Mountain Laurel

  Critical acclaim for the marvelous romances of

  Jude Deveraux

  THE SUMMERHOUSE

  “Deveraux is at the top of her game here as she uses the time-travel motif that was so popular in A Knight in Shining Armor, successfully updating it with a female buddy twist that will make fans smile.”

  —Booklist

  “Entertaining summer reading.”

  —The Port St. Lucie News (FL)

  “Leslie, Madison, and Ellie wiggle quickly into readers’ hearts as their tales are unfolded…. [A] wonderful, heartwarming tale of friendship and love.”

  —America Online Romance Fiction Forum

  TEMPTATION

  “Deveraux[’s] lively pace and happy endings…will keep readers turning pages.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  HIGH TIDE

  A Romantic Times Top Pick

  “High Tide is packed full of warmth, humor, sensual tension, and exciting adventure. What more could you ask of a book?”

  —Romantic Times

  Books by Jude Deveraux

  The Velvet Promise

  Highland Velvet

  Velvet Song

  Velvet Angel

  Sweetbriar

  Counterfeit Lady

  Lost Lady

  River Lady

  Twin of Fire

  Twin of Ice

  The Temptress

  The Raider

  The Princess

  The Awakening

  The Maiden

  The Taming

  The Conquest

  A Knight in Shining Armor

  Wishes

  Mountain Laurel

  The Duchess

  Eternity

  Sweet Liar

  The Invitation

  Remembrance

  The Heiress

  Legend

  An Angel for Emily

  The Blessing

  High Tide

  Temptation

  The Summerhouse

  The Mulberry Tree

  Forever…A Novel of Good and Evil, Love and Hope

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Copyright © 1990 by Deveraux Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-5920-4

  ISBN-10: 0-7434-5920-2

  POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

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  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost I would like to thank Antonia Lavanne, who so very kindly allowed me to spend the afternoon in her studio and listen to her give singing lessons. It was a wonderful experience.

  I would like to thank the students and teachers and Mannes College of Music, where I spent an evening listening to such wonders as a live performance of the quartet from Cinderella.

  I would like to apologize to my readers and to Bizet for lying about the date of Carmen and having my heroine sing the opera a few years before it was written.

  I would also like to thank the late Thomas Armor for his name. I made you a hero, Tom.

  And, as always, I’d like to thank Linda Marrow for listening…and listening and listening and listening and…

  Rocky Mountains

  Summer 1859

  Chapter 1

  Colonel Harrison read the letter a second time, then leaned back in his chair and smiled. The answer to a prayer, he thought. That was the only way to describe the letter: the answer to a prayer.

  Just to make sure it did indeed say what he thought it did, he looked at the letter again. General Yovington had issued orders from Washington, D.C., that Lieutenant L. K. Surrey was to leave the post of Company J, Second Dragoons, for a special assignment. But since Lieutenant Surrey had died just last week, Colonel Harrison would have to choose someone to take the assignment in his place.

  Colonel Harrison’s smile grew broader. He was choosing Captain C. H. Montgomery to take Lieutenant Surrey’s place. The lieutenant, now replaced by Captain Montgomery, was “requested” to escort a foreign opera singer into the gold fields of the Colorado Territory. He was to remain with her and her small band of musicians and servants as long as the lady needed him. He was to protect her from any dangers she would possibly encounter on her journey and to do what he could to make her travels more comfortable.

  Colonel Harrison put the letter down, handling it as though it were a precious relic, and smiled so broadly his face nearly cracked. Lady’s maid, he thought. The high and mighty Captain Montgomery was being ordered to be nothing more than a lady’s maid. But, more important, Captain Montgomery was being ordered away from Fort Breck.

  Colonel Harrison took a few deep, cleansing breaths and thought about having his own fort to command, and about not having to deal with the perfection, the cool knowledge of Captain Montgomery. No longer would the men look to their captain for confirmation of every order, for permission to do what their colonel asked of them.

  Colonel Harrison thought back to when he first came to Fort Breck a year ago. His predecessor, Colonel Collins, had been a drunken, lazy old fool. Collins’s only concern had been surviving until he could retire, get out of Indian country and go back to Virginia, where people lived in a civilized manner. He was content to turn over all responsibility to his second-in-command, Captain Montgomery. And why not? Montgomery’s record had to be seen to be believed. He’d been in the army since he was eighteen, and in the ensuing eight years he’d worked himself up through the ranks. He’d started as a private, and, after extraordinary heroism on the field of battle, he’d been made an officer. He’d gone from second lieutenant to captain in a mere three years, and at the rate he was going he’d outrank Colonel Harrison in another few years.

