Chapters (53)
- Cover
- About Alison Stuart
- Also by Alison Stuart
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Preview of The Goldminer's Sister
‘I need to know if you want to go back to England? Make a proper English gentleman of Dan?’
‘Why, would I—’ Adelaide began. ‘Oh, my father’s will, you mean. I am not going to let him control my life from the grave and why would I go back to England? My heart is here.’ She laid a hand on his chest and repeated, ‘Here.’
He caught her hand and pressed it to his lips. His mouth curled in a smile as he drew her to him. ‘Adelaide …’ he repeated, so softly she could hardly hear it.
She twisted in his embrace, turning her face to his. His fingers meshed in her hair, causing pins to drop to the floor in a succession of soft pings. As his lips touched hers, flesh and bone dissolved, leaving only a delicious warmth that rushed through her from the top of her head to her toes. She drank in the sweet taste of him, like a traveller on a long journey coming across a well. Her body ached in ways she barely remembered, if she remembered at all. The wanton, forgotten Adelaide yearned for him.
‘Mama!’
Danny’s voice cut her heart like a knife and she jumped away from Caleb as if he were a tiger snake, her hand flying to her unruly hair.
Her son stood in the doorway clad only in his nightshirt, his bandaged right hand clutching the door frame, his eyes wide with what she could only assume was horror.
Caleb coughed and straightened. ‘Daniel, I have something real important to ask you,’ he said.
Danny looked up at him and frowned.
‘Daniel, would you consent to me marrying your mother?’
Danny looked from one to the other. ‘I think,’ he said at last. ‘That would be a good idea—on one condition.’
‘What would that be?’ Adelaide asked.
‘That I could take your name too, Caleb,’ Danny said. ‘Greaves is not my name. I don’t know what my name is.’
‘I would be honoured,’ Caleb said, inclining his head, ‘but it’s for your mother to agree.’
He looked at Adelaide who smiled. ‘I would like that,’ she said.
‘Master Daniel Hunt it shall be,’ Caleb said.
‘Good. When are you getting married?’
Adelaide glanced at Caleb and pushed the hair back from her face. ‘I don’t know. As soon as possible, I suppose … unless …?’
Caleb took her hand. ‘There’s no “unless” I can think of.’ He turned her to face him, and bent to kiss her again, softly and chastely on the lips. ‘As soon as possible suits me just fine.’
‘Will we leave Maiden’s Creek?’ Danny asked.