For the Roses (44 page)

"She told me she wished she could be as cosmopolitan as I am." Harrison remarked. "I didn't realize what she meant until a few minutes ago. Should I go and get the judge tomorrow?"

"It would be nicer to have the wedding here on the ranch, and I do believe he would agree to come out here. Be sure to include Belle. She helped us with Mary Rose during her growing up years. She'll want to see her married. I don't believe you need to mention sleeping with your bride, however. The fact that you have to leave should be enough of a reason for the hurried ceremony."

"I want her to come with me."

"That's up to her. She'll have to decide after our talk."

"I think maybe we ought to have that talk now."

Cole made the announcement from the doorway. Travis was standing right behind him. Mary Rose wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. If they'd heard she'd slept with Harrison, she was sure she would die of mortification.

"One problem at a time," Adam suggested. "What's done is done. Tomorrow we'll have a wedding. Are we agreed on that?"

Cole and Travis nodded. "It's easy to get divorced out here," Cole told his sister. "You can hold on to that thought during the ceremony."

Harrison wasn't amused by the brother's dark humor. "It doesn't work that way. Once married, always married. Got that, Mary Rose?"

She pushed his arm off her shoulder and turned around. "What kind of marriage proposal was that? Am I to translate 'got that' into, 'Will you marry me?' You do have a way with words, Harrison MacDonald, and if I didn't love you so much, I do believe I'd shoot you. Good night." She did get the last word. No one stopped her when she marched out of the library. She ran up to her

bedroom and didn't start crying until she'd shut the door behind her. Loving Harrison was becoming a pain in her backside. Shamed or not, she was not going to be married by a hanging judge. No sir, no way, she thought to herself, using one of Cole's favorite nonsensical replies.

She felt better now that she had her mind set. She fell asleep with her brother's words echoing in her mind. No sir, no way.

August 18, 1869

Dear Mama Rose,

Travis, Douglas, Cole, and I were glad your letter to Adam was stern. None of us have ever heard you sound so angry, but your oldest son needed to hear you tell him to stay put. His crazy notion to take off for parts unknown so Livonia wouldn't be able to keep on blackmailing you into staying with her was a foolhardy one, just like you said.

Cole keeps thinking there's a way out of this mire, and he clearly doesn't understand your compassion for Livonia. He wonders why you don't hate her, but Adam says you don't have it in you to hate anyone. Why won't you let any of the rest of us come and see you? Livonia's sons can't hurt us, Mama. I sure would like to hug you.

Your daughter, Mary Rose

She came armed to her own wedding. Judge Burns didn't cotton to the notion of guns in his courtroom or his marriage parlor, and he therefore insisted she remove the six-shooter from her pocket. He would have frisked her if Adam would have allowed it.

The judge wasn't an altogether unlikable man. He was young by a judge's standards, or so Mary Rose believed, for he wasn't quite fifty years old yet and had been a hanging judge for nearly fifteen years. He cut a handsome figure. He was tall, only slightly stoop-shouldered from age, and had brilliant green eyes the condemned believed were the very color of Satan's. The judge didn't have horns though. He had a full head of dark auburn hair. He was given to an Irish temper and an English practicality. He and Harrison got along quite well from the minute the two men met. Burns had distant relatives living outside of Canterbury, and so he felt he had something other than the law in common with Harrison. The way the intended groom treated Belle softened the judge's heart as well, for Harrison treated the woman with a deference reserved for statesmen. It wasn't an act. Belle had helped in the raising of Mary Rose, and Harrison was therefore as beholden to her as the others were. He didn't care what her occupation was. She had a good heart, and that was all that mattered to him. The older woman's love for Mary Rose was very evident, and when Belle was asked to stand up as a bridesmaid and witness, she burst into tears.

Belle was dressed in blue. Judge Burns told Harrison he'd never seen her in any other color in all the years he'd known her. Why, even her lacy undergarments were blue, he whispered to Harrison while they waited for Mary Rose to join them.

Belle had gone upstairs to help the bride. Her advanced age and her occupation hadn't hardened her features. She was very pretty, with gray-tinged brown hair and warm brown eyes. And when she came back into the parlor with Mary Rose on her arm, the town's pride and joy looked more radiant than the bride.

Mary Rose looked miserable. And beautiful, Harrison thought to himself.

"Eleanor won't be joining us, I'm sorry to say," Adam explained. "She's still burning with fever, though Douglas assures me she's improved somewhat today."

"Belle, can you play at the piano?" the judge asked.

"No, honey, I can't," she answered.

"I'll play," Mary Rose suggested.

"Now, that don't make no sense, child," Belle told her with a laugh. "You've got to say your vows. John, why don't you place us where you want us and get the wedding done. It's warm in here. Boys, you line up behind your sister. Which one of you is giving her away?"

