A Bride Most Begrudging

  Mary knelt down beside her. With expert hands she corralled the scattered sediment and returned it to the bucket. “Mistress, I’ll do this, I will.”

  “No! I’ll do this. I made the mess; I’ll clean it up.”

  Mary slowly withdrew her hands, then stood. Constance sat down on her heels. “Your pardon, Mary. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

  “What ails you, Mistress?”

  The door opened. Constance jumped to her feet.

  “What happened?” Drew asked.

  Constance stood mute. Mary resumed scooping the sand.

  Surely it wasn’t time yet! It was still light outside. Drew closed the door. “Connie?”

  She started. “Oh! I, uh, I kicked over the sand bucket.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Fine! Fine. Just fine. How are you?”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “Very, very fine.”

  She blinked.

  Mary paused and slowly stood. “I think I’m going to see if there are any eggs in the hen house, I am. I’ll be back in a...while.” Grabbing her shawl, she slipped out the door.

  Drew raised an eyebrow. “What was that all about?”

  Constance clasped her hands together. “I think she must need some eggs.”

  “She’s going to have a hard time finding any in the middle of December.”

  “Will she?”

  He hesitated, then slowly stalked toward her. “I haven’t been able to get a thing done. I forgot to attach the bottom head to a barrel before filling it with tobacco, I mislabeled two hogsheads, I strode straight into the tobacco press, and I let go of the packing lever before it was time.”

  She moved backward. “Oh, Drew, you peagoose. Are you nervous? You’ve nothing to fear.”

  “Well, that’s certainly a relief,” he said, a charming grin splitting across his face.

  Her back connected with the wall. “You’re laughing at me.”

  He narrowed the distance between them. “Never.”

  “It’s still daylight!”

  He propped his hands on either side of her, bracketing her in. “I couldn’t wait another minute.”

  She ducked underneath his arms, flitting to the other side of the cottage. “Drew! You can’t possibly be serious.”

  Pushing away from the wall, he headed toward her again. “No, but a kiss would be rather nice. Just to hold me over.”

  Her pulse leapt. She glanced at the door. “Well, maybe a quick one.”

  He shook his head from left to right, coming closer, closer.

  “Drew, maybe we’d best...”

  He laid his hands upon her shoulders, running his palms up and down her arms. “You’re so unbelievably beautiful.”

  He kissed her forehead, his hands moving, moving, never staying still. Her eyes drifted shut. Up her arms, across her shoulders, down her back and up to her shoulders again.

  Slipping an arm about her waist, he traced her lips with tiny kisses. “Ah, Connie-girl.”

  She slipped her hands inside his coat, cataloging the strength of his waist and back. His mouth covered hers, weakening her resolve.

  The door flew open.

  They jumped apart, Drew spinning to face the intruder, Constance hiding behind him.

  “Josh!” Drew surged forward, leaving Constance where she stood. “Well. This is certainly a surprise.”

  She was too mortified to move. Surely the earth would be merciful and swallow her whole. It didn’t. She had mere seconds to compose herself while Josh dropped his cloth bag and the brothers embraced.

  “You’re back! How did you get here so quickly? I’m not even finished packing the hogsheads!”

  “I came over with a group of settlers who were heading to that new colony, Maryland.” He pulled back from Drew’s hug. “You say you’ve not finished with the hogsheads? Why not?”

  Drew reddened. “I’ve been busy.”

  Josh lifted a brow. “I’ll just bet you have.” He moved to her. “Lady Constance. You’re looking lovelier than ever.”

  Disregarding the high color she felt in her cheeks, she strode for a sense of normalcy. “Welcome home, Josh.”

  He bowed low and deep, drawing her hand to his lips. “I must say what an honor it is to have a real lady as my sister-in-law.”

  Her gaze flew to Drew. Lifting a corner of his mouth, he winked. She slowly exhaled. So he really had believed her.

  Josh straightened, then stared at the locket hanging about her neck. “What’s this?” he asked, pointing to the locket.

