"For me it does."
"I want more," Alanna confided. "I want an official marriage, one that will be recorded, so no one can call our children bastards."
Having little use for many of the white men's customs, Hunter's first impulse was to refuse, but the seriousness of Alanna's reason showed how much it meant to her, and he could not bring himself to say no. He owed her his life, but he did not want to force her to remind him of it to get her way. "It may take us awhile to find a priest who will agree to marry a white woman and an Indian, but when we do, I'll be proud to make you my wife again."
Hunter had spoken very slowly and deliberately, obviously making a concession, and while Alanna could not tell if it had been merely a small one, or a profound gesture of love, she was very grateful. "Thank you. I'll try and learn how to cook. I promise I will."
Hunter leaned over to squeeze her hand. "You're so pretty to look at, I don't even notice what I'm eating. You'll hear no complaints from me."
Alanna blushed at his effusive praise. "Are all Seneca braves as charming as you?"
"No, I learned that from white men."
Recalling the bearded frontiersmen she had seen watching him fight, Alanna found such a boast impossible to believe. "Surely you don't mean the trappers I saw outside the trading post."
"Would that surprise you?"
"Yes, very much. Those shaggy brutes didn't look like they cared much about being attractive to women."
They had again spent the whole day together, but Hunter wasn't in the least bit bored with Alanna. She was so inquisitive and bright, he knew she would always enchant him. "No, it wasn't them," he assured her. "It was educated men with fine manners, men like Byron and Elliott, who showed me how to treat women, although they didn't realize I was watching them."
"I can't believe you really needed lessons."
"Not in some things, perhaps, but in others."
His sly smile left no question as to which skills he had mastered without tutoring, and Alanna could not help but be amused. "I didn't answer your question this morning, if it was a question. I'd like to stay here with you for as long as you like. The problems that await us in Virginia can't get any worse, so even if we are being foolish not to face them now, I think we should have whatever happiness we can."
Her words had a heartbreaking wistfulness, and Hunter feared she might well be right. For now, they had a delicious pheasant to share, and a night of passion to enjoy. He wanted it to be enough. "You must eat more," he encouraged, "or people will say I can't provide for you."
Alanna picked up a wing. "They'll say nothing of the kind, and you know it. Besides, if you're fond of plump women, why didn't you look for one to love?"
"Perhaps I did."
When he was as relaxed as he was now, Hunter had a marvelously expressive face, and emotions played across his handsome features in a subtle yet fascinating array. Watching him, Alanna feared she had not known nearly enough about her own emotions before meeting him. Now she was ashamed that she had not understood enough about romance to send Graham Tyler away long before he had lost patience with her. Then there was Randolph O'Neil, who possessed endless patience it seemed, but she hadn't been able to share any more of herself with him than she had with Graham.
She twisted Elliott's ring on her finger, and knew that as much as she had loved him, a marriage between them would have left her feeling like a hollow shell of a woman, and he would have become badly disillusioned. Her life had been a long and painful journey up to that point, but she was certain she had arrived precisely where she ought to be. She responded easily to Hunter's jest.
"No, that can't possibly be true, because if you'd really wanted a plump wife, you'd have one."
"You see me as being that determined?"
"Yes, I do."
Hunter feared they were straying dangerously close to another discussion of his tragic affair with Melissa, and she was the last person he wanted to talk about that night. Growing cautious, he swiftly changed the subject. "The only thing I'm determined to do now is make you happy. I want to buy you some horses. I know how much you like them, and it would be good for us to own a few."
"Well, yes, I do love horses, but—"
"But what?"
Attempting to be tactful, Alanna chose her words with care. "I enjoy riding, and my uncle's horses were wonderful company when I didn't really wish to be alone, but I was never responsible for their care.
The problem is, horses need shelter, especially here in New York, where the winters are more severe than Virginia, and constant care. Do you really think we ought to build a barn, and devote several hours each day to caring for horses? Won't that take too much of your time away from trapping?"
Hunter was amazed by how complicated she made owning horses sound. "I didn't realize you were such a practical girl."
"Being practical isn't generally considered a flaw."
"I thought only that having horses would please you."