Riverbreeze: Part 1 (39 page)

Evelyn and Jamie said their ‘I will’s’, then
Phillip spoke up when the minister asked, “Who giveth this Woman to
be married to this Man?” Elizabeth was surprised by this; she
hadn’t realized that Phillip had inherited their guardianship along
with the rest of Francis Tyler’s estate. She shuddered to think
what would have become of her sister and herself if Tyler hadn’t
put it in his will that Robert and Jamie marry them.

Jamie recited his vows in a soft voice, but
his words were heartfelt and clearly spoken. He gazed at Evelyn
with true love in his eyes and Elizabeth felt fresh tears spring to
her eyes, but this time from happiness. She could sense her
sister’s love for this young man and indeed that love was evident
when Evelyn recited her vows with a voice choked by emotion.

Jamie had been holding up fairly well to this
point, but all of a sudden he swayed alarmingly and nearly
collapsed. If Phillip had not been there to steady him, he might
have crumbled to the floor. Evelyn let out a little gasp of
distress and tightened her grasp on his hands. Robert reacted
instantly, taking Jamie’s other arm and together, he and Phillip
helped Jamie back to the settee. Evelyn went down to her knees in
front of him, clasping his hands again in his lap.

“I’ll be all right. I’m just tired.” He said
to Evelyn, touching her face tenderly. “Sit beside me for the
rest.”

She nodded, rising and then settling herself
beside him, a worried look on her face.

By some miracle when the minister asked for
the ring, Phillip produced a thin gold band and gave it to
Harrison. Harrison then handed it to Jamie who recited the words,
“With this ring I thee wed and with my body I thee worship.” He
slipped it on Evelyn’s ring finger and she gazed at it while the
minister asked for the Lord’s blessing of the ring, the giver of
the ring and the receiver and that they many abide in peace until
their life’s end. He then declared them ‘Man and Wife’, and Jamie
and Evelyn were married, just like that.

Elizabeth let out a big sigh. It was her turn
now and her heartbeat sped up as Robert returned to her side.
“Ready?” He said, grinning at her.

She nodded and the two of them stood facing
each other, holding each other’s hands. As the minister started the
ceremony again and she exchanged vows with this wonderful man, she
felt like she had truly been blessed by God. She felt bathed in His
love, His favor and His warmth. She and her sister had suffered
several tragedies to get to this point, but in the end, God had
known best and had chosen good men for them.

Happy and content, she hoped that Robert was
too. She knew that at first he had not been pleased about this
marriage. He had not chosen this union; he had not chosen her; she
knew he still missed his first wife. And he would not accept the
idea that God had chosen them for each other for his beliefs in God
and the Anglican Church were not as strong as hers were. But he was
being the perfect gentleman; he was providing her with a home; he
was providing for her and accepting her into his family. He was
trusting that she would make a good mother for his son. And he was
even accepting her sister and understood the needs of the twins to
remain close.

She vowed to be a good wife to him; she vowed
to serve him always without any complaints. And she vowed to be the
perfect mother to his children. Indeed, she never wanted to give
him any reason to complain, and she wanted him to always be glad
that he had married her.

But in the end, Elizabeth thought that
perhaps Robert was already glad that he was marrying her because
when he slipped the plain gold band on her finger with the words,
“With this ring I thee wed and with my body I thee worship.”, he
winked at her in an exaggerated manner, getting a rise out of the
guests and making her blush. And after they were declared Man and
Wife, he grabbed her and kissed her right in front of everyone.
Evelyn and Jamie had not even kissed!

Everyone laughed and cheered. Robin ran to
them and wrapped his arms around their legs. He jumped up and down,
begging to be picked up, his patience at an end. His hands and face
were sticky from the sweets but Robert picked him up anyway, and
hugged him until he wiggled and squirmed like an excited puppy, and
then the new family turned together to receive their
congratulations.

But right before Elizabeth faced the guests,
she and Evelyn exchanged a triumphant look, a look that said, “We
did it; we’ll be together for always; we’ll never have to worry
about being separated ever again.”

Chapter Fourteen: Frustrations

“A storm is brewing out there. ‘Tis
approaching from the west.” George Menefie announced after being
outside, smoking with a few of the other men.

Those words effectively broke up the party,
everyone anxious to leave and to get home before it started
raining. Several had already left immediately after the ceremony,
their responsibilities weighing heavily on their minds.

Now Robert and Elizabeth were saying their
farewells to the remaining stragglers. These people were the ones
who lived the closest and could afford the time to raise a second
glass, or a third, or a fourth, in salute to the newlyweds. But
Robert was impatient to leave; he wanted to go home and bring his
new wife with him. He wanted to be alone with her and in his own
bed. He couldn’t stop stealing glances at her; she was so sweet and
delicious looking. He couldn’t stop remembering the embroidery on
her gown and imagined his own tongue in the place of that lucky
snake’s. Several times he had turned to her, whispering in her ear,
“We should go.” But then someone else would come up to them to
offer their congratulations and poor, frustrated Robert had felt
obliged to spend a few more minutes with them exchanging
pleasantries.

When Maureen received word that Robert wanted
to leave, she went right up to him and told him he was being
ridiculous. There was a whole house here where the two couples
could spend another night. She argued that they had no pressing
business back at their plantation and that Mrs. Chilcott could take
care of herself. She even lectured him about Jamie, telling him
that Jamie should be in bed and not out traveling in a storm. But
Jamie wanted to go home too and both brothers were being quite
stubborn about it. In the end, Maureen just walked away, throwing
her hands up into the air and muttering, “Men!” under her
breath.

