answer was forthcoming, the good doctor shrugged and rephrased his question. “Who is the father of the child she is carrying?”

“Child!” both men said in unison.

“I believe that is what I said,” the doctor replied testily.

Rod eyed Casey narrowly before he spoke up. After all, Julie was his wife and no matter who fathered the child it was legally his. “I, Don Rodrigo Delgado, have the distinction of being the lady’s husband,” he declared haughtily.

Brett was utterly astounded by Rod’s bold as well as surprising declaration. Could it be true, he wondered grimly? If so, why had Julie lied to him all this time? His thoughts faltered when Doctor Vega resumed speaking.

“I’ve revived your wife, Don Rodrigo, and given her a thorough examination. She is in good health but you must be aware that the Pleasure Palace is not a fit atmosphere for expectant mothers.” Rod nodded solemnly, in complete agreement with the doctor. “I
suggest she leave here and concentrate on getting through her pregnancy with no complications.” Then he turned abruptly, leaving three confused people in his wake.

Coming out of his shock, Rod called after the doctor’s retreating back, “Does my wife know?”

“I left it for her husband to tell her,” he called back blithely, barely pausing in his descent down the stairs.

Brett needed answers. And the sooner the better. Holding a tight rein on his galloping emotions he looked to Polly for an explanation, knowing he could trust her to tell the truth. “Well, Polly,” he said in a tone brooking no argument, “what do you know about this? Is this (he started to say ‘greaser’ but wisely revised his choice of words) man married to Brandy … Julie?”

Polly hated to hurt Brett for she had come to respect and like him in the weeks she had known him. He was unfailingly kind to her and respected her even after he learned she had been whore to four men. But Polly knew he deserved to know the truth so she drew in a deep steadying breath and faced him squarely.

“Yes,” she admitted. “Julie and Don Rodrigo were married over a year ago.”

Brett seemed to melt inside himself, a thoroughly defeated man. “We need to talk, Don Rodrigo,” he said, gathering his inner resources.

“My sentiments exactly,” Rod echoed, following Brett down the hall and into a room Rod assumed was an office.

“I think we both need this,” Brett offered, pouring two glasses of whisky and handing Rod one. He polished his off in one gulp and poured another while Rod sucked pensively at his first.

“The time for angry words are long past, Don Rodrigo. My God, man, don’t you realize I nearly seduced your wife? Why didn’t either of you bother to tell me the truth?”

“You make me laugh, Casey,” sneered Rod derisively. “We both know you seduced my wife months ago. How long has she been your mistress?”

“Don’t you ever talk to your wife?” scowled Brett disgustedly. “If you did you would know that we have never been lovers, though not through any fault of mine.”

Rod knew a moment of intense joy as he digested Brett’s words. But he was not entirely convinced. “I was under the impression that you and Julie were on intimate terms.”

“I will repeat this once more, Delgado, because you apparently do not fully comprehend the situation. I have never been intimately involved with your wife. We are not nor have we ever been lovers.”

“I believe you, Casey,” Rod smiled, feeling more friendly toward the handsome gambler than he thought possible. “Now I need your help.”

“My help?”

“To convince Julie that the best place for her is with me at
Rancho
Delgado.”

“Under the circumstances I agree. A pregnant woman belongs with the father of her child even though it puzzles me how you accomplished the deed when I was under the impression that you and Julie had never met, let alone spent time together.”

Rod flashed a wicked grin. “Believe me, Casey, the ‘deed,’ as you call it, was accomplished more than once during the time I have been in San Francisco. Often enough, in fact, to get Julie with child. Now, will you use your influence with her, convince her to leave with me?”

“I won’t promise you anything, Delgado, but I’ll try. You know how damn stubborn your wife can be when she sets her mind to something. Do you think she suspects she is breeding?”

“I don’t know but I intend to tell her at the first
opportunity.” Suddenly Rod stifled a yawn. “It’s been an exhausting day, Casey. If you don’t mind I’d like to retire.”

Casey nodded abstractedly. There was still much he didn’t know about the strange relationship between Julie and her husband.