Belle handed Mary Rose a nosegay of wildflowers. Then she took hold of her hand and placed it on Harrison's arm.

"We're all giving her away," Adam told the judge.

"Well, now, I reckon that's all right."

"Wait. Judge Burns, did you hang anyone this week?"

"Not that I recollect, Mary Rose."

She let out a sigh. "All right then. Harrison, you still haven't proposed. He didn't, Judge. He just told me we were going to get married. He never asked." Her voice sounded downright puny to her. She hoped no one noticed. The flowers were shaking in her hand too. She gripped them tighter and tried to act composed.

"Honey, you ought to ask her nice," Belle insisted.

Harrison turned to his bride. "Will you marry me, Mary Rose?"

"No."

"She means yes," he told the judge.

"She's got to say the word."

Harrison looked at Mary Rose once again. "Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Will you try to get over your spells if I say I do?"

"Yes."

"Then, yes, I want to spend the rest of my days with you."

"Sounds like she's agreeing to me, John, honey," Belle said. The judge cleared his throat, opened his book, and began to read.

Harrison and Mary Rose became husband and wife less than five minutes later. He looked relieved when it was over. She looked bewildered. Harrison gently drew her into his arms and kissed her. She clutched her flowers to her chest and kissed him back.

"Now you can leave," she whispered. "I'm no longer a disgrace to my brothers."

"That isn't amusing," he whispered against her mouth. He kissed her again, harder, and then draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

Two of the brothers, Douglas and Travis, had tears in their eyes. Cole looked pleased, however, and that surprised Harrison.

"You're happy about this?" he asked.

"If she's pregnant, she's married. She might want to stay here, Harrison. You should think about that on your way to England."

"She'll come to me."

Cole frowned. Harrison sounded damned sure of himself.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in celebration, though Mary Rose wasn't given any time alone with her husband. She went upstairs with a piece of the cake Samuel had prepared, but Eleanor didn't have the stomach for food just yet. She cried for a minute or two because she'd missed the wedding and fell asleep almost immediately. Mary Rose left the cake on the dresser and then went back downstairs to thank Belle and the judge.

Harrison was waiting for her on the steps. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

"I promise as soon as possible we'll have a preacher bless the union. Will that make you feel better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too."

"I realize you'll want to spend the night with your bride, Harrison, but there's a matter I'd like to ask your opinion about, seeing as you're an attorney and all. Could you spare me a few minutes in the library?" Judge Burns made the request from the bottom of the steps. Harrison couldn't deny the request, of course; though, in all honesty, the last thing he wanted to do now was talk about legal matters. He wanted to get Mary Rose naked again.

She would have to wait, however. He winked at his bride and followed the judge into the library. The judge was a pipe smoker. He took a long while to get a proper fire lit, then leaned back in Adam's chair and smiled at Harrison. He motioned for him to take the other chair.

"This here is the most peculiar family I ever did encounter. Now that you've married into it, I guess you must be peculiar too. Are you, Harrison?"

"I guess I am," Harrison agreed. "They're all good men, Judge, and they're certainly a family. The brothers have done well for their sister."

"Sweet Belle had a little hand in it too. She sewed up dresses for Mary Rose. I don't remember much about her as a young'n. When I called on Belle, it was usually close to nightfall and of course the child was back at home where she belonged. I recall a mop of curls though. She's still got plenty of those, doesn't she? You love her fierce, like you should?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"I got to hear a trial day after tomorrow in Hammond," the judge remarked. He shifted his position in his chair, folded one leg over the other, and then continued on. "It's a jury trial, and everyone in town is dead set against the defendant. He won't get a fair hearing. I got the feeling he's being railroaded by the vigilantes. Ever hear of a man named Bickley?"

"I'll never forget the bastard," Harrison said. He explained how he'd met the man and what he'd done to him.

The judge didn't seem surprised by Harrison's admission. "You wanted to kill him because he hurt your Mary Rose, but you didn't kill him. That's the difference between civil and animal. Are you an ignorant lawyer, or do you really know how the law works?"

"I know how the law works."

"I'd like to see you prove it to me. Will you come to Hammond tomorrow and talk to George Madden?

He's the man they plan to condemn."

"What's the charge?"

"Stealing a horse. We don't take kindly to stealing anything out here, but when a man's horse is taken, well, then, folks tend to think the death sentence is the only possible punishment. You won't have long to work up your case, I'm sorry to say, but I've got a strong feeling that after you talk to Madden, you'll

know who really took the horse. I won't say anything more to taint your mind, but the man deserves a fair hearing, and unless you come to Hammond with me, he won't get one. You can't bring your bride with you because the town's worked up over this business. The vigilantes have everyone all lathered up and ready for a lynching, and the sheriff has his hands full trying to keep order. I can't put off the trial date, so don't go asking me for any favors. The sheriff would sneak in my room and shoot me in my sleep if I decided to delay things. He's putting in twenty-four-hour days now, and his jail is bursting at the seams with men in need of my attention."

