Chapter 10

Spencer, for the first time in his life, felt a desperation so deep, it left him shaking. He'd been standing there in the door way for quite sometime. His heart sank when he realized just what that passageway was for and what it represented.
Freedom for Destiny.
A life of misery for him.
He knew he should let her go. It wasn't fair to keep her in a time where she didn't belong. But did she? What if the fates had sent her to him. What if it was...destiny?
He couldn't let her go. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Not willingly, anyway.
"Destiny, if you leave now, I will never be able to come to an agreement with my father. You are the only one who can help us. And besides, how can I explain to my father that you've disappeared? We ARE supposed to be man and wife." He was playing dirty, but he had no choice. He knew that she loved him. He had to play on those emotions.
Destiny looked at Spencer and saw the pleading in his eyes, and she knew that she couldn't go through the passage, yet. He was right. He needed her to help with his father. And it WOULD look strange if she just disappeared.
Okay...the REAL reason was that she wasn't ready to leave Spencer. She'd never been in love before. And it didn't matter if he didn't love her back, she wanted to be with him more than anything. Of course, she would have to leave...eventually.
Destiny took one last look at the doorway to her time, then she looked back at the old woman. "I'll be back."
The woman looked worried. "Don't take too long. You see, what I didn't tell you is that the passageway has been coming and going. Now, it's only appearing at night. I don't think it's going to last much longer."
Destiny swallowed and willed herself to be brave, praying that she was making a right decision. "I will be back," she answered firmly. Then she walked passed Spencer into the night.
"Destiny," he called softly to her back. She stopped. That was when he noticed her shoulders shaking. "Oh, Destiny, darling. Please don't cry."
Quickly he went to her and wrapped her up in his strong embrace. Every tear she shed went straight to his soul. Let her goa voice urged him. But he ignored it. He would bring her back in time. He just needed her for a little longer. That was all.
Gently he set her away from him and brushed away her tears. The smooth touch of her skin sent quickened his heart. She was so beautiful, even when her face was puffy and red from crying.
"Come along, my dear. Let's get you into the house and into bed."
Together they walked the path that led to the old castle. Destiny noticed that it sure got alot spookier out here at nighttime. The gargoyles that sat on either side of the gate, seemed to sneer at them. Why did people put those ugly things up anyway? They didn't ward off evil spirits, they seemed to harbor them!
She shivered and Spencer put an arm about her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. Her fears banished at his touch. Never had she felt so ******* than when she was in his arms. Her thoughts became centered on him and nothing else.
Nothing else that is, until they arrived at the bed chamber
Destiny looked at the bed then looked at the grinning man standing beside her. He looked quite pleased with himself.
"Oh, no!" she drawled. "I'm not getting into this thing any deeper with you. You'll just have to sleep on the floor."
His smile turned into a scowl. "I will not sleep on the floor, madam! This is my chamber, you forget."
"Oh, I don't forget, Don Juan. It's just that I'm not going to spend the night in the same bed as you. I won't last five minutes, if you start trying to seduce me!" She ignored his returning smile. "I'm going home, Spencer. Would you want me taking YOUR child with me?"
Those were sobering words, for both of them. Neither of them wanted that. So, they stood there, silently, contemplating the situation.
"My father will find out if either of us sleeps in another chamber. He would never believe that I'd allow any wife of mine to sleep away from my side. And he's right," he added significantly.
Destiny tried to turn her thoughts away from his beguiling words. Then she got an idea. "Wait a minute. I saw an old movie once... "It Happened One Night" with....Clark Gable, I think it was!"
"Your talking in riddles again, darling."
She smiled at him. "Sorry. But anyway, he and another woman, I can't think of her name, were traveling together and sharing the same rooms. In order to sleep in the same bed and still stay modest and moral, they strung a rope up over the bed and hung a blanket right down the middle!" She frowned. "At least they did that until the end when they.... Oh never mind."
"No, no. Please continue," Spencer urged with great interest.
Destiny rolled her eyes and sighed. "They called it the wall of Jericho. You know, like in the Bible."
Spencer nodded drolly. "Yes, Destiny, I do know the story. I was a gentleman before becoming a pirate, you know."
"Whatever," she said waving off his sarcasism. "They end up getting married at the end and one of them blows a trumpet and..."
"...And the wall came tumbling down." he finished for her with great satisfaction in his voice.
"I think, 'married' is the key word here. We're only pretending, remember?"
