Tender savage (54 page)

Dr. Dexter, and as soon as she stepped through the front door, she came to Viper's side.

"I think I should take the babe up to his mother now. If she wakes, even for a moment, she will want to see him."

"No, he will only be in the doctor's way. He will stay with me," Viper responded in so stem a tone that he knew she would not question his decision.

Astonished that the man wanted the responsibility for the infant, Margaret realized she had no idea who he was. "Are you a relative, sir?"

In spite of himself, Viper had to laugh at that question, but he did not reveal that he was related to the baby, if to no one else in the house. "I am Mr. Randall's manservant, mademoiselle, and he has placed the child in my care. Now don't you think you should go up and see if the doctor needs you?"

Flattered that he would call her mademoiselle, as though she were a lady rather than no more than a servant like himself, Margaret blushed as she turned toward the stairs. "I will come for the baby later, then."

"Yes, of course." Viper flashed a wide grin, as though he would readily relinquish the infant should she reappear. That was a trick he had learned from Percy: people were quick to trust a man who wore a smile. Viper knew as long as the boy slept they would get along fine together, but he did not know what he would do if the child awakened screaming in hunger. If Erica were too weak to nurse the infant, he supposed they would have to find another woman to feed his son, but he did not know how to go about looking for such a person or whether he should start.

Anna Ferguson came through the back door a short while later. She put her things away, put on her apron, and lit the fire in the stove to heat some water for tea, thinking the day was no different from any other. When Viper strolled into the kitchen with his son in his arms, she squealed with glee.

"Miss Erica has had the baby?" She liked Etienne, for he never complained when she asked him to run errands for her while Mark slept in the afternoons. She rushed to his side, and before he could object, she plucked the child from his arms. "Let me see the little angel," she exclaimed

happily as she slid into a chair at the kitchen table. She placed the baby upon the table and unwrapped the towel that covered him.

"Mrs. Ferguson—" Viper began, but before he could offer any explanation for the babe's coloring, she looked up at him with a gaze of such astonished disbelief that he knew he would have to tell the truth, and he would not insult her by using a phony accent while he did it. "Erica was my wife before she became Mark's," he stated simply. "The child is mine, but since Erica and I haven't decided what to do yet, please don't tell Mark the boy looks like me. He thinks the babe is his son."

Anna had no idea what to say to such unexpected news, and rather than respond in any manner, she focused her attentions upon the naked tot in front of her. "We've made plenty of clothes for this child, and he ought to be wearing some, Mr. Bouchard." She wrapped the baby up again in the towel and held him pressea close to her bosom as she rose to her feet. "I will see to getting him dressed, and you needn't worry. I won't say a word to Mr. Randall until Miss Erica tells me her side of your preposterous story herself."

"You don't believe me?" Viper inquired, hurt that she had gone so quickly from joyful to distant in her manner.

"I have only to look at the babe to see you are telling the truth about being his father. It's how you could ever have been married to Miss Erica or what you're doing in this house that I don't understand. Poor Mr. Randall," she whispered sofdy, as an afterthought. "After all he's been through, and now this."

While Viper would not argue that Mark had indeed been through a lot, so had he, and he thought he deserved as much sympathy as the blind man, if not more. Clearly he was not going to get it from Anna Ferguson, however. "Dr. Dexter is with Erica now. You ought to look in on them. She isn't doing well,"

"What? Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" Still holding his son, the housekeeper rushed up the back stairs and hurried to Erica's room.

When the tea kettle began to whistle. Viper pulled it off the fire, but he was in no mood to sip tea. He sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. He was

still furious with Erica, but he didn't want her dead. He knew if she died, though, that he would have to take his baby and go before anyone realized that was what he was , bound to do and stopped him. He had enough experience with white men to know Lars would think his claim to his grandchild far outweighed an Indian's claim to his son.

When Sarah arrived for her daily visit and found the Hanson home in a state of turmoil, she was upset that no one had had sense enough to send for her earlier that morning. Her brother was still beside himself with worry, and she did her best to comfort him, but he couldn't seem to accept Dr. Dexter's opinion that Erica was merely suffering from exhaustion and would recover her strength after a few days of rest.

