Our wedding night," she whispered, and dreams were reborn as she rested her face against his neckcloth.

And you are all the home I will ever long for . . . Now and for the rest of my life even if I do not see you again after tonight.

The need to cry was almost a pain.

She remembered—oh, she could not stop remembering.

She thought for one moment that he was going to kiss her and longed for the touch of his lips.

She might have said yes. It was a shameful admission to have to make even in the privacy of her own thoughts. Perhaps especially there. He exerted a very powerful magic over her. Even more powerful than when she had first known him.

No, she must not begin to doubt. She hated him. She hated him because he had brought turmoil into her life again. And emotion. And bitter regret for all that might have been. She hated him.

I have never stopped loving you," he said. "I realized that as soon as I saw you again.

There is no other woman as lovely as you . . . And only you can satisfy my soul.