Part 6
The stroke of midnight….all was quiet in the house as Howard watched Samantha sleeping. Alex had made Brian but a dream to Samantha. Now, if his plan worked, he would be able to go into her dreams and make her think that he was the one she was truly dreaming about and when she woke, she’d think he was her husband. Now it was time. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and crossed the plane.
Entering her dream, he found himself in a garden. It could have been any garden…anywhere. As he walked along a path, he could hear a waterfall in the distance and saw streams winding aimlessly through spring flowering trees and other seasonal annuals. The path he was on opened to a clearing that had a bench situated under an arbor covered by a climbing roses. Seated on the bench was a vision more breath-taking than the garden itself. She wore a pale blue dress that matched her eyes with a smile that was as bright as the sun that shone down on them. He felt the familiar stirrings of passion as he plucked a bloom from the flower beside him.
Kneeling down on one knee in front of her, he presented the flower as he said, “For my lady.”
She blushed as she took the flower. “I don’t know you, do I?”
“You’ve seen me, once…but you weren’t feeling well. My name is Howard.”
His eyes were a warm, inviting chocolate and as she gazed into them, she felt herself falling. “I’m Samantha.”
Looking around the garden, he said, “It’s beautiful. Do you come here very often?”
She giggled slightly, “Every day….it’s my father’s. I like to come out and watch the animals. If I sit really still, the fawns will come in close and allow me to feed them.”
“Were you watching one today?”
“No. I was waiting for a young gentleman whom my father has given permission to court me.”
“Alone? Shouldn’t you be with a chaperone?”
Blushing again, she said, “Probably but I hate having someone watching every move I make. I slipped away from my maid.”
Seizing this opportunity, Howard said, “And she’s searching frantically.”
“Are you the young man?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…I thought Father said his name was Brian.”
“Brian is my servant and always trying to impersonate me,” lied Howard. “I’m going to have to do something about that. Maybe we should go back so no one worries about you? I don’t want to compromise you in any way.”
Defiantly, she said, “No. I like it out here and I want to get to know you without all those prying eyes.”
Howard’s heart soared. She wasn’t afraid of him but this was her dream. Would she feel differently when she woke? He wanted to touch her but things began to fade and he realized she was trying to wake. He had to escape or he’d be trapped there until she fell asleep again. Without warning, he fled.
Opening his eyes, he saw Nickolas standing over her. “What are you doing here?”
“I….I’m sorry, sire,” apologized Nickolas fearing he’d woken Howard. “I wanted to make sure she was safe.”
“She’s fine,” smiled Howard as he got up and moved to the young man. Seeing his nervousness, he asked, “Did Alex say something or do something to you?”
Nickolas cast his eyes down as he said, “He was furious.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Seeing the genuine concern for Samantha in Nickolas’ eyes, he said, “She’s been sleeping…peacefully….and she enjoyed the broth you brought.”
“Thank you, sire,” smiled Nickolas. Moving to the door, he said before leaving, “I will be sure to bring you breakfast for her in the morning.”
On a whisper, she called out, “Howard?”
Sitting beside her, Howard took her hand in his. “I’m right here, my lady.”
In the shadows of the candlelight, she opened her eyes and found the same warm eyes from her dream smiling at her and she felt safe. “I was dreaming…about the day we met in my father’s gardens,” she smiled weakly.
“Maybe if you go back to sleep, you can dream some more about it,” coaxed Howard pleased that his plan was working.
Sighing, she closed her eyes as she said, “It was such a special day. That was the day you kissed me….for the very first time and even Father’s anger couldn’t change that. At least he insisted that we be married.”
“Yes, that was a good thing,” smiled Howard. “Go to sleep, my lady…so you can get well and I can show you the gardens I had created for you.”
Samantha drifted to sleep still holding on to Howard’s hand. As he continued to sit there, he let his mind go over what must have happened. She’d been compromised and her father forced her to marry Brian but why hadn’t they consummated the marriage? They must have been in love because she said it had been a special day. And what would happen if she was the one that they’d been looking for?