He sighed and preceded to build their "Jericho".
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Destiny was the first to rise, the next morning. A quick peek under the blanket, and she saw that Spencer was dead to the world. He'd slept so fitfully, tossing and turning, that she didn't have the heart to wake him now that he was sleeping so well.
She chose one of the pretty dresses from the wardrobe (ignoring the corset) and made her way down to the kitchen.
It took her exactly 30 minutes to finally find it. The castle was like a maze! All different corridors leading here and there...it was better than one of those mazes at the county fair!
But she did finally arrive in the morning room, when a helpful servant pointed the way, and she realized that she would be dining with the duke.
Destiny stared at him from the doorway, before announcing herself. Gone was the stern, larger than life man who was so mean the day before. Instead, there sat a weak, old man who had circles beneath his eyes.
Suddenly those eyes were glaring at her.
"Good Heavens! Are you going to stand rudely there and stare at me, or are you going to sit and eat?" he growled.
Destiny hid a smile and walked over to the chair at his left. She observed from yesterdays meal that this was not the proper way to sit in the Kensington household. She and Spencer had sat at the other end, at least 8 spaces away, then.
"Just WHAT do you think you are doing?" he asked imperiously.
"I'm sitting by a grouch!" she shot back, and quickly regretted her outburst. She was about to apologized when the man started laughing!
"You may not be our equal in class, but you surely have spirit!" he barked out with laughter.
Destiny blinked in bemusement. Wow, she thought, He no longer looked tired, but healthy and happy! She thought a moment, then asked, "So...uh...Your Grace, just where do you think I came from?"
"Well, according to Spencer's accounts, you are from the colonies. Ghastly lot of heathens, they are. Always fighting about something and dumping tea in the harbor," he said with a sigh.
"Yeah, well, look what it got us! Freedom!" she countered.
"Freedom from what? Civilized society?"
Destiny sighed. "Oh, never mind. You're mighty fiesty yourself, you know."
He leaned toward her and said in a whisper, "Good God, don't tell anyone! The whole household would lose respect for me. They think I'm a tyrant!" The last statement was stated with great amounts of pride.
Destiny leaned forward, also. "You do a good job at playing that part. You had me convinced!"
"What's all the whispering about?" Spencer spoke up from the doorway.
They both turned surprised eyes towards him. Destiny stuttered, "Uh...we we're just...uh..."
"What's wrong with this household. Everyone stands about spying on me. Anyone with eyes to see could tell that we were breaking our fast!"
"Yeah, Spence! Anyone with eyes!" she repeated with a look of mock Innocence on her face.
Spencer narrowed his eyes as he entered the room. And what surprised Destiny most of all, he came right up to her and planted a kiss on her unsuspecting lips.
"Good morning, darling," he whispered intimately, then sat down beside her.
Destiny cast a quick eye to his father. He was staring at them like he'd just caught on to a secret.
And he had.
"It would seem we have a lot of work to do, before the nights ending," the old duke said, mysteriously.
Spencers brows rose. "What are we planning, father?"
"A wedding." He took a big bite of cheese.
Destiny's face lit up. "Oh, I love weddings! Who is getting married?"
The duke took his time chewing and when he had finished, he slowly wiped his mouth with his napkin. He looked at Spencer, then at Destiny and...smiled.
"Really, Spencer. When did you imagine that I turned into a fool? I will not have you dallying with this poor woman's affections any longer. You must do the proper thing, even though she's not in our set."
He rose glared at his son. "She is not your wife, now. But she will be before nights end. So, I'm glad you like weddings, Destiny. Because it's you who will be the one getting wed!"

Chapter 11

"What are we going to do!" Destiny asked when they had reached their bed chamber. After the duke had dropped his little bomb on them, Spencer had put up an argument, but to no avail. His father wouldn't be budged.
"I don't know, woman! Let me think!" he growled, as he paced the floor. "I still don't know how he figured out that we were not married." He then stopped his pacing a and narrowed his glittering eyes on Destiny. "Unless...YOU told him!"
"Now, hold on just one minute, there buster! I haven't told him a darn thing! You've been acting so hateful towards him, it must have looked like you were hiding something!" she threw back at him. The NERVE of the man!
"Oh, no. Don't blame me for this!" he said, shaking his finger in her face.
Destiny looked at the offending finger and did the first thing she thought of.
She bit it.
But not hard. Just enough to make him laugh. Soon they were both laughing at their childish argument.