  It had completely escaped her mind. Drew had left it for her this morning and in all the confusion she’d forgotten to thank him. “Drew gave it to me.”

  Josh’s eyebrows raised. “Did he? And when did that happy event occur?”

  “This morning,” she said, blinking in confusion.

  Josh froze, swerving only his eyes to Drew’s. “This morning!”

  Drew reddened again, saying nothing. Josh turned back to her. “Do you know what this is?”

  “It’s a locket.”

  “It was my mother’s locket,” Josh said. “Father gave it to her on their wedding night.”

  She felt the color in her face intensify, and she searched Drew’s face. He stood stiffly, saying nothing. She clasped the gold ornament within her hand. “Oh, Drew.” Sidestepping Josh, she moved to him. “Thank you.”

  He nodded his head once, the silence crackling. She took a deep breath. “I think I’ll go check on Mary. I’ll be right back.”

  “Body O’Caesar, Drew! I’ve been gone since June and you’re only now getting around to bedding her?”

  “Watch your tongue.”

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Your pardon, Drew, but I’m, well, just...amazed.”

  “Well, you’re testing my temper.”

  “Your temper must be at the very breaking point. Six months!”

  “You overstep yourself, Josh,” he growled.

  “But am I reading this situation correctly? Tonight is to be your wedding night?”

  “Not anymore.”

  Josh threw back his head and laughed. “By trow, but it’s good to be home, big brother.”

  The women reentered the cottage. Constance looked between the two of them--Drew was obviously agitated, Josh delighted. Same old Josh, she thought, then watched him refocus on Mary and come forward with another courtly bow.

  Capturing Mary’s fingers, he brought them to his lips. “Ah, my sweet, gentle doe, what pleasure to again behold your wondrous charms. Did you miss me, for you did lie upon my heart with a most alarming frequency.”

  Constance frowned. His words lacked the light tones she was used to hearing from him.

  Astonishment touched Mary’s face. She snatched her hand out of Josh’s. “Where’s your bride?”

  Josh took on a wounded expression as he pressed a fist to his heart. “Though Hannah once declared her undying love for me, it seems another had the greater part of her fickle heart, and all her fair words to me were but lies.”

  “She cast you out, did she?” Drew asked.

  Josh looked back at him. “With brutal haste.”

  Had she not been studying Josh so intently, she would have missed the pain that flashed within his eyes. She quickly glanced at Drew, but he didn’t seem to have noticed.

  Pasting a grin upon his face, Josh slapped his stomach. “Ah, Mary, ‘tis starving, I am. Have you anything for me to eat?”

  Mary bustled to the fire. Josh waited, then gravitated to Drew’s chair. “What’s this, big brother? Have you a sudden need to establish yourself at the head of the table?”

  Constance watched Drew’s expression turn stony. Josh looked at the two of them and grinned before, bold as you please, settling into the chair. He ran his hands along its arms and pushed himself against its back. “Well, done, Master. It seems it should serve the purpose it was made for. Does it?”

  Constance held her breath. The edge to Josh’s voice was unmistakable.
r />   Drew arched a brow. “Kindly remove yourself from my chair and come with me. I wish to show you the big house.”

  “Your pardon, Master.” Springing from the chair, Josh brushed nonexistent dust from its seat. Mary handed him a hunk of bread.

  Tearing off a bite, he chewed while slowly scanning the cottage. Constance watched him swallow, sober, and take a deep breath. “Where’s Sally?” All pretense had vanished from his expression.

  Drew offered him a small smile. “She’s fine. She’s with Grandma at Nellie’s.”

  Josh’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and he stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth. She blinked as his charm reappeared and he bowed once again to Mary. “Thank you, my lovely creature. I shall count the moments until I may return to the cottage and partake of your delicious meals.”

  Drew grabbed him by his coat sleeve and shoved him toward the door. “Out.” He looked at Constance and shrugged before following Josh out the door.

