Did Carlota forget to mention it?''I must have misunderstood.' She handed the baby back to his mother, and stood up, brushing down her skirt, hoping that the dim light from the verandah's smoky lamps would disguise the rising colour in her face. 'I'm starving as well.' She was aware she was babbling, trying to cover the rawness of heart and mind which was assailing her.But she wasn't confused any more. She had come halfway across the world to find the love of her life, and contrary to all her beliefs and expectations, she knew now that he was standing in front of her, and the pain was almost more than she could bear.She knew that what she had felt for Evan was simply a passing fancy, given extra importance by their enforced separation. Her father had been wrong for once, she thought wryly. If he had forced them together, instead of apart, she would probably have realised her mistake much sooner.As it was, it had taken humiliation, hardship and danger to reveal to her what it was she wanted most in the world—and it was beyond her reach.
