Ashton glanced up to find his driver standing on the shoulder of the roadway above him. It was the coachman’s wont in the colder months, what with being exposed on the open seat, to secure his prized beaver hat atop his head by wrapping a long woolen scarf over its crown and knotting it snugly beneath his chin. Now in fretful worry, he was twisting the loose ends of the scarf in his huge gentle hands, unwittingly pulling his headgear down upon his ears.

“Calm yourself, Hiram. She’s still breathing,” Ashton assured the frightened man. The horse screamed again in pure anguish, nearly drowning his words, and lunged about as it tried to rise. Ashton indicated the maimed steed with a jerk of his hand. “Hiram! Fetch that old horse pistol you have in the boot and put that animal out of its misery!”

“Yassuh! Ah do it right now!” Though the task was hardly a pleasant one, Hiram was relieved to have something to occupy him.

Ashton bent over the girl again. She showed no sign of regaining consciousness, but lay inert against the bank where he had placed her. The chilly water was already making his legs ache, and her thoroughly soaked cloak was tangled about her like a frigid cocoon. He searched out the silken frogs that held the garment in place and plucked them free. His brows rose sharply in surprise when he peeled the sodden cloth away. Even in the unsteady light of the carriage lanterns he could see she was no fledgling lass as he had first supposed. The clinging wetness of the thin nightgown readily displayed the fact that she was a woman, still quite young but certainly mature enough to cause him to adjust his thinking.

A gunshot cracked sharply through the stillness, bringing Ashton’s head up with a jerk. The thrashing died away with a gurgling moan, and the horse slowly collapsed, to slide into the water at the bottom of the ditch. Against the glow of the moonlit mists, Hiram was darkly etched with sagging shoulders. Ashton knew the servant had a sympathy for animals beyond other men, but the events of the moment left no time for such mourning when a more precious life was at stake.

“Hiram! Come on! We’ve got to get this girl home!”

“Yassuh!”

Spurred to action, the black came running back as Ashton extracted the injured woman from the bonds of her soggy cloak and lifted her in his arms. He raised her high, letting her head loll over his shoulder, then began the scrambling struggle up the slippery embankment to the roadway. Hiram was there to lend a hand the last step or two and sprinted on ahead to open the carriage door. As Ashton climbed inside, the servant mumbled a fervent prayer that all would be well. Death had been a cruel visitor to the Wingate man in the last ten years, first plucking the lives of his parents during a storm which swept away their home in the Carolinas; then three years ago it had come in the guise of a gang of river pirates who had disabled his stern-wheeler and caused the drowning of his new bride. Hiram was sure that if there was a choice, neither of them would elect to see the dreaded dark avenger for some time to come.

“Give me a moment to get settled,” Ashton tossed over his shoulder as he placed the woman on his cloak and gathered it about her.

“Is she…is she gonna be all right, massa?” Hiram asked anxiously, craning his neck to see past the other’s back.

“I just don’t know, Hiram. I’m sorry,” Ashton replied. He lifted his unconscious charge onto his lap where his own body would cushion hers and she could be held safe from further bruising during the rough ride ahead. As he cradled the seemingly fragile form close against him, a scent of jasmine wafted through his senses. A pang of sweet recall tugged at his memory, giving him pause, but he thrust the sensation away with a fierce determination. It could not be, and he would not let his mind torture him with impossible yearnings.

He reached up a hand to brush the tangled web of red tresses from her face. The begrimed mass resisted his effort, but with gentle persistance he separated the strands and swept a portion behind her ear. As he leaned back and the light caught the pale visage, he drew in his breath sharply. His mind tumbled to a halt, and he was held frozen by what he saw.

“Lierin?” he breathed as a piercing pain of longing went through him.

Like an avalanche, memories of that time in New Orleans when he had met and married his young bride came crushing down upon him. Though he had been assured that Lierin was dead, he was now struck with the thought that a horrible mistake had been made and it was she who was with him now. If not, the resemblance this young woman bore to his late wife was, to say the least, most startling.

Hiram failed to find reassurance in the wide range of expressions that crossed his master’s face. “Massa, what’s wrong? Yo look like yo just seen a ghost.”