  Not that the man didn’t deserve everything he’d ever earned in the army. No, as far as Colonel Harrison could tell, Captain Montgomery was perfect. He was cool under fire, never losing his head. He was generous, fair, and understanding with the enlisted men, and as a result they pretty much thought he ran the fort. The officers went to him with their problems; the officers’ ladies fawned over him and asked his advice about social events. Captain Montgomery didn’t drink, didn’t patronize the whores outside the fort; he’d never lost his temper as far as anyone knew, and he could do anything. He could ride like a demon and, while at a full gallop, shoot the eye out of a turkey from a hundred yards away. He knew Indian sign language and a smattering of several Indian languages. Hell, even the Indians liked him, said he was a man they could respect and trust. No doubt Captain Montgomery would die before he broke his word.

  Everyone in the world seemed to like, honor, respect, even revere Captain Montgomery. Everyone, that is, except Colonel Harrison. Colonel Harrison loathed the man. Not just disliked him, not just hated him, but loathed him. Everything the captain could do that the colonel couldn’t made the colonel despise him more. The enlisted men saw within a week after the colonel’s arrival that Harrison didn’t know anything about the West, and the truth was, this was the first time in his life the colonel had been west of the Mississippi. Captain Montgomery hadn’t volunteered to help the colonel learn the ropes; no, he was much too polite for that, but, in the end the colonel had had to ask him some questions. The captain had always known the answer, always known the best w
ay to settle any dispute.

  It was after Colonel Harrison had been at Fort Breck for five months that he began to hate the man who had all the answers. Of course, having a sixteen-year-old daughter who practically swooned at the sight of the man, didn’t help matters.

  Colonel Harrison’s resentment had come to a head one hot morning the previous summer when, in a vile mood, the colonel had ordered a man who had done no more than oversleep reveille to be punished with twenty lashes. He was sick unto death of the drunkenness of his men and meant to make an example of the private. He ignored the looks of hatred from the other men, but his stomach began to hurt. He wasn’t a bad man; he just wanted to enforce discipline at his post.

  When Captain Montgomery stepped forward to protest the punishment, Colonel Harrison saw red. He informed the captain that he was in charge of the fort and unless the captain meant to take the man’s punishment, he was to stay out of this. It wasn’t until Montgomery began removing his jacket that the colonel realized what he meant to do.

  It was the worst morning of the colonel’s life, and he dearly wished he could go back to bed and start the day over. Captain Montgomery—the fearless, perfect Captain Montgomery—took all twenty of the man’s lashes. For a while the colonel thought he was going to have a mutiny on his hands when all the enlisted men refused to wield the whip. In the end a second lieutenant applied the whip to Montgomery’s broad back, and when he was finished he threw the whip into the dirt and turned on the colonel, his eyes blazing with hatred. “Anything else…sir?” he’d asked, sneering the last word.

  For two weeks hardly anyone on the post spoke to the colonel—including his own wife and daughter. As for the captain, he was back on duty the next morning without so much as a grimace of pain for a back that must have been killing him. That he wouldn’t even commit himself to the infirmary for a few days was the last straw. From that day on, Colonel Harrison didn’t even bother trying to conceal his loathing for the captain. Of course the captain never once betrayed what he felt for the colonel; no, perfect human beings like Montgomery don’t give away what they feel. He just continued to be the perfect officer: a friend to the men, a charming escort to the ladies. A man trusted by all. A man who, as far as Colonel Harrison could tell, had no feelings. A man who never woke up on the wrong side of the bed. A man who never tripped on his horse’s stirrup or missed whatever he was aiming to shoot. A man who would probably smile in the face of death.

  But now, Colonel Harrison thought, now he was going to get rid of this perfect man. Now General Yovington had requested an escort for some opera singer through gold country, and he was going to send the illustrious Captain Montgomery. “I hope she’s fat,” the colonel said aloud. “I hope she’s real fat.”

  “Sir?” his corporal asked from his desk on the other side of the room.

  “Nothing,” the colonel barked. “Send Captain Montgomery to me, then leave us.” The colonel ignored the look the corporal gave him.

  Promptly, as always, Captain Montgomery appeared and the colonel tried to keep from frowning. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the captain’s dark blue uniform, which he suspected had been privately tailored to fit the captain’s six-foot-three-inch frame.

  “You wanted to see me, sir?” Captain Montgomery asked, standing at attention.

  Colonel Harrison wondered if the man could slump. “I have orders for you from General Yovington. Ever hear of him?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  What had the colonel expected, that Montgomery didn’t know the answer to something? He rose from behind his desk, put his hands behind his back, and began to walk about the room. He must try to keep the joy from his voice. “As you know, General Yovington is a very important man and he has reasons for what he does. He does not allow people like you and me to know those reasons, but then, you and I are mere soldiers and ours is to obey, not to question the reason behind an order.” He looked at the captain. There was no impatience on his face, no annoyance, just that calm look he always wore. Perhaps the colonel could break that perfect calm. He’d give a month’s pay to be able to do that.

  The colonel went to the desk and picked up the letter. “I received this by special courier this morning. It seems to be of utmost importance. The general, for whatever reasons, seems to have formed an, ah…attachment to an opera singer and now that…lady wants to sing for the gold miners. He wants her to have an army escort.”