“Casey,” Rod challenged, his hand on the doorknob, “I’m going to spend the night with my wife.” He was out the door before Brett, half-rising in protest, could stop him.

20

Julie blinked awake and instinctively nestled into the warm body beside her. She was so comfortable she hated to move out of the strong arms that cradled her so protectively. The realization that she was not alone came slowly, but when it did her blood pounded and her face grew red with anger.

Rod awoke almost at the same instant. He felt her softness mold itself against his hard form before he sensed her awareness and sudden withdrawal. “Easy,
querida
,” he gentled softly.

“Rod!” Julie gasped, exasperated. “What are you doing here? You must leave before someone discovers you!”

“We’re finished with the games, Julie,” Rod said, brushing strands of amber locks from her eyes and forehead with gentle hands. “As soon as you are able to travel we are leaving.”

“Leaving? Able to travel?” The fuzzy edges of her brain refused to function as she digested Rod’s words.

“Do you remember anything of last night,
querida?”
Rod asked gently.

“I … I … was dealing blackjack as usual, and there was a commotion,” Julie recalled, frowning in concentration. “When I went to investigate I saw … Oh God … Joaquin!” She buried her head in Rod’s shoulder as her mind refused to register what she had seen.

“You fainted, Julie. Do you remember?”

Julie shook her head negatively as she yielded to the compulsive sobs that shook her. Rod petted and caressed her soothingly until the sobs wracking her slender body subsided.

“Have I been unconscious all night?” she asked suddenly. “I seem to recall a doctor, and an examination.” Crimson stained her cheeks when she thought of the doctor’s intimate handling of her body. At the time she seemed to think it completely uncalled for.

“No,” Rod was quick to assure her, “the doctor gave you something to relax you and make you sleep.”

“If I only fainted, why did you call the doctor?” questioned Julie, puzzled by Rod’s evasiveness.

“You gave us quite a scare when you did not come out of your swoon immediately.”

“Am … am I all right?” Julie asked worriedly.

Rod knew the moment had come to tell Julie about her pregnancy. He was amazed that she hadn’t suspected it already, but then she had always been innocent in most things a woman should know without being told. Probably came from being deprived of a mother during her formative years.

“There is nothing seriously wrong with you,
querida
,” Rod began, a humorous smile curving his sensuous lips. “We are to have a child.”

“A baby! No, Rod, it’s not possible,” denied Julie vigorously. A child now would serve only to complicate her life. No doubt Rod would welcome an heir, but would it make him love her, she asked herself?

“The doctor confirmed it,
querida,
” Rod answered, highly amused. “Had you no inkling?”

Flushing, “I … no … not really. I missed two cycles but I thought it was because … because your presence was so upsetting to me. It must have happened that first night,” she mused thoughtfully.

“I had a long talk with Casey,” Rod confided. “He told me that the two of you were never lovers. I believed him.”

Julie gave him an accusing glance, wondering why he chose to believe Brett when he refused to believe her. “Brett must hate me for lying to him,” she said sadly. “I tried to tell you the truth about us but you chose to believe the worst.”

“I don’t think Casey could ever hate you but he does agree with me that you should return to the
rancho.
I want to look after you, Julie. You have our child to think about now,
querida
.”

Julie was never more aware of the fact that not once had Rod mentioned that he loved her. Not even the knowledge that she was to bear his child seemed to make any difference in his feelings for her.

“I don’t want your child, Rod,” Julie blurted out unthinkingly.

Rod’s body went rigid and a cold, congested expression settled on his face. Never was he more aware of her contempt for him than he was at that moment, when she denied her own motherly instincts as well as scorned the child of his loins. Did Julie feel nothing for him, he wondered bleakly? Did their child mean so little to her? Rage caused his voice to come out harsher than he meant. “It makes little difference what you want, Julie. The indisputable fact remains that in seven months you will present me with an heir.”

Then he sprang from the bed so abruptly, he nearly overturned the nightstand in his haste to dress. He knew that if he remained he would either be forced to make violent love to her or do her bodily harm.

“Where are you going?” Julie asked in a small voice, fully aware of his anger.

