Lord of Desire

The colonel, however, seemed only to possess the severity. Jafar watched warily as the other man settled himself in an adjoining wing chair.

"If you are wondering at the chances of my exposing you," Bourmont said then, "you may cease to worry. I did indeed recognize you, but I intend to hold my tongue . . . for two reasons. You spared my life that day in battle, and it is not something I can easily forget. I could not repay such magnanimity by turning you over to a military tribunal, to perhaps face a firing squad."

Jafar was silent for a long moment while he considered Bourmont's disclosure. "No one would fault you for enacting such a reprisal," he said slowly.

"I would fault me. No man of honor could do otherwise. As it is, I shall always be in your debt, m'sieur."

"The word 'always' does not exist on earth."

"Perhaps."

There was another long pause while the two men regarded each other. "You spoke of two reasons?" Jafar said finally.

"Yes, but I first should like to ask you a question, if I may. Why did you not kill me when you had the opportunity? You seem to have gone to a good deal of trouble in order to carry out your vendetta against my father. And then to pass up the opportunity to finish it . . . I admit having some curiosity as to why."

Unwilling to answer, Jafar looked down at his glass. "My reasons are my own, Colonel. Suffice it to say that I have forsworn vengeance on the Bourmont family."

"On the contrary," Gervase replied softly, sadly. "I think you have already had your vengeance. You have taken Alysson's love."

Jafar's head came up like a wolf scenting the wind. He stared at Bourmont, his heart suddenly pounding.

"Alysson is in love with you," Gervase said quietly. "You didn't know?"

Jafar swallowed, suddenly bereft of speech. When he finally spoke, his voice was strangely hoarse. "Forgive me if I find that hard to accept. She had every opportunity to make her feelings known. The decision to leave was hers. She chose not to stay."

"Yet it is true, I'm afraid. She told me so herself. It is why she would not accept my offer of marriage."

"She refused you?" This time his voice was merely a cracked whisper. "But I heard no rumors of a broken engagement."

Gervase's brief smile was one of bitterness. "Perhaps because there never was an engagement. Before she left on her expedition, Alysson had promised to consider my proposal and give me her answer upon her return. Afterward . . . it was wiser to let society assume our engagement had never ended. If I had cried off so soon after her abduction, it would have branded her for life. My only thought was to protect her."

A long pause. "You . . . must love her very much, then."

Again that bitter smile. "I like to believe that I am unselfish enough to put her happiness before my own."

"Then we are more alike than I suspected," Jafar said in a low, tortured voice. "The most difficult thing I've ever done in my life was to let her go."

"Ah," Gervase murmured. "So I was right. She was the reason you spared my life."

"Yes . . . she was the reason."

"Because you love her yourself."

Jafar looked away. "Yes."

"And now? What do you intend to do about her?"

Jafar closed his eyes, remembering the torment of the past weeks when he'd held no hope that Alysson could ever be his. He had gone through the motions of living, but he'd been more like a corpse, a mere ghost of a man, his spirit broken. Perhaps that was why he hadn't hesitated to walk into the stronghold of his mortal enemy, to put himself at the colonel's mercy. The thought of death held no terror for him, compared to the pain of living. "I had not considered yet . . . I thought she was lost to me."

"I don't believe that is so. She has not left Algiers, did you know that?"

"Yes, I knew. But I didn't dare hope that I might be the reason.''

Abruptly Gervase leaned forward in his seat, his face searching and intense. "You will take good care of her?"

Jafar met the colonel's gaze directly, his expression a solemn promise. "I would give my life for her."

Apparently believing him, the colonel relaxed somewhat. "I can rest easy, then." Settling back in his chair, he sipped his claret. After a moment he introduced an entirely new subject. "Alysson was not the only reason I asked you here. I should like to discuss the future of your country with you, if I may."