"Mark, listen to me," Sarah ordered sharply. "Erica is just tired. She'll sleep all day today and probably most of tomorrow, but she's not going to die. Please don't carry on so. Why don't we go into your room and get you dressed. Where is Etienne? Why didn't he help you dress this morning?"

Horribly depressed about his wife's condition, Mark shook his head dejectedly. "Sarah, it doesn't matter how I look."

"It most certainly doesi I'll not have you looking so neglected. I will shave you myself if Etienne can't be found to do it, but I'll not have you looking anything but your best on your son's birthday."

That thought brought a wide grin to Mark's tear-streaked face. "Etienne says he looks just like me."

"Wonderfull He'll be very handsome, then." Sarah gave her brother another enthusiastic hug and propelled him toward his room. "I can't wait to see him, but I insist we get you cleaned up before we begin admiring the baby, since that might take all afternoon."

"Am I still handsome, Sarah?" Mark asked rather plaintively. "Even now?"

His question brought a painful lump to her throat and tears to her eyes, but Sarah managed to respond. "Even though you are my brother, in my opinion there's not another man in Wilmington who is better looking than

you are. Granted you are a mite too thin, but you are every bit as handsome as you ever were. You just sit down. I won't bother to look for Etienne. I used to shave Daddy when he was ill, so I know how to do it."

"Wasn't that a long time ago?" Mark asked apprehensively. He raised his right hand to feel the stubble that covered his chin. "Maybe I should grow a beard."

"Nonsense, you are far too handsome to hide that splendid face of yours behind a beard. Now don't worry, I won't nick you even once, I promise."

When he heard her lathering up the shaving brush, Mark tried one last time to change her mind. "I think we better find Etienne."

"Hush," Sarah scolded. She sharpened his razor with a few quick strokes upon the leather strop, and true to her word, gave him an expert shave. When she had Mark cleaned up and dressed as fashionably as he was usually attired, she took his arm. "Now where is the baby? Is the cradle in Erica's room?"

His smile becoming a befuddled frown, Mark shrugged, "I don't kow if he's in the cradle or not. Mrs. Ferguson had him a while ago."

"Well, he can't have gotten lost." Sarah peeked into Erica's bedroom where Margaret remained to watch over the new mother after her own mother, sister, and Dr. Dexter had left. The room was very quiet, and while the cherry wood cradle both she and her brother had used had been placed beside the bed, it was empty. "Where's the baby?" she whispered.

"With the housekeeper, I think," Margaret replied softly.

"Thank you." Sarah closed the door and led the way to the main staircase at the front of the house. "It is a terrible shame Erica is so worn out, but I'm certain she'll be her old self with a few days' rest."

"I hope so," Mark agreed, but he was still not convinced Erica would recover her health that rapidly. "I couldn't go on living without her, Sarah, I just couldn't."

"Mark, really, she'll be fine," Sarah assured him once again. "Now stop thinking such sad thoughts. What is your son's name? Did you and Erica choose one?"

"I don't think so." Mark was certain he would have

remembered something so important as a name for a son if they had selected one. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not yet, but perhaps I will when I see the babe." Sarah had been delighted to learn her brother had a healthy and attractive child. Since she quite naturally expected the baby to be fair, she was no more prepared than Anna Ferguson had been when she saw him for the first time. The little tyke was in the kitchen, dressed in one of the white linen gowns Erica had made for him, and he was again snuggled in Viper's arms. He was wide awake, sucking on his fist, and when Sarah leaned down to ^et a better look at him he looked up at her, his eyes as filled with curiosity as hers.

Sarah looked from the gray-eyed babe to the man holding him, stunned at the realization that the striking resemblance between them could not possibly be a coincidence. She looked over to the housekeeper for help, but the woman merely shook her head, clearly as appalled as she was, and provided no help. Shocked clear to the marrow, Sarah had to reach for the back of one of the kitchen chairs to steady herself before she spoke. "The baby is adorable, Mark, just as I knew he would be. Do you want to sit down and hold him a while? I need to speak with Etienne privately fcM" a moment."