He raised an eyebrow in that sexy way of his, and said, "I can think of a couple of other places I wouldn't mind you biting."
Destiny rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Romeo and help me think of how we are to handle this!"
Spencer sighed, "You're right, I suppose. Though my suggestion does have it's merits... All right, all right. We'll do this your way." This time they were both pacing the room, thinking so hard that it was beginning to give Destiny a headache.
"I've got an idea!" Spencer finally said. "Why don't we just admit that the old man is correct in his assumptions. It'll give him a thrill at any rate. Then I'll convince him that it would be better to wait a fortnight before the ceremony takes place. I'll say that he could throw a large party and let everyone know that his heir has come home and taken a bride, etc. etc..."
Destiny shook her head. "But that will be worse, Spencer. He's going to go to all the trouble to throw a huge party, and then I'm going to up and disappear! Won't it look terrible to your peers - cause a scandle of something?"
"Hmmm.... Not if we make it look like you've been murdered!" he said with great delight.
"Jeez! I have an Alfred Hitchcock on my hands! You are going to make it seem like I was murdered?" she ask with horror. "I couldn't just vanish or jilt you or... something!"
"If you vanish, my father will expect me to spend weeks looking for you and if you jilt me, that will DEFINATELY cause a scandal!"
She came back with, "What if YOU are accused of murdering me. Then your whole past as a pirate will come to light and there's not a court in this century or mine that would believe you! And what about a body?"
He rubbed his chin in contemplation. "You have a point. But we make it look like you were kidnapped, and all I found was a bloody dress... That's it! We'll make a token search, but will give up knowing that all evidence points to your death!"
Destiny shook her head in bemusement. "I can't believe we're talking about this!"
"Do you have a better plan?"
"Well...no, but I don't think you should be enjoying my 'death' so much!"
His face suddenly grew still, and quietly he came over to where she stood with shoulders slumped. "To me, once you are gone, it will be like a death. For I shall never see again. And believe me, I will not enjoy it."
He placed his hands on either side of her face and gently kissed her lips. It was so sweet that it brought tears to her eyes. "Oh, Spencer. I know you don't like hearing it, but I have to tell you anyway. I love you. And when I'm gone I want you to remember that, okay, that someone out there, loves you through all time."
Spencer folded her into his arms, so that she would not see his own tears. Tell her, that small voice inside his heart prompted. Tell her that you love her, too. But he could not. He could not allow himself to explore this love that he had for her when she would be leaving him so soon. It would destroy him. As it was, his heart would be broken, forever.
He cleared his throat as he smoothed a hand down her slim back. "Do not cry for me, Destiny, nor waste your love on someone like me. I'm not worth it. And when you return to your time, you will find someone who is worthy of your love, and this adventure will seem like a distant memory."
She back away from him and she did not look happy. "You just don't get it, do you, Spencer? I've looked for a man to love. I knew that when I found him, that it would be forever. The first moment that I laid eyes on you, I knew you were special, different."
"I was a pirate," he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
She ignored him. "I will love you for as long as I live. And I know that you can't love me, but I pray that there will be someone that you will come to love." She walked away from his and went to stand by the huge canopied bed in the middle of the room. Idly she fingered the rich golden tassle hanging off the canopy. "I suppose you will have to marry, am I right?"
He cleared his throat again. "Yes. It will be expected."
She turned to look at him with clear eyes. "Will you promise me, that you will marry for love."
He looked away. "You must know that love doesn't enter in to it, in my circles. You marry for wealth or class, not for love."
"Look at me, Spencer." She waited until his eyes met her own. "Promise me."
He swallowed past the lump in his throat and told her what she wanted to hear. "I promise to marry for love," he lied.
Pain filled her eyes and she nodded, looking away. "Well, that's good. I won't have to worry about that."
But she would grieve. Grieve for the love that might have been, and for the life they might have had, if only he could love her.
If only the man realized that she would stay in a heartbeat, if only he would tell her that he loved her. She would give up family and friends and every twentieth century convenience just to remain with him for her lifetime. But she couldn't make him love her.
"Well," she said after a moment. "We'd better go and talk to your father."
He nodded distractedly. "Of course."
"Oh, and while we are going down there to meet him, I thought of a way to get you and your father communicating."
Spencer raised his brows in inquiry. But she could tell his mind wasn't on what she was saying.
It soon would be.
"I think you should tell your father that you were a pirate."
Yep. That got his attention.