“You’ve made it obvious from the start just how little you care for me,” Rod said scathingly. “But in this one thing I will have my say. You
will
return with me to
Rancho
Delgado and you
will
present me with a child in seven months. Nothing can change that! Nothing! I’ll return for you in two days. In consideration of your condition, I’ll do all in my power to make your journey to the
rancho
as comfortable as possible.” Without another word he stormed from the room.

Later, Julie felt that everyone was against her. Brett acted as if he had forgotten his vows of love as he did everything in his power to convince Julie that her place was with her husband. Even Polly lined up solidly in favor of Rod and her return to
Rancho
Delgado. Julie almost laughed aloud when her friend calmly told her that Rod loved her and that Julie should give him a chance to prove his love.

In Julie’s estimation, the only emotions Rod exhibited toward her were lust and possessiveness. And those she could do well without. She was glad that she had never let slip just how much she loved him. How humiliating it would be to have him mock her love.

There were times in those two days that she actually hated the child she nurtured within her; detested Rod’s seed that took root in one of her moments of weakness when her body betrayed her. Then there were times when the thought of having Rod’s baby thrilled her. At least she would have a part of him to love that would love her in return, she acknowledged grudgingly.

At the end of two days, Julie was forced to bid a tearful goodbye to Polly and a subdued but nonetheless heart-wrenching farewell to Brett while Rod looked on cynically, his composure unruffled.

“You’ll visit, won’t you,” Julie asked tearfully?

“We’ll come for the christening,” promised Brett gaily, although he felt anything but joy at their parting.

“We’ll be there, Julie,” echoed Polly, her adoring gaze falling often on Brett. Until that moment, Julie had no idea Polly felt strong emotions for Brett but now she wished her friend well. Polly deserved a strong,
loving man to care for her, and Brett needed the love of a good woman like Polly.

The trip to
Rancho
Delgado took nearly two weeks. True to his promise, Rod was solicitous of Julie’s condition and careful of her comfort. Each night they stayed at one of the several missions scattered along El Camino Real, taking the trip in easy stages. They broke their journey at the missions of San Jose in the midst of giant redwoods, and San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo de Monterey outside Carmel where the founder of the chain of missions,
Padre
Junipero Serra, lies buried. Here Julie was impressed by the snowy beach sands and gnarled cypresses as well as by its sandstone walls, Moorish towers, unique windows and its beautiful setting against the sea and the mountains.

Another stop on their sojourn south was the mission of San Antonio De Padua, located in the mountain village of Jolan, and the third oldest mission to be established in California. At Paso Robles Julie picked almonds from the famed almond orchards at Mission San Miguel. The good
padre
there offered her water from a mineral spring that wasn’t much to her liking but at Rod’s urging, she drank it anyway.

When they entered the Santa Lucia mountains and the Mission of San Luis Obispo loomed ahead, Julie knew that
Rancho
Delgado lay but a few miles further. Under any other circumstances Julie would have greatly enjoyed their leisurely pace, the hospitality of the
padre
at each mission they visited, and the breathtaking vista of sea and mountains coming together in unsurpassed beauty.

But Julie traveled with a stranger; a cool, withdrawn stranger who saw to her needs and little else. Not once did he attempt to touch her. Each night she slept alone in her lonely bed and each day they traveled in near silence. Deep-rooted in Julie’s brain lurked the certain knowledge that Rod did not love her, while in Rod’s
stubborn mind dwelt the certainty that Julie did not want their child. To both stubborn people the situation between them was impossible, but owing to their fierce pride, neither made a move to remedy the intolerable impasse that had made a shambles of their lives and the great love they shared but remained ignorant of.

Julie knew the identity of the lone rider who galloped out to meet him even before she saw the tiny proud figure whose long black hair floated free in the breeze behind her. It was almost as if Felicia knew they were coming, was in fact expecting them that very day.

“Don Rodrigo, Dona Julie, you’re back at last! I told them you would bring Dona Julie back,
señor
!”

“Who did you tell,
niña
?” Rod smiled indulgently, nearly as happy to see Felicia as she was him.

“
Señor
Darcy, of course,” she answered calmly.

“My father is here?” Julie cried, intense astonishment turning her face pale.