  Drew’s chest swelled with pride when they rounded the bend and the house came into view. Josh stopped short, a slow whistle coming from his mouth. Magnificent and impressive, its newly whitewashed exterior gleamed against the artistic outline. Its enclosed porch and stair towers gave it the shape of a cross, curving Flemish gables springing from its eaves. Triple chimneys protruded from both the east and west ends, unique in their very nature.

  Patches of snow surrounded the house, lying like miniature lakes in every direction. Neither spoke as they climbed the slope, ice crunching beneath their boots. On the front steps, Drew threw open the doors, allowing Josh to enter first.

  The interior had yet to be completed, of course, but the window casements with lead glass panes were in place, minus the trim work. Josh moved from the enclosed porch to the great room, looking out one of the windows facing the James. “I’m overwhelmed. What will you call it?”

  Closing the paneled front doors, Drew shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. Any suggestions?”

  “I’ll have to think on it.” Josh peered at the fireplace. “The tile backing turned out well.”

  “Yes. I’m very pleased with it.”

  Josh walked into the huge barren opening, testing the sturdiness of the expensive Dutch tiles with his hands. “I’d forgotten about bringing them over for Father, it’s been so long.”

  “Come, I’ll show you the rest.”

  Drew took him through the parlor and up a flight to the two chambers, one directly above the parlor, the other above the great room. “This will be my and Constance’s bedchamber. Yours is there across from us.”

  Josh walked over to his chamber, a mirror image of Drew’s. The fireplace, though a bit smaller than the ones downstairs, still dominated the vacant room. “I was not expecting so much.”

  “Why ever not?”

  Josh shrugged. “I’m hardly ever here. It seems a waste of space.”

  “It’s not as if I’ve bestowed something upon you. We are partners and there would be no new house if it were not for your factoring skills. You may be gone a good bit of the time, but this is your home, and this chamber is no less than what you should have. Besides, when you marry, your wife will not be with you on your trips, but here with us.”

  There. He’d given Josh an opening to speak of the broken betrothal.

  “What of children?” Josh asked. “Constance will be wanting a nursery close at hand.”

  Drew allowed the opportunity to pass. “True. But I would imagine she’d want to keep the little ones in the chamber with us until they are older. Then when she’s ready to move them, we’ve plenty of room up in the garret. Come, I’ll show you.”

  Along the way, he pointed out the beamed ceiling supporting the next story’s planked floor and the staircase’s newel-posts with a half baluster set into it.

  “With what will you finish the walls?”

  “I’m going to panel the great room and parlor, then plaster everything else. Did you check on the furniture I ordered?”

  Josh nodded. “A ship should come through in March with your beds, chairs, tables, chests, and all.”

  Drew took a deep breath of satisfaction. “Excellent. Now, come down to the cellar and see the kitchen.”

  The thumps of their footfalls echoed in the stairwell. Josh slapped Drew on the back. “Her father really is the Earl of Greyhame, you know.”

  “You tracked him down, then?”

  “There was no need, for he was still at his manor. He’s an old gaffer, Drew, well into his seventies, I’d say, and too old to take part in the fighting. So he furthers the cause by giving his silver and other valuables to the king, as well as sending his sons into service--those that weren’t for parliament, that is.”

  “How was your reception?”

  “Very good until his relief was replaced with anger. The lady Constance has evidently been a bit of a trial for him. And when he found you’d married her, I feared he would expire on the spot. I sought to pacify him by giving him her missive, which evidently contained her plans for an annulment. That, however, only caused him more anxiety. He claimed her reputation would be in tatters if word got out, especially since he’d recently found a suitable match for her.”

  “A suitable match?”

  “Um. Some young, handsome aristocrat he felt would appeal to her.”

  “And wouldn’t do him any harm either, I’d wager.”

  “Quite so.”

  “So what conclusion did you reach?”

  “The earl can’t leave his home right now, but he’s making plans to fetch her this spring.”