Mark was too excited about having a son to care about what his sister wished to discuss wim his friend. "I'll be ri^t here." Groping for a chair, he sat down and waited for Etienne to put the baby in his arms. "I wish I could see him," he murmured wistfully.

"He is every bit as handsome as you imagine him to be, Mark." Sarah leaned down to kiss her brother's cheek, then turned, and with a furious glare gestured for Viper to follow her into the suite of rooms at the front of the house that had served as Lars's office. All her life she had had others to look after her: first her parents, then her brother. She had been more than willing to allow Erica to assume that same role when Mark had been injured, but this was a matter she knew she would have to handle herself whether or not she had any experience in being independent. She dosed the door, and certain they would not be overheard, she demanded an explanation tor her nephew's astonishing appearance.

"I can think of only one possible reason why that baby resembles you so closely, but if you have an opinion, I'd certainly like to hear it." Etienne had to be the Indian Mark had told her about, but even knowing that, Sarah found it impossible to believe a savage could have tricked them so thoroughly as this man had.

The lavish charm Viper had displayed whenever he had spoken with Sarah prior to that day was completely absent from his manner as he stepped close to the irate young woman. Not bothering to use a French accent any longer, he replied in as heated a tone as she had used with him. "Erica was my wife before she became Mark's. That her son is also mine proves that she is my wife still."

"You lying bastard." Sarah did her best to convey a shriek in a discreet whisper. "I want you out of this house before the sun sets. You might have fooled us all before about who you are, but there's no way you can get away with that any longer."

"This is not your house, so you've no right to tell me to leave," Viper pointed out with a defiant sneer.

Alarmed by how close he was standing, as well as by his height 2ind obvious strength, which until that moment had never seemed menacing, Sarah stepped back quickly to put more space between them. A charming Canadian was one thing, a murdering Sioux quite another, and she didn't want to remain in the same room with him a second longer than necessary.

"I have every right !" she countered. "My brother is in no condition to look out for himself, but if he were, you know you'd not dare show your face here. That you have been living here with Erica is disgusting, and I will not allow it to continue another night."

Unconcerned, Viper continued to regard her with a belligerent stare. "Whether I stay or go is a matter for Erica and me to decide. Stay out of this. It is no business of yours."

"It most certainly is my business!" Sarah protested. "Do you think just because my brother is blind I'll allow you to make a cuckold of him? You savages may have no morals, but my brother and I most certainly dol Before Erica met you, she had high standards, too," she added as a further msult.

Since he had no idea what a cuckold was. Viper did not

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respond to that accusation, but instead turned his back on Sarah and walked to the door. "You can tell your brother who I am if you must, but I doubt he will remember me. The only thing he cares about now is that baby. Do you really want to tell him the boy isn't his?"

Sarah clenched her fists at her sides, unable to think of any name worse than the one she had already called him. Knowing Erica was a reasonable person, even if her arrogant Indian lover wasn't, she aedded to wait and speak to her before she did anything more about sending him away. First of all, she would use Erica's weakened state as an excuse to move into the house. Then she would see to the matter of a wet nurse for her child. Perhaps it was a bit late, but now that she knew what the true situation was in the Hanson home, she would do her best to see it improved drastically, and soon.

"Don't try and make me think you care about Mark's feelings, because it's more than plain you don't," she admonished. *T11 wait until Erica is again well, and then the three of us will straighten out this horrid mess. Until that time, I suggest you stay out of my way, and I will make it a point to avoid you."

"That will be a pleasure," Viper replied as he left the room. He was as anxious to talk with Erica now as Sarah was, but unfortunately the young woman was too weak to speak with anyone for the time being.

Erica wanted to sleep forever. Each time she was awakened the aroma of food upset her stomach, making eating impossible, and after taking only a few sips of water she would return to her dreams. Dr. Dexter came to see her each morning and night, and while he had no more success than Mrs. Ferguson in tempting Erica with food, he was certain if she craved sleep so badly then that was all she needed.