In the Land of the Long White Cloud

and copper in the light of the salon’s candles. Gwyneira’s mouth hinted at a shy smile. She lowered her eyelids, but that did not stop her from being able to peek out from her long red lashes. She had to catch a glimpse of Lucas before she was formally introduced to him.
    What she saw, however, made it hard for her to preserve her dignified poise. She came close to losing her composure, opening her eyes and mouth, to stare without impediment at this perfect example of the male species.
    Gerald had not exaggerated in his description of Lucas. His son was the very definition of a gentleman and, what’s more, blessed with all the attributes of masculine beauty. The young man was tall, considerably taller than Gerald, and thin, but muscular. He had none of the lankiness of a young Barrington or the meek tenderness of a Vicar Chester. Lucas Warden no doubt played sports, but not so excessively as to assume the muscle-packed physique of an athlete. Symmetrical and noble, his narrow face had an intellectual look to it. Gwyneirafound herself reminded of the statues of Greek gods that lined the path to Diana’s rose garden. Lucas’s lips were finely carved, neither too wide and sensual nor too thin and tight. His clear eyes were a shade of intense gray that Gwyneira had never seen before. Usually gray eyes had a hint of blue, but Lucas’s eyes looked as though only black and white tones had been introduced into the mix. He wore his bright blond, lightly curled hair short, as was fashionable in London salons. Lucas was formally dressed; for this meeting, he had chosen a gray three-piece suit of the best cloth and wore shiny black shoes.
    As Gwyneira approached him, she smiled. In response, his face became all the more attractive. His eyes, however, remained expressionless.
    Finally he bent forward and took Gwyneira’s hand in his long, svelte fingers, intimating a kiss on the hand in perfect form.
    “My lady…enchantée.”

    Howard O’Keefe looked at Helen in astonishment. Obviously he did not understand why his question had rendered her speechless.
    “What…what about the wedding?” she stammered finally. “I…I thought…” Helen tugged at her strands of hair.
    “And I thought you had come to marry me,” Howard said, looking a little peevish. “Was there a misunderstanding?”
    Helen shook her head. “No, of course not. But it’s all happening so fast. We…we don’t know anything about each other. U…usually the man courts his wi…wife-to-be first, and then…”
    “Helen, it’s a two-day ride from here to my farm,” Howard said sternly. “You can’t really expect me to make that trip several times just to bring you flowers. As for me, I need a wife. Now I’ve seen you, and I like what I see.”
    “Thank you,” Helen murmured, blushing.
    Howard did not respond to that. “Everything is clear as far as I’m concerned. Mrs. Baldwin tells me that you’re very maternal and domestic, and I like that. I don’t need to know anything more. If youstill have questions about me—please, I’d be happy to answer them. But then we should talk about the…eh, particulars. Reverend Baldwin would be the one to marry us, is that right?” At this last question, Vicar Chester nodded vigorously.
    Helen searched feverishly for questions to ask. What did you need to know about someone you were going to marry? Finally she settled on family.
    “You come from Ireland originally; is that right?”
    O’Keefe nodded. “That’s right, miss. Connemara.”
    “And your family…?”
    “Richard and Bridie O’Keefe were my parents, and I had five siblings—or maybe more, I left home early on.”
    “Because…the land couldn’t feed so many mouths?” Helen asked cautiously.
    “You could say that. It wasn’t really up to me.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry, Howard!” Helen suppressed the impulse to lay her hand consolingly on his arm. Naturally, that was the “heavy fate” he had written about in his letter.
    “And then you came straightaway to New Zealand?”
    “No, I’ve…eh, traveled around a bit.”
    “I could see that,” Helen responded, although she did not really have the faintest idea where an adolescent kicked out of his house could go. “But in all that time…in all that time, did you never consider marriage?” She reddened.
    Howard shrugged. “The places I wandered, there weren’t many women, miss. Among whaling stations, seal hunters. There
was
once…” Then the look on his face