  Drew raised his eyebrows. “I thought you said he was seventy-something.”

  “Oh, he’s old, all right, and substantial in both paunch and pouch”--Josh hinted at a smile--“but mark you, he’ll be here come spring. You can count on it.”

  Drew raked his fingers through his hair. Lord help us all.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs. Sleeping ticks littered the cellar’s brick floor, and a pile of lifeless ashes lay heaped in the huge fireplace. Josh turned a questioning glance to Drew.

  “The indentured men. I saw no need to make them stay in the tobacco barn once we’d dried in the house.”

  Josh nodded then moved through the room. “Not only brick walls but a brick floor? Was that in Father’s plan?”

  “Not the floor. I thought it might make for a happier cook, though, if she had a brick floor rather than a dirt one.”

  Josh lifted one corner of his mouth. “Might provide your bottomless belly with a few more succulent dishes as well, eh?”

  “Couldn’t hurt.” Sucking in his stomach, Drew made a concave area. “I’m always in need of a hearty meal.” The brothers shared a smile. “Come. The milk closet is over here.”

  They examined the dairy and another room filled with empty wooden kegs for storing fruits and vegetables. Finally, they stood at a door with a bulkhead entrance while Drew expounded on how easy it would be to transport food from the garden and such without having to traipse through the main house.

  Josh leaned against the brick wall, crossing his ankles, his gaze traveling about the room before resting on his brother. “It’s a fine plantation home you have here, Drew. Father would be very proud.”

  Drew pulled the door shut, latching it with a rope. “The men you recommended have worked out better than I’d dared to hope. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

  “They survived the seasoning, then?”

  Drew shook his head. “Not all of them. Seven suffered at one time or another and we lost Browne and Payne. Still, I never expected to have eight men come winter. So I’m grateful.”

  “What about the women?”

  Drew moved toward the stairwell, heading up to the front door, Josh at his side. “Mary never had so much as a sniffle. Constance nearly died.”

  Josh stopped. “My sword, Drew. What did she get?”

  “The ague and fever.”

  “When?”

  “In November.”
>
  Josh blew a stream of air from his lungs. “Yet Mary had nothing?”

  Drew shook his head.

  “Do you think Mary’s still likely to take ill?”

  “I don’t think so, but one never knows.” They continued on to the front door, where Drew paused, his hand on the knob. “I’ll not have you trifling with her, Josh.”

  “Her husband’s dead.”

  “Is he?” He expelled a breath of air. “I guess I’ll have to tell her this eve.”

  “No!”

  Drew lifted his brows.

  “I’d like to tell her.”

  “As you wish. But that changes nothing. Widow or not, she’s under my care and she’s an indentured servant, which means she can’t marry until her service to me is over.”

  Josh stiffened. “She could marry if someone bought out her contract.”

  “She was transported by the court’s command, Josh. If I were to release her before her sentence is up, it would mean her death.”

  “Only if she went back to England.”

  “Do you wish to wed her, then?”

  Josh blanched. “Mary? Well, no.”

  Drew opened the door. “Then I’ll not swap arguments with you. She’s under my care, and if you or any other man trifles with her, it will be my temper they face.”

  “Do you credit me with so little scruples, then, that you think I’d force myself upon our own servants?”

  “I’ve no concern whatsoever that you would even consider force. I said I’d not have you trifling with her.”

  “And if she’s willing?”

  “You’re her master, Josh. She won’t say nay to you whether she wishes to or not. If you want her, you’ll wed her first.”

  Josh’s lips thinned. “Hear me well, Drew. Because you are the firstborn, I am willing to cooperate with you--up to a certain point. But I’ll not let you nor anyone else tell me who I can trifle with and who I can’t.”

  “She’s under my care,” Drew responded, eyes narrowing, “and as long as she is, that means you are a protector of her also. I will not have her put into a position where she must fend off the very person who’s supposed to be protecting her.”