"They call you the hanging judge," Harrison remarked.

"That's nice to hear."

Harrison laughed. "You're a fair man, aren't you?"

"I like to think I am. If a man needs hanging, I'm not squeamish about seeing he gets it. It doesn't always matter what's right though, especially when a man is given a jury trial. His peers are mostly an ignorant breed."

"When do you want to leave?"

The judge smiled with satisfaction. "How about noon? It will take me that long to get up the strength to leave Belle's bed. I'll meet you outside her place tomorrow then, if that's agreeable."

"Yes, sir," Harrison said as he stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bride waiting to be kissed." The judge stopped him at the doorway. "Mind telling me why she carried a pistol to her wedding? I've been mighty curious about that."

"I'm not completely certain, but I think she was letting me know she wasn't going to be coerced into doing anything she didn't want to do. I guess you could say she was trying to even up the odds. Her brothers and I were stacked up against her. She was also hoping to be married by a preacher. She wanted the union blessed, I suppose."

"Well, hell, son, drag her on in here. I'll be happy to bless her. Will it matter that I'm not a preacher?"

"I'm afraid so, Your Honor."

He left the judge snorting with laughter. Mary Rose was upstairs with Belle. The two women were looking in on Eleanor. His bride didn't come back downstairs until nearly three o'clock. Harrison sat on the porch and drank beer with her brothers. When Mary Rose came out to the porch, Harrison told her about the trial in Hammond.

The judge left with Belle an hour later, and Mary Rose went into the kitchen to help set the table for supper.

All four of her brothers seemed genuinely happy for their sister, and try as he might, Harrison couldn't understand why. Their turnabout confused him. He knew they had a motive for wanting the marriage; he just couldn't figure out what it was.

Cole sat in the chair next to Harrison. He turned to him first.

"How come you went along with the wedding?"

"It's like Douglas said," Cole drawled out. "No use closing the barn door after the horse got out. She loves you and you love her."

"And?"

"You'll bring her back home, where she belongs."

"Do you mean here? To your ranch?"

"The area at least. She belongs in Montana. The land's a part of her. You won't take that away from her."

"Where we live is in her hands," Harrison said. "She might change her mind after she meets Elliott." Cole and Douglas exchanged a look Harrison couldn't quite interpret.

"And?" he persisted, determined to get to the end of the maze and find out what their true motive was.

"He can't keep her, can he?" Cole asked the question in a whisper-soft voice. Harrison straightened in his chair. "Meaning what, Cole?"

Douglas answered. "Elliott can't keep her in England or marry her off to some rich old lord and make her stay in England for the rest of her life, can he? She's already married to you. We kind of think of you as our insurance."

"You met her here," Cole reminded him. "Like it or not, you're also a part of her past. You know all about us, but Elliott doesn't. Mary Rose is going to need to rely on your strength and your honor, and we all think you'll probably bring her back home. Yes, sir, that's what we think."

"Elliott isn't your enemy. If you knew him the way I do, you'd realize he would never make Mary Rose stay anywhere she didn't want to stay."

"So you say," Douglas replied. "We still wanted some protection for our sister."

"So you let her marry me. You've used backhanded logic. Haven't you considered the possibility that I might want to keep her in Scotland?"

Cole smiled. "You know what your problem is, Harrison? You're too damned noble for your own good. If she wants to come back to Montana, you'll bring her. You couldn't live with yourself if you made her unhappy. It's a shame, really. Love does have its price. Pleasing Mary Rose is going to be difficult, but you'll try."

"Just keep your eye on her," Douglas ordered. "Don't make us come after you. I know you believe Elliott's a good man, but we don't know him, now, do we?"

Mary Rose interrupted the discussion. Harrison stood up when she walked out onto the porch. She'd changed her clothes. She'd worn an ivory dress for the wedding ceremony, but now she had on a

pale pink dress with white trim. Her hair was pinned up behind her head. She looked very prim and proper to him, and suddenly all he wanted to do was pull the pins out of her hair, take her clothes off her, and make love to her.

She had other ideas in mind. She had a white apron in her hands, and while he stood there watching her, she unfolded the thing and tied it around her waist.

"I guess Harrison's finally going to see the second floor of the house," Cole remarked.

"No, he isn't," Mary Rose blurted out. "Of course, he could if he wanted to, but I thought it would be nice if he and I stayed in the bunkhouse tonight. Do you mind, Harrison?"

"No," he answered, wondering over the quick blush that covered her cheeks. He couldn't imagine why she was embarrassed, but he decided he would have to wait until later to find out what was bothering her.

"Why are you putting an apron on?" he asked.

"I was going to help with supper."