"You must be out of your bloody mind!" he stormed.
She took his arm and pulled him towards the door. "Trust me on this, Spence. You'll see. It will open up all kinds of doors!"
"Yes, to boot me right out on my arse!"
"Come on, doubting Thomas!" With that she escorted him down the hall.
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"I suppose that pushing the wedding off a fortnight, will cause no harm. But I forbid you to share the same chamber! Destiny will be put into the chamber next to mine. I think we are beyond protecting your virtue, but at least we shall keep the appearance on the up and up."
Destiny sighed. "My 'virtue' is still intact, thank you very much. Although, I doubt that you will believe me."
"My dear, with you, I could believe anything!" he declared with a laugh and a quick pat on her hand lying next to his.
Spencer marvelled at how quickly Destiny had completely charmed his father.
Destiny laughed a little nervously. "Well, if you can believe that, I hope that you will believe something else. Uh...Spence has something to tell you. Don't you Spence?" She looked at him with innocent eyes. Deviously innocent eyes, they were!
"I want to tell you what I've been up to for the last twelve years."
The duke let out a 'hrumpt'. "Is that all. Well, you can save your news. I already know what you've been up to."
Spencer's eyes flew to Destiny's where they met in confusion. "You...know?" he asked carefully.
"Spencer, dear boy, do you think that I'd allow my youngest son to dilly dally about the world without the singlest knowledge of what he was up to? Really, son. You do me a discredit."
Spencer felt like a scolded little boy. "So you ... uh... know that I was a..."
"A Pirate. Yes, I know that," the duke stated calmly.
Spencer once again looked at Destiny and helplessly shrugged his shoulders, as if asking "What now?"
Destiny moved closer to the duke. "In other words, your saying that you wanted to make sure that your son was safe. That you didn't forget about him. That you were concerned about him."
"Good God! I wouldn't put it like that. You've made me into some sentimental fop! But as a father, I have certain obligations. Who do you think kept Spencer out of trouble all those years! He would have been arrested a long time ago if it wasn't for me!"
"The Devil you say!" Spencer barked, ignoring the glare from Destiny.
"Come now, boy. You were never a very clever pirate. But I knew that if I let you have your fun and kept you safe that you would come home soon enough." He then frowned at his son. "But you never did, did you. Too much pride, there boy. I had to come and get you. Which I would have done anyway whether your brother had passed on or not."
Spencer was fuming with indignation. "I cannot believe I'm hearing this! How can you say that I was not a good pirate? We may not were the richest on the sea, but we were bloody well close!"
The duke merely smiled. "If it pleases you to think so, son, then you go on thinking it."
Spencer turned his anger towards Destiny. "Do you have any more ideas from that silly brain of yours?" And before she could say anything, he had stormed out of the room.
Destiny groaned, "Oh, great! I've really messed things up, now." She then frowned at the smiling man. "And you weren't helping matters any, either. Why couldn't you have just gone along and pretended that you didn't know. Now, you've made him embarrassed and scolded like a child!"
The duke stopped smiling. "Well, Good Lord, I was just telling the truth!"
She shook her head. "I'm trying my best here to help you two get along. But neither of you are helping."
He looked at her with speculative eyes. "You love my son, very much, don't you."
She looked down at her hands. "Yes. Very much so."
"And so do I, my dear. So don't fret. All will be well," he told her without so much as a care.
Destiny looked worried. She didn't have a lot of time for 'all to be well.' What would she do, if they were still not getting along, by the time she had to leave?

Chapter 12

Spencer resumed his pacing once he reached the gardens. The fragrant flowers and the bountiful array of colors were lost on the brooding man.
Actually, it wasn't what his father told him that got him so riled up. He'd always wondered why he'd been so bloody lucky, while others were getting caught left and right. Perilous times these were for pirating! And his heart had not really been in it. It had all been a game. A foolish one at that, though he supposed it allowed him to sow his wild oats.
But what was his life to become? He was destined to live the life of a duke and all the responsibilities that went with it. Maybe he would be reclusive peer of the realm! Stay at the country estate...
No, his anger was not set off by his father or at Destiny. It was just that he began to realize just how short their time together was. And God forgive him, but he didn't want her to go. He wished that he knew the magic words that would make her want to stay.
But he didn't. He was not so selfish that he would keep her here when her family and friends were in another time, another world. It would not be fair to ask that of her, of anyone.
And then there was the task that he could not dismiss. He had to find a wife.