“
Si, señora,
” nodded Felicia. “He’s been at the
hacienda
for many weeks.”

Uttering a cry of joy, Julie spurred her mount and raced toward the house despite Rod’s cry of warning. Carl Darcy, looking frail but fit, stood on the veranda awaiting his daughter. Ramona Sanchez hovered at his side.

“Papa!” cried Julie, throwing herself into her father’s arms. “I was so worried about you! What happened?”

By this time Rod had arrived and he repeated his wife’s question, a disapproving note in his voice. “That is something I, too, should like to know,
Señor
Darcy. Also why you chose to keep your true identity from me. And while you’re explaining, I think I deserve to know why you deliberately withheld from me the fact that Julie was alive and living in San Francisco.”

Carl sighed deeply, aware that his stern-faced son-in-law would not be satisfied until everything was laid bare
before him. “Come inside,” he said, “where it is more comfortable. Then I will tell all. But first,” he turned and drew a blushing Ramona to his side, “I’d like you both to meet Ramona Sanchez, the woman who saved my life.”

“Papa!” Julie gasped worriedly. “How did she save your life?”

Rod ushered everyone inside saying, “First we sit, then the explanations.” His sharp eyes did not miss Julie’s high color or her state of excitement and his main concern at the moment was safeguarding the welfare of his wife and unborn child.

“Now, Papa,” Julie said impatiently, squirming in her chair, “I want to hear everything that happened to you from the moment you left me in San Francisco.”

Carl Darcy launched into a story that took over an hour in telling. During the telling his gaze strayed often to the shy Ramona whose adoring eyes seemed to devour the man whose life she saved. Julie liked Ramona immediately and was effusive in her gratitude to the serenely beautiful Spanish woman.

Then Julie narrated her own sad tale, recounting Mae Parker’s death and her job at Casey’s Palace where Rod found her. The telling left her exhausted, which Rod noted immediately. Abruptly he arose, rudely cutting Julie off in midsentence.

“
Señor
Darcy … Carl, my wife needs to rest. We will continue this conversation later.”

“Rod! I won’t be ordered about like a naughty child,” Julie raged. “I haven’t seen my father in months.”

“Julie,” Rod schooled patiently, as if to a recalcitrant child, “you must think of our child. I know what’s best for you and right now a
siesta
is called for.”

“You and Julie are to have a child?” rejoiced Carl. “Daughter, you don’t know how happy that makes me. When I set out for San Francisco I was convinced that
you had misjudged Don Rodrigo; that he had nothing to do with your abduction. I’m truly pleased that you came to the same conclusion and have reconciled.”

Julie cut Rod a scathing glance. “We are not altogether reconciled, Papa,” she admitted ruefully.

“But … if you are to have a child … I thought …well … do as your husband says, dear. I’m sure Rodrigo has your best interests at heart.” It was apparent that Carl was embarrassed and confused by Julie’s vague remark. “We’ll talk later. And Julie, I’d like you to become friends with Ramona. She’s a wonderful woman.”

“Come with me now, Ramona,” Julie invited eagerly. “We can become better acquainted while I prepare for the
siesta
my husband insists I take.” She shot Rod a lethal smile and he flashed a mocking grin in return.

Once the women left the room, Carl was quick to ask, “What did my daugher mean? Surely you two have settled your differences. She is carrying your child, isn’t she?”

“I wish I had a simple answer for you, Carl, but it’s rather complicated,” Rod admitted frankly. “Julie is carrying my child, there is no doubt of that. But it is a child I … er … forced on her. She doesn’t love me nor does she want our child. She has made her feelings perfectly clear to me many times over.”

How had Julie changed so dramatically in such a short time, Carl wondered, perplexed? He could distinctly remember his daughter voicing her love for her husband on more than one occasion. “I’m sure you’re mistaken, Rod,” was all Carl said, preferring to speak with Julie privately before he gave any secrets away.

“I wish I were mistaken,” Rod sighed regretfully. “Julie has come to mean a great deal to me; more than I ever thought possible. But enough of my problems,
what are your plans? It appears that you and the lovely Ramona have become more than just casual friends.”