  The colonel looked hard at Captain Montgomery, his eyes wide, for he didn’t want to miss the man’s reaction. “The general requested Lieutenant Surrey, but as you well know, the poor unfortunate man won’t be able to make it, therefore I’ve thought long and hard about a suitable replacement, and I have chosen you, Captain.”

  Colonel Harrison almost did a little jump of joy when Montgomery blinked twice and then tightened his lips. “You’re to keep her out of trouble, see that the Indians don’t bother her, keep the miners from making advances toward her, see that she’s comfortable. I guess that means see that’s she’s fed and that her bath water’s hot and—”

  “I respectfully decline the assignment, sir,” Captain Montgomery said, his back straight, his eyes straight ahead, which was some inches over the colonel’s graying head.

  Colonel Harrison’s heart swelled. “This is not a request, it’s an order. You are not being asked, you are being told. It is not an invitation you can refuse.”

  To the colonel’s astonishment, Montgomery dropped his rigid posture and, without being given permission, he sat down in a chair, then withdrew a thin cigar from inside his jacket. “An opera singer? What the hell do I know about an opera singer?”

  The colonel knew he should reprimand the captain for sitting without permission, but if he’d learned nothing else in the last year, he’d at least learned that the western army was not like in the East, where discipline was understood. Besides, he was enjoying the perfect captain’s consternation too much.

  “Oh, come now, Captain, you can figure it out. Who better than you? Why, in all my twenty years of service I’ve never seen a man with a better record. Commissioned on the field of battle, an indispensable right-hand man to any officer. You’ve fought Indians and whites. You’ve rounded up outlaws and renegades. You’re a man’s man and yet you can advise the ladies on how to set a table, and according to what I hear from the ladies, you dance divinely.” He smiled when Captain Montgomery gave him a malevolent look. He hadn’t broken that façade even on the day he’d taken the twenty lashes for the private.

  “What’s Yovington to her?”

  “General Yovington didn’t make me his confidant. He merely sent his orders. You’re to leave in the morning. As far as I can tell, the woman has already reached the mountains on her own. You’ll recognize her by…” He picked up the letter, trying hard to conceal his smile. “She’s traveling in a modified Concord wagon. It’s red and it has, ah…let’s see, the name LaReina painted on the side. LaReina is the woman’s name. I hear she’s very good. At singing, I mean. I don’t know what else she’s good at besides singing. The general didn’t tell me that.”

  “She’s traveling in a stagecoach?”

  “A red one.” Colonel Harrison permitted himself a small smile. “Oh, come now, Captain, surely this isn’t a bad assignment. Think how this will look on your record. Think where this could lead. If you perform this duty well, you could start escorting generals’ daughters. I’m sure my own daughter would give you a recommendation.”

  Abruptly, Captain Montgomery stood. “With all due respect, sir, I cannot do this. There is too much unrest now and I am needed elsewhere. There are white settlers to protect, and what with this slavery controversy and the possibility of war, I do not believe I can desert my post to—”

  Colonel Harrison lost his sense of humor. “Captain, this is not a request. This is an order. Whether you like it or not, you are on an assignment of indefinite length. You are to stay with this woman as long as she wants, go wherever she wants, do whatever needs to
be done, even if it is no more than pull her coach out of the mud. If you don’t do this, I will slap you in jail, court-martial you, find you guilty, and have you shot. And if I have to, I’ll pull the trigger myself. Is that understood? Do I make myself clear?”

  “Very clear, sir,” Captain Montgomery answered tightly.

  “All right, then, go and pack. You’re to leave at dawn tomorrow.” The colonel watched as the captain seemed to be trying to say something. “What is it?” he snapped.

  “Toby,” was all the captain could get out through a jaw tight with anger.

  So, the captain did have a temper, the colonel thought, and he was tempted to antagonize him further by insisting that the orders had not included the garrulous, scrawny little private who was never more than a few feet from the captain’s side. But the colonel remembered too well the anger of the enlisted men the day the captain had taken an enlisted man’s lashes. “Take him,” the colonel said. “He’ll be of no use here.”

  The captain nodded his thanks but didn’t speak them as he turned on his heel and left the colonel’s office.

  After the captain was gone, the colonel sank onto his hard chair and let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time he was a little nervous. Could he control this unruly fort, where most of the “soldiers” were farmers who’d signed up merely to fill their bellies? Half of them were drunk most of the time, and desertion was rampant. For the last year his record had been excellent, but he knew that was due a great deal to Captain Montgomery. Could he rule the fort on his own?

  “Damn him!” he said, and slammed a desk drawer shut in anger. Of course he could command his own fort!

  ’Ring Montgomery stared at the woman through the spyglass for a long moment, then angrily slammed it closed.

  “That her?” Toby asked from behind him. “You sure she’s the one?” He was a foot shorter than ’Ring, wiry, and had skin the color of walnut juice.