Now that he'd found Destiny and known true love, he didn't know how he would live with another woman, but he knew that he must. The line must go on and all that.
His wife would have to be someone that would provide heirs and then live her own life and let him live his. There were plenty of women around who wouldn't mind that arrangement.
It made thinking about it, no less pleasant, however.
A gentle knock sounded at the door and he heard it open. He, however, did not turn around. He knew who it was.
"So wouldn't win the "Pirate of the Year" award. It's all over-rated, anyway!" she told him in a chipper voice.
He struggled to keep the smile off his face as he turned towards him. "If that is your way of making up for scene that you just caused, you are not doing a very good job of it. And as far as my relationship with my father is concerned, I suggest you keep your ideas...to yourself, else you'll never be able to leave!"
She planted her hands on her hips and huffed, "Well, with that kind of attitude, you'll never have a good relationship with him!"
There was a sudden commotion in the hallway and knock sounded at the door.
"Yes, what is it?" Spencer called out.
The door opened and Beauford the butler stood there. "His grace request your presence in the great room, my lord. Lady Smithers and her daughter Annabelle have just arrived."
Spencer looked perplexed. "Who are they, Beauford? I don't recall the name."
Beauford cleared his throat but maintain his dour expression. "Lady Annabelle was your brothers betrothed, my lord. They maintain the estates in the next county."
Spencer masked his surprise. "Thank you, Beauford. You may tell my father we will be down directly."
"Your brother was engaged to be married?" Destiny asked as he shut the door behind him.
"Hmmm," he nodded. "So it would seem." He looked at Destiny with a sigh. "Well, lets go and have a look at the woman who would have been my sister-in-law. I'm curious to know what kind of a woman my brother chose for a wife."
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She looked like an eighteen century Claudia Schiffer.
As Destiny and Spencer came down the stairway into the great hall, the young woman, swathed in light green silk, turned her face up to them. Never had Destiny seen such luminous skin and such lovely blond hair. She had it done up perfectly with tiny green ribbons intertwined throughout. And to top it all off, her eyes were the color of her dress.
Talk about color coordinating!
Then Destiny made the mistake of looking at Spencer. He would never know how much it hurt to see him looking at the woman, like she was an angel.
"Ah, there you are, Spencer. I would like to introduce you to Lady Smithers and Lady Annabelle. Lady Annabelle would have been..." The duke paused with a flash of grief haunting his features for a breif moment. "She would have been your sister-in-law."
Spencer turned to the beautiful woman and started to bow to her, when her mother stepped in between them and stuck out her bejeweled hand. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, my lord, and to see that you are in good health from your long journey. We've heard much about your endeavours in the colonies."
On the way down to kissing her hand, Spencer's eyes flew to his father's. "Indeed, my lady."
His father coughed. "Uh, yes...I told her all about your business enterprises."
"And what 'business enterprises' did you tell her I was in, Father?"
The duke shrugged. "Free trade."
Spencer coughed to cover his incredulous laugh.
Lady Smithers, who looked well for her age, although slightly plump, smiled at Spencer. She had her hopes high that her daughter would still be a duchess. The future duke couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. There was only one thing troubling her though.
"I don't believe we've met your houseguest," she initiated in a cooly polite voice. But her eyes raked down Destiny like she was worm rather than a lady.
Spencer blinked and finally took his eyes off of Lady Annabelle. He looked over to his 'guest' and flinched. Destiny was not happy. She was positively GREEN with jealousy.
For some reason, this made him incredibly happy.
He reached for Destiny's hand. "This, ladies, is my fiance' Miss ..." Spencer hesitated. Had she ever told him her last name? He couldn't remember, so he made up one. "Miss Worthington."
Destiny choked back a giggle. Worthington? Her name was plain ol' Brown!
Lady Smither's eyebrows rose. "Ah, you must be related to the Worthinton's of Devonshire!"
Destiny couldn't seem to help herself. She smiled at the uppity woman. "No, I'm afraid I'm from across the ocean."
The polite smile dropped swiftly. "Really," she said with distaste. Once again she gave Destiny a nasty once-over. "A colonist!"
Spencer's face became stone cold. He didn't care a fig about polite society or the ton, and he had no use for those who did. "She's the future Duchess of Ballinton," he told her in a frightening voice that made her quickly back down.
"Please forgive me, my lord. I was simply stating the obvious, is all."
The Duke quickly averted their attentions. "Shall we retire to the drawing room. Beauford will see that tea is brought in."
