A Hope Beyond by Judith Pella Page B

Washington, but since she would be accompanying her father to the party, why didn’t I bring my lovely sister Carolina.”
    “I’m so honored!” Carolina said, coming to sit beside him on the bed. “The President has invited me to the White House.” The awe in her voice was evident. Then without warning, she jumped back up and confronted York. “What particular young woman have you fancied the company of?”
    York threw her a lazy expression. “I wondered if you would catch on to that.”
    “Of course I would. Now tell me everything. Who is she?”
    “Her name is Lucille, but I call her Lucy. She’s the daughter of Henry Alexander, a congressman from Pennsylvania.”
    “I see. How did you meet?” she asked and once again sat down beside him.
    “We met at a White House function. She attended with her father. She’s acted as hostess and escort to him since the death of her mother several years ago. We were seated side by side at dinner and naturally fell into conversation.”
    “I’m sure that was a tremendous burden for you to bear,” Carolina said with a laugh. “What does she look like?”
    York rolled over on his side, and the look on his face was one of pure adoration. “She’s beautiful, Carolina. Dark eyes and black hair and skin the color of fresh cream. And she’s quite besot with love for me.”
    “Love?” she questioned. “Are you sure it’s love?”
    “Very much so,” York replied without seeming to have any misgivings.
    “And . . . well . . . do you love her?”
    York sobered. “Quite deeply.”
    Carolina found an unexpected interest in this turn of their conversation. Naturally, she was very excited about her brother’s love for Lucy Alexander, but more so she realized York might help her to better understand her own feelings.
    “How do you know it’s really love?” she probed.
    York drew a deep breath and appeared to think on this question for a moment. “Because when I wake up, it’s Lucy I think about first. And it’s Lucy I consider throughout the day, and it’s her face I see when I close my eyes at night.”
    “And that’s how you know it’s love?” Carolina questioned in a doubtful tone.
    “That and other reasons. Lucy and I were meant for each other. We share many of the same interests and ideals. Lucy was brought up in a very politically active home, and politics and government are in her blood. She’d never balk at living in Washington, although it has been called an uncivilized town not fit for ladies. She’s lived in the city with her father, sharing a small rented house and acting as his hostess when he entertains diplomats and other officials, and she would be a tremendous asset to my career.”
    “And that’s why you love her?”
    York chuckled. “No . . . well, maybe in part. But only because it goes hand in hand with what I said about her sharing my interests. I could never love a woman who feared public life and desired nothing more than a quiet plantation owner for a husband. But to answer your question, I love Lucy mostly because . . . well . . . because she’s Lucy.” He grinned at her as if his words explained all of the mysteries of the world.
    Carolina bit her lip and pondered this information for a moment. She couldn’t very well ask York about Hampton’s kiss. York would find it totally out of line that Hampton had taken such liberties, and who knew what might follow after that? But she wanted so much for York to explain to her why she could still feel Hampton’s lips upon her own, and why even the memory of that first kiss caused her heart to race as it was doing just then.
    “Have you ever kissed her?” Carolina blurted out without meaning to.
    York looked at her in complete astonishment. “What a thing to ask!”
    Carolina frowned. “I didn’t mean to be so nosy. I just wondered if you and Lucy . . . oh, just forget it.”
    York nearly roared with laughter and got up from the bed, pulling Carolina upward with him. “We’re