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he pleaded.
    Honor thought for a moment. Perhaps Jordan had a right to know the truth.. Maybe it would be better if he understood Meagan's motives for going away with another man.
    "Meagan was impressed with the material things that Mr. Elderman could give her," she said softly.
    "You mean money?"
    Honor nodded.
    "I would have given her anything she wanted, she knew that."
    "Jordan, I said as much to her." She lowered her head, not wanting to see the pain in his eyes. "She said you could not give her the kind of life she wanted."
    "Damn! From this day forward, I should take a page from Meagan's book and take what I want from life and to hell with the consequences."
    Honor clasped one of his hands in both of hers. "Please do not say that, Jordan. Someday you will get over Meagan and find someone worthy of your love."
    "There is no woman I would trust, save my own mother." He looked at Honor. "And you, little one, though you are hardly a woman, are you? How old are you now, fourteen?"
    "No, I was sixteen this last month."
    He looked startled for a moment. "Sixteen, you are almost a young woman. How remiss of me not to have noticed.”
    Honor thought it was not surprising. He had only had eyes for Meagan. He had never thought of her as other than a child, and even now her body was not fully developed, making her look much younger than she actually was.
    "You may still think of me as a child, Jordan, but I am owner of this house and land. My duties will be that of a woman."
    Again Jordan looked startled. "Your aunt left Landau Plantation to you?"
    "Yes. I only hope I will be worthy of the trust she had in me. It is a big responsibility."
    Jordan was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was hardly above a whisper. "Is there some young man you care about, Honor?"
    She was quiet for a moment, not knowing how to answer him. "Yes, I love someone," she said finally, for did she not love him with all her heart?
    "Will you marry your young man then?"
    "No, he does not love me. In fact, he hardly knows I am alive."
    "Ah, then you and I are both unloved by the ones we love. It would seem we are kindred spirits, are we not?"
    "I suppose so," she said, thinking how ironic it was to be having this conversation with him.
    "Are you quite sure your young man will not come to love you in the future?"
    "No. He loves someone else."
    "Maybe I have a solution to both our problems. I could never go back to my unit knowing that you are alone, with no one to protect you. I came home for a wedding, and dammit, I am going to have a wedding."
    Honor frowned, not understanding what he meant.
    He threw back his head and laughed. "Do you not see the irony of it? You will marry me and neither of us will have any illusions about the other. You do not love me and I do not love you. What a perfect marriage; it will not be all cluttered up with pretty words and lies. We will know right from the beginning where we stand with one another."
    Honor stood up weakly. "I do not find you the least bit amusing, Jordan. How dare you make such a ridiculous proposal to me. You are very insensitive."
    He rose and drew her into his arms. "Oh, little one, forgive me for what must seem to you like the ravings of a madman. Do you not see the joke is on me, not you. If you would consent to marry me, I would be indeed honored, and I would be getting the best of the bargain, for you are kind and gentle. What man could ask for more in a wife?"
    Honor felt as though her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. Jordan wanted to marry her, and he was telling her he did not love her.
    "You would like it if I said yes, wouldn't you? Then you would feel that you had wreaked your revenge on Meagan. How cruel you are, Jordan. Your revenge at my expense."
    She began to tremble and did not know if it was from the fever or her anger. Knowing her legs would no longer support her, she sat down on the edge of the sofa. She longed for the privacy of her room, for she was