A warm feeling went down Destiny's back as Spencer placed a possessive hand on her back, escorting her into the room. He had come to her defense, like a true fiance' would. For just a moment, she felt what it would be like to be truly his.
And it helped that he wasn't staring at Annabelle anymore!

Chapter 13
For three days, Destiny endured (for lack of a better word) the Lady Smithers and her daughter Annabelle. It made her want to scream, the way that woman was trying to throw her daughter at Spencer. Destiny might as well have not been in the room for all the attention that she was shone from the entire household.
Well, Spencer wasn't exactly ignoring her, but he felt torn with enjoying the camaraderie he was experiencing with his father, and acting as a polite host for his guest, and worrying how Destiny was doing.
On that third day, Destiny knew that she had to make a decision. It would be a decision that would best suit everyone.... except, maybe, her.
Despite Destiny's dislike for Annabelle she had to admit that she would make Spencer the perfect wife. Someone befitting his station. Someone who would not shame him. Someone....that he would come to love in time.
They were all sitting at the breakfast table, now, and Destiny felt more like an outsider than ever. It was time.
Time to let Spencer get on with his life. He and his father has formed a truce and seemed to be getting on famously.
Time to let Destiny get on with her life. Though she had no close family and only a couple of friends, she knew that she didn't belong here, and she ever felt as though she belonged in the 1990's either. Where did that leave her? What was to become of her?
Excusing herself, Destiny made her way to her room and begin to plan her escape.
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Spencer watched as Destiny walked out of the room. Something wasn't right. She looked pale and...troubled? She's not been herself since the Lady Smithers and her daughter had come to the castle. He tried his best to show Destiny his attention, but it had been so hard. Especially since it was apparent that Destiny was not trying to get to close to him. What was she thinking?
A horrible thought crossed his mind. A thought that was not going to go away, not until he checked something out.
After mumbling his own excuses, Spencer ran to where Destiny had been sleeping the last few nights.
It was empty!
A feeling of panic that shook him down to his boots, ran through him, leaving him weak. She had left him. She was going to go through the time portal without telling him goodbye.
He was 't going to let it happen! He was going to tell her what he should have told her days ago.
He had to let her know that he loved her.
He only hoped that he was not too late.
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“Now tell me how this thing works again?” Destiny asked, warily staring at the time portal. It had noticeably shrunk. Where it had been up to Destiny’s head, last time, it was now nearly to her middle. There wasn’t much time left.
It was best this way
Harriet, the old woman, sighed. “For the umpteenth time. You think on the place and time that you want to be and voila, there you’ll be. Now can you get this show on the road, honey, because you are keeping me from my breakfast!”
Destiny glanced over to the table that the old woman was referring to and saw a southwestern omelet with melting cheese over the top of it.
Closing her eyes and concentrating hard, she tried to pull up an image of her apartment in Florida. But it was no use. All she could see was Spencer’s face.
Shaking her head, she ordered herself, “Concentrate, Destiny! Think about home, think about home….” She began to chant.
And just as she was beginning to get a picture of home in her mind, her concentration was broken.
“Destiny, wait!” Spencer called out, as he came barging in through the door.
Harriet eyed her door’s broken hinges. “Can’t you come through the door like a normal person?” she complained.
Spencer waved an impatient hand her direction. “I’ll build you a brand new house, if you’ll just give me some time alone with Destiny.”
Harriet grinned, her blackened teeth peeking out between her wrinkled lips. “Take all the time you want. I’ll just take my breakfast with me,” she said as she grabbed up her omelet and shuffled outside.
For what seemed an eternity, Spencer stared into Destiny’s eyes with a hopelessness that struck him down to his soul. He tried to think of something brilliant to say, something….anything that would make her want to stay with him and not leave. But he couldn’t.
He could only say one thing.
“I love you, Destiny. Please…please don’t leave me.”
Destiny’s eyes filled with tears and she slumped against the door frame. Her shaking hand, covered her mouth. After a moment she answered him. “I love you, too, Spencer, but I can’t stay here. Can’t you see that I don’t belong? I’m just a plain girl who knows nothing of courtly manners or how to be around members of the upper class. I’ll be an embarrassment to you.”
Slowly he walked up to her, his head shaking. “How can you believe that you don’t belong here? How can you believe that you don’t belong with me? Feel this, Destiny!” He placed her hand over his rapidly pounding of his heart. “It beats for you, my love. If you leave me, you’ll take this heart with you. I’ll be worthless without you. Less than half a man.”