Then, just when Robert thought everyone was
gone and he pulled his new wife into his arms and was about to kiss
her, Sparshott showed up out of nowhere as if he had been lurking
outside in the hallway. His wife, Maudlin, was with him, a woman of
equal years with a kind, serene face. Sparshott looked well-groomed
this morning, quite different from yesterday.

Robert’s whole body tensed and he slowly
released Elizabeth as Sparshott sauntered into the room, a pleasant
look on his face. He was acting like the perfect gentleman, polite,
smiling, friendly, but Robert knew better. He wanted to turn his
back on him and walk away, but he knew he couldn’t be rude to Mrs.
Sparshott and he didn’t want to upset Elizabeth.

Sparshott nodded to Robert first, but
approached Elizabeth, took her hand and placed a lingering kiss on
the back of it. He was goading Robert and just when Robert made a
small move as if to grab him, he released Elizabeth’s hand. Robert
was fuming; he knew that Sparshott was silently laughing at him and
he wouldn’t like anything better than to smash his fist right into
Sparshott’s face, but all he could do was stand there with clenched
fists at his sides while Sparshott expressed his best wishes to
Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was just as polite in return and
Robert couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know what had happened
between Sparshott and himself, although he noticed a tightness to
her smile as if she sensed the animosity between the two men.
Robert dreaded having to tell her about the duel; she would
probably go into hysterics. And she would have every right to. What
a damned hot-headed fool he had been!

“Remember, I’ll see you next court day.”
Sparshott said in a low voice, breaking into Robert’s thought. His
expression had turned hard with contempt. “With your sword.” He
added, waiting until the two women were talking to remind Robert of
their agreement.

“I said I would be there.” Robert hissed
back, looking the man straight in the eye. Oh, how he wanted to
spit in that eye right now.

“So you did. So you did, sir.” Sparshott
responded louder the second time, clapping Robert on the shoulder
as if they were old buddies. This startled Robert until he realized
that the women had stopped talking and were watching them.
Continuing in his politest voice, Sparshott said, “I look forward
to our next meeting, Bassett. ‘Twas a pleasure meeting you, my
dear. Our best to both of you.” And the Sparshotts left.

Whoreson
, Robert
thought to himself after they were gone.
Now
Elizabeth and I can finally leave.

“Now, where were we?” Robert turned to
Elizabeth again, but Francis Yeardley suddenly appeared, an amused
grin on his face.

Robert let out a frustrated sigh and gave
Elizabeth a rueful look. She smiled sweetly at him and kissed his
cheek. “Be nice.” She whispered.

He faced Yeardley. “What has you grinning
like a loon?” He grumbled.

“Robert…” Elizabeth chided him, but Yeardley
only laughed. He ignored Robert and took Elizabeth’s hand.

“Pardon me, Mistress.” He said, bowing
gallantly. “May I borrow your husband for a few minutes?”

And so it was that Robert was separated from
his wife and prevented from leaving again.

Robert watched Elizabeth leave the room, his
eyes full of regret that he wasn’t going with her. For those few
moments he forgot that Yeardley was standing right there beside
him. He watched Elizabeth’s skirts sway as she walked away, along
with her long hair flowing down her back. He had a sudden, sharp
image of her naked, little bottom pressed up against him as he took
her from behind, her fabulously long hair reaching almost to the
spot where their bodies were joined. And then, that quick, she was
out of view, and Yeardley laughed again at the look of longing on
Robert’s face. He clapped Robert on the back, saying, “Sorry, man,
I know this is a bad time.”

Robert shook his head and slowly turned
around. “I didn’t think I’d want her so much.” He said.

“She’s a pretty thing.”

“Yes, she is.” He said softly, surprised at
himself. He hadn’t expected to feel such passion for her so
soon.

Yeardley went on, “I’ve been meaning to talk
to you and Jamie about a business matter. I’d appreciate a few
moments of your time.”

“Jamie is upstairs. Hopefully he’ll be
awake.” Robert said, coming out of his reverie. “Come on.” And he
led Yeardley out of the room.

“He looked pretty bad during the ceremony,
Rob. I would hate to even think this, but…”

Robert cut him off. “He’ll recover. He always
does.” He said firmly.

They made their way up the stairs in silence
after that.

Jamie wasn’t asleep; in fact they caught him
sitting on the edge of the trundle bed, pulling on one of his
boots. Evelyn was nowhere around and what Robert knew of his
brother, Jamie had probably sent her away with the promise that
he’d take a nap.

Robert nearly had a fit. “What the bloody
hell are you doing?”

“I’m going to see my horses.” Jamie declared.
“I also need to speak to Walter.”

“How are you going to do that?” Jamie still
looked flushed; it was obvious to Robert that his fever still
hadn’t broken. “You can
barely
walk!”

“I’m feeling better.” Jamie lied. “And now
that you’re here, you can help me.” He pulled on the second boot,
struggling a little, then looked imploringly at his brother.
“Please, Rob?”

Of course Robert couldn’t say no. He didn’t
think it was wise to take Jamie to the stables, but he couldn’t
refuse him either. Jamie was a married man now, a man with his own
mind and he could make his own decisions. If he wanted to see his
horses while his body was weakened by a soaring fever, who was
Robert to argue with him? Only his brother, but Jamie wouldn’t want
to hear it.

Robert asked Yeardley if he minded going
along to the stables and when he said no, the two men supported
Jamie as they went outside. The horses, however, were not in the
stables, but in the paddock and they headed that way.

Robert studied the sky; the storm clouds were
still off in the distance but moving closer and looking darker and
angrier by the minute. The wind was picking up and dry, brown
leaves swirled and skittered by. They could hear the wind whooshing
through the tops of the trees and then Robert had to grab his hair
when a sudden gust of wind tugged it loose from its tie.