“Maybe I have,” Ashton murmured in stunned amazement. An overriding hope began to build within him, mingling with an odd mixture of elation and fear. If this was Lierin…

The urgency of the moment pressed upon him, and his tone conveyed his growing anxiety as he commanded, “Hiram! Get up there, and lay the leather to those horses! Hurry!”

The startled man slammed the door and quickly climbed up to his place. Ashton braced his legs against the far seat as the brakes creaked loose and Hiram’s shout echoed through the still night. “Yeeeaah! G’yap dere!”

The well-matched team lunged forward, taking their duties to heart, and in the cool evening air the steam rolled from their backs as Hiram drove them at a breakneck pace around a bend, not even checking their stride when the wheels caught a rut and the closed landau lurched sharply sideways. Ashton swayed with the careening motion and cradled his precious charge as if it were his own heart he carried. As he bent over her, his spirits soared with unaccustomed joy, and he closed his eyes as a prayer filled his soul: “Oh, God, let it be Lierin…and let her live!”

The shifting light of the carriage lanterns lent her pale skin a golden hue that belied the chilling touch of it while it teased him with haunting views of the delicate features. His fingers trembled and his brow creased in a pained frown as he tenderly touched the discolored swelling on her forehead, that same which once he might have kissed with loving affection. His emotions were unmercifully churned. While his hopes climbed to lofty heights with the hope that this was his own beloved Lierin, his fears at the same time ran as deep as a bottomless cavern, for he could not guess the extent of her injuries. It would be cruel fate if, after finding his wife alive, she was again taken from him. Indeed, he might find himself icapable of coping with the tragedy all over again.

Letting out his breath slowly, Ashton attempted to gather his scattered thoughts into some semblance of logical order. Was he just being plagued by memories of his dead wife? Was he going mad? Did he see a dearly remembered visage on another because of some trick of his mind? Was it only the rising hope of an aborted dream that made him think that it was she? After all, he had known Lierin less than a month before exchanging vows with her. Several of his friends in New Orleans had teased him about marrying her in an anxious fever while barely knowing her name. Then the black hand of tragedy had struck, and he had seen his love swirled away from him in currents dark and foul. Since that time he had counted the days until they had aged into three years, a month, and a week short a day. Now here she was again…or some young woman incredibly like his memories of Lierin. He had to allow that there was room for error, and yet he resisted his doubts, though he knew he could be leaving himself open to more pain and grief.

Gently he traced his lean fingers along her cheek, pausing at her temple until he felt the faint throbbing of a pulse. A sigh of relief slipped from him, but he could not ease the pounding of his hart.

A shout from Hiram announced their approach to the plantation house, and Ashton peered through the darkness toward the distant glow of lanterns that marked the mansion’s presence among the huge towering oaks. Beyond sweeping grounds Belle Chêne stood with the magnificence of a French château, buttressed on either side by wide wings and tall trees. The thought flickered through his consciousness that he was at last bringing home his love.

As the landau neared the structure, Ashton became aware of the carriages crowding the lane and a number of horses tied to the hitching posts. He could only surmise that his grandmother had seized upon the excuse of his homecoming to have a party. His eyes passed gently over his companion. The elder lady would hardly be expecting this latest turn of events. His entrance with an unconscious and improperly garbed woman would likely give her a turn. After his brief courtship and marriage in New Orleans, Amanda Wingate had become leery of her grandson’s jaunts downriver, and here he was returning from another such trip. It mattered naught to him that the incident would add grist to the grinding mill of gossip, but he had to consider that his grandmother was getting on in years.

Hiram stood on the brake, and in the lane the tethered horses stamped their feet in sudden distrust of this apparition that careened wildly through their midst. The landau was brought to a skidding stop in front of the verandah. There, the black man scrambled down and hurried to snatch open the carriage door. Ashton bundled his cloak carefully about his treasured burden and pressed her head upon his shoulder to protect her face from the crisp air. As he did so, the illusive scent tore through his senses once again, unlocking all the yearnings he had held in check these past three years. Their time together mght have been brief, but he knew without a doubt that it had not been lacking in quality and worth.