Destiny felt her resistance crumbling. “Oh, Spencer. I’m just not sure wh…what to do. I can’t believe that you love me, you said…”
”Shhh,” he hushed her putting a gentle finger to her lips. “I was a fool. I was falling in love with you from the first moment I saw you. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
”I demand to know what is going on here!” a loud command came from the doorway.
“Father?” Spencer turned with Destiny still in his arms, to the doorway.
Harriet, standing just behind the duke, shrugged her shoulders. “I tried to tell His Grace that you wanted to be alone.”
“I’ll handle this, woman!”
Harriet rolled her eyes, not at all intimidated by the big man. “Suit yourself.”
The duke frowned. “That old woman is impertinent!”
Spencer matched his frown. “How did you know where to find us?”
“Do you think that I could have something like this ‘time doorway’ on my property and not know about?”
Spencer opened his mouth to retort, but closed it. His father had already amazed him with how much he did know about everything. Why not this? He tried again. “Destiny is from a place on the other side of that door, father. She feels like she needs to go back.”
The duke looked at Destiny in his usual shrewd way. “Do you have family back there, girl?”
Destiny shook her head. “My parents died when I was in college. I’m an only child. And my name is Brown, by the way. Not Worthington.”
The duke folded his hand over his chest. “That doesn’t matter. Worthington suits our purpose better, I think.” He seemed to contemplate something. “Do you love my son?”
”Yes”
“Then what on God’s green earth is the problem, here?” He boomed. “You don’t have family connections, you love my son…. I should think it would be obvious!”
Spencer turned to Destiny. “He’s right, my love. You belong here with me. I’d like to think that God had something to do with sending you to me. That you are my…destiny!”
Destiny couldn’t help but smile at the pun. “And you are mine, Spencer. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. And your father’s right. I won’t deny that I’ll miss my own time, but I want a life with you more.”
Spencer laughed aloud as he grabbed her up into his embrace and smothered her face with little kisses, and when he’d finally reached her mouth, he put her down gently and placed a hand on either side of her face, ever so gently and placed a caressing kiss on her waiting lips. The kiss deepened when she opened up to him and with a groan, he lost himself in her sweetness.
”UH HUM!”
Spencer regretfully pulled away from Destiny, and turned a shade of dull red when he turned to face his father. “Uh, you are still here father?” he mumbled.
His Grace lifted an imperial eyebrow that was so like Spencer’s that Destiny smiled. “Is the wedding on or not?”
Spencer turned to Destiny. “I’ve never asked you to marry me, for real, Destiny, so I will ask you now. “ He bent down on one knee and took Destiny’s hand. “Will you, Destiny Brown Worthington, agree to be my wife, and put this retired pirate out of his misery?”
Tears of joy tumbled down her cheeks as she gripped Spencer’s hand. “Oh yes, I’ll be your wife.”
They both heard the door close behind them and Spencer didn’t waste anytime. He folded her into his embrace and kissed her.
Just outside the old woman’s cabin…
“Well, we did it, Harriet! By God, we pulled it off!” The duke crowed, quite proud of himself.
“It was pure dumb luck, if you don’t mind me saying so, Your Grace. Anything could have gone wrong. She almost drowned, you know!”
”Yes, but she didn’t, and now my son is happy! Soon there will be a wedding, then a few months down the road, an heir!”
"What if she'd gone through that time doorway before Spencer got there? I don't know why you wanted me to show her the doorway in the first place!"
The duke looked at the woman patiently. (Or as patiently as he could look.) "I had to know if she cared for my son. I had to give her the option to choose and as you see, she chose correctly!"
“But we still have one problem, Your Grace. That ‘time doorway’ isn’t fading, like I told Destiny it was. What if she finds out and decides she wants to go back home?”
The dukes smile was quickly erase. “Then we will board the doorway up! I won’t have that worry hanging over my head!
Harriet looked up with dismay. “But what about my tortillas! And you know how you love that Cajun dish that I bring back from my trips to that New Orleans place!”
The duke just shook his hand and began to walk back to the castle. “You heard my order, Harriet!”
”But, Your Grace…..”
But Destiny never asked about that doorway. She was far too happy and fulfilled with her husband and children to worry about going back ‘home’. Which is good because Harriet never got around to boarding that portal.
THE END!

enjoy hope u like it